Biological: Sensation and Perception Flashcards
You will be able to explain how humans interpret sensory stimuli through various sensory systems, emphasizing attention, perception, and the biological basis of sensation. (134 cards)
1
Q
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
A
- Sensation is what happens when our sensory modalities (vision, hearing, taste, etc.) are activated.
- Perception is how we understand these senses.
2
Q
What are the three stages of sensation?
A
- reception
- transduction
- transmission through neural pathways to the brain
3
Q
Stimuli from the outside world are converted into neural impulses to be processed by our brains through what process?
A
transduction
4
Q
What two processes stop you from feeling your shirt press against the hairs on your arms all day?
A
- sensory adaptation: when the hairs on our arms are constantly being pressed, we simply stop responding to the feeling of pressure
- sensory habituation: the pressure on our hairs stops being novel, so there is no reason for us to continue paying attention to it
5
Q
If you are zoning out in class and your teacher suddenly uses a swear word, you will snap back to attention. What is the phenomenon called that is responsible for this?
A
The cocktail party phenomenon/effect involuntarily focuses our attention on something salient, like hearing our name in a roomful of people, or hearing a teacher curse.
6
Q
What are the “energy senses” and why are they called that?
A
- vision
- audition (hearing)
- touch
These senses detect stimuli such as light, sound waves, and pressure and convert them into neural signals.
7
Q
What are the “chemical senses” and why are they called that?
A
- taste (gustation)
- smell (olfaction)
These senses take stimuli and convert them into chemical signals to be processed.
8
Q
What is a human’s dominant sense?
A
vision
9
Q
What are the factors in seeing a bright light or a blue sky versus a black jacket?
A
Light intensity will affect how bright an object appears, and color or hue is affected by the light wavelength in the visual color spectrum an object reflects.
Objects that appear black actually absorb all colors, while objects that are white reflect all light wavelengths. The blue sky absorbs all colors but blue, which it reflects.
10
Q
Describe the part of the eye:
cornea
A
It is the protective covering of the eye, where light first enters and is focused.
11
Q
Describe the part of the eye:
pupil
A
The black part in the middle of the eye, the pupil acts like the shutter of a camera, and is controlled by the iris.
12
Q
Describe the part of the eye:
iris
A
The iris is the colored disc surrounding the pupil that changes its dilation, allowing more or less light in.
13
Q
Describe the part of the eye:
lens
A
It focuses on light entering through the pupil (called accomodation), then flips and inverts the image and projects it onto the retina.
14
Q
Describe the part of the eye:
retina
A
The upside-down and inverted image is projected onto the retina, where neurons are activated to interpret the image via transduction. The retina has several layers of cells involved in transduction.
15
Q
What are the parts of the retina?
A
- rods and cones
- fovea
- ganglion cells
- blind spot
16
Q
When the sun sets and everything in the dark around you looks bluish, are your rods or your cones activated?
A
Rods are activated. Rods react to light, rather than color, with the exception of blue, which explains why we can only see shades of blue in the dark. Cones are activated by other colors.
17
Q
Describe the part of the eye:
fovea
A
It is an indentation in the retina. It is the eye’s fixation point, or the part of the eye used when attending to detail.
18
Q
Why do we have a “blind spot”?
A
The area where the optic nerve leaves the retina has no photoreceptors (rods or cones).
19
Q
The optic nerve is comprised of axons from which cells?
A
ganglion cells
20
Q
What is the lateral geniculate nucleus?
(LGN)
A
It is the visual part of the thalamus that receives information from the optic nerve.
21
Q
Information from the left side of the retinas go to the left side of the brain, and information from the right side of the retinas go to the right side of the brain. Where does the information get routed to each side?
A
optic chiasm
Since the optic chiasm, where this information intersects, is shaped like an X, an easy way to remember this is to remember that “chi” is the letter X in Greek.
22
Q
After visual impulses are processed in the thalamus, where do they end up?
A
Vision is ultimately processed by the occipital lobe.
23
Q
There are five feature detectors in vision, labeled V1 through V5. Who won the Nobel Prize for their discovery?
A
David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel
24
Q
In the context of vision, what does each of the five feature detectors do?
A
- V1. mental image formation and imagination
- V2. illusory contours
- V3. location
- V4. color analysis and pattern recognition
- V5. motion and direction
25
What is the **trichromatic** theory?
