Perception, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Mental Chronometry Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering principles of sensory perception, cognitive neuroscience, brain anatomy, neural electrophysiology, historical psychological paradigms, and mental chronometry.

Perception

The cognitive process of converting environmental sensory data into internal mental experiences such as sights, sounds, and tastes.

Object vs. Percept

An object is a physical entity existing in the real world, whereas a percept is the brain's internal mental representation of that object.

The Betrayal of Images

A famous artwork by René Magritte featuring the phrase "This is not a pipe," demonstrating that a visual representation of an object is distinct from the physical entity itself.

Transduction

The biological process in which sensory receptors convert physical environmental energy, such as light or sound waves, into neural electrical signals.

Visible Light Spectrum

The narrow band of electromagnetic radiation detectable by the human visual system, bounded between wavelengths of $400\,nm$ and $700\,nm$.

Color Constancy

A neural mechanism that ensures an object's perceived color remains stable across varying illumination and light sources.

Diagnostic Properties

Stable, permanent physical features of an object that define its identity, such as the orange color of an orange.

Non-Diagnostic Properties

Temporary, condition-dependent features of an object, such as viewing angle or the image size projected on the retina.

Object Constancy

The perceptual ability to recognize an object as remaining unchanged despite variations in sensory input caused by changing viewing conditions.

Viewpoint Invariance

The cognitive capability to correctly identify an object from any viewing perspective, such as identifying a blender from side or overhead views.

Acoustic Inverse Square Law

A physical law stating that sound intensity ($I$) decreases proportionately with the square of distance ($d$) from the acoustic source, expressed as $I \propto \frac{1}{d^2}$.

Heuristics (Perceptual)

Fast mental shortcuts used by the visual system that produce accurate interpretations under normal conditions but can trigger optical illusions when violated.

Ponzo Illusion

An optical illusion in which converging perspective depth lines lead the brain to scale up the perceived size of the upper horizontal line relative to the lower line.

Bottom-Up Processing

Data-driven sensory processing that begins at sensory receptors and flows upward to higher-level neural regions.

Top-Down Processing

Concept-driven sensory processing guided by prior knowledge, high-level expectations, context, and memories.

Context Effects

Perceptual processing phenomenon where identical ambiguous stimulus components are interpreted differently depending on surrounding environmental or textual context, such as perceiving the middle letter in "THE CAT" as an H or an A.

Cognitive Psychology

The scientific study of the mind, officially named in $1967$, which uses observable behavior to infer unobservable mental processes via a stimulus-response framework ($\text{Stimulus} \rightarrow \text{Response}$).

Cognitive Neuroscience

An interdisciplinary field combining psychology and neuroscience to study the neural mechanisms underlying mental processes ($\text{Stimulus} \rightarrow \text{Brain Activity} \rightarrow \text{Response}$).

Human Brain Physical Mass

The average weight of the human brain, ranging between $3\text{--}4\text{ pounds}$, consisting of trillions of interconnected cellular units.

Cerebral Cortex

The convoluted outer layer of neural tissue covering the cerebral hemispheres.

Grey Matter vs. White Matter

Grey matter consists primarily of neuronal cell bodies, dendrites, and unmyelinated structures, whereas white matter consists of myelinated axons forming interconnecting tracts.

Sulcus and Gyrus

A sulcus (or fissure) is a groove or crease on the cortical surface, whereas a gyrus is a raised ridge on the cortical surface.

Central Sulcus

A major anatomical landmark groove on the cerebral cortex that separates the Frontal Lobe from the Parietal Lobe.

Lateral Fissure

A major anatomical groove that separates the Temporal Lobe from the superior Frontal and Parietal Lobes.

Frontal Lobe

Anterior lobe of the cerebral cortex housing the Motor Cortex (located anterior to the central sulcus) and association areas involved in motor control and higher cognition.

Parietal Lobe

Superior-posterior lobe of the cerebral cortex housing the Somatosensory Cortex (located posterior to the central sulcus) responsible for processing somatic touch signals.

Temporal Lobe

Inferior lobe of the cerebral cortex containing the Auditory Cortex and association areas involved in auditory processing.

Occipital Lobe

Posterior pole lobe of the cerebral cortex containing the primary Visual Cortex dedicated to processing visual information.

Association Areas

Distributed cortical regions integrating information across sensory modalities and motor outputs, historically linked to John Locke ($1632\text{--}1704$).

Contralateral Organization

Structural processing rule of the brain where each cerebral hemisphere receives sensory inputs from and controls motor actions on the opposite side of body space.

Cell Body (Soma)

The central structural region of a neuron containing the nucleus and cellular metabolic machinery.

Dendrites

Branching cellular extensions projecting from the soma that act as the primary receptive apparatus for incoming neural signals.

Axon

A single long process emerging from the soma at the axon hillock that conducts electrical output signals over distances.

Myelin

An insulating fatty sheath wrapped around neuronal axons that increases the conduction velocity of electrical signals.

Action Potential (Spike)

The primary all-or-none electrical signal conducted along an axon, propagating without degrading in voltage amplitude.

Frequency Coding

Neural signaling mechanism where signal intensity is communicated through changes in firing rate (spikes per second) while maintaining identical individual action potential amplitudes.

Synaptic Transmission

The multi-step process where an action potential causes presynaptic vesicles to release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft to bind with postsynaptic receptors.

Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential (EPSP)

A local electrical shift that depolarizes the postsynaptic membrane, increasing the likelihood that the receiving cell will generate an action potential.

Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential (IPSP)

A local electrical shift that hyperpolarizes the postsynaptic membrane, decreasing the likelihood that the receiving cell will generate an action potential.

Introspection

Late 19th-century self-observation method pioneered by Wilhelm Wundt where subjects reported inner mental experiences, later criticized as subjective and unscientific.

Behaviorism

Early-to-mid 20th-century movement led by Watson and Skinner that rejected unobservable mental states, focusing exclusively on objective, measurable stimulus-response behaviors.

Classical Conditioning

A form of learning through stimulus association, famously demonstrated by Pavlov's dogs salivating to a conditioned bell stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A learning framework where voluntary behavior is modified and reinforced through rewards and punishments.

Mental Chronometry

The practice of quantifying the duration of cognitive processing stages in milliseconds ($ms$).

Simple Reaction Time Task

An experimental paradigm measuring stimulus detection time where a participant performs a single action in response to a single flashing stimulus ($RT \approx 197\,ms$).

Choice Reaction Time Task

An experimental paradigm measuring stimulus detection plus decision time where a participant selects distinct responses for different stimuli ($RT \approx 280\,ms$).

Donders' Subtraction Method

Methodological technique calculating decision stage time by subtracting Simple Reaction Time from Choice Reaction Time ($280\,ms - 197\,ms = 83\,ms$).

Pure Insertion Assumption

Donders' theoretical assumption that inserting a decision processing stage into a mental task does not alter the duration of the baseline detection stage.

PSY 211 Class Policy Quiz

A required $10$-question Canvas quiz due September 2nd ($9/2$) requiring a $100\%$ score with unlimited attempts to earn $5$ extra credit points.