Week 2 - Sensation and Perception Flashcards
The concept of levels of analysis recommends that the study of psychological phenomena should be ________.
a. behavioral
b. multidimensional
c. ethical
d. neurological
b. multidimensional
Nerve nets were initially likened to work like ___.
a. a mountain
b. a highway
c. quicksand
d. a volcano
b. a highway
Which of the following components of neural function is distinguished by being an absence of material?
a. axon
b. golgi
c. synapse
d. dendrite
c. synapse
The fact that certain neurons might respond only to your mother’s face but not your father’s face highlights the importance of ___.
a. specificity coding
b. population coding
c. hierarchical processing
d. feature detectors
a. specificity coding
Population coding is to sparse coding as ___ is to ___.
a. pattern; disorganized
b. disorganized; pattern
c. large; small
d. small; large
c. large; small
If you’re having problems with your vision, then it’s likely that there could be a problem with your ___ lobe.
a. frontal
b. occipital
c. parietal
d. temporal
b. occipital
How does Broca’s area differ from Wernicke’s area?
a. Broca’s area is in the occipital lobe, whereas Wernicke’s area is in the occipital lobe.
b. Broca’s area is involved with producing language, whereas Wernicke’s area helps to comprehend language.
c. Broca’s area is involved in memory, whereas Wernicke’s area is not.
d. Broca’s area tends to be damaged in stroke victims, whereas Wernicke’s area is damaged in schizophrenic individuals.
b. Broca’s area is involved with producing language, whereas Wernicke’s area helps to comprehend language.
Suppose you’re carefully deliberating as to whether to accept a certain job offer. In doing so, you are especially using your ___ lobe.
a. temporal
b. occipital
c. parietal
d. frontal
d. frontal
The brain is constantly changing in response to various experiences due to its ________.
a. malleability
b. plasticity
c. coding
d. networks
b. plasticity
Greta suffers from prosopagnosia. As such, we would expect her to ___.
a. show limited intelligence
b. have poor speech production
c. not be able to see clearly
d. have an inability to recognize faces
d. have an inability to recognize faces
Jorge rounds a bend on his hike and sees a beautiful waterfall—which fires a large number of neurons in his brain. Jorge’s response to this stimulus is an example of _____ coding.
a. population
b. memory
c. sparse
d. specificity
a. population
On a car assembly line, one team puts the windshields into the frames, a different team attaches the exhaust system, and another team attaches the doors. From a neural perspective, this illustrates the concept of ________.
a. double dissociation
b. distributed representation
c. localization of function
d. structural connectivity
c. localization of function
The extrastriate body area would be expected to become activated by seeing all of the following EXCEPT ___.
a. faces
b. legs
c. hands
d. torsos
a. faces
If a researcher detects how water diffuses along the length of nerve fibers, then he or she is likely engaged in the technique called ___.
a. functional magnetic resonance imaging
b. magnetic resonance imaging
c. distributed representation
d. track-weighted imaging
d. track-weighted imaging
Which of the following acts like a radio antenna in a car?
a. synapse
b. cell body
c. dendrite
d. axon
c. dendrite
A school cafeteria has 15 circular tables, with the students at each table talking and laughing with each other. This scene can be used as a model to illustrate ________.
a. feature detectors
b. double dissociation
c. neural circuits
d. population coding
c. neural circuits
Neurons in the skin that detect a spider crawling up your leg are called ________.
a. feature detectors
b. Golgi bodies
c. neurotransmitters
d. receptors
d. receptors
A neuron at rest has a ________.
a. positive charge of 70 millivolts
b. negative charge of 70 millivolts
c. positive charge of 40 millivolts
d. negative charge of 40 millivolts
b. negative charge of 70 millivolts
In large cities, bike messengers often pick up documents such as architectural drawings and deliver them to clients. Bike messengers function similarly to ________.
a. dendrites
b. receptors
c. synapses
d. neurotransmitters
d. neurotransmitters
Maya was thrilled to come home from work on her birthday and see a huge bouquet of flowers left on the table for her by her girlfriend. From a neurocognitive perspective, Maya’s experience of the flowers is a ________.
