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PSY1022 > Week 9 > Flashcards

Week 9 Flashcards

(63 cards)

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1
Q

steps in sensing

A
  1. accessory structures

2. transduction

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2
Q

specific energy doctrine

A

discovery that stimulation of a particular sensory nerve provides codes for that sense, no matter how the stimulation takes place

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3
Q

temporal code

A

reflects changes in the timing pattern of nerve firing

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4
Q

spatial code

A

reflects the location of neurons that are firing and those that are not

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5
Q

psychophysics

A

Psychophysics: an area of research focusing on the relationship between the phsyical characteristics of environmental stimuli and the psychological experiences those stimuli produce

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6
Q

absolute threshold

A

the smallest amount of light, sound, pressure or other physical energy we can detect

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7
Q

subliminal stimulation

A

stimulation that is too weak or brief to be perceived

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8
Q

supraliminal stimulation

A

stimulation that is strong enough to be consistently perceived

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9
Q

signal detection theory

A

a mathematical model of what determines a person’s report of a near-threshold stimulus

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10
Q

sensitivity

A

ability to detect a particular stimulus from a background of competing stimuli
Influenced by internal noise, the intensity of the stimulus, and the capacity of your sensory systems

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11
Q

just noticeable difference JND

A

smallest detectable difference in stimulus energy

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12
Q

Weber’s law

A

a law stating that the smallest detectable difference in stimulus energy is a constant fraction of the intensity of the stimulus
Weber’s law says that JND=KI
K= Weber’s constant for a particular sense; I= amount, or intensity, of the stimulus

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13
Q

Weber’s constant

A

K; different for each of the senses

Smaller k is, the more sensitive a sense is to stimulus differences

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14
Q

Fechner

A

used Weber’s law to study the relationship between the physical magnitude of a stimulus and its perceived magnitude
If just-noticeable differences get progressively larger as stimulus magnitude increases, then the amount of change int he stimulus required to double or triple its perceived intensity must get larger too

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15
Q

Fechner’s law

A

Constant increases in physical energy will produce progressively smaller increases in perceived magnitude

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16
Q

Steven’s power law

A

formula for magnitude estimation that works for a wider array of stimuli

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17
Q

loudness

A

determined by the amplitude of sound wave
Decibels; dB
0dB= minimum detectable sound for normal hearing

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18
Q

pitch

A

how high or low a tone sounds

Humans hear from 20 to 20,000 Hz

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19
Q

Relative pitch

A

almost everyone; tell whether one note is higher than or lower than or equal to another note

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20
Q

Absolute pitch

A

ability to identify the musical notes associated with specific sound frequencies

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21
Q

timbre

A

the mixture of frequencies and amplitudes that make up the quality of sound
Determined by complex wave patterns that are added onto the lower, or fundamental, frequency of a sound

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22
Q

pinna

A

crumpled part of the outer ear; funnels down through ear canal

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23
Q

tympanic membrane

A

a membrane in the middle ear that generates vibrations that match the sound waves striking it

