Sensation and Perception Flashcards
Sensation vs. Perception
Sensation: conversion of physical stimuli into neurological signals.
Perception: Processing of sensory info to make sense of its significance.
sensory receptors
respond to stimuli and trigger electrical signals
sensory neurons
transmit information from sensory receptors to CNS
Sensory stimuli
Are transmitted to projection areas in the brain, which further analyze the sensory input
Threshold
minimum stimuli that causes a change in signal transduction
Weber’s law
just-noticeable difference for a stimulus is proportional to magnitude of stimulus
proportion is constant over most of the range of possible stimuli
signal transduction theory
effects of nonsensory factors such as experiences, motives, and expectations, on perception of stimuli
Response bias
signal detection experiment with 4 outcomes to subjects response:
Signal present Signal absent
“yes” = Hit “yes” = false alarm
“No” = Miss “no” = correct negative
Adaptation
Decrease in response to stimulus over time
Vision
Eye detects light in the form of photons
Visual Pathway
retina–> optic nerve–> optic chiasm–> optic tracts–> LATERAL geniculate nucleus (LGN) of thalamus–> visual radiations–> visual cortex
Hearing and vestibular senses
Ear transduces sound waves into electrical signals that the brain can interpret
Ear anatomy
Outer ear: Pinna(auricle), Ear lobe, external auditory canal.
Middle ear: Tympanic membrane (eardrum)
Inner ear: ossicles[stapes, malleus, incus], semicircular canals, round window, vestibulocochlear nerve, cochlea, and auditory (eustachian) tube.
Inner ear parts that detects sound and vestibular senses
Cochlea: detect sound
Utricle and saccule: detect linear acceleration
Semicircular canals: detect rotational acceleration (matches shape)
Auditory pathway
cochlea–> vestibularcochlear nerve–> MEDIAL geniculate nucleus(MGN) of thalamus–> auditory cortex
