Unit 3: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

The process of organizing and interpreting this information, enabling recognition of meaningful events.

Question 3

Bottom-up processing

Answer 3

Bottom-up processing refers to processing sensory information as it is coming in.
For example, if you see an image of an individual letter on your screen, your eyes transmit the information to your brain, and your brain puts all of this information together.

Question 4

Top-down processing

Answer 4

Top-Down Processing is the idea that our brains form an idea of a big picture first from previous knowledge and then break it down into more specific information.
An example of this is stubbing your toe on a chair, the pain receptors detect pain and send this information to the brain where it is processed.

Question 5

Selective Attention

Answer 5

A very limited portion of incoming information, blocking out much and often shifting the spotlight of our attention from one thing to another.

Question 6

Inattentional blindness

Answer 6

Inattentional blindness a failure to notice unexpected but perceptible stimuli in a visual scene while one’s attention is focused on something else.

Question 7

What three steps are basic to all our sensory systems?

Answer 7

Our senses

(1) receive sensory stimulation (often using specialized receptor cells),
(2) transform that stimulation into neural impulses, and
(3) deliver the neural information to the brain.

Question 8

Transduction

Answer 8

The process of converting one form of energy into another.

Question 9

Psychophysics

Answer 9

Study the relationships between stimuli’s physical characteristics and our psychological experience of them.

Question 10

Absolute threshold

Answer 10

The minimum stimulation is necessary for us to be consciously aware of it 50 percent of the time.

Question 11

Signal detection theory

Answer 11

Predicts how and when we will detect a faint stimulus amid background noise.

Question 12

Difference threshold

Answer 12

The minimum stimulus difference we can pick out 50 percent of the time.

Question 13

Weber’s law

Answer 13

States that two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage (not a constant amount) to be perceived as different.

Question 14

Sensory adaptation

Answer 14

(our diminished sensitivity to constant odors, sights, sounds, and touches) focuses our attention on informative changes in our environment.

Question 15

Basilar membrane

Answer 15

Found in the cochlea; it forms the base of the organ of Corti, which contains sensory receptors for hearing.

Question 16

Define receptor cell-

Answer 16

Protein molecules inside the target cell or on its surface receive a chemical signal.

Question 17

What does a rod do?

Answer 17

Specialized photoreceptors that work well in low light conditions are involved in our vision in a dimly lit environment as well as our perception.

Question 18

What does a cone do?

Answer 18

Receptor cells help us see fine details of things and tend to help us see in situations where there is light or daylight.

Question 19

What is important about the fovea?

Answer 19

It is responsible for sharp central vision, which is necessary for humans for reading, watching, driving, and things that require consistency.

Question 20

What is the place where the ganglion cells’ axons leave the eye?

Answer 20

They exit the retina through a circular region in its nasal part called the optic disk, where they bundle together.

Question 21

What lobe processes visual information?

Answer 21

Occipital Lobe

Question 22

Explain the trichromatic theory of color vision-

Answer 22

There are three classes of cone receptors subserving color vision.
The three primary colors are the base of all colors.

Explains Colorblindness

Question 23

Explain the opponent-process theory of vision-

Answer 23

One member of the color pair suppresses the other color.

For example, we do see yellowish-greens and reddish-yellows, but we never see reddish-green or yellowish-blue color hues.

Explains Afterimages

Question 24

What is the vestibular sense and what parts of the ear are important to it?

Answer 24

A sensory system that provides the leading contribution to the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordination of the body’s movements.

The major sensory organs of the vestibular system are located next to the cochlea in the inner ear.

Question 25

In a soundwave, what does the ALTITUDE determine?

Answer 25

Altitude determines the distance the shock wave travels before reaching the ground, and this has the most significant effect on intensity.

Question 26

At what decibel level might you experience hearing loss?

Answer 26

Noise above 70 dB

Question 27

How are soundwave frequencies measured?

Answer 27

Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz)

Question 28

Ossicles

Answer 28

The middle ear consists of the tympanic membrane and the bony ossicles called the malleus, incus, and stapes.

Question 29

Tympanic membrane

Answer 29

Also called the eardrum. It separates the outer ear from the middle ear. … The middle ear bones then transfer the vibrating signals to the inner ear.

Question 30

Sensorineural deafness is caused by…

Answer 30

Damage to these special cells, or to the nerve fibers in the inner ear.

Question 31

Conduction hearing loss is caused by…

Answer 31

Any time something prevents sound from getting across the outer and middle ear.

Can be ear wax that blocks.

Question 32

What type of hearing loss is improved by cochlear implants?

Answer 32

Bilateral severe hearing loss

Question 33

Describe the place theory of pitch-

Answer 33

Different portions of the basilar membrane are sensetive to sounds of different frequencies.

Question 34

What is tinnitus?

Answer 34

When you’re experiencing ringing or other noises in one or both of ear.

Prolonged exposure to loud sounds is the most common cause of tinnitus.

Question 35

What is the decibel level of a whisper?

Answer 35

30 dB