Psychology - Unit 7

sensation

process by which the 5 sense organs take in energy from the environment

perception

process by which the cortex receives information and assigns meaning to it

transduction

transforming raw sensory data into neural impulses (brain language)

absolute threshold

the level of stimulus necessary for a stimulus to be detected half of the time

subliminal

below threshold

sensory adaption

the diminishing responsiveness of our sensory systems to prolonged (constant) stimulation

difference threshold

the smallest amount by which a stimulus can be changed and the difference can be detected (JND)

weber’s law

size of JND is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus

sensory interaction

when our sense work together to create a more complete and integrated experience of the world around us

synesthesia

a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers experiences in another unrealted sense

wavelength(visual)

distance from one wave peak to another; determines hue, the color we experience

amplitude (visual)

determines its intensity by height ; intensity = brightness

blind spot

the point where the optic nerve exits the eye

photoreceptors

light-sensitive cells(neurons) in the retina that convert light energy into neural energy

rods

sensitive to dim light, but not color

cones

sensitive to colors but not dim light

fovea

sharpest vision, highest concentration of cones

young - helmholtz trichromatic

theory of color vision that states the retina has three types of color receptors, sensitive to red, green, and blue light.

opponent processing theory

proposes that 1 member of the color pair suppresses the other color to enhance color perception and contrast.

dichromatic

a person can only see two out of the three primary colors (i.e green and red)

monochromatic

a person only has one color combo they can see (black and white)

wavelength (hearing)

determines the pitch

amplitude (hearing)

determines the volume

frequency theory

rate of nerve impulses that matches the frequencies of a tone (explains sensing low pitches)

volley principle

neuron cells alternate firing to allow for a combined frequency

place theory

the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated (Explains sensing high pitches)

sound localization

depending on the direction of sound, a shadow is cast, allowing us to determine the location of the source

conduction deafness

damage to the structures of the outer or middle ear

nerve deafness

deficit in the body’s ability to transmit impluses from the cochlea to the brain

vestibular sense

the sense of body orientation ( head in relation to the body)

kinesthetic sense

keeps track of body parts, relative to each other

taste

the sense of taste is gustation ( sweet, sour, bitter, satly, umami(MSG), oleogustas (fat-oily)

smell

the sense of smell is olfaction, used through our nose hairs

skin sense

connected to the somasensory cortex ( pressure, warmth, cold, pain)

gate control theory

an explanation for pain control that purposes we have a neural “gate” that can, under some circumstances, block incoming pain signals

bottom up

perception based on sensory information alone ; used when presented with a novel (new) information

top down

perception influenced by expectations and prior experience ; used when presented with familiar information

perceptual set

a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that affect top-down what we perceive