This theory states that the cones in our retinas perceive blue, green, and red, and are activated in combination to create a perception of **all the colors** in the **visual spectrum**.
26
When you look at the sun for a while and then look away, why is there a **dark spot** in your vision for a period of time?
afterimage
## Footnote
Afterimages of red are green, and afterimages of blue are yellow and vice-versa. The opponent-process theory states that when you look at something of one color, you inhibit its color pair, which you see when you look away.
27
Why would the **opponent-process** theory help explain color blindness?
It hypothesizes that the retina has its **sensory receptors** arranged in **color pairs**, and if a person is missing a specific pair, he will be unable to perceive **either** of those colors.
28
What **characteristics** of a sound wave determine what we actually hear?
The **amplitude** of a soundwave determines the loudness of a sound (decibels).
The **frequency** of a soundwave determines the pitch of a sound (hertz).
29
# Describe the part of the ear:
pinna
It is the **flap of skin** outside the ear that helps capture and focus sound.
30
# Describe the part of the ear:
eardrum
The eardrum or tympanic membrane concentrates sound energy, **vibrating** when sound from the ear canal hits it.
31
# Describe the part of the ear:
ossicles
These are three tiny bones in the middle ear that connect the eardrum to the oval window.
1. hammer (malleus)
2. anvil (incus)
3. stirrup (stapes)
32
# Describe the part of the ear:
oval window
It compresses the fluid in the cochlea and **connects** the middle ear to the inner ear.
33
# Describe the part of the ear:
cochlea
The fluid-filled cochlea is small and coiled, like a **snail's shell**, and converts vibrational activity into neural energy.
34
# Describe the part of the ear:
organ of Corti
It is the part within the cochlea that actually **converts soundwaves** into **neural energy**. The hair cells attached to the basilar membrane on the cochlea move in response to compression of fluid, which causes transduction in the organ of Corti, sending **neural information** to the brain.
35
What is **place** theory?
It believes that **pitch processing** is activated spatially on receptors in the cochlea, the same way that a piano's notes are arranged spatially. A higher pitch would move a hair cell on a certain part of the cochlea that a lower pitch would not.
36
What is **frequency** theory?
Frequency theory (or volley theory) says that we hear **different pitches** because of the frequency at which the hair cells in the cochlea fire.
37
When you go to a loud concert and stand by the speakers, what kind of **deafness** are you causing for yourself?
nerve deafness
## Footnote
Loud noises damage the hair cells on the cochlea, preventing them from firing for any sounds at all, so no neural impulses reach the brain.
38
What kind of **deafness** is caused when one of the mechanisms used to move sound from the outer ear to the cochlea is damaged?
conduction deafness
39
What **sensory modality** responds to pressure or temperature?
touch
40
If you stub your toe, then fall down and break your wrist, which one will you feel more, and what **theory** predicts this?
You will feel your broken wrist more than your stubbed toe, which is predicted by **gate-control theory**.
## Footnote
This theory hypothesizes that pain messages are prioritized and the high-priority messages will be delivered first, while the low-priority messages will be shut out, like a swinging gate.
Pain killers also help close the gate, as will natural endorphins in the brain.
41
What are papillae?
These are the **bumps** on your tongue that hold taste buds.
42
What are the five different **tastes** we perceive?
1. salty
2. sweet
3. bitter
4. sour
5. umami (savory or meaty tastes)
43
What is another word for "taste"?
gustation
44
What makes smell **different** from the other senses?
It is not processed through the thalamus.
45
Why do certain smells trigger **memories**?
The nerves of the olfactory bulb connect with the **amygdala** and **hippocampus**, which are attached to memory and emotional response.
46
What **sense** is responsible for motion sickness on a roller coaster?
The **vestibular sense** responds to your body's orientation in space. There are canals in your ear that are filled with fluid, and the position of that fluid tells your brain where you are. If you are on a bumpy, looping roller coaster, your vestibular sense may be confused, causing nausea and dizziness.
47
What is the **kinesthetic sense** in charge of?
It keeps track of specific body parts and where they are in space, using receptors in joints and muscles.
48
What is the absolute threshold?
It is the smallest stimulus consciously perceptible at least 50% of the times encountered. Stimuli below the absolute threshold are considered **subliminal**.
49
If your parents ask you to turn down the television, what determines how much you have to turn it down before they notice a change in volume?
