Sensation vs Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Define sensation

A

The PROCESSING of BASIC INFORMATION from the external world by the sensory receptors in the sense organs and brain

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2
Q

Define perception

A

The process of ORGANISING and
INTERPRETING SENSORY INFORMATION about the objects, events, and spatial layout of our surrounding world

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3
Q

You walk into a kitchen and smell the scent of cinnamon rolls

Is this sensation or perception?

A

Sensation

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4
Q

You walk into a kitchen and smell the scent of cinnamon rolls which reminds you of the rolls your grandma used to make during Christmas time when you were younger

Is this sensation or perception?

A

Perception

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5
Q

This input is often ambiguous or incomplete

Is it a sensory or perception input?

A

Sensory input

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6
Q

This input organizes sensory input
into representations that the brain can use

Is it a sensory or perception input?

A

Perception

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7
Q

How did early research study perception in infants?

A

Early research simply measured how long infants would look at a visual stimuli

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8
Q

Give an example of earlier research which studied perception in infants

A

Fantz box (1950s)

1) Baby is presented with visual stimuli (pictures) including cartoon face, patterns, a solid colour, no colour etc.

2) Infant stared longer at the cartoon face compared to other stimuli

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9
Q

What did results from the Fantz box suggest about infants’ perception?

A

That infants could discriminate between stimuli using the preferential looking and habituation techniques

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10
Q

What are the modern ways to study sensation and perception in children?

A

1) Preferential-looking
2) Habituation

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11
Q

What is preferential-looking?

A

Involves showing infants two patterns or two objects at a time to see if the infants have a preference for one over the other

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12
Q

What test involves showing infants two patterns or two objects at a time to see if the infants have a preference for one over the other?

A

Preferential-looking test

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13
Q

What is habituation?

A

Involves repeatedly presenting an infant with a stimulus until their response declines

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14
Q

What test involves repeatedly presenting an infant with a stimulus until their response declines?

A

Habituation test

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15
Q

How might habituation help us study how infants sense and perceive things?

A

If infant dishabituates when they are presented with new, unfamiliar stimuli, researchers believe that the baby can discriminate between the old
and new stimuli

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16
Q

How do you test prenatal listening?

A

Operant conditioning

e.g. reward the infant with a particular sound according to their sucking pattern and measure which sound the child responds with to determine which reward they prefer

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17
Q

Who said this?

“The baby, assailèd by eyes, ears, nose, skin, and entrails at once, feels it all as one great blooming, buzzing confusion”

Simply = Baby is bombarded by a lot of information/stimuli and they get confused (chaotic)

A

William James

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18
Q

What can newborns see?

A
  • Blurry (they don’t see as well as adults do)
  • Their vision rapidly improves in the first few months
  • Infants prefer to look at patterns
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18
Q

What can newborns see?

A
  • Blurry (they don’t see as well as adults do)
  • Their vision rapidly improves in the first few months
  • Infants prefer to look at patterns
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19
Q

What do newborns experience in terms of their vision?

A

Visual acuity

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20
Q

Define visual acuity

A

The sharpness of visual discrimination

Simply = How sharply infants can see

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21
Q

How is visual acuity in infants measured?

A

Assessing infants’ preferences with specific patterns

e.g. An infant’s visual acuity can be estimated by comparing how long the baby looks at a striped pattern vs a plain grey square of the same size and brightness

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22
Q

We compare how long the baby looks at a striped pattern vs a plain grey square of the same size and brightness

What is this test trying to measure?

A

Infants’ visual acuity

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23
Q

When does infants’ visual acuity approach and become just as good as adults’ visual acuity?

A

Approach = By 8 months
Become = By 6 years old

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24
Q

How come the visual acuity of infants can be measured by the length of staring?

A

Because infants prefer to stare longer at patterns with high visual contrast (contrast sensitivity)

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25
Q

Define contrast sensitivity

A

The ability to tell the difference between light and dark areas in a visual pattern

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26
Q

At what age do infants prefer to look at patterns of high visual contrast?

A

Up to 2 months old

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27
Q

Why do infants up to 2 months old prefer to look at patterns of high visual contrast?

A

Because they have poor contrast sensitivity (poor ability to detect differences in light and dark areas)

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28
Q

Why do young infants up to 2 months old have poor contrast sensitivity (poor ability to detect differences in light and dark areas)?

A

Because infants’ cones (light receptors/light-sensitive cells in the fovea area of the eye that helps us see colour) are much more immature, sparsely populated and further apart compared to adult cones

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29
Q

What are the 2 types of cells in the eye?

