Sensation and Perception (ch 5)

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

detection of physical stimuli and transmission of that information to the brain

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

brains further processing, organization, and interpretation of sensory information

Question 3

transduction

Answer 3

process by which sensory stimuli are converted to neutral signal the brain can interpret

Question 4

vision pathway

Answer 4

stimuli: light waves
receptors: cones and rods in retina
pathway: optic nerve

Question 5

hearing

Answer 5

stimuli: sound waves
receptors: hair cells in cochlea
pathway: auditory nerve

Question 6

taste

Answer 6

stimuli: fluid on tongue
receptors: cells in taste buds on tongue
pathways to brain: nerves

Question 7

absolute threshold

Answer 7

minimum intensity of stimulation necessary to detect a sensation half the time

Question 8

signal detection theory

Answer 8

a theory of percepetion based on the idea that the detection of a stimulus requires a judgement, not an all or nothing process

Question 9

rods

Answer 9

retina cells that respond to low levels of light and result in black and white perception

Question 10

cones

Answer 10

retinal cells that respond to higher levels of light and result in color perceptioin

Question 11

fovea

Answer 11

center of the retina, where cones are densely packed

Question 12

from eye to brain

Answer 12

1. generation of electrical signals by the sensory receptors in the retina which contains photopigments that are split apart when exposed to light
2. light is transduced by the rods and cones
3. outputs converge on the retinal ganglion cells
4. ganglion cells send their signals along their axons from inside the eye to thalamus and gathered into a bundle called the optic nerve
5. information reaches the visual areas of the thalamus and then travels to the primary visual cortex

Question 13

ventral stream

Answer 13

projects from the occipital lobe to the temporal love and appears to be specialized for the perception and recognition of objects

Question 14

dorsal stream

Answer 14

projects from the occipital lobe to the parietal lobe and seems to be specialized for spatial perception, determining where an object is and relating it to other objects in the scene

Question 15

trichromatic theory

Answer 15

color vision results from activity in three types of cones that are sensitive to wavelengths

Question 16

object constancy

Answer 16

correctly perceiving objects as constant in their shape, size, color, and lightness, despite raw sensory data that could mislead perception

Question 17

fusiform gyrex

Answer 17

devoted to processing faces

Question 18

hearing

Answer 18

sound waves arrive at the persons outer ear and travel down the auditory canal to the eardrum which makes the eardrum vibrate which are transferred to the ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup), then transfers to the oval window which is within the cochlea in the inner ear. pressure waves are created in the cochlear fluid which makes the basilar membrane oscillate and stimulates hair cells to the primary auditory receptors then converted to neural signals and to the brain through the auditory nerve