Chapter 5 - Sensation & Perception Flashcards
(104 cards)
0
Q
process through which we detect physical energy and code it as neural signals
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sensation
1
Q
part of nervous system that processes sensory info
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sensory system
2
Q
way a person selects, organizes, and interprets sensory info
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perception
3
Q
smallest amount of energy needed for a person to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time
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absolute threshold
4
Q
study of relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and the sensory experiences that accompany them
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psychophysics
tells us how much sensory info is needed to hear a mouse scamper across the kitchen
5
Q
predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation
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signal detection theory
6
Q
minimus difference between two stimuli needed to detect a difference 50 percent of the time
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difference threshold or just noticeable difference (jnd)
7
Q
regardless of size, two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion for the difference to be noticeable
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Weber’s Law
explains why you can taste a pinch of sugar in a glass or water, but not in a gallon of water
8
Q
specialized cell that responds to a particular type of energy
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receptor cell
9
Q
carries info from sensory receptos to brain as coded signal
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sensory neuron
10
Q
process through which physical energy is converted into an electrical charge
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transduction
11
Q
process in which sensory receptor cells become less responsive to an unchanging stimulus
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sensory adaptation
12
Q
process in which lens adjusts in shape from thick to thin to enable a person to focus on objects that are close or far
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visual accomodation
13
Q
lens cannot accomodate for distance, happens in old age
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presbyopia
14
Q
multilayered tissue responsible for visual transduction
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retina
15
Q
photoreceptor cell in retina that responds to varying degrees of dark and light
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rod
16
Q
depressed spot in the retina that occupies the center of the visual field
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fovea
17
Q
photoreceptors found outside fovea
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rods
18
Q
photoreceptors concentrated in fovea
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cones
19
Q
photoreceptors responsible for color vision
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cones
20
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sharpness of vision
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acuity
21
Q
one of several neurons that connect the bipolar neurons in the eyes to the brain
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ganglion cell
22
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bundle of axons that carries neural messages from eye to brain
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optic nerve
23
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point where some fibers from each optic nerve cross sides
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optic chiasm
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feature detector that only responds to a single feature of a stimulus
simple cell
might respond to vertical line
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specialized brain cell that only responds to particular element in visual field
feature detector
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feature detector that responds to two features of a stimulus
complex cell
might respond to a vertical line moving horizontally
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feature detector that responds to multiple features of a stimulus
hypercomplex cell
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area of the visual cortex that specifically responds to and recognizes faces
fusiform face area
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describes the process of doing several things at the same time
parallel processing
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condition in which a person is not consciously aware of what he sees but can still partially respond to visual information
blindsight
damage to primary visusl cortex creates blind spots
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a particular color
hue
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describes the intensity of a color
saturation
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describes the intensity of light waves
brightness
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inclination to preceive familiar objects as retaining their color despite changes in sensory information
color constancy
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number of cycles per second in a wave
frequency
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change in air pressure caused by molecules of air or fluid colliding and moving apart
sound wave
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height of a wave
amplitude
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quality and purity of the tone of a sound
timbre
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pertains to the way in which the primary auditory cortex is organized so that neurons that respond to particular frequencies are grouped together
tonotopic
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area of reduced sound intensity around the ear farther away from where a sound originates
sound shadow
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process in which sound waves are emitted and the environement is analyzed by listening to the frequency of the waves that are reflected back
echolocation
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chemical substance released by an animal to trigger behavior responses in other members of that species
pheromones
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specialized cell in the nasal cavities of most animals that detects pheremones
vomeronasal organs
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bump on tongue in which taste buds are embedded
papilla
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tiny hair at the tip of a taste receptor cell
microvillus
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senses relating to pressure, pain, and touch
skin senses
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sense of how body parts interact with one another
kinesthetic sense
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sense relating to movement and body position
vestibular sense
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negative feeling caused by an external stimulus
nociceptive pain
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sense of touch is a combination of 3 senses
skin senses, kinesthetic sense, vestibular sense
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negative feeling caused by a malfunction in the central nervous system
neuropathic pain
phantom limb pain
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theory that a neurological gate in the spinal cord controls the transmission of pain
neurological gate theory
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explains why some peopel feel pain more acutely than others
gate-control theory
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chemical that lets us perform superhuman feats under stress
endorphins
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morphine-like chemical that inhibits pain signals and is released by the medial forebrain bundle
