Unit 4- Sensation and perception Flashcards
What is sensation?
The process where our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
What is perception?
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
What is the difference between bottom up processing and top down processing?
Bottom up- Begins with the sensory receptors and works up to brain’s integration of sensory information
Top down- Information processed by higher level mental processes; big picture then little details
What is selective attention?
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Ex.: cocktail party effect
What is inattentional blindness?
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
What is change blindness?
Failing to notice changes in the environment
What is transduction
Converting one form of energy into another
Ex. Converting stimulus energies into neural impulses our brains can interpret.
What is absolute threshold?
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
What is signal detection theory?
A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation, assuming there is no absolute threshold and depends partly on a person’s experiences , expectations, motivations, and alertness
What does subliminal mean?
Stimuli you cannot detect 50% of the time; below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
What does prime/priming mean?
The unconscious activation of certain associations, predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response
What is difference threshold?
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time, experienced as a just noticeable difference (jnd)
What is Weber’s law?
To be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
What is sensory adaptation?
Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation
What is a perceptual set?
A mental predisposition that functions as a lens through which we perceive the world
Our learned concepts, ________, prime us to organize and interpret ambiguous stimuli in different ways
schemas
What is parapsychology?
The study of paranormal phenomena, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis
What are the three most testable forms of ESP?
-telepathy (mind to mind communication)
-clairvoyance (perceiving remote events)
-precognition (perceiving future events)
The hue we perceive in light depends on its ___________ and its brightness depends on its ____________
wavelength
intensity
Short wavelength= what colors and what pitched sounds?
bluish colors
high pitched sounds
Great amplitude= what colors and what kind of sound?
bright colors
loud sounds
Long wavelength= what colors and what pitched sound?
reddish colors
low pitched sounds
Small amplitude= what colors and what kind of sounds?
Dull colors
quiet sounds
What is the pupil?
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
What is the iris?
A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
What is the lens?
A transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
What is the retina?
Light sensitive, inner surface of the eye, contains receptor rods and cones and a layer of neurons that begin processing visual information
What is accommodation?
The eye lens change shape to focus near or far shapes on the retina.
What do rods do?
Detect black, white, and gray, necessary for peripheral and twilight vision when cones don’t respond
What do cones do?
Detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
What are bipolar cells?
Provide the pathway from photoreceptors to the activation of ganglion cells
What do ganglion cells form the _____ ______.
optic nerve
What does the optic nerve do?
Carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.
What is the blind spot?
The point where the optic nerve leaves the eye; there are no receptor cells
What is the fovea?
the central focus point of the retina, the cones cluster here
What is the Young Hemholtz trichromatic theory?
The retina contains three different color receptors; one sensitive to red, green, and blue. When stimulated in combination, can produce any color.
What is the opponent process theory?
Opposing retinal processes enable color vision
What is proximity?
We group nearby figures together
What is continuity?
We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than a discontinuous one
What is closure?
We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object
