Sensation And Perception Flashcards
(121 cards)
1
Q
Psychophysics
A
Branch of psychology that studies the effects of physical stimuli on sensory perceptions and mental States
2
Q
What was Gustav Fechner the first to study
A
The relationship between the strength of a stimulus and a person’s ability to detect the stimulus
3
Q
What was one of the important criterion when Fechner designed his experiment to determine the limits of humans sensation
A
Absolute threshold
4
Q
Absolute threshold of a sensation
A
The intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism to just barely detect it
5
Q
What is an individual presented with in a typical psychophysics experiment
A
With a series of trials in which a signal is sometimes presented and sometimes not, or in which two stimuli are presented that are either the same or different
6
Q
Signal detection analysis
A
A technique used to determine the ability of the perceiver to separate true signals from background noise
7
Q
What are the possible outcomes of a signal detection analysis
A
- You correctly say yes
- You respond yes to no signal
- You miss the sound and say no
- You correctly reject
8
Q
Describe how sight occurs
A
Seeing begins when light falls on the eyes, initiating the process of transduction, once the information reaches the visual cortex, it is processed by a variety of neurons that detect colors shapes and motion and this creates meaningful perceptions out of the incoming stimuli
9
Q
Where does light enter the eye through
A
The cornea
10
Q
What is the cornea
A
A clear covering that protects the eye and begins to focus the incoming light
11
Q
After light enter the cornea, where does it then pass through
A
The pupil
12
Q
What is the pupil
A
A small opening in the center of the eye
13
Q
What is the people surrounded by
A
The iris
14
Q
What is the iris
A
The color part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil by constricting or dilating in response to light intensity
15
Q
What happens to your iris when we enter a dark room
A
The muscles in the iris open the people and allow more light to enter
16
Q
What lies behind the pupil of the eye
A
The lens
17
Q
What is the lens
A
A structure that focuses the incoming light on the retina
18
Q
What is the retina
A
The layer of tissue at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptor cells
19
Q
What focuses the incoming light on the retina
A
The lens
20
Q
What happens when our eyes move from near objects to distant objects
A
A process known as visual accommodation occurs
21
Q
What happens when light falls on the retina
A
Receptor cells are activated, this activation then spreads to bipolar cells and then to ganglion cells
22
Q
What are the receptor cells of the retina known as
A
Rods and cones
23
Q
What cells gather together and converge like the strands of a rope, forming the optic nerve
A
Ganglion cells
24
Q
What is the optic nerve
A
A collection of millions of ganglion neurons that sends vast amounts of visual information via the thalamus to the brain
25
What structure of the eye can be seen as an extension of the brain itself and why
The retina and the optic nerve because they are active processors and analyzers a visual information
26
What are rods
Visual neurons that specialize in detecting black, white, and gray colors
27
What are the limitations of rods
They do not provide a lot of detail about an image, they are sensitive to shortwaved (darker) and weak light
28
What are rods good for
Seen in dim light or at night and they are primarily active and peripheral vision
29
Why is it that rods are particularly active and peripheral vision
Because the rods are located mainly around the edges of the retina
30
Cones
Visual neurons that are specialized in detecting fine detail and colors
31
What do cones operate best in
Bright light
32
Where are the cones primarily located
In the fovea which is in the central point of the retina
33
Where does information from the eye go to after it leaves the optic nerve
Information is relayed through the thalamus to corresponding areas in the visual cortex located in the occipital lobe at the back of the brain
34
Does the right eye send information to the left side of the brain and vice versa
No, the left and right eyes each send information to both the left and right hemispheres and the visual cortex processes each of the cues separately and in parallel
