sensation+perception

sensation

process of detecting physical stimulus and biological sensory system stimulus

stimuli

anything that can elict a response from sensory system

transduction

incoming sensory information translating to neural signals that are sent to brain

perception

interpreting sensory information to understand environment

bottom up process

process of gaining new ideas onto an idea to identify what the stimulus is

stop down process

process of using past knowledge to identify stimulus

psychophysics

study of relationship between physical stimuli and sensations/perceptions they produce

absolute threshold

smallest amount of detectable stimulus, can be detected 50% of time

difference thershold

just noticable difference, smallest detectable difference

signal detection theory

people being able to detect a small/meaningful stimulus in a whole background noise

sensory adaptation

decrease in sensitivity to a stimulus due to constant exposure to it

habituation/adaptation

decrease in response to stimulus due to repeated presentation of it

vision

ability to see

photo receptors

sensitive to wave length of energy/visible spectrum

visible spectrum

ranges from red to violet

cornea

clear surface at front of eye, begins process of directing light to retina

pupil

opening formed by iris

iris

pigmented circular muscle around pupil

lens

clear structure behind pupil that bends light toward retina

retina

layers of visual processing cells in the back of eye, turns light energy to electrochemical energy

fovea

part of retina, used for high detailed vision

rods

part of retina, photo receptors that receives dim light

cones

part of retina, photo receptor that processes color

blind spot

where optic nerve connect to eye

optic nerve

nerve that exits retina and carries neural impulses from eye to brain

optic tract

nerve pathway that includes optic chiasm, thalamulus, hypothalamus, and midbrain

trichromatic theory

color theory perception, based in 3 types of retinal cone photo receptors each sensitive to different light wave lengths

short-? medium-? long-?

short(blue), medium(green), long(red)

opponent process theory

color pairs are against each other red v. green and yellow v. blue

gestalt principles

principles of how brain organizes sensory information into meaningful groups

organization principle

analyse of visual input by dividing scene to figure to identify main object

proximity principle

principle that things that are close together tend to be grouped together

continuity principle

principle that line/pattern continuing in time or space

closure principle

principle that brain fills in gaps to perceive complex forms

similarity

principles that things that seem alike tend to be perceived as belonging together

depth perception

ability to use 2 dimensional images projected on retina to perceive 3 dimensional images

monocular cues

visual cues for depth and distance that can only be used by one eye

binocular cues

visual cues for depth and distance that require two eyes

pinna

or auricle, outer part of ear, collects sound waves, directs sound waves to auditory canal

auditory canal

part of outer ear, transmits sound waves to ear drum

tympanic membrane

or eardrum, thin tissue seperating outer/middle ear, vibrates in response to sound waves

basilar membrane

part of cochlea, converts sound vibrations to neural signals through hair cell movement

organ of corti

part of cochlea, contains hair cells that detect sound vibrations, sends signals to brain

auditory nerve and what part it connected to

nerve that connects to cochlea, and send auditory messages to brain through thalamus

semi circular canal

connected to cochlea, contains fluid that moves when head moves

outer ear includes

pinna, auditory canal, ear drum.

inner ear includes

cochlea, vestibular nerve, auditory nerve, semi circular canal

somatosensetion

body sense like pain, temp, touch, skin, body positions

somato sensory stimuli

stimuli from body

vestibular system

system in inner ear, provides information about body position and movement

vestibular tissue

works in semi circular canal, detects head position and movement

gate control theory

theory that a input from touch fibers compete with input form pain receptors, and prevents pain messeges from reaching brain

olfaction

sense of smell

olfactory nerve

nerve that carries olfactory function from factory receptors to olfactory bulbs

olfactory bulb

below frontal lobe, receives input from olfactory receptors in nose

gustation

sense of taste

papillae

small bumps on tongue that has taste buds

taste buds

structure found in papillae