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24
Q

cochlea

A

auditory transduction occurs

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25
basilar membrane
floor of the fluid-filled duct that runs through the cochlea
26
acoustic nerve
bundle of axons that carries stimuli from the hair cells of the cochlea to the brain Tells the brain about amplitude and frequency of the incoming sound waves
27
conduction deafness
problems with bones of middle ear Over time fuse together, preventing accurate conduction of vibrations from one bone to the next Surgery or hearing aids
28
nerve deafness
acoustic nerve or hair cells damaged Gradually with age Happens more quickly with extended exposure to loud noises
29
place theory
von Bekesy; a theory that hair cells at a particular place on the basilar membrane respond most to a particular frequency of sound (characteristic frequency)
30
Frequency matching theory
for lower frequencies than place theory Certain neurones in the acoustic nerve fire each time a sound wave passes So a sound wave whose frequency is 25 cycles per second would cause those neutrons to fire 25 times per second
31
volley theory
the view that some sounds are coded by matching the frequency of neural firing
32
cornea
curved, transparent, protective layer through which light rays enter the eye
33
pupil
an opening in the eye, just behind the cornea, through which light passes
34
iris
the colourful part of the eye, which constricts or relaxes to adjust the amount of light entering the eye
35
lens
the part of the eye behind the pupil that bends light rays, focusing them on the retina
36
retina
surface at the back of the eye onto which the lens focuses light rays Light rays from the top of an object are focused on the bottom of the image on the retinal surface Light rays from the right side of the objects end up on the left side of the retinal image
37
ocular accomodation
ability of the lens to change its shape and bend light rays so that objects are in focus
38
photoreceptors
specialised cells in the retina that code light energy into nerve cell activity
39
photopigments
chemicals in photoreceptors that respond to light and assist in converting light into nerve cell activity Light strikes a photopigment, photopigment breaks apart, changing the membrane potential of the photoreceptor cell; generates a signal that can be transferred to the brain New photopigment molecules are created
40
rods
highly light-sensitive but colour insensitive photoreceptors in the retina that allow vision even in dim light rhodopsin
41
cones
photoreceptors that help us distinguish colours | have one of three kinds of iodopsin
42
fovea
region in the centre of the retina where cones are highly concentrated
43
visual acuity
visual clarity, which is greatest in the fovea because of its large concentration of cones
44
optic nerve
bundle of fibres composed of axons of ganglion cells that carries visual information to the brain
45
feature detectors
cells in the cortex that respond to a specific feature of an object
46
hue
essential colour determined by the dominant wavelength of light
47
colour saturation
purity of a colour Colour is more saturated if just one wavelength is relatively more intense than others If many wavlelengths added to a pure hue, desaturated
48
brightness
overall intensity of all the wavelengths that make up light
49
additive colour mixing
If lights of two different wavelengths but of equal intensity are mixed, the colour you sense is at the midpoint of a line drawn between the two original colours on the colour circle This process is called additive colour mixing as the effects of the wavelengths from each light are added together
50
subtractive colour mixing
Subtractive colour mixing: when paints are combined Lights reflected from paints or other coloured object is seldom a pure wavelength, so predicting the colour resulting from mixing paints is not as easy as combining pure wavelengths of light
51
trichromatic theory of colour vision
Young-Helmholtz theory A theory of colour vision identifying three types of visual elements (cones), each of which is most sensitive to different wavelengths of light Short wavelength: most sensitive to light in the blue range Medium wavelength: green range Long wavelength: reddish-yellow range It is the ratio of responses by the three types of cones that determine the colour you see
52
Opponent process theory of colour vision
Trichromatic theory cannot explain afterimages Opponent-process theory: colour-sensitive visual elements are grouped into red-green, blue-yellow and black-white elements Hering Members of each pair oppose, or inhibit each other When one member of an opponent pair is no longer stimulated, the other is activated
53
colour blindness
condition where the lack of certain photopigments leaves a person unable to sense certain colours; born with cones containing only two of the three possible colour-sensitive pigments
54
synaethesia
a blending of sensory experience that causes some people to see sounds or taste colours etc.
55
subliminal advertising
minimal effect on peoples’ thinking
56
functions of attention
altering function selective attention divided attention vigilance or sustained attention
57
sclera
white part of the eye which maintains, protects and supports the shape of the eye and includes the cornea
58
chloroid
provides oxygen and nourishment to the eye and includes the pupil, iris and lens
59
size constancy
tendency to perceive an object as being the same size regardless of whether it is close or far away
60
colour constancy
tendency to perceive colour of objects as remaining stable despite constant variation in illuminating conditions
61
Wundt
structuralism; we build perception by creating and combining much smaller things or elements which he called sensations Structuralism doesn’t explain why bottom up processing needs to be complemented by top down processing Also cannot explain the illusory contour illusion; perceiving lines filling in gaps
62
Gestalt approach
provides rules and regulations for top down processing and this influenced the bottom up ideas of structuralism The whole is greater than the sum of its parts Came up with many principles of perceptual organisation
63
sensory adaptation
process through which responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus decreases over time

PSY1022 (12 decks)

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