35
What is the visual cortex made up of
Specialized neurons that turn the sensations they received from the optic nerve into meaningful images
36
What does hearing begin with
Transduction
37
What is transduction
Sound waves that are collected by our ears are converted into neural impulses which are sent to the brain where they are interpreted as sounds
38
Where sound waves sent to be transmitted
To the auditory cortex where the sounds are compared to stored knowledge of other noises and then identified
39
Sound waves
Vibrating objects that cause air molecules to bump into each other and produce sound waves, which travel from their source as peaks and valleys just like ripples in water
40
What is it that we detect in sound waves
Wavelengths and amplitude
41
What is the wavelength of a sound
Is a frequency measured in terms of the number of waves that arrive per second
42
What is frequency determine
Our perception of pitch
43
What is pitch
The perceived frequency of a sound
44
Longer sound waves have _________ frequency and produce a _______ _______
Lower frequency and produce a lower pitch
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Shorter waves have ________ frequency and a ________ ______
Higher frequency and a higher pitch
46
Amplitude
Height of a sound wave
47
What does amplitude determine
How much energy a sound wave contains and it is perceived as loudness
48
How is the amplitude of larger waves perceived
As louder
49
How is loudness measured
By decibel
50
What is the absolute threshold for human hearing below which we cannot hear sound
Zero decibels
51
Where does sound begin
In the pinna
52
What is the pinna
The external and visible part of the ear, shaped like a funnel to draw in sound waves
53
After the peanut where are the sound waves guided to
Into the auditory canal
54
After the auditory canal where are the sound waves carried to
The tympanic membrane or eardrum
55
What is the tympanic membrane
Tightly stretched, highly sensitive membrane where sound waves vibrate
56
From the tympanic membrane where are the resulting vibrations relayed into
The middle ear through three tiny bones
57
What are the names of the three tiny bones in the ear
These ossicles are the malleus, incus, and stapes
58
Which ear bone is hammer-shaped
The malleus
59
Which ear bone is shaped like an anvil
Incus
60
Which ear bone is shaped like a stirrup
Stapes
61
After leaving the three bones of the middle ear where do the sound waves carry
To the cochlea
62
What is the cochlea
A snail shaped liquid filled tube in the inner ear
63
What part of the cochlea are the sound waves vibrated on causing the fluid inside the cochlea to be disturbed
The oval window
64
What is the oval window
The membrane covering the opening of the cochlea
65
What happens in the cochlea
Movements of the fluid bend the hair cells of the inner ear, this triggers nerve impulses in the attached neurons, which are sent to the auditory nerve and then the auditory cortex in the brain
66
How many hair cells are contained in each cochlea
About 16,000 hair cells
67
What do the 16,000 hair cells contain
A bundle of fibers known as cilia on the tip
68
How sensitive are the cilia
They can detect a movement that pushes them the width of a single atom
69
How is the loudness determined
By the number of hair cells that are vibrating
70
How is pitch detected
By two different mechanisms
1. The frequency theory of hearing
2. The place theory of hearing
71
The frequency theory of hearing
This proposes that whatever the pitch of us sound wave, nerve impulses of a corresponding frequency will be sent to the auditory nerve
72
What is the problem with the frequency theory of hearing
The problem is with high pitched sounds because the neurons cannot fire fast enough, so to reach the necessary speed, the neurons work together in a sort of rolling system in which different neurons fire and sequence, this allows us to detect sounds of up to 4,000 Hertz
73
What structure in the ear relays information about the specific area or place that is most activated by the incoming sound
Cochlea
74
What is the place theory of hearing
This proposes that different areas of the cochlear respond to different frequencies. Higher tones excite areas closest to the opening of the cochlea, near the oval window. Lower tones excite areas near the narrow tip of the cochlea at the opposite end.
