SPS Flashcards
What is sensation?
detection of environmental stimuli
What is perception?
the awareness, or interpreting of what we sense (events and objects)
What is perceptual process?
the steps from stimuli from responses
What are the seven steps to perceptual process?
i. distal stimulus
ii. proximal stimulus
iii. receptor process
iv. neural processes
v. conscious experience
vi. recognition
vii. action
What is a distal stimulus?
stimulus that is the actual object or event in the environment.
What is the proximal stimulus?
pattern of light from the object or event that reaches your retina (or the sound waves from its roar reaching your ears).
What are sensory receptors?
cells specialized to respond to environmental energy, with each sensory system’s receptor specialized to respond to a specific time of energy.
What is transduction?
transformation of environmental (light, sound, thermal, etc) energy into electrical energy. crucial for perception
What is neural processing?
the changes in these signals that occur as they are transmitted through the network of neurons
What is the cerebral cortrex?
a brain layer that contains the machinery for creating perceptions and other high-cognitive functions like language, memory, and emotions. examples being occipital, temporal, and parietal lobe
What is the occipital lobe?
primary receiving area for vision
What is the temporal lobe?
contains part of the primary receiving area for hearing
What is the parietal lobe?
contains the primary receiving area for the skin sense (touch, temperature, pain) and your awareness of your position (what room you are in, what an object can be identified as, etc)
What is the frontal lobe?
receives signals from all the senses and plays an important role in perceptions that involve coordination of information received through two or more senses. cognitive thinking, decision making, etc is taken place.
What is recognition?
placing an object in a category that gives it meaning.
What is action?
the final behavioral response which involves motor activities in response to a stimulus.
What is knowledge?
any information that the perceiver brings to a situation such as prior experience or expectations
What is categorizing?
to place objects into categories, an example of how knowledge acquired years ago can influence the perceptual process.
Explain what bottom-up processing is.
data-based processing; processing that is based on the stimuli reaching the rectors. no prior knowledge or experience are involved.
Explain what top-down processing
knowledge-based processing; processing that is based on knowledge. As the stimulus becomes more complex, the role of top-down processing increases.
What are labeled lines?
the brain recognizing the senses as distinct because their action potential travel along separate nerve tracks.
What is generator potential?
local change in membrane potential
What is sensory transduction?
the conversion of electrical energy from a stimulus into a change in membrane potential in a receptor cell
What is pacinian corpuscle?
a specific type of skin sensory receptor that responds to vibration and pressure (senses texture)