Perception Exam 2 Study Guide

Cortex

All four lobes of the brain (Frontal, Parietal, Temportal, and Audtiory)

Thalamus

Processes all sensory information (except smell)

Brain Stem

Responsible for basic functions like heart rate, breathing, and hunger

Describe the paradigm of neuronal testing and what it does for neuroscience research.

Neuronal testing is when one looks at the firing rate of the neurons in the brain. It allows us to see how it reacts and what it reacts to to understand more about neurons. 

What are the 3 type of cones? Which colors do they perceive?

L cones perceive red,

M cones perceive green

S cones perceive blue/violet

What is convergence?

Convergence is the crossing of the line of sight or both eyes

How does convergence pertain to visual depth perception?

It gauges distance and binocular disparity.

What are cues to depth perception that do not include convergence?

Relative size

Partial occlusion

Lens accommodation

Familiarity

Describe the phenomenon of motion parallax

The changing of relative positions of objects in the visual field when in motion. Dependent upon the distance of objects in the visual field when in motion.

Objects appear to move faster when close than far away objects

What is apparent motion?

 A visual illusion where displayed separate stimuli are perceived as moving (the dots look as though they were moving vertically or horizontally even though they were seperate dots)

What time frame does apparent motion occur?

150ms

What is the difference between saccadic and smooth eye motion?

Saccadic eye movements (the darting of the eye) are used for the motion of the eyes that change the point of focus.

Smooth eye movements are used to track a moving object (moving the eyes as the head turns).

Where does the corollary discharge signal originate?

The superior colliculus

What do corollary discharge signals do once it originates?

It sends information to V3 and informs the eye before movement to cancel out motion blur and eye movement (retinal image suppression).

How may times can the eyes move per second? How many pulses per second occur in the corollary discharge signal?

The eyes move 3 times per second

The CDS fires 100 times per second

What is the purpose of moving the eyes to orient to objects?

The eyes want the focus of an object to be in the center of our vision where the most cells are

What does area V3 do?

Area V3 recieves signals from extra-ocular muscles and corollary discharge signals to aid in retinal motion suppression.

This prepares the brain for the moving retinal image and then creates stability

Which three inputs does V3 recieve info from?

Extra-ocular muscles, corollary discharge signals, and V2

Describe the Perception-Action Cycle.

the rapid coordination of perceptual information and motor commands in order to produce action

When wearing Prism glasses, is a participant able to alter their actions quickly,
slowly, or not at all?

They were able to alter their actions quickly (about three tries).

How does the response of bi-modal neurons change when the hand is using a tool?

Bi-modal neurons will activate to help orient the hand toward a particular object (hand-centered receptive field).

It extends the field of the neurons to include the tool.

What is the purpose of mirror neurons?

Mirror neurons respond to an action as well as observing that same action performed by another.

Where are mirror neurons located?

The ventral premotor cortex

Describe the term motion priming and how it is effected by the perceptual process. Give example

Motion priming is when the speed and accuracy of an action is dependent on the primed directive.

For instance, when asked to point at an object or asked to grab an object, there is a difference in the speed of eye movement based on the action. Motion priming occurred when asked to grab the block (much faster).

How do demand characteristics affect someones perception? Give an example

Demand characteristics cause misperception due to our compensation of the energy required therefore gauging larger quantities.

For instance, people carrying a heavy backpack perceive distances as farther away than those without a heavy backpack.

Describe how selective attention and high priority signals work in terms of the Cocktail Party example (1958)?

The Cocktail Party effect is when someone is listening to a conversation in a busy party and you are only paying attention to them until someone else calls your name. Suddenly, someone saying your name on the other side of the room is high-value information thus it catches your attention. 

Describe the difference between top-down and bottom-up attentional control?

Top-down attentional control is the voluntary deliberate control of attention to gather information for achieving a goal.

EX: actively choosing to pay attention in class.

What is meant by attention being a "limited-capacity system"?

Only desired information is interpreted and stored in memory, the rest is tuned out

Briefly the dichotic listening experiemnt

The dichotic listening experiment was a study where participants had headphones on and were told to pay attention to their left ear or right ear. Two different phrases would be played in each ear and participants were asked to repeat the phrase said in both ears. They could only recite the phrase said in the ear they were told to pay attention to. Playing pitch is the only thing the participants noticed in the other ear.

Why do conjunctive stimuli (having more than one qualifier) take longer to process and recognize?

It takes longer to process and recognize because it has to look for two cues and two conditions that need to be met; thus, two cues need to be processed and recognized.

Which areas of the brain are believed to be involved with attentional switching?

The posterior parietal lobe and the frontal lobe