75
Pitch is determined in part by
the area of the cochlear firing the most frequently
76
Which sense do we use the most
Sight
77
What two sensations are the most important in humans
Vision and hearing
78
What are the different senses
Scene, hearing, touch, taste, smell and proprioception
79
What is proprioception
Our sense of body position and movement
80
Other than enjoying food why is taste crucial
Because it leads us towards food that provide energy and away from food that could be harmful
81
Where does our ability to taste begin
Taste receptors on the tongue
82
How many taste sensations does our tongue detect
6
83
What are our different taste sensations
Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, piquancy (spicy), umami (savory)
84
Taste buds
- Contain taste receptors
- Designed to sense chemicals in the mouth
- Most located on the top outer edge of the tongue, some in the back and on the walls of the mouth and at the back of the throat
85
How are nerve impulses triggered for taste
When we chew food and it dissolves and enters the taste buds nerve impulses are triggered and are transmitted to the brain
86
How many taste buds does a human tongue have
2000 to 10,000 taste buds
87
How many taste receptors does each taste bud contain
50 to 100 taste receptor cells
88
What happens to our taste buds as we get older
Are taste buds are replaced less frequently and therefore make us less sensitive to taste
89
What sensory cortex is responsible for our response to taste
It is very similar to our location that responds to smell and that is why they both contribute to our experience of the things we eat
90
Where is the olfactory membrane located
The upper nasal passage
91
How many receptor cells are located in the olfactory membrane
10 to 20 million
92
Describe olfactory receptor cells
They are topped with tentacle like protrusions that contain receptor proteins
93
What happens when an odor receptor stimulated
The membrane sends neural messages of the olfactory nerve to the brain
94
How many voter receptor cells do we have
Approximately 1,000 types
95
Can any odor receptor cell detect any type of smell
The receptors come in different shapes and respond selectively to different smells, like a lock and key. Photo molecules find two different combination of receptors and these combinations are decoded in the olfactory cortex
95
Can any odor receptor cell detect any type of smell
The receptors come in different shapes and respond selectively to different smells, like a lock and key. Photo molecules find two different combination of receptors and these combinations are decoded in the olfactory cortex
96
Do men or women have a more acute sense of smell
Women do
97
What is the largest organ in the body and what sensory organ is it
The skin, it is a sensory organ for touch
98
What four basic sensations do the nerve endings in the skin respond to
Pressure, hot, cold, and pain
99
Which sensation has its own specialized receptors
Sensation of pressure
100
What are other sensations created by
A combination of the other for basic sensations
101
Experience of a tickle is caused by the stimulation of
Neighboring pressure receptors
102
The experience of heat is caused by the stimulation of
Hot and cold receptors
103
Experience of itching is caused by
Repeated stimulation of pain receptors
104
The experience of wetness is caused by
Repeated stimulation of cold and pressure receptors
105
What other important sense does the skin provide
Proprioception
106
How is proprioception accomplished
By specialized neurons located in the skin, joints, bones, ears, and tendons. They send messages about the compression and the contraction of muscle throughout the body
107
What would happen if we didn't have the feedback from our bones and muscles for our sense of proprioception
We would be unable to play sports, walk, or even stand up right
108
What system helps keep track of where the body is moving
The vestibular system
109
What is the vestibular system
A set of liquid filled areas in the inner ear that monitors the head's position and movement, maintaining the body's balance
110
What is included in the vestibular system
Semicircular canals and vestibular sacs
111
What do the vestibular sex connect the semicircular canals with
Cochlea
112
What do the semicircular canal sense
The rotational movements of the body
113
What do the vestibular sacs sense
Linear accelerations
114
Where does the vestibular system send signals to
The neural structures that control eye movement and to the muscles that keep the body upright
115
What is the point of experiencing pain
It informs the body that we are in danger, preventing further damage to our bodies
116
What is the gate control theory of pain
It proposes that pain is determined by the operation of two type of nerve fibers in the spinal cord
117
What are the two types of nerve fibers in the spinal cord that determine pain
One set of smaller nerve fibers carries pain from the body to the pain, a second set of larger fibers is designed to stop or start the flow of pain
118
Why is it when an area that feels pain is massaged, it helps to alleviate the pain
The massage activates the larger fibers that block the pain signals of the small nerve fibers
119
What factors or activities help reduce our pain
1. When we are busy focusing on a challenging activity
2. When we are distracted by humor
3. When the brain releases endorphins
120
What does research suggest about our evaluation of good and bad things
Within 1/4 of a second of seeing it we decide whether or not we like something. We also make snap judgments and they are usually accurate