A

1) Rods = Light sensitive
2) Cones = Colour sensitive

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30
Q

Newborns have about ……. vision

a. 20/120
b. 10/120
c. 50/120
d. 60/ 120

A

a. 20/120

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31
Q

At what age do infants start to have good colour vision (ability to see colour) that is similar to adults?

A

By 2-3 months old

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32
Q

What is scanning?

A

The process of moving your eyes around something stationary

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33
Q

At what age do infants scan only the perimeters of a shape?

A

At 1 month old

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34
Q

At what age do infants scan both the perimeters and interiors of a shape?

A

At 2 months old

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35
Q

What is tracking?

A

The process of moving your eyes smoothly, following a moving object, without moving your head

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36
Q

At what age do infants begin scanning the environment?

A

As soon as they were born

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37
Q

At what age do infants begin tracking things in the environment (even slowly moving objects)?

A

About 2-3 months old

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38
Q

What kind of visual stimuli/shape intrigues infants the most?

A

Faces

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39
Q

Why are infants drawn to faces compared to other shapes?

A

Infants have a general bias toward configurations with more elements in the
upper half than in the lower half (Top-heavy shapes)

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40
Q

When do infants start preferring their mother’s own face?

A

At about only 12 cumulative hours of exposure to the mother’s face (Bushnell, 1998)

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41
Q

At what age do infants’ visual attention stops being influenced by top-heavy bias?

A

By 3 months old

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42
Q

Who proposed that 6-month-olds are better at distinguishing between different monkey faces than adults and 9-month-olds?

A

Pascalis et al. (2002)

43
Q

How come Pascalis et al.’s study found that 6-month-olds are better at distinguishing between different monkey faces than adults and 9-month-olds?

A

Because the study made caregivers of the 6-month-olds show pictures of monkeys regularly to the infants

After some time, infants are used to the monkey faces and can quickly tell the difference between 2 monkey faces

44
Q

At what age do infants prefer female faces (unless the primary caregiver is male)?

A

By around 3 months old (Quinn et al., 2002)

45
Q

Why do infants prefer female faces (unless the primary caregiver is male) by around 3 months old?

A

Because a majority of infants have a female primary caregiver

The more often the infant sees the face of their female primary caregiver, the more likely they will develop a preference for a female

(they evelop a preference for the type of face they see most often)

46
Q

At what age will infants develop a preference for the type of face they see most often AND also, come to understand the significance of different facial expressions?

A

At 4-5 months old

47
Q

Do infants look longer at attractive faces or less attractive faces?

A

Attractive faces

48
Q

Who proposed that infants interact more
positively with people with attractive faces?

A

Langlois et al.

49
Q

Describe Langlois et al.’s study on the effects of facial attractiveness on infant preferences

A

1) 12-month-old children were either presented with an attractive or an unattractive woman
(the same woman but with different mask/makeup)

2) The woman plays with the child

3) It was found that the child is more responsive to the attractive woman

50
Q

At what age can infants analyze and integrate separate elements of a visual display into a coherent pattern?

A

At 2 months old

51
Q

Define subjective contour

A

In a Kaniza arrangement, people can see an illusory border of a shape even though the border itself does not exist

e.g. Adults view an image as a white square on top of 4 pink circles (they can see an illusory contour of the square shape even though the contour does not exist)

52
Q

According to Bertenthal et al., at what age can children see the overall pattern and detect the illusory square?

A

At 7 months old

53
Q

When do infants show less interest in the shape with an illusory square?

A

Only when they habituate to the shape with the square will they only prefer a new shape (Ghim, 1990)

54
Q

Define perceptual constancy

A

The tendency for us to see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective or distance.

Simply = When you see two of the same objects that are at different angles/distances (1 further away and 1 closer to you) you would still believe that the shapes are of the same size

55
Q

Who conducted the perceptual constancy study?

A

Slater et al.

56
Q

What were Slater et al.’s suggestions on infants’ perceptual constancy?

A

If an infant looks at the larger, but further away cube, researchers will conclude the child has size constancy

This indicates that the infant saw the cube that was further away as a different size than the cube that was closer

57
Q

What did Slater et al.’s study on infants’ perceptual constancy suggest?

A

Newborns see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance, or lighting

58
Q

Define object segregation

A

The identification of separate objects in a visual array (perception of boundaries between objects)

59
Q

An infant is confused about whether a teacup on a small plate is one object or two separate objects. But once their mother picked up the cup, leaving the plate behind, the infant is aware that they are 2 separate objects

What is this an example of?

A

Object segregation

60
Q

Who proposed that movement is important for object segregation?

