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Malika Psychology MCAT > Sensation & Perception > Flashcards

Sensation & Perception Flashcards

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1
Q

The use of schemas is most similar to which type of processing: bottom up or top down?

A

Schemas which are the perceptual networks of how we organize information in our brain are most likely related to top down processing.

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2
Q

What is bottom up processing?

A

It is a form of perception that involves no prior knowledge or experiences, focuses on the sensory receptors, receiving new sensory information and sending signals to the brain to process in real time.
It is data driven and starts at the point of sensation of the stimulus.

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3
Q

What is top down processing?

A

It is a form of perceptual processing that involves interpretation of new information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations. It involves forming a conclusion based on previous knowledge. Involve higher order mental processes such as beliefs and expectations.

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4
Q

Which pathways are controlled contralaterally?

A

Visual, somatosensory, and motor pathways

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5
Q

What is inductive reasoning?

A

Inductive reasoning relies on specific details, evidence, and observations to form a general conclusion. It takes the top down processing approach.

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6
Q

What is the category size effect?

A

It is the phenomenon when people tend to respond more quickly to examples of smaller and narrower categories. Indication that the category size effect is the answer in a question would be that the category changes.

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7
Q

What is the typicality effect?

A

This is when more typical things are easily judged to be part of a category then atypical things. For example, a lion is a typical mammal, whereas a whale isn’t a typical mammal.

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8
Q

What is the familiarity effect?

A

Items are more easily fit it into a category when people know them/are familiar with them. Usually this would be the answer in a question when the category stays the same, but the item changes. Meaning one object is something completely you’ve never heard of whereas the other object is some thing that you are familiar with.
(Ex: A lion is a mammal vs. a tarsier is a mammal)

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9
Q

In which order does light travel through that eye?

A

Cornea —> aqueous humor —> pupil —> lens —> vitreous humor —> retina

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10
Q

Why does farsightedness occur?

A
  1. Short eye length
  2. Lens isn’t able to properly curve either because it is rigid or the ciliary muscles are unable to contract
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11
Q

What is the difference between sensory adaptation and habituation?

A

Sensory adaptation is a physiological response where sensory receptors get used to a persistent stimulus and don’t fire as often anymore.
Habituation is more of a psychological response where the person stops paying attention to/shifts attention from a persistent stimulus that is occurring.

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12
Q

What is the priming effect?

A

It is when exposure of a certain stimulus prior influences subsequent perception of other stimuli.

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13
Q

What are the four sensory modalities that can occur with the priming effect?

A
  1. Semantic relatedness - what words have related meanings
  2. Conceptual relatedness - when words fit into the same conceptual category
  3. Associative relatedness – when words appear right next to each other
  4. Perceptual relatedness – when words appear similar structurally/they look alike
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14
Q

What is deductive reasoning?

A

It involves making detailed inferences based on general conclusions/previous knowledge.

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15
Q

What is the principle of multistability?

A

It is the perceptual phenomenon that when shifting your angle of focus, you can see visual information in a different way than previously seen. However, both views are not visible at the same time.

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16
Q

What is motion parallax?

A

It is a monocular cue, which allows us to perceive the depth of an object based on its speed as we move relative to it.

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17
Q

What are the two types of binocular cues?

A
  1. Convergence - it is the amount our eyes rotate, which allows us to tell how far away an object is
  2. Retinal disparity - each of our eyes sees a slightly different image from a different angle
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18
Q

What is stereopsis?

A

It is our ability to perceive depth. It allows us to see how far away an object is based on 2 binocular cues (convergence and retinal disparity).

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19
Q

What is hyperopia?

A

Farsightedness, a persons inability to see close objects because light focuses behind the retina. A converging lens would be used to correct this.

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20
Q

What is the trichromatic color theory of vision/Young-Hemholtz theory?

A

A theory which states there are three different cone receptors in the retina that detects short, medium and long wavelengths of light. A mixture of responses of these receptors allows us to see a wide range of colors on the visible light spectrum.

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21
Q

What is a cataract?

A

It is when the lens is too cloudy which leads to a decrease in vision.

