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2007psy > module 6 > Flashcards

module 6 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

A

A: Sensation is the detection of environmental stimuli by sensory receptors, while perception is the conscious interpretation of those sensory inputs.

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2
Q

What does a bistable percept illustrate?

A

A: It illustrates how perception can vary depending on interpretation, even when the sensory input remains constant.

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3
Q

What are the three properties of light that affect colour perception?

A

A: Hue (wavelength), saturation (purity), and brightness (intensity).

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4
Q

What is hue?

A

A: Hue refers to the dominant wavelength of light, which determines colour.

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5
Q

What is saturation in terms of light?

A

A: Saturation refers to the purity of the light; less pure light appears washed out.

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6
Q

What is brightness in terms of light?

A

A: Brightness is the intensity of electromagnetic energy.

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7
Q

What part of the eye contains photoreceptors?

A

A: The retina.

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8
Q

What is the function of the cornea?

A

A: It is transparent and allows light to enter the eye.

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9
Q

What determines how much light enters the eye?

A

A: Pupil size, which is controlled by the iris.

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10
Q

What does the lens do during accommodation?

A

A: It changes shape to help focus light on the retina — flattens for far objects and thickens for near objects.

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11
Q

What are the three cellular layers of the retina?

A

A: Photoreceptor cells, bipolar cells, and ganglion cells.

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12
Q

What are the two types of photoreceptors and their shapes?

A

A: Rods (rod-shaped) and cones (cone-shaped).

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13
Q

Where are cones most concentrated?

A

A: In the fovea, the central region of the retina.

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14
Q

What is the main function of cones?

A

A: Detect colour and fine detail in bright light.

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15
Q

What is the main function of rods?

A

A: Detect light in low-light conditions and provide monochromatic information.

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16
Q

What is the blind spot and why does it occur?

A

A: It is the area on the retina with no photoreceptors where the optic nerve exits the eye.

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17
Q

What is transduction in the visual system?

A

A: The conversion of light energy into changes in membrane potential by photoreceptor cells.

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18
Q

What are photopigments composed of?

A

A: A protein (opsin) and a lipid (retinal).

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19
Q

What happens to photopigments when exposed to light?

A

A: They break apart, triggering intracellular events that change the cell’s membrane potential.

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20
Q

What is a receptive field in the retina?

A

A: The area in the visual field that affects a ganglion cell’s firing rate.

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21
Q

How do receptive fields differ in central and peripheral vision?

A

A: Central vision has small receptive fields due to one-to-one connections; peripheral vision has large receptive fields due to convergence of multiple photoreceptors.

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22
Q

Why is visual acuity higher in central vision?

A

A: Because each cone in the fovea connects to a single ganglion cell.

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23
Q

What are the three types of eye movements?

A

A: Vergence, saccadic, and pursuit movements.

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24
Q

Where do ganglion cell axons go after leaving the retina?

A

A: They form the optic nerve, which leads to the optic chiasm and then to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in the thalamus.