The **difference threshold** (or **just-noticeable difference**) is the amount a stimulus needs to change before the change can be detected. For hearing, the change must be 5%.
50
What is the **Weber-Fechner** law?
It asserts that the amount of stimulus change needed to perceive a difference is **proportional** to the intensity of the existing stimulus.
## Footnote
If there is one candle in a room and another candle is added, you will notice a difference in brightness. However, if there are 17 candles on a birthday cake, an 18th will likely not be noticeable
51
What **theory** takes into account the things that distract us from perceiving a stimulus?
**Signal detection theory** acknowledges the motivation to perceive a certain stimulus, like smelling delicious food when we're hungry, or not noticing a friend in a crowded room.
52
What is **top-down** processing?
It uses information we already have in our brains to **fill in gaps** in the things we sense. It can frequently overrule the more primitive areas of our brains.
53
Building a perception of an object by **mentally compiling** all of its features is called what?
bottom-up processing or feature analysis
## Footnote
This is slower than top-down processing, but is more thorough and less prone to mistakes.
54
What are the four **Gestalt rules** of perception?
1. proximity
2. continuity
3. similarity
4. closure
55
# Explain the Gestalt rule of perception:
proximity
Items **close together** are easy to perceive as being part of the same group.
56
# Explain the Gestalt rule of perception:
continuity
Items that form a **continuous pattern** are easier for the mind to see as part of the same group.
57
# Explain the Gestalt rule of perception:
similarity
Items that look **alike** are more likely to be seen as being in the same group.
58
# Explain the Gestalt rule of perception:
closure
Items that form a **known image** are easier to group together, even if there are some gaps within the image.
59
While objects frequently remain the same, the way we view them does not. What allows us to still **recognize** an item despite the changes in how we see it?
Constancy allows this to happen. There are three types of constancy:
1. size constancy
2. shape constancy
3. brightness (or color) constancy
60
What prevents us from thinking an object is actually changing in size as we walk toward it?
**Size constancy** helps take distance into account when calculating the size of an object.
61
What allows us to see different properties of an object from **different angles** but know it is still the same object?
Though an understanding of the object has to exist to begin with, the principle of **shape constancy** allows our brains to recognize that, even if we see a piano from behind instead of looking at its keys, it is still a piano.
62
# Fill in the blanks:
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ allows us to know that the color of an object does not change, even though the light hitting it does change.
Brightness constancy (or color constancy)
63
Eleanor Gibson terrified babies by pioneering what experiment? What does this experiment measure?
Gibson pioneered the **visual cliff experiment**, which measures depth perception in babies.
## Footnote
A baby is placed on one end of a table and tries to cross to the other side. However, the middle of the table appears hollow, like a cliff, and babies who refuse to cross the cliff can perceive depth.
64
# Fill in the blanks:
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_ are used to perceive depth, and require use of both eyes, while \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_ only require use of one eye.
Binocular cues; monocular cues
65
What are examples of **monocular cues**?
* linear perspective
* relative size cues
* interposition cues
* texture gradient
* shadowing
66
# Describe:
linear perspective
Like in art class, it uses a point on the canvas for **two lines** to come together, representing distance.
67
# Describe:
relative size cues
To represent **distance**, objects in photos or drawings tend to be larger the closer they are to the foreground. If something is in the distance, it is usually represented as being quite small.
68
# Describe:
interposition cues
It signal to a **viewer** that an object obscuring the view of another object is closer to the viewer.
69
# Describe:
texture gradient
Things in the **distance** are difficult to see clearly, and things **close-up** are more detailed, so fuzzy textures signal that an object or landscape is in the distance.
70
# Describe:
shadowing
Shadowing uses **light and darkness** to signal to the viewer the location of objects.
71
What are two **binocular cues** to help us perceive depth?
1. binocular disparity (or retinal disparity)
2. convergence
72
Why does **binocular disparity** tell us how far away an object is?
Our eyes are positioned apart from one another, so when one eye perceives something different about an object from the other eye, it tells us that the object must be close. If the object were far away, both eyes would perceive roughly the same thing.
73
How does **convergence** signal how far away an object is?
The muscles that **control the eyes** send signals to the brain as they move, and the more the eye muscles converge (turn inward together), the **closer** an object must be.
