psych final study guide chap 5

sensory receptor cells

specialized cells to convert specific stimuli into neural impulsses

sensation

act of using our sensory systems to detect environmental stimuli

transduction

transformation of physical energy into electrical signals

psychophysics

study of physical stimuli on sensory perceptions and mental states

absolute threshold

smallest amount of a stimulus that one can detect

signal detection analysis

technique to determine the ability to separate true signals from background noise

sensitivity

true ability to detect presence or absence of signal

response bias

behavioural bias to respond yes

difference threshold or just noticeable difference

minimal difference between two stimuli necessary for detection of a difference between teh two

weber’s law

jnd is a constant proportion of original intensity

subliminal stimuli

below abolsute threshold, non consciouly aware of

perception

the conscious recognition and identification of a sensory stimulus

bottom-up processing

outside-in

sensory information from environment driving process of understanding

unconscious, hard to resist

when we sense basic features of stimuli and then integrate them

top-down processing

inside-out

knowledge and expectancy driving the process of understanding

conscious, effortful

when previous experience and expectations are first used to recognize stimuli

sensory adaptation

a process whereby repeated stimulation of a sensory cell leads to a reduced response (ex. not noticing sirens by the hospital anymore)

inattentional blindness

failure to notice something obvious because you were focused on something else

sound waves

• frequency associated with sound’s pitch

• loudness associated with sound’s amplitude

timbre

sound’s purity, affected by frequency, amplitude, and timing

light waves

• electromagnetic radiation produces light, made of particles called photos

• different wavelengths appear as different colors

• objects reflect and absorb light

cornea

transparent covering over eye, focuses ligth

pupil

opening in eye through which light passes through

iris

colored portion of eye, muscle that controls pupil size

lens

curved, transparent, and provides additional focus

accomodation

change in curvature of lens to focus light on retina, specifically the fovea

fovea

indentation in teh back of the eye containing photoreceptors

retina

light sensitive lining of the eye (sheet of nerve cells containing receptors for vision)

cones

transduces light waves into neural impulses, used for central and color vision - makes up fovea

rods

used for periphery and nigh vision, more responsive to dark and light, transduces light waves into neural impulses

optic nerve

carries visual information to the brain

optic chiasm

x-shaped strucutre, the point where the optic nerve from each eye meets

lgn (lateral geniculate nucleus)

cluster of neurons in the thalamus

what and where/how pathways

pathways that process complex visual stimuli

what pathway

damage can lead to a person exhibiting visual agnosioa (cannot recognize objects visually)

trichromatic theory

three different receptors for color, each responding to different wavelengths of light (blue, red, green), not very likely because we can see more than three colors

opponent process theory

color pairs work to inhibit one another

afterimage

continuation of sensation once stimuli is removed

color blindness

fail to see the same range of colors

depth perception

perception of spatial relations in 3d space

binocular cues

cues that rely on both eyes

binocular disparity

slightly different stimuli recorded by the retina of each eye, provides us with a binocular cue of depth

monocular cues

cues that rely on one eye

monocular cue - position

tend to see objects higher up in our field of vision as farther away

monocular cue - relative size

smaller objects perceived as farther away

monocular cue - linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge at a distance

monocular cue - light and shadow

eye received more reflected light from objects that are closer to us

monocular cue - interposition

when on object overlaps another, we view it as closer

monocular cue - aerial perspective

objects that appear hazy, or that are covered with smog or dust, appear farther away

pinna

sound waves sourced here (ear)

tympanic membrane

ear drum, where sound waves enter the ear

inner ear

stapes hits oval window, created waves to form in fluid-filled cochlea in the inner ear and deflects basilar membrane

hair cells communicate with nerves in cochlea and send neural impulses to the brain

travels along auditory nerve to brain stem, thalamus, and auditory cortex

tonotopic map

different frequencies projected to specific sites

auditory association areas

where sound is linked with language comprehension

temporal theory

theory about how the auditory systme converts waves into sound

different frequencies are converted into different rates of action potentials; high frequency sounds produce more rapid firing

