unit 3 sensation and perception

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Question 3

Bottom-Up Processing

Answer 3

Analysis that begins with the sense receptors & works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. You begin by examining small details & piece them together into a larger picture.

Question 4

Top down processing

Answer 4

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes. As when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience & expectations.

Question 5

Depth Perception -

Answer 5

the ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge the distance of objects.

Question 6

visual cliff

Answer 6

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Question 7

gestalt

Answer 7

an organized whole. These psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Question 8

Proximity:

Answer 8

Objects close together will be viewed together visually.

Question 9

closure

Answer 9

The brain is good at filling in gaps to create a whole.

Question 10

Similarity:

Answer 10

Two items that share attributes will be visually grouped together.

Question 11

continuity

Answer 11

A line will always appear to continue traveling in the same way.

Question 12

Figure & Ground

Answer 12

Sometimes, the blank space is just as important as the filled space.

Question 13

Absolute Threshold -

Answer 13

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. Example: If you can hear a firetruck before your brother, your absolute threshold is lower for sound than your brothers

Question 14

difference threshold

Answer 14

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference.Example: being able to hear when the volume of a sound gets louder

Question 15

Signal Detection Theory -

Answer 15

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes that there is no absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

Question 16

Hit

Answer 16

the signal was present and the participant reported sensing it

Question 17

Miss

Answer 17

the signal was present but the participant did not sense it

Question 18

False alarm

Answer 18

the signal was not present but the participant reported sensing it

Question 19

correction rejection

Answer 19

the signal was absent and the partcipant did not report sensing it

Question 20

sensory adaptation

Answer 20

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. Example: you don’t notice the feeling of your underwear over time

Question 21

transduction

Answer 21

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret

Question 22

ernst weber

Answer 22

founder of psychophysics - study of the relationship between stimuli and our responses to them

Question 23

gustav fechner

Answer 23

creator of Weber’s Law

Question 24

webers law

Answer 24

To perceive as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.
Light intensity= 8%, Weight = 2%, and Tones = 0.3%

Question 25

David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel -

Answer 25

received a Nobel Prize for their work on Feature Detectors.

Question 26

Feature detectors

Answer 26

Cells in the visual cortex of the brain that respond selectively to specific features of complex stimuli. Detects: Edges,Angles, Length, & Movement

Question 27

Parallel Processing -

Answer 27

Processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously (motion, depth, color, and form)

Question 28

context effects

Answer 28

states that the context (environmental factors) that surrounds an event effects how an event is perceived and remembered. Is this a B or is this a 13? All depends on the context --- if you are perceiving it as a letter or a number

Question 29

perceptual set

Answer 29

is a tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others. Perceptual set works in two ways:(1) The perceiver has certain expectations and focuses attention on particular aspects of the sensory data: This he calls a Selector'.(2) The perceiver knows how to classify, understand and name selected data and what inferences to draw from it. This she calls an 'Interpreter'.

Question 30

schemas

Answer 30

Mental filters or maps that organize our information about the world are called - they can impact our perceptual sets

Question 31

accommodate

Answer 31

adapting one’s current understanding to incorporate new information Example: see differences between tiger and cat and know difference

Question 32

assimilate

Answer 32

interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schema. Example: see tiger for the first time and call it a cat

Question 33

selective attention

Answer 33

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Question 34

the cocktail party effect

Answer 34

Phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli

Question 35

sensory habituation

Answer 35

our perception of sensations is particularly due to how focused we are on them

Question 36

inattentional blindness

Answer 36

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Question 37

change blindness

Answer 37

Failing to notice change in the environment around us

Question 38

choice blindness

Answer 38

fail to notice discrepancies between their chosen option and the one they are presented with.

Question 39

cornea

Answer 39

: Clear, curved bulge in front of eyeball. It protects and COVERS the eye. (COVERS get it Cornea)

Question 40

iris

Answer 40

uscle that expands and contracts to change the size of the opening (pupil) for light.

Question 41

lens

Answer 41

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

Question 42

retina

Answer 42

Contains sensory receptors that process visual information and sends it to the brain. (Transduction occurs here)

Question 43

fovea

Answer 43

Located in the retina, contains a concentration of cones that provides the clearest vision of all.

Question 44

optic nerve

Answer 44

Carries the impulses from the retina to the brain to interpret them as images.

