Unit 3 - Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

Process by which we detect physical energy from the environment and encode it as neural signals.

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

Process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

Question 3

Bottom-up processing

Answer 3

Analysis begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information; inductive reasoning (logical thinking begins with details and then forms broad perceptions or generalization) is an example of bottom-up processing.

Question 4

Top-down processing

Answer 4

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes; deductive reasoning (logical thinking approach that begins with a general idea and then develops specific evidence to support/refute it) is an example of top-down processing.

Question 5

Absolute Threshold

Answer 5

Minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Question 6

Just Noticeable Difference (jnd)

Answer 6

Minimum difference between TWO stimuli that a subject can detect the difference between the two stimuli.

Question 7

Weber’s Law

Answer 7

States that the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is a constant minimum percentage of the stimulus; If the difference of 105 in weight is noticeable, Weber’s Law predicts a person could discriminate 10 and 11 pound weights or 50 and 55 pound weights.

Question 8

Sensory adaptation

Answer 8

Decreased sensitivity that occurs with continued exposure to an unchanging stimulus.

Question 9

Sensory habituation

Answer 9

Our perceptions of our senses depend on how focused we are on them; for example, you may no longer hear the trains going by our home after living in that house for a period of time.

Question 10

Transduction

Answer 10

Process by which receptor cells in the eye, ear, skin, and nose convert environmental stimuli into neural impulse.

Question 11

Hue

Answer 11

The color we experience, comes in the basic colors of red, green, or blue.

Question 12

Wavelength

Answer 12

Distance from one peak of one light or sound to the next; gives rise to the perceptual experiences of hue (color) and pitch (sound).

Question 13

Intensity

Answer 13

Determined by amplitude of the waves (brightness of color or loudness of sound); any sound that exceeds 85 decibels in amplitude or intensity will damage the auditory system.

Question 14

Cornea

Answer 14

Transparent structure that covers the front of the eye.

Question 15

Pupil

Answer 15

Adjustable opening in the eye through which light enters.

Question 16

Iris

Answer 16

Ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored part of the eye and controls the diameter of the pupil.

Question 17

Lens

Answer 17

Transparent structure of the eye behind the pupil that changes shape to focus images on the retina.

Question 18

Accomodation

Answer 18

Process by which the lens of the eye changes shape to focus near objects on the retina.

Question 19

Retina

Answer 19

Light-sensitive, multilayered inner surface of the eye that contains the rods and cones as well as neurons that form the beginning of the optic nerve.

Question 20

Fovea

Answer 20

The central point of focus in the retina around which the eye’s cone cluster.

Question 21

Rods

Answer 21

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision when the cones don’t respond; you have 120 million of them.

Question 22

Cones

Answer 22

Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations; you have 6 million of them.

Question 23

Optic Nerve

Answer 23

Carry neural impulses from eye to brain.

Question 24

Blind spot

Answer 24

Region of retina where optic nerves leave the eye; no rods or cones are in this area = no vision here.

Question 25

Nearsightedness

Answer 25

Condition in which nearby objects are seen clearly but distant objects are blurred because light rays reflecting from them converge in front of the retina; also called myopia.

Question 26

Farsightedness

Answer 26

Condition in which distant objects are seen clearly but nearby objects are blurred because light rays reflecting from them strike the retina before converging; also, called presbyopia.

Question 27

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

Answer 27

Three color theory -- retina contains red, green, and blue-sensitive color receptors that in combination can produce the perception of any color; explains first state of color processing and color blind.

Question 28

Monochromatism

Answer 28

Complete color-blindness in which all colors appear shades of grey from white to black.

Question 29

Dichromatism

Answer 29

Color deficiency because only two of the three primary colors can be detected.

Question 30

Opponent-process theory

Answer 30

Color vision depends on pairs of opposing retinal processes in the brain (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white); explains the second stage of color processing and afterimages.

Question 31

Prosopagnosia

Answer 31

Inability to recognize faces as familiar due to an issue with the connection within temporal lobe, occipital lobe, and fusiform gyrus.

Question 32

Blindsight

Answer 32

Neurological condition where one can perceive the location of an object despite being blind.

Question 33

Color constancy

Answer 33

Perception that familiar objects have consistent color despite changes in illumination that shift the wavelengths they reflect.

Question 34

Audition

Answer 34

Sense of hearing

Question 35

Pitch

Answer 35

A sound that is determined by its frequency or number of complete wavelengths that can pass a point in time. Frequency is directly related to wavelength. The longer waves produce lower pitch; shorter waves produce higher pitch.

Question 36

Amplitude

Answer 36

Affects loudness meaning how much pressure is being forced through the air; measured in decibels (dB).

Question 37

Frequency

Answer 37

Number of wavelengths cycles in a unit of time; measured by hertz (Hz) and humans here from 20 to 20,000 Hz.

Question 38

Auditory Canal

Answer 38

Used to catch sound and direct it into the ear.

Question 39

Middle Ear

Answer 39

Chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing the ossicles or the three bones. (Hammer, anvil, stirrup) that concentrate the eardrum's vibrations on the cochlea's oval window.

Question 40

Inner Ear

Answer 40

Contains the semicircular canals and the cochlea, which includes the receptors that transducer sound energy into neural impulses; also, contains the vestibular sac, making the inner ear also important in balance.

Question 41

Cochlea

Answer 41

Coiled, bony, fluid-filled turbe of the inner ear where the transduction of sound waves into neural impulses occur (snail shape).

Question 42

Basilar Membrane

Answer 42

Inner surface of the cochlea that resonates the different sounds in different locations.

Question 43

Organ of corti

Answer 43

Also called hair cells, covers the basilar membrane and when the fluid of the cochlea moves the hair cells move to send signals to the basilar membrane and on to the auditory nerve.

