Sensation And Perception Flashcards
Sensation example
The sound waves emitted by fallen tree
Perception example
Sound waves as interpreted by our brains
Perception defined
- The psychological response to physical stimuli
- Not only light hitting eye, sound hitting ear, brick hitting face
- Behind scenes processing taking place (7 steps from text)
Perceptual process
- Detection of stimulus
- Transduction
- Transmission
- Higher level processing
- Perception
Detection of stimulus
- what’s in the environment: thermal energy, mechanical energy, acoustic energy, light energy, electromagnetic energy
Transduction
- conversion of physical energy to electrical energy.
- Brain reads electrical signals, so transduction allows brain to take in sensation and turn them into a perception
- Stimulus in environment stimulates receptors Ex. Light hitting the retina
- Receptors fire in response to that stimulation
Transmission
- Electrical signal has been created, now it needs to be relayed throughout brain
Higher level processing
- Acting on and interacting with the signals in the brain
2. Applying prior knowledge to the perception
When does knowledge exert influence?
- Bottom up: detect stimulus > access knowledge > perception
Ex. Brown tall thing > trees are brown and tall > perceive tree - Top down: access knowledge > detect stimulus > perception
Ex. I’m in forest and forest has trees > brown tall thing > perception - Both processes working together!
Higher level processing
- Top down processing us internally driven
- Bottom up processing us externally driven
- Top down: prior experience, expectations, and context all change the way we perceive things
- Top down allows brain to fill in missing information, without us knowing or trying
Ex. Seeing spider on our leg when we feel an itch
Psychophysical approach
- Investigates relationship between physical stimulus and psychological response
Ex. I see the sun
Physiological approach
- Investigates relationship between physical stimulus and physiological response
Ex. Squinting at the sun
Ways to measure perception
- Describe: I see something large and bright
- Recognize: I recognize that object as the sun
- Response time: how long does it take to respond to the sun
- Detection: I detect sunlight
Absolute threshold
- Minimum physical stimulus intensity that can be just detected (psychological or physiological)
Ex. Threshold for seeing a light is the intensity at which light can just barely be seen
Measuring threshold
- Method of limits
- Method of constant stimuli
- Method of adjustment
Method of limits
- Ascending series: start well below threshold, increase in steps while subject responds at each step
- Descending series: start well above threshold, decrease in steps while subject responds at each step
- Threshold is midpoint between yes and no responses
Problems with method of limits?
- Does not eliminate the problem of habituation, subjects will habituate to yes or no responses. It becomes hard to change your response
Method of constant stimuli
- Present stimuli in random order instead of ascending/ descending order
- Threshold is intensity that results in detection on 50 percent of the trials.
- Removes habituation and anticipation
Method of adjustment
- Subject controlled
- Level of stimulation adjusted until barely noticed
- Ex. Adjusting volume knob on stereo
Webers Difference threshold
- The smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected, the just noticeable difference
- Scales with size/ intensity of the stimulus
- Bigger/ more intense stimulus = harder to detect a difference
- K = DL/S
- K = webers constant DL = difference threshold (just noticeable difference) S = value of standard stimulus
Webers Law
- Ability to detect difference between 2 stimuli (standard and comparison) depends on the size of the standard stimulus
- Bigger stimulus = bigger jnd
- Smaller stimulus = smaller jnd
- For given stimulus (light) Weber number (k) is constant
Ex. Of Webers Law
- K = 1 and is constant
- A stack of papers weigh .5 lbs. how much paper would you have to add to the stack to notice a different in weight? (What is the DL?)
- 1 = x/.5
- DL = .5
- It would take .5 lbs added to that stack to notice a difference in its weight
- The bigger the stimulus, the larger the jnd
Webers Law applications in real life
- Explains why you don’t notice your headlights are on in the daytime
- Adding a large weight to your weightlifting machine
Magnitude estimation
- Technique used to measure what an observer perceives of experiences
- Physical measure or estimation
- Ex. Brightness of a light, loudness of a tone
Response compression
- As the intensity increases, the perceived intensity increases less
- Ex. When observers asked to estimate intensity of 20, perceived brightness is 28. When intensity of 40, perceived brightness is 36.
Response expansion
- As intensity increases, perceived intensity increases even more
- Ex. Intensity of a shock at 30, perceived at 20. Intensity of 40, perceived at 50.
