Sensation and Perception Flashcards
What is perception?
How our brain interprets information coming in through our senses.
What is sensation?
The activation of sense organs by a source of physical energy
Weber’s Law states that just noticable difference is a ________ __________ of the intensity of initial stimulus.
Explain implications for sound.
constant proportion.
It takes a larger difference in stimulus change to notice with loud sounds than with quiet ones. This is why someone in a quiet room is more likely to be startled by a phone ringing than someone in a loud room.
What do rods and cones do in the eye?
- transmit nerve impulses to the brain via the bipolar and ganglion cells.
- Rods: highly sensitive to light
- Cones: responsible for sharp focus and colour peception
Trichromatic colour theory
The theory that suggests there are three kinds of cones in the retina, each of which responds primarily to a specific wavelength.
The Opponent-process theory of colour vision
Proposed that receptor cells are linked in pairs, working in opposition to eachother.
Name this theory:
The frequency of the auditory nerve’s impulses corresponds to the frequency of a tone, which allows us to detect its pitch
Frequency theory
Explain the Gestalt Laws of Organization
Principles that getermine how we organize information into meaningful wholes. [Grouping together what we see together to make sense of it.]
- Closure
- Proximity
- Simplicity
- Similarity
What is perceptual constancy?
The phenomenon where physical objects are perceived as unvarying and constant despite changes in their appearance or in the physical environment
What is subliminal perception and how does it influence our behaviour?
- perception of messages about which we have no awareness
- subtle changes in behaviour maybe, but there is little evidence that it does so in substantial ways.
What is top-down processing?
Perception guided by higher-level knowledge, experience, expectations and motivations.
ie. seeing A l3 C as all letters, above l0 ll 12 l3 seeing these as numbers
What is bottom-up processing?
Perceiving the current situation; individual components of stimuli
ie. when you’re just learning the letters
What is bottom-up processing?
Perceiving the current situation; individual components of stimuli
ie. when you’re just learning the letters and their forms.
What is the middle ear and what does it do?
- tiny chamber containing three bones (stirrup, anvil, hammer) that acts as a tiny mechanical amplifier.
- transmits vibrations to the oval window of the cochlea
The process by which we identify the direction sound is coming from is called _____ __________
Sound localization