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22
Q

What is presbyopia?

A

Age related far sightedness. Caused by the decrease in elasticity of the lens which makes it harder to see close objects.

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23
Q

Name the auditory pathway to the cortex starting inside the cochlea.

A

Inner hair cell —> vestibulocochlear nerve —> superior olive —> inferior colliculus —> medial geniculate nucleus —> primary auditory cortex in temporal lobe

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24
Q

NREM Stage 3

A

Also known as slow wave deep sleep characterized by delta wave emission. This is where it is hardest to wake the person up. Parasomnias can occur here such as sleep walking or terrors.

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25
Q

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

A

Sensation is a physiological response, where are sensory receptors are able to receive input from stimuli. Perception is a response that is localized in the brain specifically in the parietal lobe, where the brain attempts to interpret and organize incoming sensory information.

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26
Q

What is myopia?

A

Nearsightedness, it is when a person is not able to see distant objects clearly. In this case, the light focuses in front of the retina. A diverging lens would be used to correct this.

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27
Q

What is the difference in function of inner hair cells vs. outer hair cells?

A

Inner hair cells are responsible in and relating the signal transmission of a sound wave to a neural response. Outer hair cells are responsible for amplifying low level sound waves.

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28
Q

NREM Stage 1

A

The stage between person being awake and sleeping. Characterized by theta waves and person can be easily awakened during this stage. Hyponogic hallucinations can occur here.

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29
Q

What is the saccule component of the vestibule?

A

Sensory cells responsible for detecting linear acceleration and head tilt in vertical plane. (Ex: going up or down in an elevator).

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30
Q

What is the utricle component of the vestibule?

A

Sensory cells responsible for detection of horizontal linesar acceleration and horizontal movement.

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31
Q

What is the function of the semicircular canals?

A

Three endolymph fluid filled bony structures responsible for maintaining balance and detecting angular acceleration of the head (nodding up or down, shaking head).

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32
Q

What is the vestibular sense?

A

It is the ability to sense changes in balance, as well as our sense of spatial orientation to coordinate movement.

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33
Q

What is the law of continuity?

A

It is the phenomena that we perceive separate lines as following a smooth continuous path versus jagged broken lines.

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34
Q

What is REM sleep?

A

A paradoxical stage where the person is asleep (body is paralyzed) but the brain is active. Stage where dreaming occurs.

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35
Q

True or false:
We get the most REM sleep several hours before we wake up (last hours of our sleep cycle).

A

True, the greatest proportion of REM sleep occurs just before waking.

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36
Q

Defining characteristics in each stage of sleep

A
37
Q

What is NREM Stage 2?

A

Stage of sleep when the body prepares for a deep sleep by slowing down the HR and breathing. Characterized by sleep spindles and K complexes, and theta waves.

38
Q

What are sleep spindles?

A

Bursts of oscillatory brain activity visible on EEGs

39
Q

What are K complexes?

A

EEG waves that are thought to be responsible for suppressing cortical arousal in response to stimuli and aiding in sleep based memory consolidation.

40
Q

What is change blindness?

A

When you don’t notice a change that occurs (change in previous & current state).

41
Q

What is the activation synthesis theory?

A

A theory of dreams that focuses on the physiological changes in the brain stem which contribute to the formation of dreams. Specifically, it looks at the differences in brainwave activity during sleep.

42
Q

What does Treisman’s attenuation model say?

A

A model of attention that says the information that makes it past a selective filter is noticed and deemed as important to be passes onto perceptual processing. Whereas info that doesn’t make it past this filter, is dampened, but not entirely filtered out.

43
Q

What does Broadbent’s filter model of selective attention say?

A

All information enters a sensory register/buffer and from there attended messages pass onto the selective filter, while unattended messages don’t & eventually decay.
From the selective filter attended info passes to be processed perceptually (assigned meaning).

44
Q

Why does nearsightedness occur?

