Unit 7- Sensation and Perception Flashcards
sensation
the process of how our receptors receive and represent information
sensory receptors
sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli
perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information
bottom up processing
begins at your sensory receptors and makes it’s way up to the other levels of processing
top down processing
makes perceptions from both sensory input and past experiences, can often be wrong
selective attention
when awareness focuses on a singular part of any experience
cocktail party effect
the ability to listen to one voice in a sea of many
inattentional blindness
the blindness of millions of visual stimuli to not overwhelm our minds
change blindness
failure to notice a change in environment
signal detection theory
predicts when we will detect certain signals
transduction
translation of physical energy into electrochemical energy for processing
absolute threshold
the minimum stimulation necessary to detect something
subliminal
stimuli that are below your threshold
difference threshold
the minimum stimulus difference a person can detect half of the time
priming
an unconscious preparation
Weber’s Law
for two stimuli to be different there has a to be a certain percentage difference
sensory adaptation
When constantly exposed to unchanging stimuli we become less aware of it
wavelength
the distance of one wave peak to another
cornea
the clear outer layer of the eye
hue
color we experience
retina
a multilayered tissue on the eyes inner surface
intensity
amount of energy a wave contains
iris
a colored muscle that dilates or contracts due to intensity
lens
transparent focuser
pupil
a small adjustable opening
fovea
point of central focus
accommodations
when the lens changes the color and focus of waves
rods
retinal receptors for black, white, grey, movement, peripheral and twilight vision
cones
retinal receptors for daytime and color sensations, only behind the fovea
blindspot
a place in your eye with no receptor cells
light path
cornea → pupil →lens → retina
optic nerve
where the axons twine together
trichromatic theory (Young and Helmholtz)
the retina contains three color receptors red, green and blue
parallel processing
processing multiple things at once
opponent processing theory
color depends if the red green, blue yellow, or white black process in the retina
feature detectors
nerve cells in the occipital lobes (visual cortex) that respond to a scenes edges, lines, angles and movements
audition
the act of hearing
amplitude
height of sound waves, determines loudness
frequency
the length of sound waves and determines the pitch (high or low tone)
cochlea
receives the transitions, is snail shaped, inside the inner ear, the vibrations open the oval windows and fluids ripple the basilar membrane which bends the hair cells on its surface
decibels
how sound amplitude is measured
eardrum
a tight membrane in the ear where sound waves first strike
middle ear
a piston made of three tiny bones, the hammer, anvil and stirrup, which picks up vibrations and transmits them
auditory nerve
where axons converge to carry the message to the thalamus then to the auditory cortex in the brains temporal lobe
sensorial hearing loss (nerve deafness)
caused by damage to the hair cells or auditory nerve
conduction hearing loss
caused by damage to the eardrum and middle ear bones
cochlear implant
a device that converts sound into electrical signals that stimulate the auditory nerve
tactile sense
our sense of touch
endorphins
a brains natural pain killer
gateway theory of control
it suggests the spinal cord has a neurological gate the controls the transition of pain to the brain
phantom limb sensation
when a limb is amputated you can feel pain where there shouldn’t be with incorrect CNS input
placebos
fake thoughts that convince your body it’s ok
gustation
our sense of taste
olfaction
the experience of smell
kinesthesia
our bodies movement sense
vestibular sense
our sense of body movement in balance
sensory interaction
one sense influencing another
Megurk effect
when our eyes see one sound our ear hears another so the brain blends them together
embodied cognition
the influence of body sensations, and gestures on cognitive preferences or judgments
gestalt
a form or whole of sensation clusters
figure ground
the ability to separate faces from their backgrounds
grouping
the tendency to organize randomness
proximity
we group nearby figures
continuity
we perceive smooth continuous patterns
closure
we fill in gaps
visual cliff
a model of a cliff with a drop off area that was fake, they then tried to coax 8 months old into going off but they would not
depth perception
the ability to see three dimensions despite the eye receiving two dimensions
retinal disparity
your brain compares images with both eyes to see distance
binocular cues
a depth cue that relies of the use of two eyes
monocular cues
depth cues available to each eye separately
relative height
we perceive objects higher up as further away
relative size
if two objects are similar in size then the one that has a smaller retinal image seem further away
interposition
if one object is blocking another it seems closer
linear perspective
parallel lines appear to meet in the distance, the sharper the angle of convergence the greater the perceived distance
relative motion
while moving still objects may seem to move
motion perception
the ability to correctly perceive approaching objects
light and shadow
shading creates a sense of depth
stroboscopic motion
perceives a rapid series of images varying as continuous movement
phi phenomenon
an illusion of movement when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off quickly
perceptual adaptation
the ability to adjust to changed sensory input
perceptual set
a set of mental predispostion to see on thing and not the other (fox,owl,turkey, d?ck vs. bob, tom, bill, d?ck)
context
what is surrounding us that affects our thinking
extra sensory perception (ESP)
the idea that perception can happen without sensory input
telepathy
mind to mind connection
clairvoyance
perceiving remote events in another state
precognition
perceiving future events
parapsychology
the study of paranormal phenomena