a. aphasia
b. feature
c. representation
d. neurotransmission
c. representation
You are able to perceive that a sailboat on the horizon is moving due to the actions of ________.
a. feature detectors
b. levels of analysis
c. voxels
d. salience network
b. levels of analysis
Driving in the dense fog, Sandeep could only see rows of large, white rectangles up ahead. As he got closer, he could make out that the rectangles were lighted windows in his hotel. Which term best describes what Sandeep experienced?
a. Broca’s aphasia
b. hierarchical processing
c. specificity coding
d. prosopagnosia
b. hierarchical processing
Paul Broca’s research refuted which of the following principles of brain function?
a. distributed representation
b. neural circuits
c. cortical equipotentiality
d. localization of function
c. cortical equipotentiality
Malcolm swears that the used car he bought is cursed. On hot, dry days, the windshield wipers work but the air conditioner doesn’t. On cold, rainy days, the air conditioner works but the windshield wipers don’t. Malcolm’s car serves as a metaphor for which of the following?
a. action potential
b. functional connectivity
c. double dissociation
d. distributed representation
c. double dissociation
Which of the following is key to an fMRI scanner’s ability to track cognitive activity in the brain?
a. iron
b. oxygen
c. carbon dioxide
d. protein
b. oxygen
When you look at the face of a loved one, this experience can be described from a neural perspective as ________.
a. plastic
b. specific
c. multidimensional
d. episodic
c. multidimensional
The occipital lobe of the brain processes the image of a snarling dog and sends this representation to another part of the brain that makes you react with fear, which signals another part of the brain to make you run away. This example shows ________ at work.
a. time-series responses
b. levels of analysis
c. specificity coding
d. neural networks
d. neural networks
Human DNA is to the genome as the brain is to the ________.
a. cyclostome
b. connectome
c. rhizome
d. mesosome
b. connectome
Which functional network becomes active when the brain is at rest?
a. somato-motor
b. salience
c. dorsal attention
d. default mode
d. default mode
Field concerned with studying the neural basis of cognition.
cognitive neuroscience
A topic can be understood by studying it at a number of different levels of a system.
Levels of analysis
______ net theory proposed that signals could be transmitted throughout the net in all directions.
Nerve
Cell that is specialized to receive and transmit information in the nervous system
neurons
A network of continuously interconnected nerve fibers (as contrasted with neural networks, in which fibers are connected by synapses).
nerve net
Camillo ______ (1843–1926) developed a staining technique in which a thin slice of brain tissue was immersed in a solution of silver nitrate.
Golgi
the density of cells in the newborn brain is small/large compared with the density in the adult brain.
small
The idea/ _______doctrine that individual cells called neurons transmit signals in the nervous system, and that these cells are not continuous with other cells as proposed by nerve net theory.
neuron
Part of a cell that contains mechanisms that keep the cell alive. In some neurons, the _____ ______and the dendrites associated with it receive information from other neurons.
cell body
Structures that branch out from the cell body to receive electrical signals from other neurons.
dendrites
Part of the neuron that transmits signals from the cell body to the synapse at the end of the axon.
Axons or nerve fibers
Space between the end of an axon and the cell body or dendrite of the next axon.
synapse
Group of interconnected neurons that are responsible for neural processing, _________ circuits
neural
Neurons are not connected indiscriminately to other neurons but form connections only to specific neurons. True/False
True
Ears, eyes and skin also contain neurons to pick information. True/ False
True
Specialized neural structures (found in eyes, ears and skin) that respond to environmental stimuli such as light, mechanical stimulation, or chemical stimuli.
receptors
the person who made cellular study of mental life possible
Ramon Cajal,
Spanish physiologist
Edgar _______ was able to record electrical signals from single sensory neurons
Adrian
Small wires that are used to record electrical signals from single neurons.
microelectrodes
________ potential (negative 70 millivolts) means no signals in the neuron
Resting
Impulse/_____ potential that typically travel down a neuron’s axon and is responsible for transmitting neural information and communication between neurons.
