Chapter 5

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

detection of external stimulus

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

processing, organizing, and interpreting sensory information

Question 3

selective attention

Answer 3

we can’t attend to everything in our environment

Question 4

sensory threshold

Answer 4

what determines what we notice

Question 5

absolute threshold

Answer 5

the smallest amount of a stimulus that can be detected

Question 6

sensory adaption

Answer 6

if something is presented continuously, we decrease in sensitivity to it until it stops

Question 7

bottom-up processing

Answer 7

based on simple input building into complex perceptions
NOT influenced by expectations

Question 8

top-down processing

Answer 8

memory and other cognitive processes interpret and shape out perception of sensory input
influenced by expectations
example - figure ground
“mental shortcut”

Question 9

vision

Answer 9

our eyes focus light from an image

Question 10

what’s the difference between rods and cones?

Answer 10

rods - black and white, night vision, not much detail
cones - color, lots a detail, bright light

Question 11

how does an image go from our eyes to our brain?

Answer 11

rods and cones – ganglion cells – optic nerve – thalamus – visual cortex

Question 12

why is there a blind spot and where is it located?

Answer 12

where the optic nerve is, no rods or cones

Question 13

color perception

Answer 13

wavelengths of light cause us to perceive colors in a certain way
trichromatic theory - there are 3 different types of cones that are sensitive to different wavelengths

Question 14

what are two different types of color blindness and what causes it?

Answer 14

red and green
yellow and blue
the wavelengths for those colors are very close together so it’s difficult to tell them apart from each other

Question 15

audition

Answer 15

the sense of sound perception

Question 16

sound wave

Answer 16

pattern of changes in air pressure produces “sound”
frequency = pitch
amplitude = loudness

Question 17

how does sound get to the brain

Answer 17

soundwaves – outer ear – middle ear – inner ear – auditory nerve – thalamus – auditory cortex

Question 18

what is the vestibular system?

Answer 18

perception of balance
semicircular canals

Question 19

how do cochlear implants work?

Answer 19

the implants stimulate the auditory nerves directly
(for those with hearing loss due to loss of hair cells)

Question 20

taste

Answer 20

“gustation” is the sense of taste
(sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami)

Question 21

taste buds

Answer 21

mostly on our tongue, but some on throat and mouth
8,000-10,000
change over time
receptors send messages straight to the thalamus, then frontal lobe

Question 22

what are two things that can determine taste preferences?

Answer 22

culture and mother’s diet (while in womb and breastfeeding)

Question 23

smell

Answer 23

“olfaction” is sense of smell
odorants picked up by the smell receptors in the “olfactory epithelium”
information goes to the “olfactory bulb”, located under the frontal lobe

Question 24

pheromones

Answer 24

processed like odorants
released by animals and humans that trigger psychological and behavioral reactions in others
other species rely on their sense of smell more than humans
often related to sexual signaling (smell good vs bad)

Question 25

touch

Answer 25

“haptic” is sense of touch
sensory info from the skin - temperature, pressure, pain, kinesthetic sense (where is my body in space)

touch – sensory receptors – thalamus – somatosensory cortex

Question 26

what is pain?

Answer 26

an experience created by the brain in response to a stimulus

Question 27

what are two types of nerve fibers for pain?

Answer 27

fast fibers - sharp immediate pain, myelinated
slow fibers - chronic, dull, steady ache/pain, nonmyelinated

Question 28

what are two types of pain

Answer 28

fast acting - recoil from harmful objects
slow acting - keep us from using the affected body part