Unit 2 Psych - Eye & Ear

Gestalt

In your brain, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Sensory experiences are organized according to certain basic laws or principles

Figure-Ground

You focus on one thing, and the rest becomes background.

Similarity

Things that look alike are grouped together.

Proximity

Things close together are seen as a group.

Closure

Your brain fills in gaps to complete a shape.

Continuity

You see smooth paths, not broken ones

Overlap

If an object is covering up or partially blocking another object, we assume it's closer. Alternatively, the object being blocked is assumed to be farther away

linear perspective

Whenever you have parallel lines, such as the rails on a railroad track, they will appear to get closer in the distance. Even though the lines never actually touch, the appearance of converging lines tells the brain that the lines are getting farther away

wavelength

distance between the peak of each wave of energy, indicates color, nanometers;
what color?

amplitude

wavelength height;
color brightness

saturation

richness of a color:
color intensity (vivid/dull)

pupil

small hole in the middle of the eye that allows light to enter

lens

a flexible structure in the eye that changes to refract and focus light on the retina

retina

multilayered tissue at the back of the eye responsible for visual transduction, or the conversion of the light stimuli into neural communication leading to vision

rods

Function: detect brightness

best in low light

does not detect color

location: retina edges

detail: low

cones

Function: detect color

best in bright light

detects red, green, blue

location: center (fovea)

detail: high

blind spot

receptor-less area at the back of the eye where the optic nerve exits; images focused on this part of the retina are not seen in the visual field

fovea

a depressed spot in the retina that occupies the center of the visual field

ganglion cells

primary cell type in the innermost cellular layer of the retina, responsible for carrying visual information from the eye to the brain

optic nerves

nerve that carries the neural messages from the eye to the brain to be processed

order of eye/brain structures

Pupil → Lens → Retina → Rods/Cones → Fovea → Ganglion Cells → Optic Nerve → Brain

Frequency/Wavelength

• “Pitch”

• How fast the sound wave cycles (high or low pitch).

• higher frequency = higher pitch.

Amplitude

• “Volume”

• The height or strength of the wave.

• higher amplitude = louder sound.

Saturation/Timbre

• “Tone Quality”

• The complexity or quality of the wave; made up of multiple frequencies.

• the unique tone or color of a sound that lets you tell a guitar from a piano, even if both play the same note.

Sensorineural hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea or nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain.

Conductive hearing loss

Sound is not properly conducted through the outer or middle ear.