74
What **muscles** control the shape of the lens?
ciliary muscles
75
Rods and cones are also known as what?
receptor cells
76
In what part of the retina is **visual acuity** at its greatest?
The **fovea**, since it has the greatest concentration of cones in the eye, enabling perception of fine detail.
77
How would **nativists** explain perception?
Nativists argue that perception is an **innate** ability, meaning that humans are born with the capacity to perceive the world around them without the need for extensive learning or experience.
78
How would **structuralists** explain perception?
Structuralists would argue that perception is a result of **bottom-up** processing, meaning it begins with sensory input and builds up to form a complete perceptual experience.
79
How would **Gestalt psychologists** explain perception?
Perception is a result of **top-down processing**, since the way people explain the world is by creating a system of organization.
80
What type of **illusion** is this?
An ambiguous figure illusion.
## Footnote
They are images that can be perceived differently depending on how they are seen.
81
What kind of **illusion** is this?
A figure-ground reversal pattern illusion.
## Footnote
These images can be perceived differently based on which part is seen as the foreground and which is the background (in this case, faces or a vase).
82
What kind of **illusion** is this?
An impossible object illusion.
## Footnote
Impossible objects are perceived as being real, even though there is no geometric way they can exist in reality.
83
Why does the moon look smaller in the sky than it does on the horizon?
When the moon is on the horizon, we can compare its relative size to other familiar objects. However, when it is in the sky, we have nothing else to compare it to, creating the illusion that it is smaller.
84
How are cartoons an example of the phi phenomenon?
Cartoons are a series of still images changed slightly and presented quickly to achieve a sense of fluid motion. The phi phenomenon states that we attribute **apparent motion** to a series of still images that differ slightly from one another.
85
What is this **illusion**?
the Müller-Lyer illusion
## Footnote
Though we know the lines are equal in length, we perceive the one with outward prongs as longer than the one with inward prongs.
86
What type of **illusion** is this?
a Ponzo illusion
## Footnote
Like the Muller-Lyer illusion, the lines in this example seem different in length, though they are the same.
87
What are people with **prosopagnosia** unable to do?
recognize faces
## Footnote
Prosopagnosia appears to affect the fusiform gyrus and can be either following brain trauma or congenital.
88
Why does a single light in darkness appear to move?
The constant motion of our own eyes causes static objects to appear in motion, which is referred to as the **autokinetic effect**.
89
Why is it that dogs can respond to higher-pitched sounds than humans?
Dogs have a different terminal threshold than humans. The **terminal threshold** is the **upper limit** of perceivable stimuli, so while humans are unable to recognize high-pitched tones, dogs can still distinguish them.
90
What does the **basilar membrane** do?
It **vibrates** in response to sound coming from the stapes.
91
What type of **cells** respond to pain and temperature changes in the skin?
free nerve endings
92
What do **Pacinian corpuscles** respond to?
vibration
93
What are the fast-adapting **skin receptor cells** that respond to light touch?
Meissner's corpuscles
94
What is the **two-point** threshold?
It is the point at which touch from **two separate** objects is recognized. Different places on the body have smaller or larger two-point thresholds.
95
When you feel **neither warm nor cold**, what might your skin be experiencing?
physiological zero
## Footnote
Usually around 85 degrees farenheit, this is the point at which your skin will not feel temperature sensations.
96
Mirror boxes have been shown to reduce which type of **pain or sensation**?
phantom limb pain
## Footnote
Phantom limb pain is when an amputee feels pain in the limb that is no longer attached.
97
What causes us to turn in the direction of something touching us?
the orienting reflex
98
Who defined the **just-noticeable difference** (or differential threshold)?
E. H. Weber
99
What is the visual field?
It is the total **perceptible area** at any given time without moving your head or eyes.
100
What causes us to understand that a train is in the distance because it appears to be moving slowly and a train is close because it appears to be moving quickly?
the motion parallax
101
What causes perceived differences in **brightness** in visual regions?
lateral inhibition
## Footnote
Interconnected neurons inhibit each other to produce contrast at the edges of regions.
102
Who suggested the **tri-color theory** (or component theory)?
Thomas Young and Hermann von Helmholtz
## Footnote
Helmholtz is also known for his theory on color blindness.
103
What **neuronal layers **stand between the rods and cones and the optic nerve?