Aristotle on the mind
- Intelligence (the mind) is rooted in the heart
- Brain is the cooling mechanism
- 4th century BC
Galen on the mind
- Health, thoughts, emotions emanate from the ventricles
2. 2nd century
Descartes
- Pineal gland is responsible for the interaction between mind and brain
- 1630’s
Thomas Willis
- Dissections of human and animal brain suggest that the brain is where mental functioning originates
- 1664
Central and peripheral nervous system
- Central: brain, spinal cord and eyes
2. Peripheral nerves throughout body
Main Brain regions (4)
- Frontal lobe (front)
- Occipital lobe (back)
- Temporal lobe (low side)
- Parietal lobe (between frontal and occipital, top middle)
Occipital functions
- Low level vision
Parietal functions
- Touch, temperature, pain, attention, spatial processing
Temporal functions
- High level vision, memory, hearing
Frontal function
- Coordinates info across all senses, planning, and strategy, goal directed behavior, inhibition
Right brain vs. left brain
- Brain functioning is not this straightforward
2. No one area in brain responsible for one function, works systematically
Modular organization
- Idea that one area is responsible for one function
Ex. Language in the left frontal lobe - Multiple areas involved in language as seen on fmri
Dendrites
- Receive signal
2. Long arm looking branches
Cell body (soma)
- Process signal
2. Main cell body
Axon
- Conduct signal
2. Covered in myelin sheath
Axon terminal
- Transmit/send signals
Axon hillock
- Place between soma and axon where signal begins (action potential)
Myelin
- Protects and accelerates the signal
2. Breakdown of myelin causes muscular dystrophy
Nodes of Ranvier
- Between myelin, regenerates the signal
Receptors
- Neurons of perception
How do neurons communicate?
- Action potential
- Atoms that are positively or negatively charged
- Stimulation > action potential > electrochemical signal
Cation
- Positively charged ion in action potential
Anion
- Negatively charged ion in action potential
Action potential: resting potential
- Resting potential is -70mv
- Outside of cell: more positive (more Na+)
- Inside of cell: more negative (more K+)
- This makes the cell polarized
- Sodium-potassium pump maintains resting membrane potential
Action potential: depolarization
- Neuron is stimulated
- If threshold is reached, stimulation causes Na+ channels to open
3 N+ rushes into cell, causing membrane to depolarize (become more positive)
Action potential: repolarization
- K+ channels open
- Na+ channels close
- K+ rushes out of cell, causing cell to re polarize (become less positive)
Action potential: hyperpolarization
- Slight dip below resting potential, after repolarization
Action potential: recovery
- K+ channels close
2. Membrane is returned to resting state (back to -70mv)
Important notes about action potentials
- All or none: action potential either happens or not
- Nondecremental: does not diminish as it travels down axon
- Has refractory period: cannot fire again for a brief time afterwards
- Very fast: 5 ms
After action potential?
- Signal sent to next neuron
- Connection between two neurons: synapse
- Chemicals (neurotransmitters) cross the synapse
Neurotransmitters
- Small molecules stored that are released across the synapse
- Excitatory NTs: causes depolarization (increase in positivity), increases ability for post synaptic neuron to fire
- Inhibitory NTs: causes hyperpolarization (decrease in positivity) decreases the ability for the post synaptic neuron to fire
Synaptic transmission
- Transfer of signal from one neuron to the next
- Action potential in presynaptic neuron causes vesicles to migrate toward synapse; mediated by calcium influx
- Vesicles release NTs into synaptic cleft
- NTs bind to receptor sites on post synaptic neuron, causing ion channels to open
Types of neuroimaging techniques
- PET
- EEG
- tDCS
- fMRI
- Single-cell recording
- TMS
Positron emission tomography (PET)
- Detects changes in brain activity through change in blood flow
- Good spatial resolution
- Measured via radioactive tracer
Electroencephalogram EEG
- Measures electrical activity on scalp
2. Great temporal resolution (bad spatial)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- Detects changes in blood flow
2. Great spatial resolution, poor temporal resolution
Single cell recording
- Microelectrode measures activity from a single neuron
2. Hodgkin and Huxley recorded from a squid giant acorn
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (tMS)
- Brief magnetic pulse is sent to the brain
- Pulse either inhibits a brain region or expires it
- Used for migraines, stroke victims
Visual perception
- Ability to interpret information from visible light reaching the eye
- More of the brain is devoted to vision than to any other sense (in humans)
Electromagnetic spectrum
- Continuum of electromagnetic energy that is produced by electrical charges and is radiated as waves