A
  1. Eye length is too long
  2. Lens is very curved which makes image appear in front of retina
45
Q

Visual pathway to the cortex starting with retinal photoreceptors

A

Photoreceptors —> horizontal cells —> bipolar cells —> amacrine cells —> ganglion cells —> optic nerve —> optic chains —> lateral geniculate nucleus (thalamus) —> primary visual cortex

HBAG:
Horizontal cells
Bipolar cells
Amacrine cells
Ganglion cells

46
Q

How does parallel processing relate to visual processing?

A

Parallel processing occurs during processing of visual stimuli. Two types of ganglion cells, one following the parvo pathway and the other one following the magno pathway transmit different aspects of a visual stimulus. These pathways travel separately to the visual cortex, but travel in parallel at the same time.

47
Q

What is the magnopathway?

A

A component of visual parallel processing which transmits information about motion of a stimulus.

48
Q

What is the parvo pathway?

A

A component of visual parallel processing which transmits information about the shape/form and detailed structure of a stimulus.

49
Q

Hypnosis

A

An alternate state of consciousness where peripheral awareness is reduced, attention is focused, and there is an enhanced capacity for suggestions

50
Q

Cocktail party effect

A

A person’s ability to notice info that was not previously being paid attention to when that information becomes (relevant) important to the person

51
Q

What is in attentional blindness?

A

The phenomena that occurs when you miss something that is right infront of you

52
Q

What are theta waves?

A

Waves that are higher in frequency than delta waves, but lower than alpha and beta. They are present during NREM Stage 1 & 2.

53
Q

Beta waves

A

Brain waves with the highest frequency that are present, when a person is awake & alert such as actively solving a problem.

54
Q

Alpha waves

A

Brain waves which are lower and frequency than beta waves, but higher than theta and delta waves. Alpha waves are present when a person is awake, but is relaxed and calm.

55
Q

What is dyssomnia?

A

A disorder characterized by the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep.
Examples are narcolepsy, sleep apnea, insomnia.

56
Q

What does the wish fulfillment theory of dreaming propose?

A

Says that our dreams represent unconscious desires of the id that are repressed by the ego and superego during the day; theory proposed by Freud

57
Q

Auditory processing of language is (ipsilateral/contralateral/both). Explain how the sound travels from the ear to the auditory cortex.

A

It is both.
Sound from the left ear travels to the right auditory cortex & vice-versa for initial processing. However, it then travels to the LEFT hemisphere (parietal/frontal lobes) for final processing.

58
Q

What is the law of similarity?

A

A Gestalt principle which says that objects that look alike tend to be grouped together.

59
Q

What is the law of Pragnanz?

A

It says that humans tend to perceive the most simplest interpretation of things/images.

60
Q

What is perceptual constancy?

A

Being able to recognize a stimulus as being the same even if the shape or angle changes due to environment such as distance/lighting/orientation

61
Q

What is the law of subjective contours?

A

It describes how our mind creates contours for a shape/image which doesn’t have specifically defined countours (outline/perimeter).

62
Q

What is the law of closure?

A

It says that our mind tends to fill in gaps for a shape or image that is broken into lines. (A circle that is made of dotted lines instead of one circular line is still perceived as a circle)

63
Q

Monocular cue: Interposition

A

Closer objects overlap in front of objects further away

64
Q

Monocular cue: texture gradient

A

Closer objects show more fine detail than objects further away

65
Q

Monocular cue: relative size

A

Further objects appear smaller than closer objects even though they have the same size

66
Q

Monocular cue: Linear perspective

A

Distances between parallel lines appear narrower (closer together) as they become further away

67
Q

Monocular cue: relative height

A

Further objects are perceived to be higher height wise in a frame/field than closer object which are lower in the field

68
Q

What is the law of emergence?

A

Gestalt principle which says that when an image appears infront of us we see the entirety of the object/objects in the image automatically rather than seeing individual parts of that object/thing

69
Q

What is the law of common fate?

A

It is the perception that elements with the same moving direction are perceived as a collective unit or group. (A flock of birds flying in the same direction are perceived as a V-shaped group)

70
Q

Perceptual constancy describes the same phenomenon as the “law of _______”

A

Invariance

71
Q

Explain the difference between each answer:

A

Incentive stimulus - it motivates behavior by offering a reward
Sensory stimulus - any stimulus which activates the sensory organs
Distal stimulus - the real-world object that gives rise to our sensory experience
Proximal stimulus - the stimulus that is detected/registered by our sensory receptors (first stage of sensory info processing)

72
Q

What is the gate theory of pain?