Question 44

Place Theory

Answer 44

States we hear different pitches because sound waves of various frequencies trigger activity at different places on the cochlea's basilar membrane. This theory maintains that the place of maximum vibration along the cochlea's membrane is the basis of pitch discrimination.

Question 45

Frequency Theory

Answer 45

Presumes that the rate, or frequency, of nerve impulses in the auditory nerve matches the frequency of tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch (as the pitch rises, the entire basilar membrane vibrates at that frequency, which nerve impulses that correspond with the frequency of the pitch traveling up the auditory nerve enabling us to perceive pitch in a kind of frequency encoding.

Question 46

Volley Theory

Answer 46

Neural action potential takes turns firing to produce a combined frequency that is higher than what a single neuron can achieve.

Question 47

Conduction Deafness

Answer 47

Hearing loss caused by damage in the mechanics of the outer or middle ear, which impairs the conduction of sound waves to the cochlea; common as people age, hearing aids can compensate.

Question 48

Sensorineural Deafness

Answer 48

Nerve Deafness; hearing loss caused by damage to the auditory receptors of the cochlea or to the auditory nerve due to disease, aging, or prolonged exposure to ear-splitting noise.

Question 49

Olfaction

Answer 49

Sense of smell

Question 50

Gustation

Answer 50

Sense of taste; satly, bitter, sweet, sour; umami (meaty, savory flavor); oleogustus (taste of fat).

Question 51

Supertaster, medium toaster, and non-tasters

Answer 51

Differ in the size, sensitivity, and amount of taste buds.

Question 52

Pheromones

Answer 52

Chemical signals used by animals to mate or signal danger.

Question 53

Gate-control theory

Answer 53

Maintains that a "gate" in the spinal cord determines whether pain signals are permitted to reach the brain; neural activity in small nerve fibers opens the gates and activity in large fibers or information from the brains closes the gate; gains support with the discovery of endorphins.

Question 54

Sensory Interaction

Answer 54

Principle that one sense may influence another.

Question 55

Embodied cognition

Answer 55

Influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements.

Question 56

Kinesthesis

Answer 56

Sense of the position and movement of the parts of the body with receptors found in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Question 57

Vestibular Sense

Answer 57

Sense of balance, gravity, and acceleration of our heads; semi-circular canals are three fluid filled tubes in the inner ear and movement of the fluid within each gives our brain a sense of where we are in space and helps us keep our balance.

Question 58

Selective (focused) attention

Answer 58

Focusing on conscious awareness on a stimulus out of all of those that we are capable of experiencing.

Question 59

Cocktail party effect

Answer 59

We can filter out nearly everything except that voice which is most important to us.

Question 60

Divided attention

Answer 60

Focusing on two or more tasks or stimuli

Question 61

Inattentional blindness

Answer 61

Occurs when our focus is directed at one stimulus, leaving us blind to other stimuli.

Question 62

Change blindness

Answer 62

Inability to see changes in our environment when our attention is directed elsewhere; a type of inattentional blindness.

Question 63

Visual Capture

Answer 63

Tendency for vision to dominate other senses.

Question 64

Gestalt

Answer 64

"organized whole"; Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes; key theorist is Max Wertheimer.

Question 65

Figure-ground

Answer 65

The organization of the visual field into two parts; the figure, which stands out from its surroundings, and the surroundings, or background.

Question 66

Grouping

Answer 66

Perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups; identified by Gestalt psychologists.

Question 67

Proximity

Answer 67

Group nearby objects close to each other and interpret them as a single entity.

Question 68

Similarity

Answer 68

Organize objects with similar qualities into a group and interpret them as a whole.

Question 69

Depth perception

Answer 69

Ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; it allows us to judge distance.

Question 70

Visual cliff

Answer 70

Laboratory device for testing depth perception, especially in infants and young animals. In their experiments, Gibson and Walk found strong evidence that depth perception is at least in part innate.

Question 71

Binocular Cues

Answer 71

Depth cues that depend on information from both eyes.

Question 72

Retinal Disparity

Answer 72

Differences between the images received by the left eye and the right eye because of viewing the world from slightly different angles. It is a binocular cue, since the greater the difference between two images, the nearer the object.

Question 73

Convergence

Answer 73

Neuromuscular binocular depth cues based on the extent to which the eyes converge, or turn inward, when looking at near or distant objects. The more the eyes turn inward, the nearer the objects.

Question 74

Monocular Cues

Answer 74

Depth cues that depend on information from either eye alone.

Question 75

Linear Perspective

Answer 75

Parallel lines appear to converge in the distance.

Question 76

Interposition

Answer 76

Blocking of one object by another object

Question 77

Relative Size

Answer 77

Perceive something farther away as being smaller.

Question 78

Relative Clarity

Answer 78

Clear objects appear closer than blurry or fuzzy objects.

Question 79

Texture Gradient

Answer 79

Closer the object is, the clearer the amount of detail.

Question 80

Phi Phenomenon

Answer 80

Illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession.

Question 81

Stroboscopic movement

Answer 81

Series of pictures show at first rate of speed suggest motion.

Question 82

Perceptual constancy

Answer 82

Perception that objects have consistent lightness, color, shape, and size, even as illumination and retinal images change.

Question 83

Perceptual adaptation

Answer 83

Our ability to adjust to artifically displaced or even inverted visual field. Given distorting lenses, we perceive things accordingly but soon adjust by learning the relationship between our distorted perceptions and the reality.

Question 84

Perceptual Set

Answer 84

Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Question 85

Schema

Answer 85

Organized body of information or framework that enables us to organize information.