Unit 4: Sensation and Perception Flashcards
In the field of Sensation and Perception, what does “Sensation” mean?
Sensation is the process of gathering sensory information from our environment. (Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling…)
In the field of Sensation and Perception, what does “Perception” mean?
Perception is how we interpret the sensory information we gather from our environment. (recognizing objects or events, judging distance, stereotyping,…)
What is the difference between “bottom-up” and “top-down” processing?
Bottom-up processing *starts* with sensory information and makes sense of the information without preconceived ideas.Top-down processing *starts* with preconceived ideas that shape how we view our sensory information
What is Selective Attention?
Selective Attention is where our conscious awareness is focused. We can only focus on a very relatively small amount of information at a time.
Even in a crowd of people talking, we can successfully shift our attention to a single group of people talking, and listen in on their conversation. What is this effect called?
Cocktail Party Effect
We can become consciously “blind” to the information that we are not consciously focused on. What is this called?
Selective Inattention
What is Change Blindness?
Change blindness is when a person becomes unaware of changes made to the stimuli around them.
What is Psychophysics?
Psychophysics is a branch of psychology that studies how our mind (“Psycho”) interprets the physical (“physics”) environment around us.
What is an Absolute Threshold?
The absolute threshold is the smallest amount of a stimulus that is still detectable 50% of the time.
What is Signal Detection Theory
Signal Detection Theory states that the absolute threshold depends on our psychological state, and the situation around us. (i.e. it may increase or decrease depending on context)
What does “Subliminal” mean?
Any stimulus that is presented below the absolute threshold is said to be “subliminal”
What is a stimulus called that is above the absolute threshold?
Supraliminal
What does it mean if a person is “primed” by subliminal stimuli?
Priming is the unconscious activation of certain associations. (i.e. a person presented with a subliminal picture of Coke may be more likely to select Coke for their next drink)
What is a Difference Threshold?
Difference threshold is the absolute threshold for change between two stimuli.
What is Weber’s Law?
Weber’s Law says that the absolute threshold of any stimuli varies by a percentage of what it is being compared with, not by a fixed amount.
What is Sensory Adaptation, and come up with one example.
Our brains are presented with an overwhelming amount of information - so to deal with it all, we only perceive a very small amount of it, the rest is “adapted” out. (i.e. you did not feel your shoes on your feet before you read this sentence)
The process of converting light energy into neural impulses is called what?
Visual Transduction
The distance from one wave peak to another is called:
Wavelength
(the distance from one wave peak to another over time would be called frequency)
Our perception of color determined by the wavelength of light is called:
Hue
What characteristic of light makes up its intensity?
The height, or amplitude, or each wave determines the light’s intensity (low amplitude waves make dim light, whereas high amplitude waves make bright light)
What is the pupil?
The pupil is the section of the front of the eye that allows light to enter. It is surrounded by the iris.
Where is the Iris and what does it do?
The iris is a muscle that is the colored part of the front of the eye. It grows and constricts to allow more or less light into the eye through the pupil
Where is the fovea and what is its purpose
The fovea is the section of the retina in the back of the eye that is in the direct center of our vision. It is especially good at distinguishing detail, and has a very high concentration of cones.
Where is the retina and what does it do?
The retina is the layer of tissue that lines the entire back of the eye. It is made up of light receptor cells (rods, cones, bipolar cells and ganglion cells), and allows light energy to be changed into action potentials that are sent to our brain to allow visual perception.
What is the optic nerve?
The optic nerve is a bundle of axons from the neurons in the retina leading to the visual cortex in the brain.
Why do we have a blind spot?
There is no retina in the area of the back of the eye where the optic nerve leaves the eye.
Where is the lens and what does it do?
The lens is behind the pupil, and can move in and out to focus light rays onto the retina
What is the process by which light rays are being bent by the lens to provide focus?
Accomodation
What are the three characteristics of cones?
Cones are a type of visual receptor located in the retina which are:
- Most active in bright light
- Most prevalent in the center of vision (near the fovea)
- Used in color vision
What are three characteristics of rods?
Rods are a type of visual receptor in the retina of the eye which:
- Work best in dim light
- Only perceive black and white
- Most prevalent in peripheral vision
What are the four types of cells that make up the retina?
