Second test Flashcards
(44 cards)
What is sensation?
the process of receiving, translating and transmitting raw sensory data from the external and internal environments to the brain
What is perception?
the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory data into useful mental representation of the world
What is processing?
each sensory organ contains receptors, which receive sensory information from the environment
What is transduction?
through these receptors convert the sensory stimuli into neutral impulses, which are sent on to the brain
What is thresholding?
testing the limits and changes
What’s the absolute threshold?
smallest amount of a stimulus we can detect
What’s the difference threshold?
smallest change in a stimulus we can detect
What’s sensory adaption?
decreased sensory response to continuous stimulation
What is light?
form of electromagnetic energy that moves in waves
Light waves vary in:
- Length (wave length) -> determines frequency (colour)
- Height (amplitude) -> determines intensity
- Range (length + height) -> determines complexity
What’s the function of the eye?
captures light and focuses it on receptors at the back of the eyeball
What are the five senses?
- Vision
- Hearing
- Smell
- Taste
- Touch
What are the receptors for vision?
rods and cones in the retina
What is sound?
Sound results from movement of air molecules in a particular wave pattern
Sound waves vary in:
- length (wave length) -> determines pitch
- height (amplitude) -> determines loudness
- range (mixture) -> determines timbre
What are the receptors for hearing?
hair cells in the cochlea
What’s the proper name for the sense of smell?
olfaction
What are the receptors for smell?
embedded in a nasal membrane called olfactory epithelium
what are characteristics of smell?
- Can detect more than 10 000 different smells
- Women generally possess a stronger sense of smell than men
- People seem to have the ability to identify gender by smell
- Smell can evoke memories
What’s the proper name for the sense of taste?
gustation
What are the receptors for taste?
taste buds in papillae on the surface of the tongue
What are the three body senses?
- Skin senses
- Vestibular sense
- Kinesthesia
What are the skin senses?
- where you feel touch, temperature and pain
- receptors are in various concentrations and depths of the skin
What’s the vestibular sense?
- sense of balance
- involves vestibular sacs and semicircular canals located in the inner ear