* horizontal cells
* amacrine cells
* bipolar cells
* ganglion cells
104
What are the three types of cells Hubel and Wiesel differentiated with regard to **signal detection** theory?
1. **simple**: concerned with boundaries and orientation of an object
2. **complex**: information about movement
3. **hypercomplex**: information about shape
105
What **photopigment** is contained in the rods?
rhodopsin
106
# True or False:
The law of prägnanz allows us to find complex and specific details in objects.
False
## Footnote
The law of prägnanz says we organize the things we perceive in the simplest or most orderly way possible.
107
What type of **motion** occurs when a stationary point of light has the appearance of movement against a moving background?
induced motion
108
# Fill in the blank:
The motion aftereffect states that if we see an object in motion for a long time and then it stops, it will appear to move in the \_\_\_\_\_\_ direction even though it is not moving at all.
opposite
109
What did Fantz's experiments demonstrate about **preferential looking** in babies?
* If they looked at different stimuli for different periods of time, that meant they could tell a **difference** between the objects
* if they spent more time looking at one object than another, it **signaled preference**
* babies prefer to look at **complex objects**, like faces and patterns more than uniform objects.
110
What brain structures are important for **visual** processing?
* lateral geniculate nucleus (thalamus)
* superior colliculus
* visual cortex (occipital lobe)
111
What brain structures are important for **auditory** processing?
* inferior colliculus
* medial geniculate nucleus (thalamus)
* auditory cortex (temporal lobe)
112
What brain structure is important for processing **touch**?
somatosensory cortex
113
What is the method of **limits** used for in psychophysics?
To determine the threshold at which a stimulus is perceived.
## Footnote
The method of limits involves presenting stimuli in ascending or descending order to find the point where a participant first detects or no longer detects the stimulus, thereby establishing the sensory threshold.
114
# True or False:
The method of constant stimuli uses a fixed order of stimuli presentation.
False
## Footnote
The method of constant stimuli presents stimuli in a random order, not fixed, to prevent anticipation and habituation effects, thus providing a more accurate threshold measurement.
115
# Fill in the blank:
Staircase procedures are often used because they are more \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ than traditional methods of threshold determination.
efficient
## Footnote
Staircase procedures adjust the level of stimulus based on the participant's responses, allowing quicker convergence on the threshold while using fewer trials compared to traditional methods like the method of constant stimuli.
116
# Define:
* hit
* miss
* false alarm
* correct rejection
## Footnote
In the context of signal detection theory.
* **Hit**: correctly identifying a signal when it is present.
* **Miss**: failing to identify a signal when it is present.
* **False Alarm**: incorrectly identifying a signal when it is absent.
* **Correct Rejection**: correctly identifying the absence of a signal.
## Footnote
**Signal detection theory** is used to measure the ability to differentiate between information-bearing patterns (signals) and random patterns that distract from the information (noise).
117
What does the parameter **'d'** represent in signal detection theory?
Sensitivity or discriminability
## Footnote
'd′' measures how well a person can distinguish between signal and noise. Higher d′ values indicate better discrimination ability.
118
What is the **difference** between 'd' and 'β' in signal detection theory?
* **'d'** measures sensitivity or the ability to discriminate between signal and noise.
* **'β'** measures response bias or the tendency to favor responding with one signal over the other.
## Footnote
While 'd' is about sensitivity, 'β' is about the subjective criterion a person uses to decide whether a signal is present or not.
119
How do you construct and interpret a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve?
Plot the true positive rate (sensitivity) against the false positive rate (1-specificity) at various threshold settings.
## Footnote
An ROC curve is used to visualize the trade-offs between sensitivity and specificity. The area under the curve (AUC) provides a single measure of overall accuracy; a larger AUC indicates better performance.
120
# Define:
Broadbent's Filter Theory
A theory that suggests we **filter information early** in processing based on physical characteristics.
## Footnote
It posits that humans have a limited capacity for information processing, and thus, a selective filter allows only certain messages based on their physical properties to pass through for further processing. This theory helps explain how we focus on specific stimuli while ignoring others.
121
How does Treisman's Attenuation Model **differ** from Broadbent's Filter Theory?
It suggests that **unattended information is attenuated**, not completely filtered out.
## Footnote
Treisman's Attenuation Model proposes that while the selective filter weakens (attenuates) the strength of unattended messages, it does not eliminate them. This allows some unattended information to be processed if it is relevant or important, explaining why we can sometimes hear our name in a noisy room.
