pscl 101 exam 2: sensation and perception #1

sensation

-transmission of sensory input from environment into brain

-objective physiological response

perception

-interpretation of sensory info by the brain to form mental representations of environment

-subjective psychological experience of one's environment

sensory input

objective physical stimulus

sensory adaptation

we stop actively perceiving sensory input that remains constant

psychophysics

how characteristics of sensory stimuli relate to our perception of them

transduction

process of converting sensory input into a neural signal

sensory modalities

different forms of sensation that each involve sensory stimuli, receptors, pathways into the brain, areas of the brain

olfaction process

1. chemical molecules absorb into olfactory epithelium of nasal cavity

2. molecules bind to receptor proteins in olfactory cilia and the end of olfactory sensory nerves

3. generates signal in olfactory nerve carried through glomeruli in olfactory bulb

olfaction stimuli

airborne chemical molecules

olfaction receptors

receptor proteins in olfactory cilia

olfaction pathways

-primary olfactory cortex in piriform cortex

-limbic system

-orbitofrontal cortex

gustation process

1. chemical molecules dissolve in saliva

2. make contact with binding sites on taste receptor cells

3. generate signal in gustatory neurons, carried through thalamus

gustation stimuli

chemical molecules dissolved in saliva

gustation receptors

binding sites on taste receptor cells

gustation pathways

-primary gustatory cortex in insular cortex

-orbitofrontal cortex

flavor

combination of taste and smell

individual differences (taste and smell)

-preference

-ability to detect substances

-# of taste cells

quantitative

-intensity of sensory stimulus

-magnitude of physiological response to sensory input

qualitative

-type of sensory stimulus

-type of sensory receptor

audition process

1. sound waves travel through auditory canal into middle ear

2. vibrations in ear drum

3. vibrations in ossicles

4. amplify pressure caused by vibrations so it reaches oval window

5. vibrations move in its outer duct

6. leads to a waving motion in basilar membrane

7. causes hair cells to bend back and forth in specific patterns

8. generate signal in auditory neurons carried through thalamus

audition pathways

primary auditory cortex

audition stimuli

sound waves

audition receptors

hair cells sitting on the basilar membrane of cochlea

phenomic restoration

perceiving a continuous phrase of language even if some individual units (phenomes) are missing

somatosensation process

1. objects/matter come into contact with mechanoreceptors in skin specialized to process different forms of input

2. generate signal in somatosensory neurons carried through thalamus

somatosensation stimuli

objects/matter

somatosensation receptors

mechanoreceptors in skin

somatosensation pathways

-primary somatosensory cortex

-limbic system

-prefrontal cortex

vision process

1. light waves travel through the eye

2. reach photoreceptors contained in retina

3. generate signal carried into neurons in optic nerves through thalamus

vision stimuli

light waves

vision receptors

photoreceptors in retina (rods and cones)

vision pathways

primary visual cortex

cones

-sensitive to color and fine detail

-central/foveal vision

-3 types, each contain a photochemicalsensitive to a specific type of light

rods

-sensitive to dim light

-peripheral vision

-contain rhodopsin

trichromatic theory

theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and green

opponent-process theory

-different types of receptors (opponent-process ganglion cells) facilitate the perception of opponent colors

-excited by one color wavelength and inhibited by opposite color wavelength

color perception

cones in retinae take in trichromatic info but neurons in optic nerves (ganglion cells) carry signal into brain in opponent-process manner

where pathway

dorsal stream in parietal lobe

what pathway

ventral stream in temporal lobe

object perception

feature detectors automatically pick upon basic features of objects in visual field

feature integration

integrating basic features of individual objects one at a time allows us to perceive specific objects and/or differentiate multiple objects

binocular cues

cues to depth based on how visual info is carried into one eye vs the other

binocular/retinal disparity

difference in how image hits retina in each eye

monocular cues

-can be perceived with just one eye

-relative size, relative height, interposition, occlusion, linear perspective, relative motion

preattentive processing

sensation processes

attentive processing

perception processes

selective attention

selectively attend to stimuli that is most relevant to our goals

change blindess

miss changes in stimuli we don't attend to

bottom-up control

signal being sent from sensory receptors to the brain

top-down control

how (and if) the brain actually processes that information