Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

• conversion of physical, electromagnetic, auditory etc. info to electrical signal in PNS
• performed by receptors
• raw signal

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

• making sense of the sensation

- involves analyzing and making sense of signals

Question 3

Sensory receptors

Answer 3

respond to stimuli and trigger electical signals

Question 4

Distal stimuli

Answer 4

• originate outside of the body
• part of the outside
• ex. campfire, photon of light

Question 5

Proximal stimuli

Answer 5

• directly interact and affect sensory receptors
• inform observer of the presence of distal stimuli
• ex. photoreceptor

Question 6

ganglia

Answer 6

collection of cell body in PNS

Question 7

photoreceptors

Answer 7

• respond to electromagnetic waves in visible spectrum

Question 8

hair cells

Answer 8

respond to movement of fluid in the inner ear

Question 9

nociceptors

Answer 9

respond to painful and noxious stimuli (somatosensation)

Question 10

Thermoreceptors

Answer 10

respond to t

Question 11

Osmoreceptors

Answer 11

respond to osmolarity of the blood

Question 12

Olfactory receptors

Answer 12

respond to volatile receptors

Question 13

taste receptors

Answer 13

respond to dissolved compounds

Question 14

thresholds

Answer 14

• min amount of stimulus tat render a difference in perception
• three types: absolute, of conscious perception, difference

Question 15

Absolute threshold

Answer 15

• min intensity needed for a stimulus to convert into action potential
• threshold only of sensation
• talking about how intense something must be in order to be sensed

Question 16

Limina

Answer 16

threshold

Question 17

Threshold of conscious perception

Answer 17

• aka subliminal perception
• perception of stimulus below given threshold
• stimuli reach CNS, but not higher order brain, so stimuli isn’t perceived

Question 18

Difference threshold

Answer 18

• aka just noticeable difference

- min difference in magnitude b/ two stimuli before one can perceive this difference

Question 19

Weber’s law

Answer 19

• there’s a const ratio b/ change in stimulus magnitude and the magnitude of the original stimuli
• for higher magnitude stimuli, the actual difference must be larger to produce a jnd

Question 20

Signal detection theory

Answer 20

• focuses on changes in our perception of the same stimuli depending on internal and external factors

Question 21

response bias

Answer 21

we tend to respond to the stimulus in particular way due to nonsensory factors

Question 22

possible outcomes for signal detection experiment trial

Answer 22

1. hit: detect stimuli when stimuli present
2. miss: didn’t detect stimuli when there was one
3. false alarm: detect stimuli when there wasn’t one
4. correct negative: didn’t detect stimuli when there wasn’t one

Question 23

Adaptation

Answer 23

decrease in response to stimuli over time

Question 24

retina

Answer 24

• back of the eye
• macula (central section) has fovea- the cenermost point that has only cones
• further away from macula: cones decrease, rods increase
• cones - three types, responsible for color vision, effectiv in bright light
• rodes - one type, contains rhodopsin (pigment), night vision

Question 25

connections b/ rod, cones and optic disc

Answer 25

• bipolar cells: conect rods and cones
• bipolar cells synapse with ganglion cells
• optic nerve: grouping of synapses between ganglions and bipolar cells

Question 26

Horizontal and amacrine cells

Answer 26

• integrate the signals from ganglion cells

- make edges sharper

Question 27

R visual field is progected onto

Answer 27

L half of OU retinas

Question 28

Visual pathways

Answer 28

1. Eye>optic nerve>optic chiasm>optic tracts>lateral geniculate nucleus of thalamus>visual radiations (temporal and lateral lobes)>visual cortex

Question 29

Parallel processing

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Parvocellular cells

Answer 30

detect shape

can only work with stationary or slow moving objects

Question 31

Magnocellular cells

Answer 31

• detect motion

- MNEMONICS: M for M (magnocellular=motion)

Question 32

Intensity of the sound

Answer 32

• corresponds to loudness

- increase intensity= greater amplitude

Question 33

Outer ear include

Answer 33

pinna (auricle)
ear lobe (where we pierce)
external auditory canal
tympanic membrane (/ b/ middle and outer ear)

Question 34

middle ear

Answer 34

3 ossicles:

• malleus
• incus
• stapes

connect via eustachian tube to nasal cavity- stabilize P

Question 35

inner ear

Answer 35

• cochlea (detect sound), vestibule (detects linear acceleration) and semicircular canal (detects rotational acceleration) filled w/ endolymph and perilymph

Question 36

auditory pathway

Answer 36

cochlea>vestibulocochlear nerve>medial geniculate nucleus>auditory cortex

Question 37

1) medial vs 2)lateral geniculate nucleus

Answer 37

1) L for light. SEnsory pathway

2) M for music. Auditory pathway

Question 38

Bottom-Up processing

Answer 38

brain takes individual sensory stimuli and combines them together to create cohesive image

Question 39

Top-Down processing

Answer 39

• driven by memories and expectations

- brain recognizes the whole object w/t analyzing for specific parts

Question 40

Perceptual organization

Answer 40

ability to use top-down and bottom-up processing to create a complete picture or idea

Question 41

Gestalt principles:

Answer 41

we view things as whole

include:

1. law of proximity - elements close to one another tend to be grouped together
2. law of good continuation - elements that appear to follow in the same pathway tend to be grouped together
3. law of similarity - objects that are similar tend to be grouped together
4. Law of subjective contour - perceiving contour and shapes that are not actually present in the stimuli
5. Law of closure - perceiving things as complete