The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive information from external and internal environments
Sensation
Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli
Sensory receptors
The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information. How we decide what is important or meaningful
Perception
Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
Bottom-Up Processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
Top-Down Processing
Focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Selective Attention
Ability to hear one specific voice amongst many other voices
Cocktail Party Effect
The failure to perceive the existence of an unexpected item
Inattentional Blindness
Failing to notice changes in the environment
Change Blindness
The process of turning one form of energy (sound wave, light, smells) into neural impulses our brain can interpret.
Transduction
Transduction
Rods and cones are responsible for this
Stimulus energy (light, sound, smell, taste, touch, etc)
Sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin)
Neural impulses
Brain (Visual, auditory, olfactory area, etc)
What is the process of transduction?
The study of the relationships between physical energy we can detect and its effects on our psychological experiences
Psychophysics
The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
Absolute Threshold
Predicts how and when we will detect the presence of a faint stimulus. Depends on a person’s expectations, motivation, and alertness
Signal Detection Theory
Below one’s absolute threshold
Subliminal
Minimum difference required to notice a difference between two stimulus
Difference Threshold (JND: Just Noticeable Difference)
In order for someone to perceive a difference, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage, not amount
Weber’s Law
Lowered sensitivity to a stimulus as a consequence of continuous stimulation. This is caused by our nerve cells firing less frequently
Sensory Adaptation
A phenomenon in which exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to a subsequent, related stimulus
Priming
The processing of information by the brain without conscious awareness. The unconscious mind still processes what is going on
Subliminal Perception
Determined by wavelength, the color we experience
Hue
Determined by amplitude of the wave, brightness of color
Intensity
Eye’s outer protective layer
Cornea
The adjustable opening of the eye, first thing to allow light in
Pupil
Colored muscle that controls the size of the pupil
Iris
Behind pupil, changes shape to help focus light on the retina
Lens
The process by which the lens changes its shape to focus on the light of the retina, depending on if you are trying to focus on something close or something far away
Accommodation
Back of eye, contains rods, cones, and neurons that allow for visual perception
Retina
Retinal receptor that detect black/white/grey, and movement
Rods
Retinal receptors that detect color and fine details
Cones
Receive impulses from rods and cones
Bipolar cells
Carry neural impulses and stand together to create the optic nerve
Ganglion Cells
Carry neural impulses to the thalamus, which then is sent to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe
Optic Nerve
Theory that states our retina contains three different types of color receptors that can be stimulated in combination to create any color (Red, Green, Blue)
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory (Three Color Theory)
Theory that states our retina contains three different types of color receptors that can be stimulated in combination to create any color
(Red-green, blue-yellow, white-black)
Opponent-Process Theory
The lingering image that remains after looking at something bright
Afterimages
Our ability to process multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously
Parellel Processing
Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement
Feature Detectors
Sound volume, measured in decibels
Amplitude
Measured in hertz
Frequency
Auditory
Canal
Eardrum
Ossicles
(Has)- Hammer, anvil, stirrup
Oval
Window
Cochlea
Hair cells
Auditory
Cortex
What is the process of hearing?
Caused by damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve
Sensorineural hearing loss
Caused by damage to the mechanical system (eardrum, middle ear bones
Conduction deafness
For people with a damaged/underdeveloped cochlea, can implant this to manually turn sound waves into neural impulses
Cochlear implant
The theory that we hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger different parts of our cochlea. Best explains how we hear high pitched sounds
Place theory
The theory that the brain perceives sounds by monitoring the amount of neural impulses coming up the auditory nerve. Best explains how we hear low pitched sounds
Frequency theory
Theory that impulses can alternate firing to have combined frequency higher than 1,000 impulses/second
Volley Principle
Pressure
Pain
Cold
Warmth
Sense of touch
In the somatosensory cortex (Parietal lobe)
Where is sense of touch processed?
Pain sensory receptors
Nociceptors
Spinal cord contains a “gate” that controls the transmission of pain messages to the brain
Gate control theory
Sweet
Salty
Sour
Bitter
Umami
Oleogustus
Chemical senses
Involved with memory and emotion, memories are associated with smell
Limbic system
Our movement sense, responsible for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Kinesthetic Sense
Enables the maintenance of balance in part controlled by the semicircular canals, which contains receptors that detect motions of the head
Vestibular Sense
One sense influences another
Sensory interaction
Bodily sensation influences another
Embodied Cognition
Rare phenomenon where two senses become conjoined
Synesthesia
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Perceptual Set
The motivation and emotion we bring to a situation affects our interpretations
Context
Motive gives us energy as we work towards a goal. They can bias our interpretations of neutral stimuli
Motivation
Our mood affects the way in which we perceive the outside world.
Emotion
An organized whole. These psychologists emphasized humans’ tendency to organize pieces of information into a meaningful whole
Gestalt
Organizing the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)
Figure-Ground
Organizing stimuli into coherent groups
Proximity: Grouping nearby figures together
Continuity: Perception of patterns as smooth and continuous
Closure: Perceptually filling gaps to create a complete project
Grouping
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
Depth Perception
A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance
Retinal Disparity
A cue to nearby objects’ distance, enabled by the brain combining retinal images
Convergence
Because more light passes through objects that are farther away, we perceive these objects as hazy, blurry, or unclear. Nearby objects appear sharp and clear
Relative Clarity
If we assume two objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal images as far away
Relative Size
Moving towards or away from an object changes our perception of its smoothness or texture
Texture Gradient
If one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer
Interposition
The sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance
Linear Perspective
An illusion of continuous movement experienced when viewing a rapid series of varying still images
Stroboscopic Effect
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
Phi Phenomenon
The ability to adjust to changes sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field
Perceptual Adaptation
Depth cues available to both eyes separately
Monocular depth cues
Near objects are low in the visual field, more distant objects are higher up
Relative height
If separate objects are expected to be of the same size, the larger ones are seen as closer
Relative Size
Parellel lines appear to meet in the distance
Linear Perspective
Shading produces a sense of depth consistent with our assumption that light comes from above
Light and Shadow
As we move, still objects may appear to move as well
Relative Motion
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if the illumination is changed
Color Constancy
We perceive an object as having an unchanging size, even while our distance from it varies
Size Constancy
We perceive the form of familiar objects as constant even when you are looking at an altered angle of them
Shape Constancy