Week 3: Sensation and Perception Flashcards
What is sensation?
The process by which sensory receptors receive information from the environment.
What is perception?
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to make it meaningful.
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Sensation is the detection of stimuli, while perception is the interpretation of those stimuli.
What is a threshold in sensation?
The minimum level of stimulus intensity needed to detect a stimulus.
What is the absolute threshold?
The smallest amount of stimulus that can be detected 50% of the time.
What is the difference threshold?
The minimum difference in stimulation required to detect a change between two stimuli.
What is sensory adaptation?
The process by which sensory receptors become less sensitive to constant stimuli.
What is transduction?
The process of converting sensory stimuli into neural signals.
What role do rods play in vision?
Rods detect light and are essential for vision in low-light conditions.
What role do cones play in vision?
Cones detect color and are essential for detailed vision in bright light.
What is the fovea?
A: The central area of the retina with the highest concentration of cones, providing sharp vision.
What is the optic nerve?
The nerve that transmits visual information from the retina to the brain.
What is depth perception?
The ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge distance.
What is binocular vision?
Vision using two eyes that allows for depth perception.
What is the function of the cochlea in hearing?
The cochlea converts sound waves into neural signals for the brain to process.
What is the difference between pitch and loudness in sound?
Pitch is the perceived frequency of a sound, while loudness is the perceived intensity.
What is the gate control theory of pain?
The theory that spinal “gates” can open or close to allow or block pain signals.
What are Gestalt principles?
Rules that describe how we perceive objects as unified wholes in certain patterns.
What is figure-ground perception?
The tendency to separate visual scenes into objects (figures) and backgrounds (grounds).
What is the Gestalt principle of closure?
The tendency to perceive a complete image even when there are gaps in the information.
Q: What is the Gestalt principle of similarity?
The tendency to group similar objects together in our perception.
What is selective attention?
The process of focusing on a particular object in the environment for a period of time.
What is a perceptual set?
A predisposition to perceive things in a certain way based on expectations and prior experiences.
What is visual constancy?
The perception of objects as stable despite changes in sensory input (e.g., size, shape)
What is the McGurk effect?
A phenomenon where visual information can alter the perception of sounds.