Question 45

accomodation

Answer 45

process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Question 46

rods

Answer 46

detect black, white & gray, peripheral retina, twilight or low light

Question 47

cones

Answer 47

detect fine detail & color vision, near center of retina (fovea), daylight or well-lit conditions

Question 48

blindspot

Answer 48

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

Question 49

bipolar cells

Answer 49

transmit signals from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells

Question 50

ganglion cells

Answer 50

are neurons that relay information from the retina to the brain via the optic nerve.

Question 51

young-hemoltz trichromatic theory

Answer 51

the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors - one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color

Question 52

opponent process theory

Answer 52

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

Question 53

Hue

Answer 53

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth

Question 54

color blindness

Answer 54

inability to perceive color differences

Question 55

myopia

Answer 55

nearsightedness (good near vision)

Question 56

presbyopia

Answer 56

farsightedness (good distance vision)

Question 57

astigmatism

Answer 57

cornea is irregularly shaped (blurry vision)

Question 58

glaucoma

Answer 58

damage to the optic nerve and destroyed vision

Question 59

synesthesia

Answer 59

condition in which one sense (for example, hearing) is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses such as sight. Another form joins objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people's names with a sensory perception such as smell, color or flavor.

Question 60

prospagnosia

Answer 60

facial blindness

Question 61

perceptual constancy

Answer 61

our ability and need to perceive objects as unchanging even as changes may occur in distance, point of view, and illumination

Question 62

color constancy

Answer 62

Perception that the color of an object remains the same even if lighting conditions change

Question 63

size constancy

Answer 63

Tendency for the brain to perceive objects as the same apparent size regardless of their distance from us

Question 64

shape constancy

Answer 64

Our viewing angle changes or an object rotates and we still perceive the object as staying the same shape

Question 65

lightness constancy

Answer 65

Occurs when our perception of the whiteness, blackness, or grayness of objects remains constant no matter how much the illumination has changed

Question 66

binocular cues

Answer 66

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

Question 67

retinal disparity

Answer 67

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object

Question 68

convergence

Answer 68

When two eyes move inward (towards the nose) to see near objects and outward (away from the nose) to see faraway objects. More convergence – closer the object

Question 69

monocular cue

Answer 69

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Question 70

relative size

Answer 70

If two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image to be farther away.

Question 71

interposition

Answer 71

Objects that occlude (block) other objects tend to be perceived as closer.

Question 72

relative clarity

Answer 72

Because light from distant objects passes through more light than closer objects, we perceive hazy

Question 73

relative height

Answer 73

We perceive objects that are higher in our field of vision to be farther away than those that are lower. objects to be farther away than those objects that appear sharp and clear.

Question 74

relative motion

Answer 74

Objects closer to a fixation point move faster and in the opposing direction to those objects that are farther away from a fixation point, moving slower and in the same direction.

Question 75

linear perspective

Answer 75

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge in the distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Question 76

light and shadow

Answer 76

Nearby objects reflect more light into our eyes than more distant objects. Given two identical objects, the dimmer one appears to be farther away.

Question 77

texture gradient

Answer 77

Indistinct (fine) texture signals an increasing distance. Less detail shows closeness, finer and denser is further away

Question 78

audition

Answer 78

the biological process by which our ears process sound waves

Question 79

frequency

Answer 79

(pitch): Dimension of frequency determined by wavelength of sound.

Question 80

intensity

Answer 80

(loudness): Amount of energy in a wave determined by amplitude relates to perceived loudness.

Question 81

middle ear

Answer 81

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Question 82

eardrum

Answer 82

thin membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves,

Question 83

cochlea

Answer 83

- a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses (Transduction occurs here)

Question 84

inner ear

Answer 84

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Question 85

sensorinueral hearing loss

Answer 85

- hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness

Question 86

cochlear implant

Answer 86

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

Question 87

conduction hearing loss

Answer 87

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Question 88

place theory

Answer 88

theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

Question 89

frequency theory

Answer 89

theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Question 90

process of taste

Answer 90

Taste sensations are transduced by taste cells located in bunches called taste buds. They are found throughout the entire mouth but are most highly concentrated on the tongue, the major sensory organ of the gustatory system.

Question 91

Olfaction

Answer 91

the sense of smell. Odors first interact with receptor proteins associated with hairs in the nose. The hairs convey information to the brain's olfactory bulbs, located on the underside of the brain. Certain smells can invoke memory

Question 92

Sensory Interaction

Answer 92

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Question 93

Kinesthesia -

Answer 93

helps you feel the movement and position of your body parts, like knowing where your arms or legs are without looking.the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Question 94

Vestibular Sense -

Answer 94

balancing, tilting, or moving in space, like when you're spinning or standing still. It keeps you from falling over.