Understanding Sensation and Perception Process

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

process of detecting psychical energy in the environment

Question 2

transduction

Answer 2

the process of converting sensory information into ATPs

Question 3

perception

Answer 3

the process of giving sensory input meaning

Question 4

synesthesia

Answer 4

a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory modality can cross over and lead to a perception in another modality

Question 5

grapheme-colour synesthesia

Answer 5

where different letters or number can come to be associated with different colours

Question 6

vision

Answer 6

light waves

Question 7

audition

Answer 7

sound waves

Question 8

gustation

Answer 8

chemical

Question 9

olfaction

Answer 9

gasses

Question 10

somatosensation

Answer 10

tissue damages

Question 11

wavelength

Answer 11

the distance between 2 consecutive waves measured at the same point

Question 12

frequency

Answer 12

inverse of wavelength, the number of reptitions the wave makes in a unit of time in Hertz (Hz)

Question 13

amplitude

Answer 13

the energy contained in the wave, measured using its height

Question 14

complexity

Answer 14

the number of different wavelengths that are present within a stimulus

Question 15

additive mixing

Answer 15

mixing LIGHTS together to produce more complez stimuli

Question 16

subtractive mixing

Answer 16

mixing PAINTS together leads to less complex stimuli

Question 17

trichromatic (3-colour) theory

Answer 17

describes what happens in the retina, where the photoreceptor cells are located

Question 18

dichromatic colour deficiency

Answer 18

only having 2 of the 3 cones to identify colours

Question 19

negative afterimages provide evidence for what?

Answer 19

the opponent processing theory of colour vision

Question 20

opponent processing theory

Answer 20

there are 3 pairs of antagonistic cells in the brain: red/green cells, blue/yellow cells, white/black cells. the perception of one color supresses the perception of its opposite

Question 21

go through the process of the opponent processing theory

Answer 21

Cell pairs are described as antagonistic because activation of one leads to the inhibition of its partner. When the “Green” neurons become excited, their “Red” partners are suppressed. As the “Green” cells fatigue, their activity drops below baseline to allow recovery, while the “Red” cells return to baseline. It is the relative activity of the two antagonistic cells that determines our perception of colour.

Question 22

bottom-up processing

Answer 22

putting smaller pieces together to make larger ones

Question 23

top-down processing

Answer 23

implements strategies shaped by evolution and our experiences

Question 24

subjective contours

Answer 24

brain fills in gaps to identify something familiar

Question 25

gestalt pyshcology

Answer 25

a german movement in psych (1940s-50s)

Question 26

figure or ground in gestalt pyschology

Answer 26

foreground vs background

Question 27

principle of proximity in gestalt pyschology

Answer 27

objects positioned closely tend to be grouped together in perception

Question 28

principle of continuity in gestalt pyschology

Answer 28

objects are perceived as continuous

Question 29

principle of similarity in gestalt pyschology

Answer 29

objects resembling each other tend to be grouped in perception

Question 30

principle of closure in gestalt pyschology

Answer 30

objects are perceived as completed forms by filling in gaps

Question 31

stereoscopic vision

Answer 31

primates, including humans, have two eyes positioned side by side on the front of the face, with considerable overlap of the right and left visual fields

Question 32

retinal disparity

Answer 32

minor discrepancies between the images received by the right and left retina

Question 33

degree of disparity is…

Answer 33

an indication of distance between closer objects create larger disparities than distant ones
(example: an object really close to your eye, and switch between the left and right eye: difference is greater than when the object is far)

Question 34

monocular cues

Answer 34

depth cues that can be perceived with just one eye, allowing for depth perception without the need for binocular vision

Question 35

interposition

Answer 35

the tendency to perceive blocked objects as more distant than occluding objects

Question 36

linear perspective

Answer 36

the tendency to perceive depth when two lines are observed to converge

Question 37

relative size

Answer 37

tendency to perceive smaller objects as further away than larger objects of the same type

Question 38

texture gradient

Answer 38

the tendency for the units that make up a texture become distoreted and desner as they recede into the distance

Question 39

visual acuity

Answer 39

perception of depth, only when distances are very large. the effct of daing to occur when looking at something from very fair away due to the tiny particles in the way over larger distances

Question 40

motion parallax

Answer 40

when distant objects tend to move across the horizon more slowly than nearby objects