Sensation & Perception

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

the physical processing of environmental stimuli by the sense organs

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

the psychological processing of interpreting sensory information

Question 3

What is the process of sensation to perception?

Answer 3

stimulus → sensory receptors → transduction → neural impulses → perception

Question 4

psychophysics

Answer 4

methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus

Question 5

Who studied psychophysics?

Answer 5

Gustav Fechner

Question 6

absolute threshold

Answer 6

the smallest amount of stimulation needed for detection by a sense 50% of the time

Question 7

True or False:
lower absolute threshold = greater sensitivity

Answer 7

True

Question 8

True or False:
Perception is an all-or-none phenomenon.

Answer 8

False
happens little by little

Question 9

difference threshold/
just noticeable difference

Answer 9

the minimum difference between two stimuli needed to detect a difference between them 50% of the time

Question 10

The more intense the original stimulus, the ___ the amount that needs to be added before a difference is detected.

Answer 10

larger

Question 11

What is the JND?
original: loud music
change: volume up by 3

Answer 11

high

Question 12

What is the JND?
original: quiet music
change: volume up by 3

Answer 12

low

Question 13

top-down processing

Answer 13

when our perceptions are influenced by our expectations or prior knowledge

perception → sensation

Question 14

bottom-up processing

Answer 14

when we receive individual pieces of sensory information and use them to construct a more complex message

sensation → perception

Question 15

signal detection theory

Answer 15

a response to a stimulus depends on a person’s sensitivity and decision criteria

Question 16

stimulus: present
response: present

Answer 16

hit

Question 17

stimulus: absent
response: present

Answer 17

false alarm

Question 18

stimulus: present
response: absent

Answer 18

miss

Question 19

stimulus: absent
response: absent

Answer 19

correct rejection

Question 20

What is the most favorable response in a high-stakes situation?

Answer 20

false alarms > misses

Question 21

sensory adaptation

Answer 21

diminished sensitivity as a result of constant or recurring stimuli

Question 22

What are examples of sensory adaptation?

Answer 22

• wearing perfume
• hearing an air conditioner
• being aware of wearing clothes

Question 23

selective attention

Answer 23

focusing on one particular task or event over the full picture

Question 24

inattentional blindness

Answer 24

failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention

Question 25

change blindness

Answer 25

failure to detect **changes** to the visual details of a scene

Question 26

cornea

Answer 26

transparent covering of the eye

Question 27

pupil

Answer 27

opening in the eye through which light passes; dilates or constricts to let more or less light in

Question 28

lens

Answer 28

focuses the eye

Question 29

retina

Answer 29

light-sensitive lining of the eye

Question 30

fovea

Answer 30

indentation in the center of the retina with the greatest visual acuity

Question 31

What is the process of vision?

Answer 31

light enters eye → image projected on the retina → transduction → signal travels down optic nerve → thalamus → visual cortex

Question 32

transduction

Answer 32

photoreceptors transform light into a neural signal through ganglion cells

Question 33

normal vision

Answer 33

image focused perfectly on retina

Question 34

near-sightedness

Answer 34

image focused in front of retina

Question 35

far-sightedness

Answer 35

image focused past the retina

Question 36

cones

Answer 36

responsible for color vision

Question 37

rods

Answer 37

responsible for vision in low light

Question 38

trichromatic color theory

Answer 38

3 different cones each sensitive to different wavelengths of light RGB

Question 39

opponent process theory

Answer 39

we perceive color in opposing pairs * red/green * yellow/blue * white/black

Question 40

How do negative afterimages work?

Answer 40

cells stimulated by a certain color are inhibited until the opposing color is no longer perceived

Question 41

feature detectors

Answer 41

cells that respond selectively to specific features (i.e. lines)

Question 42

How is information routed after the visual cortex?

Answer 42

through visual processing streams to other cortical areas

Question 43

dorsal processing stream

Answer 43

"Where is it?" sent to parietal lobe

Question 44

ventral processing stream

Answer 44

"What is it?" / "Who is it?" sent to temporal lobe

Question 45

visual agnosia

Answer 45

inability to recognize objects

Question 46

prosopagnosia

Answer 46

inability to recognize familiar faces

Question 47

monocular depth cues

Answer 47

help us perceive depth using one eye

Question 48

binocular depth cues

Answer 48

help us perceive depth using two eyes

Question 49

retinal disparity

Answer 49

different images received by each eye based on different perspectives

Question 50

convergence

Answer 50

when a person views a nearby object, eyes turn inward

Question 51

constancy

Answer 51

our brain uses depth cues to keep our perception of brightness and size constant

Question 52

Carpentered World Hypothesis

Answer 52

our experience with corners affects our depth perception

Question 53

Point of Subjective Equality (PSE)

Answer 53

the point at which the two lines are seen as equal

Question 54

Point of Objective Equality (POE)

Answer 54

the point at which the two lines are actually equal

Question 55

pinna

Answer 55

outer part of the ear where sound waves enter

Question 56

auditory canal

Answer 56

where sound waves are funneled through

Question 57

eardrum

Answer 57

sound waves strike and cause the ear drum to vibrate

Question 58

ossicles

Answer 58

tiny bones that amplify sound and transmit sound waves to the cochlea

Question 59

cochlea

Answer 59

contains hair cells (auditory receptors) that vibrate the frequency of sound waves and turn them into nerve impulses sent to the auditory nerve

Question 60

conductive hearing loss

Answer 60

damage to the eardrum or ossicles that lead to the failure to amplify sound

Question 61

sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 61

damage to the cochlea or neural patheway that lead to failure to transmit neural signals to the brain

Question 62

sound localization

Answer 62

location of sound determines the timing of when sound hits the left ear vs. right ear first

Question 63

multimodal perception

Answer 63

effect that concurrent stimulation in more than one domain has on perception of events and objects

Question 64

What is an example of multimodal perception?

Answer 64

hearing sound and watching a video at the same time

Question 65

synaesthesia

Answer 65

condition in which perceptual or cognitive activities trigger exceptional sensory experiences

Question 66

What is an example of synaesthesia?

Answer 66

seeing music notes as colors