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MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

sensation (transduction)

A

conversion of physical, electromagnetic, auditory and other information from out internal and external environment to electrical signals in the nervous system

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2
Q

perception

A

the processing of sensations to make sense of their significance

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3
Q

sensory receptors

A

neurons that respond to stimuli and trigger electrical signals

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4
Q

distal stimuli

A

stimuli that originate outside the body

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5
Q

proximal stimuli

A

directly interact with and affect sensory receptors, informing the observer about the presence of a distal stimulus

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6
Q

psychophysics

A

the relationship between the physical nature of stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they evoke

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7
Q

ganglia

A

collections of neuron cell bodies found outside the CNS

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8
Q

projection areas

A

electrochemical energy is sent along neural pathways to these areas to analyze sensory input

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9
Q

photoreceptors

A

respond to electromagnetic waves in the visible spectrum (sight)

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10
Q

hair cells

A

respond to movement of fluid in the inner ear structures (hearing, rotational and linear acceleration)

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11
Q

nociceptors

A

respond to painful or noxious stimuli (somatosensation)

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12
Q

thermoreceptors

A

respond to changes in temperature (thermosensation)

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13
Q

osmoreceptors

A

respond to the osmolarity of the blood (water homeostasis)

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14
Q

olfactory receptors

A

respond to volatile compounds (smell)

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15
Q

taste receptors

A

respond to dissolved compounds (taste)

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16
Q

threshold (limina)

A

the minimum amount of a stimulus that renders a difference in perception

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17
Q

absolute threshold

A

minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory system

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18
Q

threshold of conscious perception

A

a stimulus below this threshold arrives at the CNS, but does not reach higher-order brain regions

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19
Q

psychophysical discrimination testing

A

common way to analyze threshold of conscious perception; participant is presented with a stimulus that is varied slightly each time and is asked to identify when they notice a difference

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20
Q

difference threshold or just noticeable difference (jnd)

A

minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before one can perceive this difference

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21
Q

Weber’s law

A

states that there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus magnitude needed to produce a jnd and the magnitude of the original stimulus

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22
Q

signal detection theory

A

focuses on the changes in our perception of the same stimuli depending on both internal and external context

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23
Q

response bias

A

refers to the tendency of subjects to systematically respond to a stimulus in a particular way due to non sensory factors

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24
Q

adaptation

A

detection of a stimulus changes over time through this; i.e. pupils of eye dilating/contracting; helps our body to focus attention on only the most relevant stimuli

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25
Q

sclera

A

thick structural layer covering the eye; white of the eye

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26
Q

choroidal vessels

A

complex intermingling of vessels between sclera and retina

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27
Q

retinal vessels

A

supplies nutrients to eye

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28
Q

retina

A

innermost layer of the eye; contains photoreceptors that transduce light into electrical information

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29
Q

cornea

A

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

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30
Q

anterior chamber

A

lies in front of the iris

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31
Q

posterior chamber

A

lies between the iris and the lens

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32
Q

iris

A

colored part of the eye; composed of dilator pupillae and constrictor pupillae

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33
Q

dilator pupillae

A

opens the pupil under sympathetic stimulation

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34
Q

constrictor pupillae

A

constricts the pupil under sympathetic stimulation

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35
Q

ciliary body

A

produces aqueous humor that bathes the front part of the eye before draining into the Canal of Schlemm

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36
Q

aqueous humor

A

bathes front part of the eye

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37
Q

canal of Schlemm

A

aqueous humor drains into this

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38
Q

lens

A

helps control the refraction of incoming light

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39
Q

ciliary muscle

A

under parasympathetic control; as the muscle contracts, pulls on suspensory ligaments and changes the shape of the lens

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40
Q

accommodation

A

change in shape of the lens in response to suspensory ligaments and ciliary muscle

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41
Q

vitreous humor

A

transparent gel that supports the retina

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42
Q

duplexity theory of vision

A

states that the retina contains two kinds of photoreceptors: those that detect light-and-dark and those that detect color

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43
Q

cones

A

used for color vision and to sense fine details; most effective in bright light

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44
Q

rods

A

only allow sensation of light and dark; contain a single pigment called rhodopsin; low sensitivity to details and not involved in color vision but permit night vision

45
Q

macula

A

high concentration of cones

46
Q

fovea

A

center mart of macula; contains only cones

47
Q

bipolar cells

A

highlight gradients between adjacent rods and cones

48
Q

ganglion cells

A

synapse with bipolar cells; group together to form optic nerve

49
Q

amacrine and horizontal cells

A

receive input from multiple retinal cells in the same area before information is passed on to ganglion cells

50
Q

visual pathways

A

refer to both the physical anatomical connections between the eyes and the brain plus the flow of visual information along these connections

51
Q

optic chiasm

A

fibers from the nasal half of each retina cross paths

52
Q

optic tracts

A

reorganized pathways after visual paths leave optic chiasm

53
Q

information from optic chiasm travels to:

A
  • lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
  • visual cortex in the occipital lobe
  • superior colliculus
54
Q

parallel processing

A

ability to simultaneously analyze and combine information regarding shape, color and motion

55
Q

feature detection

A

correlate in neuroscience of parallel processing which shows that our visual pathways contain cells specialized in detection of shape, color or motion