A

Kellman & Spelke

61
Q

Describe Kellman & Spelke’s object segregation experiment

A

1) Infants are presented with 2 separate objects, a rod moving back and forth behind a box

2) After habituating to the display, infants are presented with one single rod and 2 rods

3) Infants stared longer (dishabituated) at the 2 rods rather than 1 rod, suggesting they have object segregation as they find the single rod familiar but the 2 rods unfamiliar

4) But infants who were first presented with 2 separate objects without movement, a rod staying still behind a box, stared longer at both the single rod and 2 rods

62
Q

Define optical expansion

A

When a visual image of an object looks like it’s increasing in size as it comes closer to us

63
Q

At what age do infants start responding to optical expansion?

A

Infants as young as 1-month-old

64
Q

What did Ball and Tronick suggest about infants’ response to optical expansion?

A

One-month-old infants will blink defensively at an object that appears to be heading towards them

65
Q

Why do infants blink when an object is nearing them?

A
  • They blink because they can’t dodge
  • They think the ball is going to hit them as they see the ball getting larger as it approaches
66
Q

What term is used to describe the process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity (the
slightly different signals sent to the brain by the two eyes)?

A

Stereopsis

67
Q

Define stereopsis

A

When you look at an object and each eye sees it from a slightly different angle (because the retinal image of the object in each eye sends 2 different signals to the brain)

68
Q

According to Held et al., at what age does stereopsis emerge in infants?

A

Emerges suddenly at around 4 months old

69
Q

At what age do infants become sensitive to a variety of monocular or pictorial cues, the perceptual cues of depth that can be achieved by one eye alone?

A

About 6-7 months old

70
Q

Infants believe that the larger the size of something, the…

  1. Further
  2. Closer
A

Closer

71
Q

Describe Yonas et al.’s monocular depth experiment to test depth perception

A

1) A 7-month-old infant wears an eye patch as a way to only use their monocular depth cue of
relative size

  • Wearing an eye patch takes away binocular depth information

2) The infant is presented with an Ames Window (basically a model that has one long side and one shorter side)

3) The infant, whilst wearing the eye patch, seems to prefer reaching the longer side of a trapezoidal window/ Ames window

4) This behaviour indicates that the infant sees the longer side as nearer, and hence
more readily reachable

72
Q

What does the Ames window experiment suggest about children’s depth perception?

A

The infant sees the longer side of the Ames window as nearer, and hence more readily reachable

73
Q

Before infants reach about 19 months old, they have substantial experience with pictures

Infants and toddlers attempt to treat pictures like they were…..?

A

Real objects

74
Q

Why do infants younger than 19 months treat pictures like real objects?

A

Because they can’t differentiate between 2D and 3D yet

75
Q

At what age do children reach the same hearing levels as an adult?

A

5 or 6 years of age

76
Q

Define auditory localisation

A

When you turn your head towards a sound

77
Q

At what age do children show signs of auditory localisation?

A

Newborns
- Newborns turn their heads towards the direction of sounds
- But they struggle to determine where exactly the sound is coming from

78
Q

Are infants are proficient in perceiving subtle differences in human speech?

A

Yes

79
Q

Who proposed a study on infants’ perception of music?

A

Butt and Kisilevsky (2000)

80
Q

Describe Butt and Kisilevsky’s study on infants’ perception of music

A

1) Heel lance procedure (making a pinprick puncture in one heel of the newborn to collect their blood) on premature infants 31 weeks GA

2) Heart rate increases during heel lance procedure

3) Heart rate returned to normal more quickly when playing Brahms lullaby (regardless of instrument)

4) However, the phenomenon does not apply to infants <31 weeks GA

81
Q

What did Corbeil et al. suggest about singing to infants?

A

That singing keeps infants 7-10 months
calm for twice as long as speech/talking

e.g. It is better to sing twinkle twinkle little star than simply recite/say it

82
Q

What did Trainor & Heinmiller suggest about infants’ music preferences?

A

Infants share the strong preferences adults have for some “pleasing” music sounds over others

83
Q

What kind of music do infants respond to, according to Krumhansl & Jusczyk?

A
  • Infants respond to RHYTHM and TEMPO in music

They prefer music that had pauses between musical phrases rather than in the middle

84
Q

Apart from being sensitive to tempo and rhythm, what else are infants sensitive to when it comes to music, according to Chang & Trehub?

A
  • Infants are also sensitive to melody
  • They show habituation to the same tune regardless of changes to the pitch
85
Q

What kind of taste do infants prefer?

A

Sweet

86
Q

What did DeSnoo do to test for preference for sweetness in prenatal infants?