action potential, lasts about 1 milliseconds
Each action potential travels all the way down the axon without changing its height or shape making it ideal for long distance transmission. True/False
True
Chemical that is released at the synapse in response to incoming action potentials (when the signals reach the synapse at the end of the axon).
neurotransmitter
Neurons that respond to specific visual features, such as orientation, size, or the more complex features that make up environmental stimuli.
feature detectors
A mechanism that causes an organism’s neurons to develop so they respond best to the type of stimulation to which the organism has been exposed (Blakemore and Cooper’s cat experiment with vertical stripes only),___________-__________ plasticisty.
experience-dependent
Area in the occipital lobe that receives signals from the eyes.
visual cortex
Vision areas covers about ___ percent of the visual cortex.
30
The lobe on the side of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for language, memory, hearing, and vision.
temporal lobe
Processing that occurs in a progression from lower to higher areas of the brain.
hierarchical processing
How neural firing represents various characteristics of the environment, _____ code.
sensory code
The representation of a specific stimulus by the firing of neurons that respond only to that stimulus. An example would be the signaling of a person’s face by the firing of a neuron that responds only to that person’s face, _________ coding.
specificity
The problem of neural representation for the senses has been called the problem of ______ ______.
sensory coding,
Neural representation of a stimulus by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons, _________ coding.
population
Neural coding based on the pattern of activity in small groups of neurons.
Sparse coding
Is there a difference between representation of perceptions and representation of memories?
Yes
Memories are also represented by the firing of neurons. True/False
True
Firing associated with memory is associated with information about the past that has been stored in the brain
The neural firing associated with experiencing a perception is associated with what is happening as a stimulus is present. True/False
true
Location of specific functions in specific areas of the brain.
For example, areas have been identified that are specialized to process information involved in the perception of movement, form, speech, and different aspects of memory.
Localisation of function
The 3-mm-thick outer layer of the brain that contains the mechanisms responsible for higher mental functions such as perception, language, thinking, and problem solving.
cerebral cortex
A condition associated with damage to Broca’s area, in the frontal lobe, characterized by labored ungrammatical speech and difficulty in understanding some types of sentences.
Broca’s aphasia
A condition, caused by damage to Wernicke’s area, that is characterized by difficulty in understanding language, and fluent, grammatically correct, but incoherent speech.
Wernicke’s aphasia
The lobe at the back of the brain that is devoted primarily to analyzing incoming visual information and associated with blindness?
occipital lobe
The lobe at the top of the brain that contains mechanisms responsible for sensations caused by stimulation of the skin (touch, pressure, pain)?
parietal lobe
The lobe in the front of the brain that serves higher functions such as language, thought (problem solving, decision making), memory, and motor functioning.
frontal lobe
Condition caused by damage to the temporal lobe on the lower-right side of the brain that is characterized by an inability to recognize faces.
prosopagnosia
Damage to one area of the brain that causes function A to be absent while function B is present, and damage to another area causes function B to be absent while function A is present.
double dissociation
(FFA)
An area in the temporal lobe that contains many neurons that respond selectively to faces.
fusiform face area
(PPA)
An area in the temporal lobe that contains neurons that are selectively activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes.
parahippocampal place area
(EBA)
An area in the temporal cortex that is activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies, but not by faces or other objects.
extrastriate body area
________ representation
occurs when a specific cognition activates many areas of the brain (e.g. looking at face).
Distributed
________ memories are memories for events in a person’s life, like remembering what you did yesterday
Episodic
_________ memories are memories for facts, like knowing that the capital of California is Sacramento.
Semantic
Memories can be
- visual (picturing someplace you often visit),
- auditory (remembering a favorite song), or
- olfactory (smell triggering memories for a familiar place).
Memories often have emotional components, both good and bad (thinking about someone you miss).
Most memories are combinations of many of these components, each of which activates different areas of the brain. Memories, therefore, create a symphony of neural activity throughout the brain.
