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MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

(108 cards)

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1
Q

sensation (transduction)

A

conversion of physical, electromagnetic, auditory and other information from out internal and external environment to electrical signals in the nervous system

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2
Q

perception

A

the processing of sensations to make sense of their significance

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3
Q

sensory receptors

A

neurons that respond to stimuli and trigger electrical signals

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4
Q

distal stimuli

A

stimuli that originate outside the body

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5
Q

proximal stimuli

A

directly interact with and affect sensory receptors, informing the observer about the presence of a distal stimulus

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6
Q

psychophysics

A

the relationship between the physical nature of stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they evoke

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7
Q

ganglia

A

collections of neuron cell bodies found outside the CNS

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8
Q

projection areas

A

electrochemical energy is sent along neural pathways to these areas to analyze sensory input

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9
Q

photoreceptors

A

respond to electromagnetic waves in the visible spectrum (sight)

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10
Q

hair cells

A

respond to movement of fluid in the inner ear structures (hearing, rotational and linear acceleration)

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11
Q

nociceptors

A

respond to painful or noxious stimuli (somatosensation)

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12
Q

thermoreceptors

A

respond to changes in temperature (thermosensation)

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13
Q

osmoreceptors

A

respond to the osmolarity of the blood (water homeostasis)

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14
Q

olfactory receptors

A

respond to volatile compounds (smell)

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15
Q

taste receptors

A

respond to dissolved compounds (taste)

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16
Q

threshold (limina)

A

the minimum amount of a stimulus that renders a difference in perception

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17
Q

absolute threshold

A

minimum of stimulus energy needed to activate a sensory system

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18
Q

threshold of conscious perception

A

a stimulus below this threshold arrives at the CNS, but does not reach higher-order brain regions

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19
Q

psychophysical discrimination testing

A

common way to analyze threshold of conscious perception; participant is presented with a stimulus that is varied slightly each time and is asked to identify when they notice a difference

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20
Q

difference threshold or just noticeable difference (jnd)

A

minimum difference in magnitude between two stimuli before one can perceive this difference

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21
Q

Weber’s law

A

states that there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus magnitude needed to produce a jnd and the magnitude of the original stimulus

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22
Q

signal detection theory

A

focuses on the changes in our perception of the same stimuli depending on both internal and external context

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23
Q

response bias

A

refers to the tendency of subjects to systematically respond to a stimulus in a particular way due to non sensory factors

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24
Q

adaptation

A

detection of a stimulus changes over time through this; i.e. pupils of eye dilating/contracting; helps our body to focus attention on only the most relevant stimuli