A

1) There were 2 conditions:

Condition 1 = A dye + sweetener mixture was injected into a pregnant mother’s amniotic fluid

Condition 2 = Only the dye was injected into a pregnant mother’s amniotic fluid

2) When mothers are told to pee, it was found that there was more dye present in the urine of mothers injected with dye + sweetener than just dye

87
Q

Who claimed that newborn infants prefer the smell of their “own” amniotic fluid relative to than of another baby?

A

Marlier et al. (1998)

88
Q

What did Marlier et al. claim about newborn infants’ preference towards scent?

A

Newborn infants prefer the smell of their “own” amniotic fluid relative to than of another baby

89
Q

Who conducted an experiment on rats to investigate whether Marlier’s claim was true regarding preference for infant’s own amniotic fluid smell?

A

Teicher & Blass (1977)

90
Q

Describe Teicher & Blas’s newborn rat experiment

A

1) Right after birth, the mother rat is washed and there is no longer a distinct scent of amniotic fluid

2) Baby rats struggled to navigate their way to the mother rat for food

  • Amniotic fluid promotes post-birth
    feeding behaviour in RATS
  • Baby rats navigate to the mother rat for feeding very soon after birth
  • If mother rat is washed immediately
    after birth – pups don’t find food
    source
91
Q

At what age do infants develop sensitivity to taste and smell?

A

Before birth

92
Q

According to Marlier & Schall, when do infants start preferring the smell of breast milk?

A

At 3-4 days after birth regardless of whether they have been breastfed or bottle fed

93
Q

According to MacFarlane, at what age do infants start to differentiate their mother’s scent from other women’s scents?

A

By 2 weeks of age

94
Q

Who conducted an experiment to test for the expression of taste in newborns?

A

Rosenstein & Oster, 1988

95
Q

What were the 4 types of tastes Rosenstein & Oster tested on infants in their study of investigating the expression of taste in newborns?

A

1) Neutral stimulus (water)
2) Sweet stimulus
3) Sour stimulus
4) Bitter stimulus

96
Q

How do infants learn about the environment?

A

Active touch

  • Starts off with oral exploration
  • Then gain control over hands and arms to make movements and manual exploration
97
Q

At what age do infants gain greater control over their hand and arm movements, and manual exploration gradually takes precedence over oral exploration?

A

Around 4 months old

98
Q

Define intermodal perception

A

The act of combining information from 2 or more sensory systems

99
Q

What did Spelke discover about intermodal perception in infants?

A

When two videos are presented simultaneously, 4- month-old infants prefer to watch the images that correspond to the sounds they are hearing

100
Q

When two videos are presented simultaneously, 4- month-old infants prefer to watch the images that correspond to the sounds they are hearing

What is this an example of?

A

Intermodal perception

101
Q

According to Walker-Andrews, at what age do infants associate facial expressions with emotion in voices?

A

By 5 months old

102
Q

Describe Streri & Spelke’s experiment investigating intermodal perception in infants

A

1) Infants held two rings, one in each hand, under a cloth that prevented them from seeing the rings or their own bodies

  • For some infants, the rings were connected by a rigid bar and therefore moved together
  • For others, the rings were connected by a flexible cord and therefore moved independently

2) All infants were allowed to hold and feel just one type of ring until they had largely lost interest (habituated)

3) They were then shown both types of rings and looked longer at the rings that were different from those they had been exploring with their hands

103
Q

Why do very young infants have poor sensitivity to visual contrast?

A. The fovea is underdeveloped
B. The rods in the eye are more spaced out than in adults
C. The visual cortex is underdeveloped
D. None of the above

A

A. The fovea is underdeveloped

104
Q

Which of the following statements is true about infants’ visual perception of depth?

A. Infants use optical expansion to perceive depth before stereoptic vision
B. Infants use stereoptic vision to perceive depth before optical expansion
C. Newborn infants use both optical expansion and stereoptic vision to perceive depth
D. Neither optical expansion nor stereoptic vision are related to depth perception

A

A. Infants use optical expansion to perceive depth before stereoptic vision

105
Q

Jane is three days old and has only ever been bottle-fed with formula milk. Jane is likely to:

A. Prefer the smell of formula milk over the smell of breast milk
B. Prefer the smell of breast milk over the smell of formula milk
C. Prefer the milk that is presented on her usual feeding side, regardless of what it smells like
D. Show no preference for the smell of either formula milk or breast milk

A

B. Prefer the smell of breast milk over the smell of formula milk

106
Q

Which of the following statements about intermodal perception is true?

A. Infants can recognise objects through sight they have previously only experienced through touch
B. Infants can combine experience from sight and sound into one representation
C. Infants can associate facial expressions with emotions in voices
D. All of the above

A

D. All of the above