Sensation & Perception Flashcards
What is “sensation?”
the process by which we receive information from the world around us
What is “perception?”
the act of organizing, assimilating and interpreting sensory input into useful and meaningful information
What properties of a sensory receptor need to be communicated to the CNS?
1) stimulus “modality”
2) stimulus “location”
3) stimulus “intensity”
4) stimulus “duration”
What is “proprioception?”
the awareness of one’s bodily position in space
example: you can tell if your arm is raised above your head while lying in bed
What is the “kinesthetic sense?”
the awareness of one’s bodily motion
example: a person practicing their golf swing stands at a tee and visualizes the correct position and then begins to moves their hips, raise their arms, etc
What is the “feature-detection theory?”
when looking at an object certain neurons fire for individual and specific features (such as color, shape and motion) in order to determine what the object actually is
What is the theory of “parallel processing?”
multiple aspects of a visual stimulus are processed simultaneously, rather than one at a time
What are binocular cues?
- depth cues that depend on cues from both eyes
- most important for perceiving the depth of objects close by
What are some examples of binocular cues?
- retinal disparity
- convergence
What are monocular cues?
depth cues that depend on information that is available to either eye alone and are important for judging distances of objects that are from from is (because retinal disparity is only slight)
What are some examples of monocular cues?
- relative size / height / motion / clarity/
- interposition
- linear perspective
- texture
- light and shadow
What is the “Troxler effect?”
when you fixate your vision onto a particular spot, a stimulus in the periphery fades / disappears
(ie “sensory adaptation” - we tend to adapt to the constant stimulus)
What is “stereopsis?”
depth perception
-the relative location of each retina allows for different images of the object to be processed
What is the Stroop effect?
the delay in reaction time between congruent and incongruent stimuli
*seeing the color “RED” written in green ink
Distinguish between a distal vs proximal stimulus
proximal = the stimulus registered by the sensory receptors (color, shade, depth, etc)
distal = the object that is providing the information
*example: A person looks at a shoe on the floor. The shoe itself is the DISTAL stimulus, while the black color and shininess are the PROXIMAL
