AP PSYCH Sensation and Perception

Pinna

visible outer ear on either side of your head, helps pinpoint and locate sound

Ear canal

where sound travels to reach the eardrum

Tympanic Membrane (ear drum)

Vibrate at a rate that corresponds to the sounds frequency, transmits to ossicles

Ossicle Bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup)

these three bones pick up eardrum vibrations, amplify them, and pass them along to the cochlea in your inner ear

Semicircular Canals

Fluid filled channels that help maintain balance (vestibular senses)

Cochlea

A coiled fluid filled tube through which sound waves are transduced into nerve impulses

Place Theory

sound frequencies stimulate basilar membrane on specific hair cells resulting in perceived pitch

Frequency Theory

nerve impulses travelling in the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Auditory Localization

Brain determining the location of sound depending on the ear

McGurk Effect

interaction of vision and hearing

-auditory component + visual component of another sound = a different sound

Conductive Deafness

Middle ear problem transferring sound waves anywhere along the route through the outer or middle ear

help - hearing aids

Sensorineural

damage to inner ear (cochlea, hair cells) can be by excessive loud sounds, earbuds, and concerts

help - implant issues w/ transduction

cornea

eyes clear protective outer layer - only lets light in

iris

forms a colored portion of the eye, acts as a muscle, controls size of the pupil opening

pupil

opening of eye through which light enters

dark = opens up

bright = closes up

Lens

changes its shape to help focus images on the retina

Fovea

depression in the retina of the eye where visual activity is highest

retina

contains rods, cones, and layers of neurons that process visual information

optic nerve

transmits visual information from the retina to the brain

blind spot/optic disk

point of exit for ganglion cell axons, no photoreceptors

rods

function in dim light, more rods than cones, detect black + white visions but not colors, necessary for peripheral and night vision

cones

near center of retina (fovea), function in bright or daylight, detect fine detail, enable color perception

transduction

transformation of stimulus energy into a neural impulse

ex. rods and cones detect wave lengths

brightness

determined by amplitude, related to perceived brightness - great amplitude (great color)

color

dimension of color determined by length of wavelength light - short wavelength = high frequency + bluish colors, long wavelength = low frequency reddish colors

trichromatic

young - Helmholtz suggest that retina (cones) contain three receptors sensitive to red, blue, and green colors

opponent process

hering proposed that we process four primary colors opposed in pairs of red - green, blue - yellow, and black - white

after image

an image that remains after the stimulation to the retina has ended

color blind

prevents from discriminating between certain colors due to a weakness on one of the cones, most common distinguishing between red and green

inattentional blindness

failure to see objects in visual field when attention is direct to elsewhere

change blindness

failure to notice changes overtime in the environment

sensation

process in which our sensory receptors receive information in our environment

perception

process of organizing + interpreting sensory info into meaningful objects and events

energy senses

detect a type of energy that gives information about the environment (sight, touch, hearing)

chemical senses

providing information about the chemical composition of substances (taste, smell)

kinesthetic

gives feedback about position + orientation of specific body parts

vestibular

how our head (body) is oriented in space; influences balance, ex: semicircular canals

bottom up processing

analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to sensory interpretation (optical illusions)

ex: sensory receptors ie. taste, sensory interpretation ie. this tastes good

top down processing

perception based off previous events

previous experience and expectations affect the detection and analysis of information from the senses

we start at the top and work down to form other details

explains visual allusions

signal detection theory

predicts how and when a person detects a signal

how intense (loud) a noise is and how alert you are

pyschophysics

methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observers sensitivity to the stimulus

absolute threshold

the minimum amount of stimulation needed to register external stimulus 50% of the time

difference threshold (JND)

minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected

ex. someone realizing that a guitar string is flat

weber’s law

the size of the JND ( just noticeable difference) is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus.

% change matters to a JND not the amount

transduction

energy from the outside is converted into neural impulses to be processed by our brains

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

cocktail party effect

ability to filter out all stimuli except for what is important to us

context effect

the influence of the surrounding environment or situation on a person’s perception

Sensory Adaptation

diminished sensitivity over constant stimulation

perceptual adaptation

adjustments of how we adapt to the environment and filter out distractions

perceptual constancy

our perception that objects do not change

color constancy

our ability to perceive an object as the same color regardless of the environment

size constancy

objects remain same size regardless of distance

Binocular Cues

the information taken in by both eyes

Monocular Cues

Cues to help us perceive depth without a need of using both eyes

Depth Perception

ability to gauge length, width and depth, and to judge how far away and object is

Linear Cues

lines that seem to converge in an image (ponzo illusion)

Relative Clarity

Nearby objects are clearer than more distant objects

Relative Height

Near objects are low in the visual field; more distant objects are higher up in the visual field

Visual Cliff

suggested that human infants (crawling age) learn depth perception

Texture Gradient

the texture of objects appear to change with distance

Relative Size

an object that appears larger than another object believed to be of the same size is judged to be closer

Interposition

objects that are obscured by other objects are perceived as being farther away

Figure ground

perceive objects (figures) are distinct from their background (ground)

proximity

perceive objects as belonging together when they are close to one another

similarity

group objects that have similar characteristics

closure

group disconnected pieces of information into a meaningful whole (we fill in the image)

apparent movement, motion perception

the illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession

likelihood principle

we will perceive the object that is most likely to be the cause of our sensory stimulation.