endorphins
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specialized nerve ending that provides a constant stream of information from a person's muscles through the spinal cord and on to the parietal lobe
proprioceptors
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tube located in the inner ear that helps monitor the body's position in space
semicircular canal
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group of cells that connect the semicircular canals to the cochlea
vestibular sac
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directed by internal decisions
directed by external stimuli
endogenous
exogenous
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describes failure to perceive a given stimulus
inattentional blindness
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describes a failure to detect alterations to choices a person has made
choice blindness
shown two pictures you select woman a is most attractive. When asked to justify why you thought woman b was is more attractive, you do so using features of woman a
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describes the failure to detect drastic auditory/visual changes
change deafness / change blindness
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stimulus that is important or interesting to a person
pop-out stimulus
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phenomenon in which selective attention allows a person to focus on one voice and ignore others
cocktail party effect
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complex processing of information that occurs without a person's conscious awareness
preattentive processing
lets us analyze images using a guided search process for particular features
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the act of juggling independent sensory inputs
multitasking
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use of beliefs, experiences, expectations, and other concepts to shape our view of the world
top-down processing
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phenomenon in which a person's visual systems use sensory information to draw conclusions about what she sees
unconscious inference
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visual illusion in which lines are perceived without actually being present
illusory contour
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mental disposition based on previous experiences and expectations that influence the way you pereceive things
perceptual set
mishear something because you expect something else
72
law that a person organizes a stimulus into the simplest possible form
Law of pragnanz
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tendency to perceive objects that are close to one another as part of the same group
proximity
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tendency to perceive objects that are the same shape, size, or color as similar
similarity
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Gestalt principles of organization
similarity, proximity, continuity, closure, symmetry, common fate
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tendency to perceive objects as complete and overlook incompleteness
closure
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tendency to view intersecting lines as part of a continuous pattern
continuity
why cross is perceived as two not four lines
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if parts of a stimulus are all moving in the same direction, they are perceived as parts of a whole
law of common fate
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tendency to perceive two unconnected but symmetrical shapes as one object
symmetry
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object on which a person is focusing
figure
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object surrounding the object of focus or the figure
ground
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illusion in which staring at an image long enough causes the figure and ground to reverse
reversible figure
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object recognition theory that previously seen objects are stored as a template that is compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image
view-dependent theory
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object recognition theory that visual system recognizes objects as a combination of their individual parts
view-independent theories
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pattern of physical energy created by distal stimulus that stimulates a person's receptors
proximal stimulus
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stimuls from an object that exists in the surrounding environment
distal stimulus
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how do we recognize a car even if we have never seen the particular model
feature integration theory
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theory that people organize stimuli based on knowledge of how their features should be combined
feature integration theory
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feature integration theory says that every stimulus can be broken down into primitive features using what two step process
parallel processing to detect visual features, rapidly scanning for pop-out stimuli
serial processing using stored knowledge to combine features into forms
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results from mistakenly combining features of two different stimuli
illusory conjunction
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simple three-dimensionsal shape that, with other geons, makes up all other objects
geon
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optimal time period shortly after birth during which normal sensory and perceptual development takes place
critical period
sensory deprivation during this time results in perceptual limitations
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theory that we recognize an unfamiliar object by piecing together the geons it is composed of
recognition-by-components
supported by fact that quick id depends on clear external edges
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process in which a person adjusts to change in environment by adjusting sensory input
perceptual adaptation
prism glasses
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condition in which signals from sensory organs are processed in the wrong cortical areas of brain
synesthesia
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condition in which a person perceives letters as a certain color
grapheme-color synesthesia
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person who experiences synesthesia and only associates colors with letters, but does not actually see the color
associator
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represents how loud or soft a sound is
amplitutde
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person who experiences synesthesia and actually sees letters as being certain colors even though they know what color they actually are
projector
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what are some theories and measurements from psychophysics
signal detection theory, absolute threshold, difference threshold, Weber's law
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how do we tell where a sound came from
heads cast a sound shadow, some animals use echolocation
101
examples of endogenous and exogenous attention
endogenous-make an explicit choice to pay attention to a book
exogenous-pay attention to a car crash reflixively
102
theories of processing
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top-down processing (perception influenced by beliefs, experiences, expectations called perceptual set)
gestalt principles (perceive whole groups instead of individual parts)
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object recognition theories
view-dependent theories, view-dependent theories, feature integration theory, recognition by components theory