- Rods
- Cones
- Bipolar Cells
- Ganglion Cells
Rods and cones receive the light energy and send signals to the bipolar cells, which send signals to the ganglion cells - the axons of which make up the optic nerve, and send that signal to the occipital lobe of the brain.
Our brain interprets many different aspects of vision at once; depth, speed, form, color - which is this process of multiple perceptions called?
Parallel Processing
How does the Trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) Theory of Color Vision explain color vision?
The trichromatic theory of color vision says that we have three types of cones, each of which specify in either short, medium, or long wavelengths of light. When we see a particular color, the cones that handle that particular wavelength fire according to how close to their wavelength the color is. The *percentage* of the cones firing tells our brain which color we see.
According to the Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision, what are the three types of cones?
- Short wavelength cones
- Medium wavelength cones
- Long wavelength cones
How does the Opponent Process Theory of Color Vision help to explain afterimages?
The opponent process theory of color vision says that we have three types of cones that each operate in terms of color opposites. One of these is a red / green cone. When we look at the color green for a very long time, our cone gets tired, and when we look away, instead of stopping firing, it overshoots, and we perceive green for a short time, until the cone finally stops firing.
What are the three opposite pairs of colors used in cells according to the Opponent Process Theory of Color Vision?
- Red / Green
- Yellow / Blue
- White / Black
The sense or act of hearing
Audition
The number of wavelengths over time
Frequency
A tone’s experienced highness or lowness as determined by its frequency
Pitch
The system of measuring the intensity of sound, where each 10 units represents a tenfold increase in intensity.
Decibel
Describe the steps in the process where sound waves are converted to brain activity
- Sound waves are channeled into the auditory canal in the outer ear
- The sound waves vibrate the eardrum
- The eardrum transmits those vibrations through a piston made of three parts (hammer anvil stirrup) to the cochlea
- The fluid in the cochlea vibrates, which makes the hair cells move
- The movement of the hair cells trigger action potentials
- The axons of the hair cells are bundled into the auditory nerve
- The auditory nerve leads to the auditory cortex in the brain
Name the three bones of the middle ear which are attached to the eardrum
- Hammer
- Anvil
- Stirrup
What is the name of the bundle of axons that bring sensory information from the hair cells in the cochlea to the auditory cortex of the brain?
Auditory nerve
What is the name of the spiral fluid-filled canal in the inner ear which contains the hair cells?
Cochlea
What is the name of the outer part of the ear that you can see?
Pinna
Place the following terms in order of use as sound waves become neural impulse
- Anvil
- Auditory Canal
- Auditory Cortex
- Auditory Nerve
- Cochlea
- Eardrum
- Hair Cells
- Hammer
- Oval Window
- Pinna
- Stirrup
- Pinna
- Auditory Canal
- Eardrum
- Hammer
- Anvil
- Stirrup
- Oval Window
- Cochlea
- Hair Cells
- Auditory Nerve
- Auditory Cortex
What is the part of the ear circled in this picture?
Pinna
What are the parts of the ear circled in this picture
Hammer - Anvil - Stirrup
These three parts transfer sound energy from the eardrum to the oval window of the cochlea
What is the part of the ear circled in this picture
Eustachian Tube
What is the part of the ear circled in this picture
Auditory Nerve
What is the part of the ear circled in this picture
Eardrum
What is the part of the ear circled in this picture
Cochlea
Describe Helmholtz’ Place Theory of pitch detection
We hear different pitches because hair cells are activated at different places in the chcolea. The higher the pitch, the farther inside the cochlea the hair cell is located
Describe Frequency Theory of pitch detection
Frequency theory states that we hear pitch based on how often neural impulses are fired from the hair cells in the cochlea (e.g. a cell firing at 100 times per second would be a lower pitched noise than a cell firing at 1000 per second)
What are the two broad types of hearing loss?
- Conduction Hearing Loss
- Sensorineural Hearing Loss
What is the difference between conduction hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss?
