Sensation & Perception Flashcards

1
Q

sensation

A

the physical processing of environmental stimuli by the sense organs

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2
Q

perception

A

the psychological processing of interpreting sensory information

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3
Q

What is the process of sensation to perception?

A

stimulus → sensory receptors → transduction → neural impulses → perception

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4
Q

psychophysics

A

methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus

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5
Q

Who studied psychophysics?

A

Gustav Fechner

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6
Q

absolute threshold

A

the smallest amount of stimulation needed for detection by a sense 50% of the time

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7
Q

True or False:
lower absolute threshold = greater sensitivity

A

True

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8
Q

True or False:
Perception is an all-or-none phenomenon.

A

False
happens little by little

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9
Q

difference threshold/
just noticeable difference

A

the minimum difference between two stimuli needed to detect a difference between them 50% of the time

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10
Q

The more intense the original stimulus, the ___ the amount that needs to be added before a difference is detected.

A

larger

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11
Q

What is the JND?
original: loud music
change: volume up by 3

A

high

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12
Q

What is the JND?
original: quiet music
change: volume up by 3

A

low

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13
Q

top-down processing

A

when our perceptions are influenced by our expectations or prior knowledge

perception → sensation

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14
Q

bottom-up processing

A

when we receive individual pieces of sensory information and use them to construct a more complex message

sensation → perception

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15
Q

signal detection theory

A

a response to a stimulus depends on a person’s sensitivity and decision criteria

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16
Q

stimulus: present
response: present

A

hit

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17
Q

stimulus: absent
response: present

A

false alarm

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18
Q

stimulus: present
response: absent

A

miss

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19
Q

stimulus: absent
response: absent

A

correct rejection

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20
Q

What is the most favorable response in a high-stakes situation?

A

false alarms > misses

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21
Q

sensory adaptation

A

diminished sensitivity as a result of constant or recurring stimuli

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22
Q

What are examples of sensory adaptation?

A
  • wearing perfume
  • hearing an air conditioner
  • being aware of wearing clothes
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23
Q

selective attention

A

focusing on one particular task or event over the full picture

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24
Q

inattentional blindness

A

failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention

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25
Q

change blindness

A

failure to detect changes to the visual details of a scene

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26
Q

cornea

A

transparent covering of the eye

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27
Q

pupil

A

opening in the eye through which light passes; dilates or constricts to let more or less light in

28
Q

lens

A

focuses the eye

29
Q

retina

A

light-sensitive lining of the eye

30
Q

fovea

A

indentation in the center of the retina with the greatest visual acuity

31
Q

What is the process of vision?

A

light enters eye → image projected on the retina → transduction → signal travels down optic nerve → thalamus → visual cortex

32
Q

transduction

A

photoreceptors transform light into a neural signal through ganglion cells

33
Q

normal vision

A

image focused perfectly on retina

34
Q

near-sightedness

A

image focused in front of retina

35
Q

far-sightedness

A

image focused past the retina

36
Q

cones

A

responsible for color vision

37
Q

rods

A

responsible for vision in low light

38
Q

trichromatic color theory

A

3 different cones each sensitive to different wavelengths of light

RGB

39
Q

opponent process theory

A

we perceive color in opposing pairs
* red/green
* yellow/blue
* white/black

40
Q

How do negative afterimages work?

A

cells stimulated by a certain color are inhibited until the opposing color is no longer perceived

41
Q

feature detectors

A

cells that respond selectively to specific features (i.e. lines)

42
Q

How is information routed after the visual cortex?

A

through visual processing streams to other cortical areas

43
Q

dorsal processing stream

A

“Where is it?”
sent to parietal lobe

44
Q

ventral processing stream

A

“What is it?” / “Who is it?”
sent to temporal lobe

45
Q

visual agnosia

A

inability to recognize objects

46
Q

prosopagnosia

A

inability to recognize familiar faces

47
Q

monocular depth cues

A

help us perceive depth using one eye

48
Q

binocular depth cues

A

help us perceive depth using two eyes

49
Q

retinal disparity

A

different images received by each eye based on different perspectives

50
Q

convergence

A

when a person views a nearby object, eyes turn inward

51
Q

constancy

A

our brain uses depth cues to keep our perception of brightness and size constant

52
Q

Carpentered World Hypothesis

A

our experience with corners affects our depth perception

53
Q

Point of Subjective Equality (PSE)

A

the point at which the two lines are seen as equal

54
Q

Point of Objective Equality (POE)

A

the point at which the two lines are actually equal

55
Q

pinna

A

outer part of the ear where sound waves enter

56
Q

auditory canal

A

where sound waves are funneled through

57
Q

eardrum

A

sound waves strike and cause the ear drum to vibrate

58
Q

ossicles

A

tiny bones that amplify sound and transmit sound waves to the cochlea

59
Q

cochlea

A

contains hair cells (auditory receptors) that vibrate the frequency of sound waves and turn them into nerve impulses sent to the auditory nerve

60
Q

conductive hearing loss

A

damage to the eardrum or ossicles that lead to the failure to amplify sound

61
Q

sensorineural hearing loss

A

damage to the cochlea or neural patheway that lead to failure to transmit neural signals to the brain

62
Q

sound localization

A

location of sound determines the timing of when sound hits the left ear vs. right ear first

63
Q

multimodal perception

A

effect that concurrent stimulation in more than one domain has on perception of events and objects

64
Q

What is an example of multimodal perception?

A

hearing sound and watching a video at the same time

65
Q

synaesthesia

A

condition in which perceptual or cognitive activities trigger exceptional sensory experiences

66
Q

What is an example of synaesthesia?

A

seeing music notes as colors