Basics + Psychophysics

Question 1

Cell body

Answer 1

contains nucleus

Question 2

Nucleus

Answer 2

all computation for cell

Question 3

Dendrites

Answer 3

important for computation

Question 4

Axon

Answer 4

transmits electron activity

Question 5

Axon terminal

Answer 5

transmits information to another neuron

Question 6

Myelin sheath

Answer 6

insulation so electron signal is faster

Question 7

Synapses

Answer 7

“The junction between neurons that permits information transfer.”

Question 8

Neurotransmitter

Answer 8

“A chemical substance used in neuronal communication at synapses.”

Question 9

Cerebellum

Answer 9

used to believe it was exceptionally important in movement but we now know that it is also important for perception & sensation

Question 10

Occipital- primary visual cortex

Answer 10

First place where the visual information goes

Question 11

Occipital- secondary visual cortex

Answer 11

Where the processed information go

Question 12

Temporal- Primary auditory cortex

Answer 12

First place where auditory information go

Question 13

temporal- secondary auditory cortex

Answer 13

Also important for motion and visual information (sensory processing)

Question 14

Parietal

Answer 14

parts of the body are represented by adjacent parts of the brain & assist in spatial info and sophisticated motion processing

Question 15

Frontal

Answer 15

Known for impulse control, judgment, motor control & sensory processing

Question 16

Synaptic transmission

Answer 16

Connection needs to be strong enough to excite the next neuron so sometimes it needs multiple neurons to signal it.

Question 17

Psychophysics

Answer 17

the science of defining quantitative relationship b/w physical and psychological (subjective) events

Question 18

Sensation

Answer 18

lowest level of processing; physical energy translated into informational signal (ie. transduction)

Question 19

Perception

Answer 19

usually “interpretation” of the information, but the distinction is irrelevant

Question 20

Goal of psychophysics

Answer 20

psychophysics quantifies

Question 21

Absolute thresholds

Answer 21

the minimum intensity of a stimulus that can be detected, sigmoid function, probability of detection increases with the signal intensity

Question 22

Sigmoid function

Answer 22

a graph with a curved shaped S, right side

Question 23

Difference thresholds

Answer 23

the smallest detectable diff between two stimuli OR the minimum change in a stimulus that enables it to be correctly judged as diff from a reference stimulus

Question 24

JND

Answer 24

Just noticeable difference or how different two stimuli must be for the subject to notice that they are not the same

Question 25

Method of Constant stimuli

Answer 25

in which many stimuli, ranging from rarely to almost always perceivable (or rarely to almost always perceivably different from a reference stimulus), are presented at a time. Participants respond to each presentation: “yes/no” “same/diff” and so on.

Question 26

Method of Limits

Answer 26

in which the particular dimension of a stimulus, or the difference between two stimuli, is varied incrementally until the participants responds differently

Question 27

Method of Adjustment

Answer 27

a method in which the participant controls the change in the stimulus

Question 28

Weber’s Law

Answer 28

the principle describing the relationship between stimulus and resulting sensation that says that just noticeable difference (JND) is a constant fraction of the comparison stimulus

Question 29

Fechner’s Law

Answer 29

a principle describing the relationship between stimulus and resulting sensation that says the magnitude of subjective sensation increases proportionally to the log of the stimulus intensity

Question 30

Steven’s Law

Answer 30

a principle describing the relationship b/w stimulus and resulting sensation that says the magnitude of subjective sensation is proportional to the stimulus magnitude raised to an exponent.

Question 31

Compression

Answer 31

the slope of the line is less than a 1:1 ratio (light)

Question 32

Veridical

Answer 32

The slope of the line is equal to a 1:1 ratio (pencil length)

Question 33

Exaggerated

Answer 33

he slope of the line is greater than a 1:1 ratio (electric shock)

Question 34

Magnitude estimation

Answer 34

a psychophysical method in which the participant assigns values according to perceived magnitudes of the stimuli

Question 35

Signal detection theory

Answer 35

a psychophysical theory that quantifies the response of an observer to the presentation of a signal in the presence of noise. Measures obtained from a series of presentations are sensitivity (d’) and criterion of the observer.

Question 36

Criterion

Answer 36

in reference to SDT, an internal threshold that is set by the observer. If the internal response is above criterion the observer gives on response and if below gives another.

Question 37

Sensitivity

Answer 37

in reference to SDT, a value that defines the ease with which an observer can tell the diff b/w the presence and absence of a stimulus or the diff b/w stimulus 1 and stimulus 2