Sensation & Perception Flashcards
*Absolute Threshold
The intensity at which a sound becomes audible for a given individual
What is the order of sensation?
Stimuli/Sense receptors/Neural signals
What is an example of transduction?
-The eyeball takes photons of light and turns then into neural signals.
-The ears take sound waves and turn them into neural signals
Bottom-Up processing is processing without ________
a preconceived notion/bias.
Top-Down processing is processing while __________
looking for something/having a preconceived notion.
If stimuli is subliminal it is ______
below a person’s absolute threshold of conscious awareness.
Hallucinations occur when a person…
is detecting stimuli that isn’t there.
Psychophysics measure…
How physical characteristics of stimuli relate to our psychological experience.
Signal Detection Theory
Our absolute threshold depends on:
-Experience
-Expectations
-Motivation
-Fatigue
Difference Threshold
The minimum difference between two stimuli needed to detect the difference 50% of the time.
Weber’s Law
The difference threshold is subjective. The competing stimuli affect how different the subject stimuli will be.
Sensory Adaptation
Diminished sensitivity due to constant stimulation.
What is an example of Sensory Adaptation?
-Jumping into a cold pool and eventually getting used to the temperature.
-Automatic breathing
-Automatic blinking
-Not consciously feeling clothes
Prosopagnosia
Inability to recognize a face.
Globe Luxation
Loss of eyeballs
_____ % of all sensory receptors are in eyes.
70
Order of vision
Cornea→ Pupil→ Lens→ Retina (Rods/Cones) → Bipolar Cells (transduction)→ Ganglion Cells→ Optic Nerve (ganglion axons) → Visual Cortex/ Occipital Lobe.
Light entering eye triggers…
Photochemical reaction in rods and cones at back of retina.
The optic nerve transmits information to the visual cortex via the…
Thalamus.
The axons of ganglion cells converge to form the _____
Optic nerve.
What is the function of the Iris?
-Regulates the size of the pupil by dilating or constricting (accomodation)
-Adjusts the amount of light that reaches the retina.
What is the Retina composed of?
Photoreceptive cells (rods + cones)
Rods
-Black and white
-Night vision
-Motion detection
-Peripheral vision
Cones
-Color
-Clarity
Fovea
-Center of the retina
-Comprised of Cones
Hue
Color determined by the wavelength of light
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory
Theorized the perception of color is based on activation of 3 different types of cones:
-Red/green
-Blue/Yellow
-Black/White
Color Blindness
-Usually caused by a misfiring or lack of cones
-Most commonly a Red/Green deficiency (dichromatic)
Feature Detectors
Specialized nerve cells in the occipital lobe’s visual cortex which only detect 1 feature, such as:
-Edges
-Vertical Lines
-Horizontal Lines
-Angles
-Movement
What feature of the brain allows photos to be assembled from feature detectors?
White Matter
Parallel Processing
The ability of the brain to process multiple types of information simultaneously.
(In contrast to Serial Processing)
(Vision involves parallel processing of motion, form, depth, and color)
The Stroop Effect
Cognitive delay in processing incongruent stimuli
Loudness is determined by ____
The amplitude of a sound wave.
Pitch
The low or high tone determined by the frequency of a sound wave.
Place Theory
Theorizes that the hair cells on the basilar membrane of the cochlea are each tuned to activate at a specific frequency.
Frequency Theory
Theorizes that the rate of impulses in the auditory nerve matches the frequency of the tone (for low-frequency sounds)
Conduction hearing loss
Damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.
Ex. Earwax blocking the auditory canal; damage to the eardrum, hammer, anvil stirrup, or oval window; swelling which restricts the movement of these parts.
Sensorineural hearing loss/ nerve deafness
Damage to the hair cells on the basilar membrane of the cochlea
Cochlear implant
A type of hearing aid that converts sound waves into electrical signals and stimulates activation in the auditory nerve
(bypasses the damage in the cochlea)
The word for taste is…
Gustation
The word for smell is…
Olfaction
There are ______ gustatory receptor cells per taste bud.
50-100
What are the 5 types of flavor receptor cells?
Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Umami/Savory.
Transduction to neural signals is sent to the…
Gustatory Cortex of the Temporal Lobes
