Chapter 4

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process of your senses (eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue) detecting information from the world and sending it to your brain.

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

How your brain interprets the raw information from your senses (eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue) to make sense of the world.

Question 3

Transduction

Answer 3

When your senses turn external energy (like light, sound, or touch) into electrical activity within neurons.

Question 4

Sense Receptors

Answer 4

Specialized cells that detect stimuli and turn them into signals for the brain.

Question 5

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 5

When your senses get used to a constant stimuli and you stop noticing it over time.
(Ex. You notice the smell of a room when you first enter it then you get used to it over time).

Question 6

Psychophysics

Answer 6

The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics.

It looks at how strong a stimulus has to be before we notice, detect or react to it.
(Ex. How soft can a sound be before we hear it (absolute threshold)).

Question 7

Absolute Threshold

Answer 7

The smallest amount of stimulus that the nervous system can detect at least 50% of the time.

Question 8

Just Noticable Difference (JND)

Answer 8

The smallest change in a stimulus that someone can detect.

(Ex. Your listening to music on your phone but the volume is turned so low that you can’t hear it, when you turn the volume up to the point where you can JUST hear it, that’s the JND).

Question 9

Webers Law

Answer 9

The bigger something is, the bigger the change has to be be for it to be noticeable.

(Ex. Your in a dark room and someone turns on a lamp, you will notice the change immediately.
But if you’re outside when it’s bright and someone turns on the same lamp, you probably won’t notice it).

Question 10

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 10

Theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions. Explains how we notice things/signals in a noisy or uncertain environment.

(Ex. Your at a concert and your friend calls your name, if your paying attention you may hear it, if your distracted, you might not).

Question 11

Synesthesia

Answer 11

Condition where one sense triggers another one in an unusual way,
People experience cross-modal sensations.

(Ex. Hearing sounds when they see colours).

Question 12

Selective Attention

Answer 12

Process of selecting one sensory channel and ignoring or minimizing others.
Brains ability to focus on one things while ignoring everything else around you.

(Ex. The cocktail party effect - you can focus on one conversation at a noisy party, while ignoring the other voices).

Question 13

Inattentional Blindness

Answer 13

Failure to detect stimuli thats in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere.

(Ex. Walking into a pole or person while on your phone).

Question 14

Hue

Answer 14

The colour of light.

Question 15

Pupil

Answer 15

Black circular hole where light enters the eye.
- Small pupil = bright room.
- Big pupil = dark room.

Question 16

Cornea

Answer 16

The clear, outer layer of the eye that helps focus light on the retina so you can see.

Question 17

Cornea

Answer 17

The clear, outer layer of the eye that helps focus light on the retina so you can see.

Question 18

Lens

Answer 18

The part of the eye that changes its shape (from thick to thin in response to distance) to keep images in focus.

Question 19

Accommodation

Answer 19

Changing the shape of the lens to focus on objects near or far.

Question 20

Retina

Answer 20

The light sensitive layer at the lack of the eye that turns light into neural activity so you can see.
- Contains photoreceptors (special cells that help you see).

Question 21

Fovea

Answer 21

Central portion of the retina.

Question 22

Acuity

Answer 22

Sharpness of vision.

Question 23

Rods

Answer 23

Enables us to see basic shapes and forms, we rely on rods to see in low levels of light.

Question 24

Cones

Answer 24

Give us our colour vision, sensitive to detail, requires more light than rods do.

Question 25

Dark Adaptation

Answer 25

When your eyes adjust to low light after being in bright light. Happens because your retina becomes more sensitive to light over time.

Question 26

Optic Nerve

Answer 26

Nerve that travels from the retina to the brain. Carries visual information from the eye to the brain, allowing us to see.

Question 27

Blind Spot

Answer 27

Part of the retina containing no rods or sense receptors.

Question 28

Colour Blindness

Answer 28

Inability to see some or all colours. Red-Green Dichromates - they have 2 types of cones and are missing 1. Cant distinguish reds from greens or different shades within these categories. X chromosome is responsible for producing photo pigment, women have 2 X chromosomes, men have 1 which is why men are more prone to being colourblind.