A

Theory which says that pain sensation is reduced when other somatosensory signals are present

73
Q

D-amphetamine has what mechanism of action?

A

It acts as a stimulant so it activates the sympathetic nervous system essentially overwhelming the CNS and causing a reset of the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems

74
Q

What does the opponent process theory of vision say?

A

It says that different colors that we see our coded in opponent pairs. For example, red and green cannot be seen at the same time as well as yellow and blue because they are opponent pairs. However, we can see red and yellow at the same time.

75
Q

Compare proprioception vs. kinesthesia.

A

Proprioception is the ability to sense one’s own body parts/position in space.
Kinesthesia is the ability to sense one’s own body movements.

76
Q

What are feature detectors?

A

They are a specialized type of neurons in the visual cortex which are responsible for interpreting different aspects of visual stimuli. Increasingly complex aspects of the visual stimulus are processed in sequence to produce a perception of the object as a whole.

77
Q

What does the place theory say?

A

It explains how sound is processed in terms of pitch. High frequency sounds are activated at the base of the basilar membrane. Low frequency sounds are activated at the apex of the basilar membrane.

78
Q

What is feature detection?

A

A type of serial processing where increasingly complex aspects of a stimulus are processed in sequence. This occurs in the visual cortex and is a form of bottom-up processing which relies on information from your sensory receptors.

79
Q

Equation for Weber’s Law:

A

ΔI/I = k
ΔI is the change in intensity
I is the original intensity
k is the constant which you use to multiply to any new stimulus intensity

80
Q

Define signal detection theory

A

Theory which says that detection of a stimulus is not only dependent on its strength, but also on the psychological state of the individual

81
Q

Name the 3 types of taste buds on the tongue and their location

A

Fungiform - first half and tip of tongue
Foliate - sides of tongue
Circumvallate - back of the tongue

82
Q

In each taste bud there are various taste receptors which detect different kinds of food. What are the different classes of taste receptors?

A

salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami

83
Q

Describe what kind of protein each taste receptor is made of:

A

Sweet - GPCR: T1R3/T1R2 initial receptor
Umami - GPCR: T1R3/T1R1 initial receptor
Bitter - GPCR: T2R receptor
Salty - Na ion channel
Sour - H+ ion channel called PKD

84
Q

Define Labeled Line Theory

A

In all parts of the tongue we can taste all of the 5 classes of taste. However, within each taste bud the 5 classes are segregated in lines, so that each section of the taste bud recognizes a different taste. Each portion of the taste bud sends an axon that travels separately to the gustatory cortex and projects onto separate regions of the cortex.

85
Q

Which of the senses doesn’t cross through the thalamus and goes straight to the cerebral cortex?

A

Olfaction (smell)

86
Q

What are the two nerves that don’t originate in the brainstem? Where do they originate from?

A

Olfactory nerve and optic nerve; forebrain

87
Q

Outline olfactory transduction

A
  1. Odorant binds to its chemoreceptor (GPCR) which activates a G protein inside the cell
  2. Alpha subunit from G protein dissociates & binds adenylyl cyclase
  3. cAMP is released
  4. Intracellular cAMP binds to cyclic nucleotide Na & Ca to flow into cell to depolarize it
88
Q

Define olfactory neuron, olfactory bulb, olfactory epithelium, cribriform plate

A

Olfactory neuron - bipolar neuron which has 1 dendrite buried in the olf. epithelium w/ multiple cilia-like projections that house specific receptors for recognition of 1 type of odorant
–> each bipolar neuron specializes for 1 specific odorant
Olfactory epithelium - lines interior of the nose & houses projections of olfactory receptor neurons/cells
Olfactory bulb - where olfactory receptor cells originate & project across
Cribriform plate - thin region of skull bone that separates the olfactory epithelium from the brain

Malika Psychology MCAT (12 decks)

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