LECTURE 6

Question 1

Perception

Answer 1

The organization and interpretation of sensations.

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

Awareness resulting from the stimulation of a sense
organ

Question 2

six senses

Answer 2

seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, and monitoring the body’s positions (proprioception)

Question 3

Proprioception

Answer 3

Monitoring the body’s positions

Question 4

transduction

Answer 4

The conversion of stimuli detected by receptor cells to
electrical impulses that are then transported to the brain. (Conversion of external energies or substances into a nervous system signal)

Question 5

Different organisms have different sensations is part of their evolutionary adaptation. Each species is adapted to sensing the things that are most important to them

Answer 5

Birds are able to see the ultraviolet light that we cannot and can also sense the pull of the earth’s magnetic field. Cats have an extremely sensitive and sophisticated sense of touch, and they are able to navigate in complete darkness using their whiskers.

Question 6

Psychophysics

Answer 6

The branch of psychology that studies the effects of physical stimuli on sensoryperceptions and mental states.

Question 7

absolute threshold

Answer 7

The absolute threshold of a sensation is defined as the intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism
to just barely detect it. One important criterion of determining the limitations of human sensation is the ability to detect very faint stimuli

Question 8

signal detection analysis

Answer 8

A technique used to determine the ability of the perceiver to separate true signals
from background noise. Our ability to accurately detect stimuli is measured using a signal detection analysis. Two of the possible decisions (hits and correct rejections) are accurate; the other two (misses and false alarms) are errors.

Question 9

Outcomes of a Signal Detection Analysis

Answer 9

STUDY DIAGRAM

Question 10

Sensitivity

Answer 10

The true ability of the individual to detect the presence or absence of signals

Question 11

Response bias

Answer 11

A behavioral tendency to respond “yes” to the trials, independent of sensitivity

Question 12

difference threshold (or just noticeable difference [JND])

Answer 12

The change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected by the organism. The ability to detect differences depends not so much on the size of the
difference but on the size of the difference in relationship to the absolute size of the stimulus.

Question 13

Weber’s law

Answer 13

Just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original intensity of the stimulus.

Question 14

blindsight

Answer 14

A condition in which people are unable to consciously report on visual stimuli but nevertheless are able to accurately answer questions about what they are seeing. A condition occurring where certain areas of the visual cortex are damaged.

Question 15

Sensation

Answer 15

The process of receiving information from the environment through our sensory organs. (Detection of physical energy by sense organs, sent to brain)

Question 16

Perception

Answer 16

The process of interpreting and organizing the incoming
information in order that we can understand it and react accordingly. (Brain’s interpretation of sensory data)

Question 17

sensory interaction

Answer 17

The working together of different senses to create experience. Sensory interaction is involved when taste, smell, and texture combine to create the flavor we experience in food. It is also involved when we enjoy a movie because of the way the images and the music work together.

Question 18

McGurk effect

Answer 18

An error in sound perception that occurs when there is a mismatch between the senses of hearing and seeing.

Question 19

Synesthesia

Answer 19

An experience in which one sensation (e.g., hearing a sound) creates experiences in another (e.g., vision).

Question 20

Selective attention

Answer 20

The ability to focus on some sensory inputs while tuning out others.

Question 21

cocktail party phenomenon

Answer 21

Selective attention is limiting what we processes, we
are nevertheless at the same time doing a lot of unconscious monitoring of the world around us—you
didn’t know you were attending to the background sounds of the party, but evidently you were.

Question 22

sensory adaptation

Answer 22

A decreased sensitivity to a stimulus after prolonged and constant exposure. The ability to adapt to the things that don’t change around us is essential to our survival, as it leaves our sensory receptors free to detect the important and informative changes in our environment and to respond accordingly.

Question 23

If sensory adaptation occurs with all senses, why doesn’t an image fade away after we stare at it for
a period of time?

Answer 23

although we are not aware of it, our eyes are constantly flitting from one angle to the next, making thousands of tiny movements (called saccades) every minute. This
constant eye movement guarantees that the image we are viewing always falls on fresh receptor cells.

Question 24

perceptual constancy

Answer 24

The ability to perceive a stimulus as constant despite changes in sensation. The visual system also corrects for color constancy.

Question 25

Illusions

Answer 25

Occur when the perceptual processes
that normally help us correctly perceive the world around us are fooled by a particular situation so
that we see something that does not exist or that is incorrect.

Question 26

Sense receptors

Answer 26

Transduce specific stimuli
- Vision: Electromagnetic (light waves)
- Touch: Air pressure
- Smell and taste: Chemical

Question 27

Perception depends on

Answer 27

Bottom-up processing: Sensory data to brain
Top-down processing: Beliefs and expectations guide perception

Question 28

Information processing

Answer 28

Sensation (transduction) -> Perception (Encoding) -> Storage (Memory) -> Retrieval (Recall)

Question 29

Encoding

Answer 29

We transform selected sensory information for easier handling through selection (attention) and interpretation

Question 30

Selection

Answer 30

We direct our attention to only a few sensory stimuli. Perception is selective. Our expectations shape what we perceive and how we perceive it.

Question 31

Interpretation

Answer 31

We interpret information based on our life’s experience. Some ways these occurs: Perceptual set and organization.

Question 32

Perceptual set

Answer 32

Expectations influence our perceptions

Question 33

Organization

Answer 33

Make meaning out of sensory information by organizing into a pattern - often when one does not exist

Question 34

GESTALT PRINCIPLE

Answer 34

How mind perceives patterns. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”