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25
What happens at the optic chiasm?
A: Axons from the inner (nasal) retina cross to the opposite side, while axons from the outer (temporal) retina stay on the same side.
26
What is the destination of visual information after the thalamus?
A: The primary visual cortex (V1) and then the visual association cortex (extrastriate cortex).
27
What are the three types of LGN layers?
A: Magnocellular (inner 2 layers), parvocellular (outer 4 layers), and koniocellular (sublayers).
28
What does the magnocellular pathway process?
A: Movement, depth, form, and contrast (large receptive fields).
29
What does the parvocellular pathway process?
A: Colour and fine spatial detail (small receptive fields).
30
What does the koniocellular pathway process?
A: Blue light and additional aspects of colour vision.
31
What is another name for the primary visual cortex?
A: Striate cortex or V1.
32
What kind of map does the striate cortex contain?
A: A topographic map of the contralateral visual field.
33
What is the function of the extrastriate cortex?
A: To combine visual information from V1 for higher-level visual processing.
34
What are the two processing streams from the extrastriate cortex?
A: Dorsal stream ("where" pathway) and ventral stream ("what" pathway).
35
What part of the brain is critical for face perception?
A: The fusiform face area (part of the ventral stream).
36
How is colour processed in the visual system?
A: By cones in the retina, parvocellular and koniocellular neurons in the LGN, and specialized neurons in the visual cortex.
37
Where is the retina located, and what cells does it contain?
A: The retina is at the back of the eye and contains photoreceptors (rods and cones), bipolar cells, and ganglion cells.
38
What is trichromatic coding?
A: Trichromatic coding refers to the retina having three types of cones, each sensitive to different wavelengths (red, green, blue), allowing for colour vision.
39
What determines a cone's wavelength sensitivity?
A: The opsin protein in photopigments determines which wavelengths each cone absorbs.
40
What is protanopia?
What is protanopia? A: A form of colour blindness where red cones contain green opsin; individuals confuse red and green, seeing mostly blue and yellow.
41
What is deuteranopia?
A: A form of colour blindness where green cones contain red opsin; red and green are confused.
42
What is tritanopia?
A: A rare colour blindness due to a lack of blue cones; the world is seen in reds and greens.
43
What is monochromatic vision?
A: A condition where none of the three cone types are present, resulting in no perception of hue.
44
What type of coding do ganglion cells use for colour?
A: Opponent colour coding (red vs green, yellow vs blue).
45
How do ganglion cells signal red and green?
A: Red cones excite red-green ganglion cells (↑ firing = red); green cones inhibit them (↓ firing = green).
46
How is the colour yellow perceived without yellow cones?
A: Yellow light activates both red and green cones equally; the red-green ganglion cell shows no change, but yellow-blue ganglion cell is excited, signalling yellow.
47
Which LGN layers process colour information?
A: Parvocellular: red and green cone input Koniocellular: blue cone input Magnocellular: not involved in colour
48
What is the role of the extrastriate cortex in colour vision?
A: It processes object colour via the ventral stream, integrating input from all cone types.
49
What is cerebral achromatopsia?
A: A condition where brain damage (extrastriate cortex) leads to loss of colour perception, despite intact photoreceptors.
50
What is visual agnosia?
A: Inability to recognise objects by sight, despite normal vision; often due to damage in the extrastriate cortex.
51
Which brain area processes object form?
A: The Lateral Occipital Cortex (LOC) in the ventral stream.
52
What is prosopagnosia and what causes it?
A: The inability to recognise faces, caused by damage to the fusiform face area (FFA).
53
What does the FFA do besides recognising faces?
A: It's involved in expert object recognition (e.g., cars, birds), especially in individuals with expertise.
54
How is depth perceived using one eye?
A: Via monocular cues such as perspective and relative size.
55
What is binocular disparity?
A: A depth cue from the slight difference in images between the two eyes.
56
Where are disparity-sensitive neurons located?
A: In both the striate and extrastriate cortex, in the dorsal and ventral streams.
57
What is the function of the dorsal stream in vision?
A: Processes spatial location and motion ("where" or "how" pathway).
58
What is the function of the ventral stream in vision?
A: Processes object identity and form, including colour and faces ("what" pathway).
59
What does the striate cortex do in orientation perception?
A: Neurons respond to specific orientations, with each firing maximally at a preferred angle.
60
What is area V5/MT responsible for?
A: Motion perception; it receives input from the striate cortex and superior colliculus.
61
What happens with damage to V5?
A: Akinetopsia, or motion blindness, where individuals cannot perceive movement.
62
What is the role of area MST in motion?
A: It processes complex motion patterns and optic flow, helping with navigation.
63
Can we perceive 3D form through motion?
A: Yes, motion cues help in perceiving 3D forms, aiding activities like catching a ball.
64
True or False – People with visual agnosia cannot identify objects by sight but have intact visual acuity.
A: True
65
True or False – Many neurons in the striate cortex are sensitive to a particular orientation.
A: True

2007psy (6 decks)

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