Neural ________ are interconnected areas of the brain that can communicate with each other
networks
Neural networks is the extension of distributed processing. True/False
True
Structural _________ is the brain’s “wiring diagram” created by nerve axons that connect different brain areas.
connectivity
________ connectivity, the extent to which the neural activity in separate brain areas is correlated with each other.
Functional
The fMRI response recorded when a person is at rest (not involved in any cognitive tasks) is _____ - _______ fMRI.
resting-state
A method for determining functional connectivity that involves determining the correlation between the resting-state fMRI in separated structures is resting-state _______ connectivity.
functional
The idea that our estimate of the probability of an outcome is determined by the prior probability (our initial belief) and the likelihood (the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome), ________ inference.
Bayesian
Network of structures that are active when a person is not involved in specific tasks, (DMN) ____ ______ _______.
default mode network
If your mind wonder that is the example of active _____ ______ _______.
default mode network
Signals can be recorded from neurons using ___________.
microelectrodes.
The principle of _______ __________ states that everything that a person experiences is based not on direct contact with stimuli, but on representations in the person’s nervous system.
neural representation
Conscious experience that results from stimulation of the senses.
perception
Task of determining the object that caused a particular image on the retina.
inverse projection problem
The ability to recognize an object seen from different viewpoints (recognising chair from top, side view).
viewpoint invariance
Processing that starts with information received by the stimulation of receptors, from eyes to brain? This type of processing is also called data-based processing.
bottom-up processing
Processing that involves a person’s knowledge or expectations. This type of processing has also been called knowledge-based processing.
top-down processing
The ability to tell when one word in a conversation ends and the next one begins is a phenomenon called _______ segmentation.
speech
In speech, the likelihood that one speech sound will follow another within a word is called ________ probabilities
transitional
(pretty baby = pre+ty rather than ty+ba)
The process of learning about transitional probabilities and about other characteristics of language, ________ learning (also occurs for vision, based on learning about what types of things usually occur in the environment).
statistical
Helmholtz’s idea that some of our perceptions are the result of unconscious assumptions that we make about the environment, ________ inference.
unconscious
Part of Helmholtz’s theory of unconscious inference that states that we perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have received, _________ principle.
likelihood
(we infer what is likely because of experiences we have had with similar situations in the past)
An important feature of Helmholtz’s proposal is that this process of perceiving what is most likely to have caused the pattern on the retina happens rapidly and unconsciously. True/False
True
A group of psychologists who proposed principles governing perception, such as laws of organization, and a perceptual approach to problem solving involving restructuring.
Gestalt psychologists
The Gestalt approach to perception originated is not in line with Wilhelm Wundt’s structuralism (adding up sensations to form a perception). True/False
True
An illusion of movement perception that occurs when stimuli in different locations are flashed one after another with the proper timing.
apparent movement
The basic principles of Gestalt psychology: The whole is different than the sum of its parts.
Rules proposed by the Gestalt psychologists to explain how small elements of a scene or a display become perceptually grouped to form larger units. These “laws” are described as “heuristics” in this book.
principles of perceptual organization
Law of perceptual organization stating that points that, when connected, result in straight or smoothly curving lines are seen as belonging together. In addition, lines tend to be seen as following the smoothest path.
principle of good continuation
Law of perceptual organization that states that every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible. Also called the law of good figure and the law of simplicity.
law of pragnanz
example of law of principle of simplicity
olympic rings (seen as continues rather than separate pieces)
Gestalt psychology concept is that perception is determined by specific organizing principles. True/False
True
Characteristics of the environment that occur frequently. For example, blue is associated with open sky, landscapes are often green and smooth, and verticals and horizontals are often associated with buildings, ________ in the environment.
regularities
Two types of regularities:
- physical regularities and - semantic regularities.
Regularly occurring physical properties of the environment. For example, there are more vertical and horizontal orientations in the environment than oblique (angled) orientations.
Physical regularities
The finding that vertical and horizontal orientations can be perceived more easily than other (slanted) orientations.
oblique effect
The assumption that light is coming from above. This is a heuristic that can influence how we perceive three-dimensional objects that are illuminated.
light-from-above assumption
Characteristics associated with the functions carried out in different types of scenes. For example, food preparation, cooking, and perhaps eating occur in a kitchen.
