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Psychology GRE > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

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1
Q

the amount something must be changed in order for a difference to be noticeable

A

just noticeable different

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2
Q

the minimum amount of stimulus energy (ex. how bright, loud, strong, etc) needed to activate the sensory system

A

absolute threshold

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3
Q

how different in magnitude 2 stimuli must be in order to be perceived to be different

A

difference threshold

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4
Q

law that states the change in stimulus intensity needed to produce JND divided by the stimulus intensity of the standard stimulus is a constant - measuring difference threshold

A

Weber’s Law

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5
Q

law that expresses the relationship between the intensity of the sensation and the intensity of the stimulus

A

Fechner’s Law

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6
Q

law that suggests Fechner’s law is incorrect, also related sensation and stimulus intensity

A

Steven’s Law

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7
Q

theory stating that non-sensory factors influence our perception, including experiences, motives, and expectations, and this differs between people

A

Signal Detection Theory

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8
Q

the tendency of subjects to respond in a certain way due to non-sensory factors

A

response bias

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9
Q

What is the first step of all sensory information processing?

A

reception

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10
Q

second step of sensory information processing - involves the translation of physical energy into neural impulses or action potentials

A

transduction

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11
Q

after transduction, electrochemical energy is sent to various __ in the brain along neural pathways to be processed across the nervous system

A

projection areas

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12
Q

clear, domelike window in front of your eye that gathers and focuses incoming light

A

cornea

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13
Q

a hole in the iris that contracts in bright light to keep light out, and expands in dim light to let more light in

A

pupil

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14
Q

colored part of the eye, has involuntary muscles and autonomic nerve fibers and controls the size of the pupil - therefore the amount of light entering the eye

A

iris

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15
Q

behind the iris, helps control the curvature of light coming in and can focus near or distant objects on the retina

A

lens

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16
Q

in the back of the eye, like a screen filled with neural elements and blood vessels, the image detecting part of the eye

A

retina

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17
Q

functions best in reduced illumination and allow perception only of achromatic colors, have low sensitivity to detail and are not involved in color vision

A

rods

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18
Q

used for color vision and perceiving fine detail, most effective in bright light, allow for chromatic and achromatic color vision

A

cones

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19
Q

theory that states the retina contains 2 kinds of photoreceptors, and the organization of the retina makes light pass through intermediate sensory neurons before reaching and stimulating the photoreceptors

A

duplexity/duplicity theory of vision

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20
Q

cells that group together to form the optic nerve

A

ganglion cells

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21
Q

where the fibers from the nasal half of retina cross paths

A

optic chaism

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22
Q

fibers from the __ halves of the retina don’t cross paths

A

temporal

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23
Q

scientists that found a neural basis for feature detection theory - suggests that certain cells in the cortex are maximally sensitive to certain features of stimuli

A

Hubel and Wiesel

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24
Q

cells in cortex that give information about the orientation and boundaries of an object

A

simple cells

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25
Q

cells in cortex that give advanced information about orientation, such as movement

A

complex cells

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26
Q

cells in cortex that give information about abstract features like object shape

A

hypercomplex cells

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27
Q

a physical, objective measurement that is simply the amount of light falling on an object

A

illumination

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28
Q

the subjective impression of the intensity of a light stimulus

A

brightness

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29
Q

the only photopigment in rods, helps with dark adaptation

A

rhodopsin

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30
Q

the phenomenon in which a target area appears brighter when surrounded by a darker stimulus than a lighter one

A

simultaneous brightness/contrast

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31
Q

explains simultaneous brightness/contrast, adjacent cells inhibit one another so if one cell is excited, others near it will be inhibited

A

lateral inhibition

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32
Q

color perception that has to do with lights, primary colors are blue, green, and red

A

additive

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33
Q

color perception that involves missing pigments, like finger paints

A

subjective

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34
Q

theory of color vision that states that the retina contains three types of color receptors (cones) which are sensitive to different colors (red, blue, green) - all colors are formed by combined stimulation of receptors

A

Young-Helmholtz/Trichromatic Theory

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35
Q

theory of color vision, states that there are four primary colors arranged in opposing pairs (yellow/blue and red/green), red would excite a red/green cell, green would inhibit it

A

Ewald Hering’s/Opponent Process Theory

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36
Q

a visual sensation that appears after a prolonged or intense exposure to a stimulus

A

afterimages

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37
Q

refers to the cue of depth perception, when object A covers/overlaps object B, we see object A as being in the front

A

interposition

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38
Q

convergence of parallel lines in the distance - only appear to converge, we know they do not actually, so we use this cue in forming our impression of depth

A

linear perspective

39
Q

refers to the variations in perceive surface texture as a function of distance from an observer

A

texture gradients

40
Q

in a car or train - choose a fixation point halfway between you and the horizon, and you will notice that objects closer to you appear to move in the same direction as you do

A

motion parallax

41
Q

when the object rather than the perceiver is moving, the motion of the object gives us cues about the relative depth of parts of the object

A

kinetic depth effect

42
Q

the distance between the eyes provides us with two disparate views due to the slight differences in horizontal positioning, combining the two views gives us perception of depth

A

binocular disparity/stereopsis

43
Q

the integrated visual experience that stands out at the center of attention, one of the most important concepts in form perception

A

figure

44
Q

the background against which a figure appears, one of the most important concepts in form perception

A

ground

45
Q

Gestalt: elements close together tend to be perceived as one unit

A

law of proximity

46
Q

Gestalt: objects that are similar to one another tend to be grouped together

A

law of similarity

47
Q

Gestalt: elements that appear to follow the same direction (like a straight line or simple curve) tend to be grouped together, there is a tendency to perceive continuous patterns in stimuli rather than abrupt changes