56
Q

parvocellular cells

A

detect shape; have very high color spatial resolution, allows us to see very fine detail; can only work with stationary or slow-moving objects because of their very low temporal resolution

57
Q

magnocellular cells

A

detect motion because they have very high temporal resolution

58
Q

pinna (auricle)

A

cartilaginous outer part of the ear; channels sound waves into external auditory canal

59
Q

external auditory canal

A

channels sound waves to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)

60
Q

tympanic membrane (eardrum)

A

vibrates in phase with incoming sound waves; the frequency of the sound wave determine the rate at which the tympanic membrane vibrates

61
Q

ossicles

A

small bones in the middle ear that transmit and amplify vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear

62
Q

malleus, incus, stapes

A

malleus is attached to eardrum, acts on incus which then acts on stapes

63
Q

Eustachian tube

A

connects middle ear and nasal cavity; helps equalize press between middle ear and environment

64
Q

cochlea

A

spiral-shaped organ divided into three parts called scalae

65
Q

organ of Corti

A

sits in the middle scale of the cochlea; is the actual hearing apparatus

66
Q

basilar membrane

A

the flexible membrane on which the organ of Cord sits

67
Q

endolymph

A

bathes the thousands of hair cells in the organ of Corti

68
Q

tectorial membrane

A

immobile membrane that sits on top of the organ of Corti

69
Q

perilymph

A

fills the two scalae of the cochlea that do not contain the organ of corti

70
Q

round window

A

membrane-covered hole in the cochlea that allows the perilymph to actually move within the cochlea

71
Q

auditory (vestibulocochlear) nerve

A

transmits electrical signals from the organ of Corti to the CNS

72
Q

vestibule

A

portion of the bony labyrinth responsible for balancing and orientation; contains utricle and saccule

73
Q

otoliths

A

modified hair cells in the utricle and saccule are covered in this; otoliths resist motion

74
Q

semicircular canals

A

sensitive to rotational acceleration

75
Q

utricle and saccule

A

sensitive to linear acceleration

76
Q

ampulla

A

swelling at the end of each semicircular canal; contain hair cells

77
Q

medial geniculate nucleus (MGN)

A

sound information passes to the MGN through the vestibulocochlear nerve

78
Q

superior olive

A

localizes sound

79
Q

inferior colliculus

A

involved in the startle reflex and helps keep the eyes fixed on a point while the head is turned

80
Q

place theory

A

states that the location of a hair cell on the basilar membrane determines the perception of pitch when that cell is vibrated

81
Q

tonotopical organization

A

which hair cells are vibrating gives the brain an indication of the pitch of the sound

82
Q

olfactory chemoreceptors

A

located in the olfactory epithelium in the upper part of the nasal cavity

83
Q

pheromones

A

secreted by one animal and once bonded with chemoreceptors, compel or urge another animal to behave in a specific way

84
Q

olfactory pathway

A

odor molecules are inhaled into the nasal passages and then contact the olfactory nerves in the olfactory epithelium; receptors are activated, sending signals to olfactory bulb and then relayed to the olfactory tract

85
Q

taste pathway

A

taste buds (found in papillae) to brainstem, to thalamus, to high-order brain regions

86
Q

somatosensation (touch)

A

pressure, vibration, pain and temperature

87
Q

Pacinian corpuscles

A

respond to deep pressure and vibration

88
Q

Meissner corpuscles

A

respond to light touch

89
Q

Merkle cells (discs)

A

respond to deep pressure and texture

90
Q

Ruffini endings

A

respond to stretch

91
Q

Free nerve endings

A

respond to pain and temperature

92
Q

somatosensory complex

A

found in parietal lobe; processes touch

93
Q

two-point threshold

A

minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli; depends on the density of nerves in that area of skin being tested

94
Q

physiological zero

A

temperatures are judged relative to this value, which is the normal temperature of human skin

95
Q

nociceptors

A

send pain singals

96
Q

gate theory of pain

A

proposes that there is a special gating mechanism that can turn pain signals on or off

97
Q

kinesthetic sense (proprioception)

A

refers to the ability to tell where one’s body is in space

98
Q

bottom-up (data-driven) processing

A

brain takes the individual sensory stimuli and combines them together before determining what the object is

99
Q

top-down (conceptually driven) processing

A

driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object and then recognize the components based on these expectations

100
Q

perceptual organization

A

refers to the ability to use top-down and bottom-up processing in tandem to create a complete picture/idea

101
Q

depth perception

A

can involve one or both eyes

102
Q

Gestalt principles

A

ways for the brain to infer mission parts of an incomplete picture

103
Q

law of proximity

A

elements close to one another tend to be perceived as a unit

104
Q

law of similarity

A

objects that are similar tend to be grouped together

105
Q

law of good continuation

A

elements that appear to follow in the same pathway tend to be grouped together

106
Q

subjective contours

A

has to do with perceiving contours, and therefore, shapes that are not actually present in the stimulus

107
Q

law of closure

A

when a space is enclosed by a contour it tends to be perceived as a complete figure

108
Q

law of pragnanz

A

says that perceptual organization will always be as regular, simple and symmetric as possible

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (6 decks)

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