Chapter 6

Question 1

All the information that comes in through sensory receptors
Auditory
Visual
Olfactory
Taste
touch

Answer 1

Sensation

Question 2

Interpretation of sensory output

Answer 2

Perception

Question 3

Born with knowledge that allows meaningful perception
Innate capacity and biological maturation (body changes, perception changes)

Sesation –> Innate Capability: Maturation -> Perception

Answer 3

Nativists

Question 4

Experience and learning build perceptions
“fine tune” the equipment we are born with, the more we interact with the world.

Sensation –> learned experiences–> Perception

Answer 4

Constructivists

Question 5

Perception drives action, action drives perception (what you see is what you get. Very straight forward)
Current position in the environment gives information for perception.
“affordances” what that object has to offer you

Answer 5

Gibson’s ecological theory

Question 6

Visual processing requires 40% to 50% of our cerebral cortex function.
Visual acuity at birth is 40 times worse than adults’
Improves dramatically in the first few months
Limits to visual accommodation
How well the lens can change shape to focus
Infants see the world in color
Habituations studies
Preferential—looking studies

Answer 6

Vision in Babies

Question 7

recognizing object patterns (can tell where something begins and ends)

Answer 7

Form perception

Question 8

Pay attention to light-dark transitions (contours).
Tracking and being interested in dynamic displays and movement
Being attracted to patterns that are moderately complex (not too simple and not too overwhelming)

Answer 8

Infants organize patterns

Question 9

(depends on environment which they’re raised)
Defensive reactions
Size constancy (by 4months)
Visual cliff

Answer 9

Depth Perception in babies

Question 10

Innate capabilities + experience with human faces

Answer 10

Face perception

Question 11

Innate knowledge in a few important domains, such as the physical world and objects
Organized systems of knowledge to help them make sense of the world
Intuitive theories

Answer 11

Core-knowledge theory

Question 12

Turn away from loud sounds
Less sensitive to soft sounds than adults
Not used to high-frequency sounds outside womb

Infants prefer speech over non-speech sounds
Recognize phonemes and vowel sounds
Prefer mother’s voice; no preference for father’s voice

Answer 12

Hearing and Speech Perception in babies

Question 13

active

More sensitive to these sounds after birth

Answer 13

Prenatal hearing

Question 14

Newborns can distinguish between:
Sweet
Sour
Bitter
Preference for sweet things
Facial expressions help us determine perception 
Olfaction: present at birth
Infants prefer familiar smells
Amniotic fluid, mother, mother’s breast milk

Answer 14

Taste and Smell in babies

Question 15

Gross motor: general, non-precise movement
Kicking, waving, whole body or limb moving
Fine motor: detailed movement
Writing, picking up small objects

Answer 15

Develop motor skills

the child

Question 16

Motor development = movement + sensory feedback

Integration of action and thought

Answer 16

Dynamic systems theory

Question 17

Characterized by movement in the environment

Answer 17

Locomotion

in child

Question 18

Recognizing an object that you are familiar with from one sense through a different sense
Ex: smelling cookies baking (thinking about a cookie and seeing it in their mind), hearing a car door slam (thinking about the car and seeing the door slam in their mind), tasting something while blindfolded (then naming what it is), imitating the noise a bird makes

Answer 18

Cross-modal perception

Question 19

Children have better attention than infants
Infants have orienting system
Children have a focusing system
Longer attention spans
15-20 minutes, average; 1 hour for older children
Selective attention
Less prone to distraction as age increases
Systematic attention
Able to think about a plan and execute searches
Patterns

Answer 19

Attention

Question 20

Attention increases dramatically
3-4 hours when required 
Can divide attention between two tasks
“Multitasking”
Not necessarily beneficial
Hearing may be damaged
Loud music, concerts
May develop tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Taste and smell
Slight decline of preference for sweet, liking sour
More sophisticated tastes
Hormonal changes in desirable smells
Prefers smell of opposite sex

Answer 20

The Adolescent

Question 21

Bad news:
Decline in 40s and continuing
Gradual so it is easy to adapt
Raised sensory thresholds: harder to detect stimulus

Answer 21

Adult Sensory and Perceptual Abilities

Question 22

(thickening of the lens)

Problem with focusing on very close objects

Answer 22

Presbyopia

Question 23

Clouding of the lens

Easily corrected with surgery

Answer 23

Cataracts

Question 24

Vision becomes blurry and fades from center

Answer 24

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Question 25

``` Attention sustainability peaks around age 43 Decreases then With increasing age: problems with divided attention easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli ```

Answer 25

Attention and Visual Search

Question 26

MOST COMMON: Loss of sensitivity to high-pitch/frequency sounds Loss of sensitivity to low-frequency sounds after 50

Answer 26

Presbycusis

Question 27

Smell: Declines in middle adulthood Women have a better sense of smell Indicative of overall health Taste Affected by declines in smell May impact nutrition

Answer 27

Taste and Smell for adults

Question 28

Less discrimination between weak levels of stimulation (older adults may need a firmer touch) Decline with increasing age Interaction of physical and psychological factors No less sensitive to extreme pain levels

Answer 28

Touch, temperature, pain in adults

Question 29

Declining sensation and perceptual abilities Basic living tasks (not able to see as well; driving, walking, reading. Hear; listening to music) Intellectual functioning Health hazards (car accidents, slips and falls)

Answer 29

Impact on general life for adults