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Sensations And Perception Flashcards

1
Q

What are sensations

A

The stimulus detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain

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2
Q

What does perception mean

A

Making sense of what our senses tell us

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3
Q

What is psychophysics

A

The scientific area that studies relations between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory capabilities

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4
Q

What is the absolute threshold

A

The lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time

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5
Q

What is decision criterion

A

A standard of how certain they must be that a stimulus is present before they will say they detect it

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6
Q

What is signal detection theory concerned with

A

The factors that influence sensory judgement

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7
Q

What is a subliminal stimulus

A

As stimulus that is so weak or brief that although it is received Blythe senses it cannot be perceived consciously

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8
Q

What is the difference threshold

A

The smallest difference between two stimuli that people can perceive 50% of the time

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9
Q

What is Weber’s law

A

The difference threshold is directly proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus with which the comparison is being made

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10
Q

What is sensory adaption

A

Diminishing sensitivity to a stimulus

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11
Q

What is transduction

A

The process whereby the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses

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12
Q

Where do light wave enter the eye

A

Through the cornea

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13
Q

What is the pupil

A

An adjustable opening behind the cornea that controls the amount of light that enters the eye

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14
Q

What is the lens

A

A flexible structure that becomes thinner to focus on distant objects and thicker to focus on merely objects

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15
Q

Where is the retina located

A

The back of the eye

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16
Q

What is accommodation

A

When an image is focused directly and sharply onto the retina and determines good all round vision

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17
Q

Want is myopia

A

Nearsightedness

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18
Q

What happens in myopia

A

The visual image is focused in front of the retina

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19
Q

What is the cause of myopia

A

The eyeball is longer than normal

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20
Q

What is hyperopia

A

Farsightedness

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21
Q

What occurs in hyperopia

A

The image is focused behind the retina

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22
Q

What causes hyperopia

A

The lends doesn’t thicken enough

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23
Q

What is the retina

A

A multilayered light sensitive tissue at the rear of the fluid filled eyeball

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24
Q

What two light sense tie receptor cells does the retina contain

A

Rods

Cones

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25
What are rods
Black and white brightness receptors
26
When do rods function best
In dim light
27
What are cones
Colour receptors
28
When do cones function best
In bright illumination
29
What is the fovea
A small area in the centre of the retina that contains no rods but many densely packed cones
30
What is the fovea responsible for
Our most detailed vision
31
What creates a blind spot
An absence of photoreceptors where the optic nerve exits the eye
32
What is the optic nerve
Ganglion cells whose axons are collected into a bundle to form the optic nerve
33
What are photopigments
Protein molecules that allow rods and cones to translate light waves into nerve impulses
34
What is dark adaption
The progressive improvement in brightness sensitivity that occurs over time under conditions of low illumination
35
What are feature detectors
Cells within the primary visual cortex that fire selectively in response to visual stimuli that have specific characteristics
36
What is transduction
The process whereby the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses
37
What are sound waves
Pressure waves travelling through any medium that will allow their conduction
38
What are two characteristics of sound waves
Frequency | Amplitude
39
What us frequency
The number of sound waves or cycles per second
40
What range of sound frequencies can humans detect
20 to 20000 Hz
41
What is amplitude
The vertical size of sound waves
42
What are decibels
The measure of the physical pressures that occur at the eardrum
43
What is the pinnae
The visible part of the ear that resides outside the head
44
What is the function of the pinnae
To collect sound and help localise where sounds are coming from
45
What are the bones in the middle ear collectively called
The ossicles
46
What are the three ossicles
The hammer The anvil The stirrup
47
What is the role of the ossicles
Impedance matching
48
What does impedance mean
How much a given medium impedes sound waves
49
What does the inner ear contain
The cochlea
50
What is the cochlear
A coiled, fluid filled tube
51
What is the basilar membrane
A sheet if tissue that runs the length of the cochlea
52
Where is the organ of Corti
On the basilar membrane
53
What is in the Corti
Thousands of tiny hair cells that are the actual cell receptors
54
What is the theory of pitch perception
Nerve impulses sent to the brain match the frequency of the sound wave
55
What is the place theory of pitch perception
The specific point in the cochlea where the fluid wave peaks and most strongly bends the hair cells serves as a frequency coding cue
56
What are the two types of hearing loss
Conduction deafness | Nerve deafness
57
What causes conduction deafness
Problems with the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to the cochlea
58
What type of deafness can be helped with hearing aids
Conduction deafness
59
What causes nerve deafness
Damaged receptors within the inner ear or damage to the auditory nerve itself
60
What do sensory prosthetics do
Provide sensory input that can, to some extent, substitute for what cannot be supplied by the persons sensory receptors
61
What is an example of a sensory prosthetic
Cochlear implants
62
What is bottom up processing
The system takes in individual elements of the stimulus and then combines them into a unified perception
63
What is top down processing
Sensory information is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, ideas and experiences
64
What did the gestalt movement set out to do
Discover how we organise the parts of the perceptual field into a unified and meaningful whole
65
What is the goal of perception
To recognise objects in the environment according to organisation of their elements
66
What does the gestalt principle argue
The whole is more than and different to the sum of its parts
67
What is figure down relations
Our tendency to organise stimuli into a central or foreground figure and a background
68
What is the law of similarity
Similar elements will be perceived as belonging together
69
What is the law of proximity
Elements that are near each other are likely to be perceived as part of the same configuration
70
What is the law of closure
People tend to fill in gaps n incomplete figures
71
What is the law of continuity
People link individual elements together to form a pattern that makes sense
72
What is a perceptual scheme
A mental representation or image containing the critical and distinctive features of a person, object, event or other perceptual phenomenon
73
What is a perceptual set
A readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way
74
What is the purpose of perceptual constancies
They allow us to recognise familiar stimuli under varying conditions
75
What is the purpose of shape constancy
Allows us to recognise people and other objects from many different angles
76
What is brightness constancy
Relative brightness of objects remain the same under different conditions of illumination
77
What is size constancy
The size of objects remain relatively constant even though images on our retina change in size with variations in distance
78
What are the two types of cues
Monocular | Binocular
79
What are monocular depth cues
Cues that require only one eye
80
What is linear perspective
The perception that parallel lines converge in the distance
81
What is texture/clarity
Clear objects are judged to be closer
82
What is interposition
Objects closer to us may cut off parts of our view of more distant objects
83
What is relative size
With objects of similar size, the one that looks smaller is judged to be farther away
84
What is the motion paradox
If we are moving, nearby objects appear to move faster than faraway ones
85
What are binocular depth cues
Cues that require both eyes
86
What is binocular disparity
Each eye sees a slightly different image
87
What produces convergence
Feedback from the muscles that turn your eyes inward to view a close object
88
What are illusions
Compelling but incorrect perceptions
89
What is the main cause of illusions
Perceptual constancies

Psychology (7 decks)

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