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Sensing And Perceiving Flashcards

(54 cards)

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1
Q

Sensation

A

Response of our sense organs to stimulation by the outer worl

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2
Q

Perception

A

Act of organizing and interpreting sensory experience

How our psychological world represents out physical world

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3
Q

Sensory adaption

A

Sensory sensitivity diminishes when our senses are constantly stimulating

Ensures that we notices changes in stimulation more than stimulation itself

Acts as a filter to direct our attention to most relevant sensory information

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4
Q

Transduction

A

Conversion of physical into neural information

Once we know that a physical stimulus is something to attend to, the sense organs convert it into action potentials

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5
Q

Psychophysics

A

Study of how people psychologically perceive physical stimuli

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6
Q

Absolute threshold

A

Lowest intensity level of a stimulus we can detect half of the time

-smallest object you can see from a distance or softest sound you can hear etc

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7
Q

Signal detection theory

A

Takes into account both stimulus intensity and the decision making processes people use in detecting stimulus

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8
Q

Difference thresholds

A

Smallest amount of change between two stimuli that a person can detect half of the time

Aka just noticeable differences, where the size of the JND is a constant fraction of the intensity of the stimulus - Weber’s law

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9
Q

Bottom up processing

A

Building a perceptual experience from basic elements of sensation

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10
Q

Top down processing

A

Perception of the whole guides perception of smaller elemental features

Eg. Our frame of mind, which is ultimately coded in the brain can impact how we perceive things

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11
Q

Perceptual set

A

The effect of frame of mine on perception

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12
Q

Function of the eye

A

Bends light, converts light energy to neural energy, and sends that info to the brain for further processing

Most of our visual experience happens not in the eye, but in the brain

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13
Q

Cornea

A

A clear hard covering that protects the lens

Where light enters the eye

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14
Q

Pupil

A

Where light entered the interior of the eye

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15
Q

Iris

A

Coloured part of the eye

Adjusts the pupil to control the amount of light entering the eye

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16
Q

Lens

A

Light passes through

Bends the light rays to allow the large area of visual space to be represented in the much smeller area of the eye

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17
Q

Retina

A

Thin layer of nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye

Muscles around the lens alter its shape depending on the distance of an object to allow it to focus light on the retina

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18
Q

Accommodation

A

Process by which the muscles control the shape of the lens to adjust to viewing objects at different distances

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19
Q

Eye and receptor cells

A

Light hits the retina and is processed first by the photoreceptors (rods and cones) the deepest layer

Then by the bipolar cells, which send it to the ganglion cells

Horizontal and a machine cells modulate the activity of the other cell types

Transduction occurs in the retina which is made up of neurons

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20
Q

Photoreceptors

A

Convert light energy into neural impulses and are located in the deepest cell layer

Only retinal cell responsive to light; other cell types are responsive to neurotransmitters

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21
Q

Ganglion cells

A

Most superficial layer

Ganglion cell axons form the optic nerve that carry information from the eye to the brain

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22
Q

Bipolar cells

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A

2nd deepest layer

Form synapses with both ganglion cells and photoreceptors

Link the cells that transduce light stimulus with those that transit the information to the brain

23
Q

Horizontal and amacrine cells

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A

Located in an orientation perpendicular to the other cell types

Integrate the activity of the other cells

Horizontal cells located between photoreceptors and bipolar

Amacrine cells located between bipolar and ganglion

24
Q

Rods

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A

More numerous
Located mainly in the outer periphery of the retina
More sensitive to light (work well under low illumination)
Do not allow for finely detailed colour vision

25
Cones
Less numerous than rods Mainly located in the fovea (area in the centre of th retina that corresponds to our central focus of visual space) Allow for visual acuity
26
Visual acuity
Ability to see clearly Depends on our cones
27
Light interacting with photoreceptors
Embedded in the cell membranes of rods and cones are proteins with light sensitive photo chemicals When light interacts with these photo chemicals it results in a change in the shape of the protein This in turn alters the flow of sodium across the photoreceptors membrane and alters release of neurotransmitter at the canapés with bipolar cells
28
Rhodopsin
Protein found in rod cells Particularly sensitive to light Under conditions of bright illumination, is is said to be bleached (inactivated protein) due to maximum stimulation
29
Photopsins
Protein found in cones Less sensitive to light and do not bleach under bright light Under typical daytime conditions we rely on cones Allow us to see colour
30
Dark adaption
Process of adjustment to seeing in very dim light Photochemicals in cones and rods readjusting to low illumination
31
Light adaption
Opposite of dark adaption Suddenly exposed to bright light
32
Vision and the brain
Optic nerve transmits signals to the brain Point at which the optic nerve exits the eye is called the optic disc (forms a blind spot on the retina)
33
Optic chiasm
Where the strand of optic nerve crosses to the opposite side of the brain
34
Lateral geniculate nucleus
A cluster of neuron cells bodies in the thalamus Visual information creates a point by point representation on the tissue of the LGN Fibres from LGN travel to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe
35
Receptive fields
Neurons in the visual cortex that are highly specialized for detecting specific regions of visual space
36
Feature detectors
Analyze the rental image and respond to specific aspects of shapes angles and movements Simple cells: respond to very specific information such as a bar of light oriented at a particular angle This Complex cells receive input from many different simple cells and are receptive to particular singular in different parts of the receptive field . Also sensitive to movement Hypercomplex cells receive input from many complex cells and fire in response to patterns of lines
37
Auditory pathways
Auditory neurons transmit sound impulses to the thalamus in the brain. Auditory pathways go from the cochlea to the inferior colliculus in the brain steam and from there to the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus and from there to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe
38
Right auditory cortex
More active in processing non-verbal stimuli
39
Left auditory cortex
More active in processing speech and language
40
Bodily senses
Senses based in the skin, body or any membrane surface Touch, temperature, pain, position/motion, balance, and interoception (perception of bodily sensations)
41
Mechanoreceptors
Receptor cells that are sensitive to different tactile qualities.
42
Psychogenic or psychosomatic pain
Feeling pain with no apparent tissue damage
43
Chronic pain or fibromyalgia
Sensitivity to tactile stimulation
44
Nociceptive pain
Pain from tissue damage Pain receptors sensitive to heat, cold, chemical irritation and pressure are all types of nociceptors
45
Anterior cingulate cortex and insula
Active in both physical and emotional pain
46
Gate control theory of pain
Proposes that the spinal cord regulates the experience of pain by either activating or inhibiting neural networks called gates involved in pain sensations that get sent to the brain.
47
Opioids
Class of neurotransmitter that act as natural painkillers
48
Endorphins
Type of neurotransmitter that suppresses pain by interfering with pain messages in the spinal cord as well as the brain
49
Pain enhancement
Occurs under conditions of illness, when elevated pain signals are thought to be beneficial so that an organism can rest and recuperate. Glial cells wrapped around axons enhance pain signals
50
Olfactory sensory neurons
Small area high in the lining of the nasal cavity Receptors for smell Contain cilia which convert chemical information in odour molecules into neural impulses
51
Olfactory bulb
When chemicals come in contact with receptors on the cilia, transduction occurs via changes in ion flow and the olfactory message travels to the olfactory bulb in the forebrain Olfactory bulb sends info either directly to the smell processing area in the cortex or indirectly to the cortex by way of the thalamus
52
Primary olfactory cortex
In temporal lobe
53
Secondary olfactory cortex
Frontal lobe near the eyes
54
Orbitofrontal cortex
Region of brain most involved in flavour perception Receives input from brain areas involved in olfaction and taste as well as from areas involved in touch and vision. This is where signals from taste and smell meet

Psychology (9 decks)

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