Conduction hearing loss is deafness caused by a problem with the eardrum or associated middle ear bones which do not allow sound waves to vibrate into the cochlea
Sensorineural hearing loss is deafness caused by deterioration of the hair cells within the cochlea
Currently, the only way to restore hearing in individuals with sensorineural hearing loss is with a _________________
Cochlear implant
What is Kinesthesis?
Your sense of the position and movement of your body parts
This sense uses the fluid filled chambers of the inner ear to allow us to know our body’s position and movement, and monitors our balance.
Vestibular Sense
What are the two fluid-filled parts of the ear that allow our vestibular sense to function?
- semicircular canals
- vestibular sacs
What is the name of the type of receptor that detects pain?
Nocireptors
According to gate control theory of pain perception, what are the two types of nerve fibers within the spinal cord that will open or close the “gate” for pain perception, and which is which?
- Large Fiber - which help to close the gate for pain perception
- Small Fiber - which help to open the gate for pain perception
What are the five types of taste?
- Sweet
- Salty
- Sour
- Bitter
- Umami
What is the name of the bundle of axons which carry information about the smells that we encounter to from our noses to our brain?
Olfactory nerve
What is the name of the cells that take tiny odorant particles and convert them into neuronal messages?
Olfactory receptor cells
Briefly describe the steps in the process of smell
- Tiny particles called “odorants” float around in the air
- These odorants bind to olfactory receptor cells
- The olfactory receptor cells send information about the odorants up to the olfactory bulb
- The information passes from the olfactory bulb to the olfactory nerve (a bundle of axons from the olfactory receptor cells)
- The olfactory nerve sends this information directly to the brain
What are the four gestalt principles of organization?
- Similarity
- Continuity
- Proximity
- Closure
In the picture below, we can only perceive either a saxophone player or a face, not both. What does this illustrate?
Figure-Ground Perception
In FGP, you focus on one object (the figure) and everything else becomes the background (ground)
In the images below, we perceive them as a circle or rectangle, instead of just a set of lines. What Gestalt principle is used?
Closure
Our brain “closes” off incomplete figures, and we see the completed shape, even though it does not exist
In the image below, we perceive the left set of dots as a square, and the right set as three columns. What gestalt principle is used?
Proximity
In the image below, we perceive a plus sign. What Gestalt principle is used?
Similarity
In the figure below - we see lines AD and CB, instead of any other combinations. What Gestalt principle is used?
Continuity
The process that allows us to perceive depth either of our eyes alone (not together)
Monocular cues
The process that allows us to perceive depth using both of our eyes at the same time
Binocular cues
If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive the blocked object as farther away. Which monocular cue is this?
Interposition
Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more they converge, the more far away they seem.
Linear Perspective
What are six of the monocular cues used in depth perception?
- Relative Height
- Relative Size
- Interposition
- Linear Perspective
- Relative Motion
- Light and Shadow
Which monocular cue sees darker objects as farther away, and lighter objects as closer?
Light and Shadow
As you are moving, objects that are non-moving appear to move backwards. Those that appear to move faster appear closer than those that move slower. What is this monocular depth cue called?
Relative motion
What monocular cue allows us to see objects that are higher in our visual field as farther away?
Relative Height
What monocular cue allows us to see larger objects as closer
Relative size
Describe perceptual constancy
Perceptual constancy is what allows us to perceive objects as “constant” in shape and size even when they change size or shape as we move closer and farther to them.
Describe color constancy
Color constancy allows us to perceive colors as the same hue even when they are brought into shadow, bright light, or are even brought into a light of a different color.
In experiments where humans are given glasses which shift their view 40 degrees to the left, our motions will adapt to this in a short amount of time, and we will properly grab items in front of us. What is this mental change called?
Sensory adaptation
Our preconceived notions of what we expect to see that influence how we perceive objects (i.e. “Is that a cloud or a UFO?”)
Perceptual Set
What are the three types of ESP?
- Telepathy - Sending thoughts to another person without speaking
- Clairvoyance - Perceiving remote events (“I feel like something bad just happened”)
- Precognition - Telling the future
What is telekinesis?
Being able to move objects using just your brain
What is the Phi Phenomenon
The ability to see still images presented in rapid succession as movement (e.g. television, or a flipbook)
