Unit 3: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

process by which sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

the process of organizing/interpreting this information

Question 3

sensory receptors

Answer 3

nerves that respond to stimuli

Question 4

bottom-up processing

Answer 4

starts with your sensory receptors and work up to the higher levels of processing

Question 5

top-down processing

Answer 5

constructs perception from sensory input by drawing on experience and expectations

Question 6

selective attention

Answer 6

focus of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Question 7

inattentional blindness

Answer 7

failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere

Question 8

transduction

Answer 8

conversion of one form of energy into another form that the brain uses

Question 9

psychophysics

Answer 9

study of relationships b/w the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as the intensity and psychological experience of them

Question 10

subliminal

Answer 10

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 11

perceptual set

Answer 11

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the others

Question 12

extrasensory perception (ESP)

Answer 12

external source by which some people derive perception, that is not sensation, cognition or emotion
(telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition)

Question 13

parapsychology

Answer 13

study of paranormal phenomena including ESP and psychokinesis

Question 14

rods

Answer 14

one kind of receptor cell concentrated at the edges of the retina
is key to peripheral and twilight vision: detects black/white/gray and is movement sensitive

Question 15

cones

Answer 15

one kind of receptor cell concentrated at the center of the retina
key to color sensation:
function in well-lit conditions and detect detail

Question 16

cornea

Answer 16

clear protective outer layer that covers pupil and iris

Question 17

pupil

Answer 17

adjustable opening in the center

Question 18

iris

Answer 18

colored part of the eye

Question 19

retina

Answer 19

multilayered sensitive inner surface of the eyeball

Question 20

accomodation

Answer 20

process by which lens changes shape to help focus

Question 21

optic nerve

Answer 21

carries neural impulses from eye to brain

Question 22

blind spot

Answer 22

where the optic nerve leaves the eye and there are no receptors

Question 23

fovea

Answer 23

where cones cluster around, the central focal point of retina

Question 24

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatric (3 color) theory

Answer 24

retina contains three different types of color receptors (red/green/blue) which when stimulated in combination produce the perception of any color

Question 25

opponent-process theory

Answer 25

opposing retinal processes(red-green/blue-yellow/white-black)

Question 26

feature detectors

Answer 26

nerve cells in the visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus(shape, angle, movement)

Question 27

parallel detectors

Answer 27

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously
(default information processing for brain)

Question 28

gestalt

Answer 28

whole/form

Question 29

figure-ground

Answer 29

distinction of the figure form its surrounding in the visual field

Question 30

grouping principles (there’s 3)

Answer 30

proximity: group nearby figures together
continuity: perceive smooth continuous patterns
closure: fill the gaps to create complete objects

Question 31

depth perception

Answer 31

ability to see 3D although images that strike the retina and 2D; enables us to judge distance (ex: video game environments)

Question 32

binocular cues

Answer 32

depth cue that depends on use of both eyes

Question 33

retinal disparity

Answer 33

due to the distance between the eyes, we perceive two different images, the more different these two images are, the closer the object is to us

Question 34

monocular cues

Answer 34

depth cue available to either eye alone

Question 35

phi phenomenon

Answer 35

illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Question 36

perceptual constancy

Answer 36

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent, color, brightness, shape, and size) even when illumination/retinal images change (a top-down process)

Question 37

color constancy

Answer 37

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color even if illumination changes

Question 38

perceptual adaptation

Answer 38

ability to adjust to changed sensory inout, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Question 39

audition

Answer 39

sense or act of hearing

Question 40

frequency

Answer 40

determines the pitch(high/low tone)

Question 41

eardrum

Answer 41

first to receive sound vibration

Question 42

middle ear

Answer 42

second part, piston made of 3 tiny bones

Question 43

bones of middle ear

Answer 43

hammer, anvil, stirrup

Question 44

cochlea

Answer 44

bony, fluid-filled tube which triggers nerve impulses; located in the inner ear

Question 45

oval window

Answer 45

cochlea’s membrane-covered opening; vibrated by the cochlea which jostles the fluid inside

Question 46

basilar membrane + hair cells

Answer 46

membrane that bends the hair cells that line its surface, triggering impulses in adjacent nerve cells

Question 47

auditory nerve

Answer 47

formed by the converging axons of nerve cells
a nerve connecting the inner ear with the brain and carrying nerve impulses concerned with hearing and balance

Question 48

sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 48

nerve deafness caused by damage to the cochlea’s hair cell receptors

Question 49

conduction hearing loss

Answer 49

a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (hearing can only be restored by a cochlear implant)

Question 50

Place theory

Answer 50

we perceive sound waves with different pitches because they trigger activity at different places along the cochlea’s basilar membrane
(high frequency produces large vibrations near the beginning of the membrane /low frequencies vibrate more but unclear where which is a key issue w/ the theory)
overall helps explain high frequency hearing

Question 51

frequency/temporal theory

Answer 51

brain reads pitch by monitoring frequency of neural impulses traveling to the auditory nerve
(issue w/ theory is that individual neurons can’t fire faster than 100x per sec, however we can sense sounds with frequencies of 100x waves per second)
overall helps explain low pitch hearing

Question 52

Gate control theory

Answer 52

the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them access to the brain
is opened by activity of pain signals traveling up smaller nerve fibers and is closed by activity in large fibers or by brain messages
(when tissue is injured you feel pain, yet acupunctures trigger no pain)

Question 53

kinesthesia

Answer 53

our sense of movement and position

Question 54

sensory interaction

Answer 54

senses influence each other and our brain blends the information to form perception

Question 55

vestibular sense

Answer 55

our sense of our movement and position that enables balance; differs from kinesthesia in that it emphasizes movement in relation to gravity and the environment

Question 56

nociceptors

Answer 56

sensory receptor for painful stimuli

Question 57

semicircular canals

Answer 57

three tiny, fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that help you keep your balanc

Question 58

olfactory bulb

Answer 58

a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell

Question 59

absolute threshold

Answer 59

a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell

Question 60

difference threshold

Answer 60

a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell