Positive and Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Reinforcement (PR)

  • Definition: Occurs when a behavior is strengthened by the subsequent addition of pleasant consequences.

  • Example: Yelling at a clerk to give you a refund.

• Negative Reinforcement (NR)

  • Definition: A behavior is strengthened by the subsequent removal (or avoidance) of a unpleasant consequence.

  • Example: Engaging in a behavior to relieve anxiety from smoking.

Types of Punishment

• Positive Punishment

  • Definition: A behavior is weakened by the subsequent addition of a aversive consequence.

  • Example: Getting scolded for making a mistake.

• Negative Punishment

  • Definition: A behavior is weakened by the subsequent removal of a desired consequence.

  • Examples include:

  • Time out

  • Loss of privileges (e.g., driver's license, video game privileges)

  • Sitting out a hockey game

Depth Perception

• Binocular Cues

  • Definition: Use images from two eyes to compare slightly different images (Stereopsis) to create a 3D perception.

• Monocular Cues

  • Definition: Use single-eye information, such as size and position, to judge distance.

Object Constancy

• Size Constancy

  • Definition: The tendency to perceive an object as being the same size regardless of whether it is close to or far from the viewer.

• Shape Constancy

  • Definition: The tendency to perceive an object as being the same shape despite changes in its orientation or the angle from which it is viewed.

• Color Constancy

  • Definition: The tendency to perceive an object's color as stable and unchanging even when the lighting conditions change.

• Brightness Constancy

  • Definition: The tendency to perceive an object as having a constant brightness despite changes in the amount of light being reflected from it.

Hearing and Sound Damage

• Loud Sounds and Hearing Damage

  • Explanation: Loud sounds can damage hearing by causing physical damage to the delicate hair cells in the inner ear, known as the cochlea.

  • Contributing Mechanisms:

  • Sound waves cause vibrations.

  • Fluid movement within the cochlea can lead to hair cell damage, oxidative stress, and cell death.

Sensation and Perception of Taste

• Four Steps in Sensation and Perception (Taste)

  1. Stimulus: Chemical molecules from food dissolve in saliva, acting as the stimulus.

  2. Reception: Molecules bind to specific taste receptors on taste cells, located in papillae on the tongue.

  3. Transduction: The process where tastant binding depolarizes receptor cells, converting the chemical stimulus into electrical and chemical signals.

  4. Outcome: Leads to the release of neurotransmitters, stimulating nerve cells that transmit signals to the brainstem.

• Taste Receptors: There are five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.