122
# True or False:
The Stroop Effect demonstrates the difficulty of dividing attention between different cognitive tasks.
True
## Footnote
The Stroop Effect reveals that reading words can interfere with task performance, such as naming the color of the ink they are printed in. This interference suggests that our cognitive system struggles with dividing attention between conflicting stimuli, highlighting automatic vs. controlled processing.
123
What are the main steps involved in **taste transduction**?
* Taste molecules bind to taste receptors on the tongue.
* This binding activates gustatory cells.
* Ion channels open, leading to a change in cell membrane potential.
* Neurotransmitters are released, sending signals to the brain.
## Footnote
Taste transduction is the process by which taste stimuli are converted into electrical signals in the brain. It involves the interaction of taste molecules with taste receptors, which are specialized cells located on the tongue.
124
Which **cranial nerves** are involved in the gustatory pathway?
* Facial nerve (VII)
* Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
* Vagus nerve (X)
## Footnote
The gustatory pathway is responsible for transmitting taste information from the tongue to the brain. The cranial nerves involved convey these signals from different parts of the oral cavity to the gustatory cortex.
125
What is the **sequence** in the olfactory pathway from receptor to cortex?
* Olfactory receptor
* Glomerulus
* Mitral cell
* Primary olfactory cortex
## Footnote
The olfactory pathway begins with the detection of odorants by olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity. Signals are then transmitted to the glomeruli in the olfactory bulb, where they synapse with mitral cells. The information is finally relayed to the primary olfactory cortex for processing.
126
# True or False:
The primary olfactory cortex is responsible for the initial processing of olfactory information.
True
## Footnote
The primary olfactory cortex, located in the temporal lobe, is directly involved in the processing and perception of smells. It plays a crucial role in interpreting the olfactory signals received from the mitral cells.
127
What are the primary roles of A‑β, A‑δ, and C fibers in the nervous system?
* **A‑β fibers**: Convey touch and pressure sensations
* **A‑δ fibers**: Transmit fast pain and temperature sensations
* **C fibers**: Carry slow pain and temperature sensations
## Footnote
A-β fibers are myelinated and have a larger diameter, allowing them to conduct signals rapidly. A-δ fibers are thinly myelinated and are involved in transmitting sharp, acute pain. C fibers are unmyelinated, resulting in slower signal transmission and are associated with dull, aching pain.
128
# True or False:
Muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs are both types of proprioceptors.
True
## Footnote
Proprioceptors provide information about body position and movement. Muscle spindles detect changes in muscle length, while Golgi tendon organs monitor tension in the muscles.
129
What is the primary function of the **semicircular** canals?
Detect rotational movement of the head.
## Footnote
The semicircular canals are three fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that help maintain balance by detecting head rotations. Each canal corresponds to a different plane of motion.
130
# True or False:
The utricle is mainly responsible for detecting gravitational forces.
False
## Footnote
The utricle and saccule are part of the vestibular system in the inner ear. The utricle detects changes in horizontal movement and head position relative to gravity, while the saccule primarily senses vertical movements.
131
What is the primary focus of **Structuralism** in psychology?
It focuses on **breaking down mental processes** into their most basic components.
## Footnote
Structuralism, championed by Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener, aims to identify the basic elements of consciousness through introspection. It was one of the first major schools of thought in psychology.
132
How does Gestalt psychology **differ** from Structuralism?
Gestalt psychology emphasizes that the mind perceives things as whole forms rather than the sum of their parts.
## Footnote
Gestalt psychology, founded by Max Wertheimer, opposes Structuralism by arguing that psychological phenomena cannot be understood by simply analyzing their components. Instead, it focuses on how people integrate and organize information into meaningful wholes.
133
# True or False:
Empiricism emphasizes the role of innate ideas in knowledge acquisition.
False
## Footnote
Empiricism, associated with philosophers like John Locke, asserts that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experiences and evidence-based observation, rejecting the notion of innate ideas.
134
What is **pareidolia**, and how is it an example of a top-down error?
It is the tendency to **perceive a familiar pattern**, such as a face, where none actually exists.
## Footnote
Pareidolia is an example of a top-down processing error where expectations and previous knowledge influence perception, leading to the interpretation of random stimuli as significant objects.
