11 — Proprioception and Representation

Flashcards about Proprioception, Somatosensory Cortex, and Mental Representations

What information do vestibular organs in the inner ear send?

Information about rotation, acceleration, and position.

What information do stretch receptors in the skin, muscles, and joints provide?

Information about the position of body parts.

What is the Somatosensory Cortex also known as?

S1

What sense does the somatosensory cortex deal with?

Sense of touch

Where is the somatosensory cortex located?

Parietal-Occipital Junction

What is the sensory homunculus?

A map of the body represented on the somatosensory cortex

What is Proprioception?

Sense of body position

Where does information about body position come from?

Muscles and joints

What is the main idea of the 'Rubber Hand Illusion'?

Vision can override proprioception.

What is vestibulation?

Sense of movement and gravitational upright

What organs are located in the inner ear and contribute to vestibulation?

Vestibular organs (semicircular canals and otolith organs)

What two things allow for posture control and balance?

Proprioception and vestibulation.

What is spatial orientation?

Awareness of position in space; uses proprioception/kinesthesia

What are the fluid-filled chambers in the inner ear?

Semicircular canals and otolith organs

What do the hair cells in the inner ear respond to?

Movement of fluid as the head moves.

What kind of motion do semicircular canals detect?

Angular acceleration

What is vection?

Induced self-motion illusion

What sensory system is most important in vection?

Vision

Why do anti-gravity hills appear to defy gravity?

Misleading visual cues due to a lack of a clear horizon and multiple surface planes.

Why do mystery spots work?

No clear view of horizon to calibrate vision, tilted surfaces, non-rectilinear angles

What is a mental representation?

Internal model linked to external stimuli or information

What are the two possibilities for mental representation?

Analog representation and Propositional representation

What is analog representation?

Sensory representation that has the same relationships as properties of referent

What is propositional representation?

Symbolic representation that maintains relationships of referent, not tied to sensory modality

What did Kosslyn, Ball, & Reiser (1978) investigate?

Scanning distances on a memorized map

What did Shepard & Metzler's (1971) mental rotation experiment show?

Response time varies linearly as a function of degree of rotation

What is one key difference between imagery and perception?

Imagery relies on top-down processing while perception relies on bottom-up processing.

What is Aphantasia?

Lack (or extreme impoverishment) of willed visual imagery

What is the VISQ-R questionnaire used for?

Measures degree to which people engage in inner speech