Semantic regularities
(Applied to perceiving scenes, semantics refers to the meaning of a scene. )
A person’s knowledge about what is likely to be contained in a particular scene. This knowledge can help guide attention to different areas of the scene. For example, knowledge of what is usually in an office may cause a person to look toward the desk to see the computer, _______ schema.
scene
A person’s initial belief about the probability of an outcome.
prior probability or prior
In Bayesian inference, the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the outcome.
likelihood
According to Bayesian inference, people reach
conclusion by starting with a prior and then use additional evidence to update the prior. True/False
true
The approaches of Helmholtz, regularities, and Bayes all have in common the idea that we use data about the environment, gathered through our past experiences in perceiving, to determine what is out there. _____-________ processing is therefore an important part of these approaches.
Top-down
The Gestalt psychologists, in contrast, emphasized the idea that the principles of organization are built in. They acknowledged that perception is affected by experience but argued that built-in principles can override experience, thereby assigning ____-______ processing a central role in perception.
bottom-up
e.g. W and M, and the combination of both which overrides our perception of W and M.
A procedure in which a specific area is removed from an animal’s brain. It is usually done to determine the function of this area by assessing the effect on the animal’s behavior.
brain ablation or lesioning
A problem in which the task is to remember an object based on its shape and choose it when presented with another object after a delay. Associated with research on the what processing stream, object _____ ________.
discrimination problem
Problem in which the task is to remember an object’s location and to choose that location after a delay. Associated with research on the where processing stream, landmark _______ ________.
discrimination problem
Neural pathway, extending from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe, that is associated with perceiving or recognizing objects. Corresponds to the perception pathway.
what pathway
Neurons in the premotor cortex, originally discovered in the monkey, that respond both when a monkey observes someone else (usually the experimenter) carrying out an action and when the monkey itself carries out the action.
mirror neurons
(There is also evidence for mirror neurons in humans)
A network of neurons in the brain that have mirror neuron properties.
mirror neuron system
The fact that you can recognize your glasses as such from different angles specifically illustrates ___.
a. viewpoint invariance
b. the inverse projection problem
c. unconscious inferences
d. the direct pathway model
a. viewpoint invariance
Given that Betty is fluent in Spanish, she can tell when one word ends and the next one begins. This illustrates ___.
a. unconscious inference
b. the direct pathway model
c. the likelihood principle
d. speech segmentation
d. speech segmentation
Which of the following terms best describes human perception?
a. conscious
b. simple
c. procedural
d. automatic
c. procedural
Which of the following statements is accurate?
a. Perceptual rules must be taught to children.
b. Perception is the basis for all human cognition.
c. Sensations are the sole ingredients for perception.
d. Memory formation is unrelated to perception.
b. Perception is the basis for all human cognition.
Fundamentally, the principle of good figure emphasizes ___ in perception.
a. simplicity
b. complexity
c. semantic elements
d. physical stimuli
a. simplicity
All of the following are examples of physical regularities in the environment EXCEPT ___.
a. landscapes being green
b. light coming from above
c. vertical lines in a cityscape
d. a changing room in a department store
d. a changing room in a department store
Consider the following listing of shapes:
◊◊◊◊◊
□□□□□
●●●●●
Instead of concluding that there are 15 shapes in total pictured (which is accurate), you are more likely to initially conclude that there are three rows of different shapes due to ___.
a. the oblique effect
b. the principle of good continuation
c. the principle of simplicity
d. the principle of similarity
d. the principle of similarity
Which of the following would be LEAST likely to be part of a scene schema for a college classroom?
a. a computer
b. a lectern
c. a table
d. a stove
d. a stove
Testing principles of Bayesian inference necessarily must involve ___.
a. theoretical interpretation
b. logical reasoning
c. biological analyses
d. mathematical procedures
d. mathematical procedures
Which of the following best reflects the Gestalt principle of similarity?
a. overlap
b. movement
c. grouping
d. simplicity
c. grouping
When tasked with identifying items in a particular scene, compared to humans a computer ________.