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25
sclera
thick structural layer covering the eye; white of the eye
26
choroidal vessels
complex intermingling of vessels between sclera and retina
27
retinal vessels
supplies nutrients to eye
28
retina
innermost layer of the eye; contains photoreceptors that transduce light into electrical information
29
cornea
clear, domelike window in the front of the eye that gathers and focuses incoming light
30
anterior chamber
lies in front of the iris
31
posterior chamber
lies between the iris and the lens
32
iris
colored part of the eye; composed of dilator pupillae and constrictor pupillae
33
dilator pupillae
opens the pupil under sympathetic stimulation
34
constrictor pupillae
constricts the pupil under sympathetic stimulation
35
ciliary body
produces aqueous humor that bathes the front part of the eye before draining into the Canal of Schlemm
36
aqueous humor
bathes front part of the eye
37
canal of Schlemm
aqueous humor drains into this
38
lens
helps control the refraction of incoming light
39
ciliary muscle
under parasympathetic control; as the muscle contracts, pulls on suspensory ligaments and changes the shape of the lens
40
accommodation
change in shape of the lens in response to suspensory ligaments and ciliary muscle
41
vitreous humor
transparent gel that supports the retina
42
duplexity theory of vision
states that the retina contains two kinds of photoreceptors: those that detect light-and-dark and those that detect color
43
cones
used for color vision and to sense fine details; most effective in bright light
44
rods
only allow sensation of light and dark; contain a single pigment called rhodopsin; low sensitivity to details and not involved in color vision but permit night vision
45
macula
high concentration of cones
46
fovea
center mart of macula; contains only cones
47
bipolar cells
highlight gradients between adjacent rods and cones
48
ganglion cells
synapse with bipolar cells; group together to form optic nerve
49
amacrine and horizontal cells
receive input from multiple retinal cells in the same area before information is passed on to ganglion cells
50
visual pathways
refer to both the physical anatomical connections between the eyes and the brain plus the flow of visual information along these connections
51
optic chiasm
fibers from the nasal half of each retina cross paths
52
optic tracts
reorganized pathways after visual paths leave optic chiasm
53
information from optic chiasm travels to:
- lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus - visual cortex in the occipital lobe - superior colliculus
54
parallel processing
ability to simultaneously analyze and combine information regarding shape, color and motion
55
feature detection
correlate in neuroscience of parallel processing which shows that our visual pathways contain cells specialized in detection of shape, color or motion
56
parvocellular cells
detect shape; have very high color spatial resolution, allows us to see very fine detail; can only work with stationary or slow-moving objects because of their very low temporal resolution
57
magnocellular cells
detect motion because they have very high temporal resolution
58
pinna (auricle)
cartilaginous outer part of the ear; channels sound waves into external auditory canal
59
external auditory canal
channels sound waves to the tympanic membrane (eardrum)
60
tympanic membrane (eardrum)
vibrates in phase with incoming sound waves; the frequency of the sound wave determine the rate at which the tympanic membrane vibrates
61
ossicles
small bones in the middle ear that transmit and amplify vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear
62
malleus, incus, stapes
malleus is attached to eardrum, acts on incus which then acts on stapes
63
Eustachian tube
connects middle ear and nasal cavity; helps equalize press between middle ear and environment
64
cochlea
spiral-shaped organ divided into three parts called scalae
65
organ of Corti
sits in the middle scale of the cochlea; is the actual hearing apparatus
66
basilar membrane
the flexible membrane on which the organ of Cord sits
67
endolymph
bathes the thousands of hair cells in the organ of Corti
68
tectorial membrane
immobile membrane that sits on top of the organ of Corti
69
perilymph
fills the two scalae of the cochlea that do not contain the organ of corti
70
round window
membrane-covered hole in the cochlea that allows the perilymph to actually move within the cochlea
71
auditory (vestibulocochlear) nerve
transmits electrical signals from the organ of Corti to the CNS
72
vestibule
portion of the bony labyrinth responsible for balancing and orientation; contains utricle and saccule
73
otoliths
modified hair cells in the utricle and saccule are covered in this; otoliths resist motion
74
semicircular canals
sensitive to rotational acceleration
75
utricle and saccule
sensitive to linear acceleration
76
ampulla
swelling at the end of each semicircular canal; contain hair cells
77
medial geniculate nucleus (MGN)
sound information passes to the MGN through the vestibulocochlear nerve
78
superior olive
localizes sound
79
inferior colliculus
involved in the startle reflex and helps keep the eyes fixed on a point while the head is turned
80
place theory
states that the location of a hair cell on the basilar membrane determines the perception of pitch when that cell is vibrated
81
tonotopical organization
which hair cells are vibrating gives the brain an indication of the pitch of the sound
82
olfactory chemoreceptors
located in the olfactory epithelium in the upper part of the nasal cavity
83
pheromones
secreted by one animal and once bonded with chemoreceptors, compel or urge another animal to behave in a specific way
84
olfactory pathway
odor molecules are inhaled into the nasal passages and then contact the olfactory nerves in the olfactory epithelium; receptors are activated, sending signals to olfactory bulb and then relayed to the olfactory tract
85
taste pathway
taste buds (found in papillae) to brainstem, to thalamus, to high-order brain regions
86
somatosensation (touch)
pressure, vibration, pain and temperature
87
Pacinian corpuscles
respond to deep pressure and vibration
88
Meissner corpuscles
respond to light touch
89
Merkle cells (discs)
respond to deep pressure and texture
90
Ruffini endings
respond to stretch
91
Free nerve endings
respond to pain and temperature
92
somatosensory complex
found in parietal lobe; processes touch
93
two-point threshold
minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli; depends on the density of nerves in that area of skin being tested
94
physiological zero
temperatures are judged relative to this value, which is the normal temperature of human skin
95
nociceptors
send pain singals
96
gate theory of pain
proposes that there is a special gating mechanism that can turn pain signals on or off
97
kinesthetic sense (proprioception)
refers to the ability to tell where one's body is in space
98
bottom-up (data-driven) processing
brain takes the individual sensory stimuli and combines them together before determining what the object is
99
top-down (conceptually driven) processing
driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object and then recognize the components based on these expectations
100
perceptual organization
refers to the ability to use top-down and bottom-up processing in tandem to create a complete picture/idea
101
depth perception
can involve one or both eyes
102
Gestalt principles
ways for the brain to infer mission parts of an incomplete picture
103
law of proximity
elements close to one another tend to be perceived as a unit
104
law of similarity
objects that are similar tend to be grouped together
105
law of good continuation
elements that appear to follow in the same pathway tend to be grouped together
106
subjective contours
has to do with perceiving contours, and therefore, shapes that are not actually present in the stimulus
107
law of closure
when a space is enclosed by a contour it tends to be perceived as a complete figure
108
law of pragnanz
says that perceptual organization will always be as regular, simple and symmetric as possible

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (6 decks)

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