PSych 100 midterm 2

sensation

detecting physical energy with sense organs (eyes, ears, mouth, nose, tongue)

perception

brains interpretation of raw sensory information

illusion

the way we perceive a stimulus does not match physical reality

transduction

conversion of an external stimulus into neural signals

sensory receptors

specialized cells designed to convert energy into neural signals (how transduction happens)

sensory adaptation

sensory neurons can adjust their sensitivity based on recent stimulus history

after effects

opposing sensory or perceptual distortions that occur after adaptation

waves

both sound and light are waves

frequency in sound waves

pitch

amplitude in sound waves

volume

frequency in light waves

whether color is cooler or warmer

amplitude in light waves

brightness

psychophysics

the study of how sensation corresponds to physical events in the world

absolute threshold

the lowest level of stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

just noticeable difference

smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect

weber's law

the stronger the stimulus, the bigger the change needed to detect it

signal detection theory

how stimuli are detected under different conditions

signal

what you are trying to detect

noise

a similar stimuli that might compete with the signal and interfere with your ability to detect the signal

signal to noise ratio

difficulty detecting a signal depends on the strength of the signal in relation to the strength of the noise

liberal

more likely to say yes to something

conservative

more likely to say no to something

attention

a filter is applied to filter out unimportant information

dichotic listening

playing different information in each ear and info is only reported from attendant ear

cocktail party effect

important info pops out in a conversation you aren't attending (your name)

inattentional blindness

unattended stimuli are ignored as if they aren't there

change blindness

a vision that occurs when you fail to detect obvious changes in the enviornment

bottom-up processing

constructing a representation from parts and basic features

top-down processing

processing based on previous experience or knowledge (start with meaning and use it to understand stimulus)

perceptual sets

set formed when our expectations influence our experiences

sclera

while part of eye

pupil

circular hole where light enters

iris

color portion that controls pupil size

cornea

curved, transparent layer, helps focus light

lens

oval shaped disk that bends light

retina

layer of membrane at the back of the eye responsible for converting light into neural signals

accomodation

changing the lens' shape to focus on near/far opbjects

myopia

nearsightedness (eye is too long)

hyperopia

farsightedness (eye is too short)

fovea

central portion of retina, responsible for visual activity

acuity

sharpness of vision

saccades

small jerky movements of the eye allowing for rapid focus changes (goal to put fovea in new place)

rods

respond to low levels of light, not color sensitive, more common outside fovea

cones

sensitive to fine detail, primarily located in fovea, color sensitive, less plentiful than rods

optic nerve

bundle of axons that travel from the retina to the brain

blind spot

area of the retina where optic nerve exits the eye

color reception

when light hits an object, some is absorbed, some is reflected (we perceive reflected light as color)

hue

color of light, corresponds to wave length

trichromatic color theory

color vision is based on three primary colors (blue, green and red)

opponent process theory

we perceive colors in forms of three pairs of opponent colors

color blindness

inability to see some or all colors due to loss of 1 or more types of cones

depth perception

ability to judge distance and spatial relations

binocular depth cues

involves two eyes

binocular disparity

eyes see slightly different images, brain can judge depth

convergence

eyes converge to see closer objects

monocular cues

involves one eye

relative size

distant objects look smaller than close objects

texture gradient

texture is clearer on closer objects

interposition

closer objects appear in front of farther ones

linear perspective

parallel lines converge with distance

height in plane

distant objects appear higher than close objects

light and shadow

shadows tell us about form

motion parallax

closer objects pass quicker than distant objects

perceptual consistency

we perceive objects as consistent despite changes in sensations that arise from those objects

figure-ground separation

holds that we tend to separate images into figure, or object, and ground, or background

proximity

group based on location

similarity

group based on how similar they are in shape

closure

finishing shapes

continuity

we group elements that seem to follow a continuous path in a particular direction

common region

grouping based on if they are closed off in shape

connectedness

overrides similarity

law of common fate

when elements move together, humans see them as a group as human nature associates objects that share a common motion

synchrony

stimuli are perceived to occur at the same time are perceived as the same event

sound

vibration, mechanical energy that travels through a medium (air or water)

properties of sound

derived from tiny vibrations, compressed and expanded air molecules create waves

timbre

quality or complexity of a sound

outer structure of ear

pinna, ear canal, ear drum

middle

transmit sounds from ear drum to inner ear (ossicles)

inner ear

transduces sound (cochlea, organ of corti)

cochlea

transduction accomplished by movement of cilia

organ of corti

contains basilar membrane

place theory

proposes that our perception of pitch depends on the specific location of vibration along the basilar membrane in the cochlea, with different areas responding to different frequencies. 

frequency theory

neurons firing at different rate matches pitch

volley principle

cluster of nerve cells firing together at different rate matches pitch

interneural difference

sound coming from the right side is more intense in right ear

conductive deafness

malfunctioning of the ear drum or ossicles

sensorineural hearing loss

neural signals not transmitted through cochlea

noise-induced hearing loss

damage to hair cells due to loud noises

learning

change in an organism's behavior or thoughts as a result of an experience

non-associative learning

habituation, sensation

associative learning

classical conditioning, operant conditioning

habituation

process of responding less strongly over time to a repeated stimuli (getting used to it, usually a neutral stimulus)

sensitization

process of responding stronger over time to a repeated stimuli (usually dangerous or irritating)

classical conditioning

form of learning in which 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired together

unconditioned stimulus

produces a reflexive/automatic response

unconditioned response

automatic response (already there, not learned)

conditioned stimulus

a previously neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus (US), elicits a learned response

conditioned response

automatic response now triggered by cs

acquisition

learning phase, when ucs is paired with cs after which cs produces (or acquires) cr

extinction

cs appears alone and cr weakens