place theory

theory about how the auditory system converts waves into sound

different frequencies activate different regions of the basilar membrane; brain equates the place activity occured on the basilar membrane with a particular frequency

monaural

one-eared, sound’s source relative to body position

binaural

two-eared, relies on a horizontal axis by delivering different patterns of vibration between the eardrums in each ear

interaural level difference

sound on the right side of the body is heard more intensely by the right ear

interaural timing difference

small differences in time in which a sound arrives at each ear

deafness

loss of hearing, partial or complete

conductive hearing loss

problem delivering sound of cochlea

failure of vibration from eardrum or ossicles, wax buildup, ear drum damage, or water

sensorineural hearing loss

transmission failure from cochlea to brain, most common hearing loss, aging, trauma infection/disease, medication, noise exposure

meniere’s disease

degeneration of inner ear structures (tinnitus, vertigo, increased ear pressure)

5 taste receptors

sweet, sour, bitter slat, umami (fattY0

papillae

bumps that cover the surface of teh tonguet

taste bud

clisters of sensory receptor cells in the papillae that bind the food molecules that dissove in our saliva and turn this information into a neural impulse (transduction)

odorants

airborne chemicals that are detected as odors

olfactory receptor neurons

the receptor cells bind odorant molecules into a neural impulse 9transduction) and send that impulse to the brain

pheromones

chemical messages, often to signal

smell

signals from olfactory nerves travel to olfactory bulb, olfactory information is sent to other regions of cerebral cortex to recognize and discriminate odors

olfactory bulb sends information to amygdala and indirectly to the hippocampus

taste receptors send info to thalamus and eventually the cerebral cortex

integrated with reward circuits in the brain, processing rewarding and aversive tastes separately

ageusia

inability to taste - dysgeusia (phantom averse) is most common

anosmia

inability to smell, can still taste but not flavors

reflex epilepsy

onset due to specific odor

aura

a hallucination that can happen before or during migraines or seizures

pain perception

physical and psychological components, importnat to experience and adaptive (motivating)

inflammatory pain

pain signaling tissue damage

neuropathic pain

exaggerated signal of damage to neurons in pns or cns

how does pain perception happen

pain transmitted to brain via free nerve endings in two routes

1. fast pathway (myelinated): sharp, localized pain is felt quicker because it travels along myelinated neurons to the brain

2. slow pathway (unmyelinated): nagging, brning pain is slower to be felt bc it travels along unmyelinated pathways

pain perceptin: developmetn and individual differences

generally well developed at birth, infants respond to touch at birth, variability in detection and response

vestibular sense

ability to maintain balance and body posture, located in semicircular canals of inner ears, movement of fluid in canals tells us if we are standing up or swaying from side to side

proprioception

perception of body position

kinaesthesia

perception of body movement in space

gestalt psychology

gestalt psychologists believe that perception helps us add meaning to visual info by helping to organize it

gestalt means form patters

brain creates perception in a predictable way

figure ground

gestalt principle - is somethign the main object or the background

similarity - gestalt principle

stimuli resembling one another tned to be grouped together

proximity - gestalt principles

visual stimuli near to one anothe rtend to be grouped together

continuity - gestalt

objects that continue a pattern are goruped together

closure - gestalt

we tend to fill in small gaps so images are percieved as wholes

pattern perception - gestalt princple

ability to discriminate different figures and shapes

perceptual hypotheses - gestalt

educated guesses that we make while interpreting sensory information

perceptual sets - gestalt

readiness to interpret a certain stimulus in a certain way (ambiguous stimuli can be interpreted in different ways, perception requires both bottom-up and top-down processes)

ames room - gestalt

we expect the room to be square, but it’s irregularly shaped; we also believe people in the room are the same distance from us