Question 29

Opponent Process Theory

Answer 29

Theory that we perceive colours in terms of three pairs: either… 1.) Red or Green 2.) Blue or Yellow 3.) Black or White Our eyes can’t see both colours in a pair at the same time - we don’t see a “reddish-green” because they cancel each other out.

Question 30

Audition

Answer 30

Sense of hearing.

Question 31

Timbre

Answer 31

The complexity or quality of sound that makes musical instruments, human voices, or other sources sound unique.

Question 32

Cochlea

Answer 32

Bony, spiral-shaped sense organ used for hearing.

Question 33

Organ of Corti

Answer 33

Tissue containing the hair cells necessary for hearing.

Question 34

Basilar Membrane

Answer 34

Membrane supporting the organ of Corti and hair cells in the cochlea.

Question 35

Place Theory

Answer 35

Different parts of the cochlea respond to different pitches. High sounds = base of the cochlea. Low sounds = tip of the cochlea. (Ex. Like keys on a piano, each area responds to a different note).

Question 36

Frequency Theory

Answer 36

Rate at which neurons fire the action potentials reproduces the pitch.

Question 37

Olfaction

Answer 37

Our sense of smell.

Question 38

Gestation

Answer 38

Our sense of taste.

Question 39

Taste Bud

Answer 39

Sense receptors in the tongue that respond to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, and fat.

Question 40

Pheromone

Answer 40

Odourless chemical that serves as a social signal to members of one’s species.

Question 41

Somatosensory

Answer 41

Our sense of touch, temperature, and pain.

Question 42

Gate Control Model Ronald Melzack + Patrick Wall

Answer 42

Explains how we feel pain, it says the spinal cord has a “gate” and that controls pain signals going to the brain. - When the gate is closed, we feel less pain. - When the gate is open, we feel more pain. 1.) Small Nerve Fibres: sense the pain and opens the gate by sending the signal to the brain. 2.) Large Nerve Fibres: responds to normal sensations of touch/pressure, closes the gate.

Question 43

Phantom Pain

Answer 43

Pain or discomfort felt in an amputated limb. Mirror box has been used to help this pain.

Question 44

Proprioception

Answer 44

Our sense of body position.

Question 45

Vestibular Sense

Answer 45

Our sense of equilibrium or balance.

Question 46

Semicircular Canals

Answer 46

3 fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for our balance.

Question 47

Parallel Processing

Answer 47

When the brain handles multiple types of information at the same time instead of one at a time. It helps us see, think, and react quickly. (Ex. Recognizing red, blue, green).

Question 48

Bottom-Up Processing

Answer 48

Processing in which a whole is constructed from parts. Learning from new information. (Ex. You see a new fruit for the first time do you examine its shape, colour, texture, smell to figure out what it is).

Question 49

Top-Down Processing

Answer 49

Conceptually driven processing influenced by beliefs and expectancies. Using what you already know. (Ex. You walk into a dark room and know where the furniture is because you’ve been there before).

Question 50

Perceptual Set

Answer 50

When expectations influence perceptions (what you see, hear, or feel).

Question 51

Perceptual Constancy

Answer 51

The process in which we perceive stimuli consistently no matter the conditions. This helps us see the world consistently no matter the angle, distance, or lighting.

Question 52

Size Constancy

Answer 52

Our ability to perceive objects as the same size no matter how far away from us they are. (Ex. A car driving away looks smaller but is not shrinking).

Question 53

Colour Constancy

Answer 53

Our ability to perceive colour consistently across different levels of lighting.

Question 54

Depth Perception

Answer 54

Ability to judge distance and see the world in 3D. (Ex. It allows us to reach for a glass and grab it rather than knocking it over and spilling it).

Question 55

Monocular Depth Cues

Answer 55

Relying on one eye.

Question 56

Binocular Depth Cues

Answer 56

Requires both eyes.

Question 57

Subliminal Perception

Answer 57

When your brain processes information without you being aware of it. You see, hear, or sense something, but it’s too quick for you conscious mind to notice, but your subconscious mind picks it up. (Ex. The Amazon logo has an arrow from “A” to “Z,” suggesting they sell everything, but many people don’t notice it consciously).