a. is equally effective
b. has less memory
c. uses fewer algorithms
d. achieves higher accuracy
b. has less memory
Ahmad needs to create a model of the inverse projection problem for a class presentation. What should he indicate as the starting point of the problem?
a. a chain of speech sounds
b. a top-down source of light
c. an ambiguous retinal image
d. an object in the environment
c. an ambiguous retinal image
Perception pathway is to action pathway as _____ pathway is to _____ pathway.
a. what; where
b. where; what
c. how; why
d. why; how
a. what; where
Identifying an object in a scene presents great difficulty for a machine because ________.
a. natural selection is required
b. the pragnanz rate is high
c. there are multiple objects
d. the task requires reasoning
d. the task requires reasoning
Perception is to memory as _____ is to _____.
a. recent; past
b. create; retrieve
c. accurate; faulty
d. constructed; restructured
b. create; retrieve
Which of the following is a key component of bottom-up processing?
a. schema
b. light
c. memory
d. expectation
b. light
In top-down processing, what is at the top of the chain?
a. inference
b. stimuli
c. brain
d. receptors
c. brain
After hearing the word “baby” so many times in their young lives, statistical learning enables children to grasp the transitional probability that after hearing the sound “BAY” it is likely to be followed by the sound “BEE.” Who is the youngest child that will recognize this transitional probability?
a. Nathan, who is 6 months old
b. Rhonda, who is 9 months old
c. Clayton, who is 12 months old
d. Dora, who is 15 months old
b. Rhonda, who is 9 months old
Which of the following is a transitional probability for “pro”?
a. “fum”
b. “vide”
c. “xact”
d. “end”
b. “vide”
Which of the following phrases are a good reflection of Helmholtz’s research?
a. The mirror says…
b. In all likelihood…
c. Adding it all up…
d. Speaking of priors…
b. In all likelihood…
Although each frame of the film has an image of people in a raft on water, the audience in the movie theater sees a group of people paddling and traveling down a swift rushing river. From a Gestalt perspective, the movement of the people and water is ________.
a. apparent
b. schematic
c. inferred
d. probable
a. apparent
Gestalt psychologists rejected the structuralist perspective because it presented human perception as a(n) ________.
a. assumption
b. puzzle
c. process
d. illusion
b. puzzle
The Gestalt principle of pragnanz is focused on which of the following concepts?
a. plasticity
b. repetition
c. similarity
d. simplicity
d. simplicity
Which of the following perceptual concepts makes Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa so intriguing to people?
a. landmark discrimination
b. oblique effect
c. Bayesian inference
d. good continuation
b. oblique effect
Thomas Bayes stated that human perception of objects is based on the combination of which two concepts?
a. similarity and priors
b. priors and likelihood
c. likelihood and schema
d. schema and selection
b. priors and likelihood
Harry is creating a chart that compares the four perspectives on object perception. Which perspective should Harry place under the “Bottom-Up” heading on his chart?
a. environmental regularities
b. Bayesian inference
c. Gestalt principles
d. unconscious inference
c. Gestalt principles
Which of the following accurately reflects the theory of natural selection from a perceptual context?
a. People who know a language can pick words out of sound strings.
b. Our neurons mirror someone performing an action we want to do.
c. An organism that can only see oblique shapes will become extinct.
d. We can more easily perceive objects in a scene that interests us.
c. An organism that can only see oblique shapes will become extinct.
Changes in neural activity after learning a new stimulus occur due to the brain’s ________.
a. principles
b. schema
c. mirrors
d. plasticity
d. plasticity
Moving around an object enhances our perception of it due to which of the following?
a. brain ablation
b. multiple views
c. where pathways
d. mirror neurons
b. multiple views
Marisol stared at the strange blob in the bottom of her closet until she realized that it was a dried-up orange that must have fallen out of her book bag last winter. What part of Marisol’s brain helped her figure out what the strange object was?
a. temporal lobe
b. hippocampus
c. parietal lobe
d. amygdala
a. temporal lobe
