Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

PSYC GRE from Kaplan > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Weber

A

just noticeable difference

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Fechner

A

Weber’s Law

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Wertheimer

A

Gestalt psychology; phi phenonemon

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

absolute threshold

A

minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate the sensory system (i.e. before it can be perceived)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

limen

A

another word for threshold

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

difference threshold

A

amount of stimulus energy added or subtracted from a stimulus for a difference to be noticed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

just noticeable difference

A

measures same thing as difference threshold but units are different. if 2 oz is the point where difference in weight is noticeable, then 2 oz = 1 JND

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Weber’s Law

A

JND is produced by ratio of difference between two stimuli not the absolute difference

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Weber’s fraction

A

constant K; the smaller the K the better the sensitivity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Fechner’s Law

A

relates the intensity of the stimulus to the intensity of the sensation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Stevens’ power law

A

same as Fechner’s Law (intensity of stimulus to intensity of sensation) but different formula

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

response bias

A

how risky a person is in sensory decision-making (based upon nonsensory factors)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

ROC curves

A

used to graphically summarize a subject’s responses in a signal detection experiment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

John Swets

A

refined use of ROC curves

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

stages of sensory processing

A

reception, transduction, sent to projection areas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

duplicity theory of vision

A

there are two kinds of photoreceptors in the retina

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Are there more rods or cones in the human eye?

A

rods

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What happens at the optic chiasm?

A

Nasal fibers from left eye go to right side of brain, nasal fibers from right eye go to the left side of brain; temporal fibers from left go to left and temporal fibers from right go to right (end result: information from left visual field of both eyes goes to the right side of the brain and vice versa)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

brain structures involved in visual processing

A

lateral geniculate nucleus of thalamus, visual cortex, and superior colliculus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

order that light passes through eye

A

cornea, pupil, lens, rods and cones, bipolar cells, amacrine cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

blind spot

A

corresponds with optic disk (no photoreceptors here)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Hubel and Wiesel

A

feature detection theory (Nobel Prize 1981), single cell recording

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

feature detection theory

A

certain cells in the cortex are maximally sensitive to certain features of stimuli (simple, complex, and hyper complex cells)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

simple cells

A

responds to orientation and boundaries of object

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
complex cells
responds to movement
26
hypercomplex cells
responds to shape/abstract concepts
27
pigment in rods
rhodopsin (made up of vitamin A deriviative retinal and opsin)
28
physiology behind dark adaptation
also known as bleaching; rhodopsin splits into retinal and opsin when light is absorbed. Adaptation occurs after rhodopsin has regenerated.
29
lateral inhibition
when adjacent retinal cells inhibit one another; this sharpens and highlights borders between light and dark areas
30
what is colour perception related to?
the wavelength of the light entering the eye
31
subtractive colour mixture
occurs when pigments are mixed
32
additive colour mixture
red, green, and blue; how lights are mixed together (important for how we see colour)
33
Young-Helmholtz theory
trichromatic theory; retina contains three types of cones that have different sensitives to colours
34
opponent-process theory
Hering; there are three opposing pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white). when one of these colours is perceived (e.g. red), a red-green cells in excited, but the colour green inhibits the same cell. Excitation and inhibition cannot occur at the same time (so you can't have "reddish green" --> applies to cells in lateral geniculate nucleus
35
Berkeley
depth cues (interposition, relative size, linear perspective)
36
interposition/overlap
cue for depth perception when one object covers or overlaps with another object
37
linear perspective
the convergence of parallel lines in the distance
38
Gibson
more depth cues (texture gradients, motion parallax, binocular disparity)
39
texture gradients
variations in perceived surface texture as a function of the distance from the observer
40
motion parallax
when observer moves, objects in a stationary environment appear to move relative to distance from observer
41
binocular disparity/steropsis
each eye sees a slightly different scene and when the brain combines these scenes, we get depth perception
42
form perception
figure and ground
43
law of proximity
elements close to one another tend to be perceived as one unit
44
law of similarity
elements similar to one another tend to be grouped together
45
law of good continuation
elements that appear to follow in the same direction tend to be grouped together
46
law of closure
tendency to see incomplete figures as being complete
47
law of Praganaz
perceptual organization will always be as "good" as possible
48
Kohlberg
theory of isomorphism
49
theory of isomorphism
suggests there is a one-to-one correspondence between the object in the perceptual field and the pattern of stimulation in the brain
50
phi
apparent motion; illusion that occurs when two dots flashed in different locations on a screen seconds apart are perceived as one moving dot
51
induced motion
illusion of movement occurring when everything around the spot of light is moved
52
autokinetic effect
illusion that occurs when a spot of light appears to move erratically in a dark room because there is no frame of reference
53
motion aftereffect
if a moving object is viewed for an extended period of time, it will appear to move in an opposite direction when the motion stops
54
distal vs proximal stimuli
distal is the actual object, proximal is information our sensory receptors receive about it
55
constancies of vision
size, shape, light, colour
56
Emmett's law
size-distance invariance principle; size constancy depends on apparent distance
57
frequency
number of cycles per second, measured in Hz (inversely related to wavelength)
58
intensity
amplitude or height of the air pressure wave, measured in bels or decibels (related to loudness)
59
pitch
subjective experience of the magnitude of intensity of the sound
60
timbre
quality of a particular sound (think how C sounds on piano vs. clarinet)
61
ear structures of middle ear in order
hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and stirrup (stapes)
62
ear structures of outer ear in order
pinna, auditory canals, eardrum (tympanic membrane)
63
ear structures of inner ear in order
oval window (entrance), cochlea, basila membrane, organ of Corti, auditory nerve
64
basic circuit that auditory nerve projects to
superior olivary complex, inferior colliculus, medial geniculate nucleus (in thalamus), temporal cortex
65
place theory
each different pitch causes a different place on the basilar membrane to vibrate (Helmholtz and Young)
66
frequency theory
the basilar membrane vibrates as a whole and rate of vibration equals the frequency of the stimulus
67
Where are the sensory receptors for taste? Where does info from them travel to?
the taste buds which are found in little bumps on the tongue called papillae; taste center of thalamus
68
Where are the sensory receptors for smell? Where does info from them travel to?
upper nasal passage for the nose (olfactory epithelium); olfactory bulb
69
Where does info from the touch receptors go to?
somatosensory cortex
70
two-point thresholds
minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation so that they will be felt as two distinct stimuli
71
physiological zero
neutral temperature perceived to be neither hot nor cold (so a comfortable body temperature)
72
gate theory of pain
there is a special gating mechanism (located in spinal cord) that can turn pain signals on or off
73
Melzack and Wall
gate theory of pain
74
vestibular sense
sense of balance (semicircular canals) and of our bodily position relative to gravity
75
kinesthetic sense
awareness of body movement and position
76
Broadbent
selective attention acts as a filter between sensory stimuli and our processing systems; all or nothing; probably not the case

PSYC GRE from Kaplan (8 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions