Sensation & Perception Flashcards
sensation
the process of detecting physical energy and transforming it into neural signals
perception
selecting, organizing, and interperting situations
bottom up processing
sensation to perception; details to big picture
absolute threshold
the minimum amount of stimulation you can sense
priming
the brief effect subliminal messages have
do subliminal messages have a lasting outcome ?
no
difference threshold/just noticeable difference (jnd)
minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time
Weber’s Law
to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
what matters if not the direct amount of stimuli ?
the percentage; ratio of the second stimulus to the first
sensory adaptation
diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation
habituation
type of adaptation that occurs when we stop having an interest in a stimulus or stop paying attention to it
phototransduction
conversion of light energy into neural signals the brain can understand
wavelength
the distance from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next
light can behave as..
a wave or a particle
hue (color)
dimension determined by the wavelength of light
intensity
amount of energy in a wave, determined by amplitude
cornea
outer covering
iris
muscle that controls the pupil
pupil
adjustable opening in center of eye
lens
transparent structure behind the iris that changes shape to focus images
retina
inner surface of the eye; contains receptor rods and cones, a bunch of other neurons
rods
- peripheral retina
- detect black, white, and gray
- twilight or low light (more sensitive in the dark)
cones
- near center of retina
- fine detail and color vision
- daylight or well-lit conditions
nearsightedness
nearby objects are seen more clearly
farsightedness
faraway objects are seen more clearly
optic nerve
carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
fovea
central point in the retina, where the eye’s cones cluster
bipolar cells
one of the main retinal interneurons
ganglion cells
final output neurons of the vertebrate retinas
parallel processing
processing several visual aspets simultaneously
blindsight
seeing without seeing
Trichromatic Theory (Young-Helmholtz)
since any color can be created by combinations of red, blue, and green light, the eye must have three types of receptors for these three colors
what are the three different types of cones ?
red, green, and blue
what do cones respond to ?
the amount of light hitting them
how are color processing cells grouped together ?
- red/green
- blue/yellow
- black/white
who proposed the Opponent-Process-Theory ?
Ewald H. Hering
Opponent Process Theory
we process four primary colors combined in pairs of red/green, blue/yellow, and black/white
color constancy
color perception of familiar objects remains constant; color perceived depends on context
what causes sound ?
when molecules bump into each other at different rates, causing small changes in air pressure; changes are converted to neural impulses that are known as sound
tympanic membrane (eardrum)
sound passes through this part of the ear, causing it to vibrate
auditory ossicles
to transmit and amplify sound and to convert sound waves into pressure waves in the perilymph and endolymph
what are the three small bones in the middle ear ?
hammer, anvil, and stirrup
basilar membrane
vibrates at different locations when the three bones of the ear vibrate
cochlea
the fluid inside this will ripple due to vibrations
hair cells
convert ripples into neural messages which are sent to the brain
conduction hearing loss
issues with the hammer, anvil, and stirrup
sensorineural hearing loss
problems with hair cells
touch
mixture of pressure, warmth, cold, and pain
what did Ian Waterman propose ?
there are no sense receptors for light, touch, body position, and movement
pain
a product of the body and the brain
Gate Control Theory
we can reduce pain by stimulating nerve fibers that override the pain stimulus (why does scratching an itch work)
gustatory
concerned with tasting or the sense of taste
super tasters
have the most taste buds; everything is intense
what are the five taste sensations ?
- sweet
- sour
- salty
- bitter
- umami
how can one’s sensitivity to taste decline ?
- smoking heavily
- consuming large amounts of alcohol
- growing older
synesthesia
when you hear music, but you see shapes
olfaction
the sensation of smell that results from the detection of odorous substances aerosolized in the environment
how does smell change over one’s lifetime ?
it peaks in early adulthood and then declines
kinesthesis
sense of movement and location of body in space
vestibular sense
balance
selective attention
- we focus on only a small amount of our experience at a time
- but we can rapidly shift our attention, so it feels like we are able to focus on many things at once
inattentional blindness
we miss things because our attention is directed elsewhere
change blindness
when our vision is interrupted, we have a more difficult time noticing changes
choice blindness
difficulty to detect differences between a choice and its outcome and a tendency to justify choices which were never made
figure and ground
help you recognize that objects (ex: faces) are separate from their surroundings
grouping
- proximity
- similarity
- continuity
- connectedness
- closure
depth perception
ability to see objects in three dimensions
retinal disparity
each eye, and therefore each retina, receives a slightly different image
binocular cues
two eyes
relative size
object that casts the smaller retinal image is farther away (if similar in size)
relative clarity
hazy objects look farther away
relative height
objects higher in our field of view are perceived as farther away
interposition
if one object blocks our view of another, we see it as closer
texture gradiet
a change from distinct texture to indistrict texture implies distance
motion parallax
objects closer to us appear to moving faster than those that are far away
motion perception
relative motion
stroboscopic movement
apparent motion of a series of separate stimuli occurring in close consecutive order, as in motion pictures
phi phenomenon
illusion of movement that arises when stationary objects are placed side by side and illuminated rapidly one after another
perceptual constancy
- shape/size
- size/distance
- lightness
perceptual set
readiness to detect a particular stimulus in a given situation
extrasensory perception
- telepathy
- clairvoyance
- precognition
- psychokinesis
telepathy
mind to mind communication
clairvoyance
ability to sense distant events
precognition
telling the future
psychokinesis
ability to move objects with your mind
parapsychology
study of mental phenomena which are excluded by orthodox scientifiec psychology