A

law of good continuation

48
Q

Gestalt: the tendency to perceive incomplete objects as being complete

A

law of closure

49
Q

Gestalt: perceptual organization will always be “good” - symmetrical, regular, simple

A

law of Pragnanz

50
Q

figure/ground configuration theory that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the object in the perceptual field and pattern of stimulation in the brain

A

Wolfgang Kohler’s Theory of Isomorphism

51
Q

processing that is data driven, object perception that responds directly to the components of an incoming stimulus on the basis of fixed rules - then sums up the components to arrive at the whole pattern

A

bottom-up

52
Q

processing that is conceptually driven, object perception guided by conceptual processes such as memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object, then recognize the components

A

top-down

53
Q

illusion that occurs when 2 dots flashed in different locations in succession are perceived as a moving dot

A

apparent motion

54
Q

illusion of motion occurring when everything around a stationary light is moved

A

induced motion

55
Q

illusion that occurs when a light viewed in a totally dark room seems to move, probably because of involuntary eye movements and no frame of reference

A

autokinetic effect

56
Q

if a moving object is viewed for an extended period of time, it will appear to move in the opposite direction when the motion stops

A

motion after-effect

57
Q

an actual stimulus or event in the world

A

distal stimulus

58
Q

the information our sensory receptors receive about the object (in vision, this is the image on the retina)

A

proximal stimulus

59
Q

we don’t perceive objects as changing sized, even when retinal size of the object changes

A

size constancy

60
Q

Law that size constancy depends on apparent distance - the farther away an object appears to be, the most scaling device in the brain will compensate for its retinal size doubles

A

Emmert’s Law

61
Q

We see a shape as consistent, ex. we see a door as a rectangle, though in the course of opening/closing it, it can be a rectangle, trapezoid, or a line

A

shape constancy

62
Q

despite changes in the illumination of an object, the apparent lightness of the object remains unchanged because levels of illumination are the same for both object and background

A

lightness constancy

63
Q

the perceived color of an object remains constant despite changes in the spectrum of light falling on it

A

color constancy

64
Q

way of studying infant perception, record amount of time looking at 2 different stimuli, if there is a difference it can be inferred that the infant can discriminate between the two and prefers the one looked at the longest

A

preferential looking

65
Q

way of studying infant perception, when a new stimulus is presented to an infant, he will orient towards it - can tell the difference between the old stimulus they are used to and a new one

A

habituation

66
Q

number of sound wave cycles per second, measured in Hertz

A

frequency

67
Q

amplitude of sound waves measured in decibels

A

intensity

68
Q

the subjective experience of the magnitude or intensity of sound

A

loudness

69
Q

subjective experience of the magnitude or intensity of sound

A

pitch

70
Q

the quality of a particular sound, related to the complexity of a sound wave or measure of frequency

A

timbre

71
Q

part of the ear visible from the outside, main function of channelling sounds into the auditory canal

A

pinna

72
Q

channels sound into the eardrum, which vibrates according to incoming sound waves

A

auditory canal

73
Q

3 tiny bones in the ear that transmit vibrations of the tympanum into the inner ear

A

ossicles

74
Q

edge of stirrup rests on the ___, which is the entrance to the middle ear, which contains the ___

A

oval window, cochlea

75
Q

resting on the basilar membrane, composed of hair cells which are the receptors for hearing (like rods and cones in the eye), bending of hair cells causes electrical charges

A

organ of corti

76
Q

signals are transmitted out of the cochlea along the nerve fibers, which connects to the ___ and eventually reaches the ___ cortex

A

auditory nerve, temporal

77
Q

pitch perception theory that different pitches cause different places of the basilar membrane to vibrate, which causes different hair cells to bend

A

Helmholtz’s Place-Resonance Theory

78
Q

theory that suggests that basilar membrane vibrates as a whole, and rate of vibration = frequency of stimulus

A

frequency theory

79
Q

principle in which high rates of neural firing can be maintained if nerve fibers work together

A

volley principle

80
Q

the movement of the basilar membrane is maximal at different places along the basilar membrane for each different frequency, though the entire membrane vibrates at stimulus (high frequencies closer to cochlea near oval window, low frequencies vibrate near apex/tip of cochlea)

A

Bekesy’s Traveling Wave

81
Q

smell receptors are called

A

olfactory epithelium

82
Q

4 categories of touch

A

pressure, pain, warmth, cold

83
Q

occurs in receptors and information travels to somatosensory cortex in parietal lobe of the brain

A

transduction

84
Q

the minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as 2 distinct stimuli

A

2 point threshold

85
Q

temperature is judged relative to physiological zero, or the temperature of the skin

A

physiological zero

86
Q

there is a “gating” mechanism that can turn pain signals on and off, affecting whether we perceive pain, located in spinal cord and is able to block input from sensory fibers before brain receives pain signals

A

gate theory of pain

87
Q

our sense of body position

A

proprioception

88
Q

balance and body position relative to gravity

A

vestibular sense

89
Q

receptors for balance, located in inner ear above and behind cochlea

A

semicircular canals

90
Q

awareness of body movement and position, specifically with muscle, tendon, and joint position since receptors are located at/near them

A

kinesthetic sense

91
Q

acts as a filter between sensory stimuli and our processing systems - if a stimulus is attended to, it passes through a filter for further analysis, if not it is lost

A

selective attention

92
Q

when 2 ears are presented with 2 different messages simultaneously, it has shown that we can attend to one message an dampen out the other

A

dichotic listening

93
Q

law that states maintaining attention requires maintaining arousal, performance is worst at extremely low or high levels, optimal at intermediate level

A

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Psychology GRE (2 decks)

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