Untitled Flashcard Set
1.6.A.1 Detection of a Stimulus Sensation - the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment Psychophysics - studies the relationship between the objective physical characteristics of a stimulus (e.g., its measured intensity) and the subjective perception of that stimulus (e.g., its apparent brightness) Sensory receptors - specialized to detect and respond to specific stimuli in the external or internal environment Signal Detection Theory - a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes that there is no absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness Absolute Threshold - the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. Example: If you can hear a firetruck before your brother, your absolute threshold is lower for sound than your brothers 1.6.A.2 Detecting Stimulus Change or Diminished Sensitivity Just-Noticeable Difference (Difference Threshold) - the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference. Example: being able to hear when the volume of a sound gets louder Weber’s Law - creator of Weber’s Law To perceive as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage. Sensory Adaptation - diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. Example: you don’t notice the feeling of your underwear over time |
1.6.B.1 Transduction in the Retina Transduction - conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret Pupil - the aperture through which light passes on entering the eye, located in front of the lens Cornea: Clear, curved bulge in the front of the eyeball. It protects and covers the eye. Iris: Muscle that expands and contracts to change the size of the opening (pupil) for light. Lens: Transparent structure behind the pupil in the eye that changes shape to focus images on the retina. Retina: Contains sensory receptors that process visual information and send it to the brain. (Transduction occurs here) Fovea: Located in the retina, contains a concentration of cones that provides the clearest vision of all. 1.6.B.4 Color Vision Theories & 1.6.B.4.I Cones Cones - detect fine detail & color vision, near the center of the retina (fovea), daylight or well-lit conditions Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory - the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors - one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color Opponent-Process Theory - the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green Hue - the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth Optic Nerve: Carries the impulses from the retina to the brain to interpret them as images. Blindspot - the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there Photoreceptors - visual receptors Feature Detectors - Cells in the visual cortex of the brain that respond selectively to specific features of complex stimuli. Detects: Edges, Angles, Length, & Movement Intensity - the strength or force of a stimulus 1.6.B.2 Lens Accommodation Accommodation - process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina Nearsightedness - good near vision Farsightedness - good distance vision 1.6.B.3 Rods Rods - detect black, white & gray, peripheral retina, twilight or low light 1.6.B.4.II Afterimages and Ganglion Cells Afterimages - the images that remain after a stimulus ends or is removed, related to opponent-process theory Bipolar Cells - transmit signals from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells Ganglion Cells - are neurons that relay information from the retina to the brain via the optic nerve Photoreceptors → Bipolar cells → Ganglion cells 1.6.B.4.III Color Vision Deficiencies Dichromatism - partial color blindness in which the eye contains only two types of cone photopigment instead of the typical three (red-green blindness being the most common) Monochromatism - a partial color blindness in which the eye contains only one type of cone photopigment instead of the typical three 1.6.B.5 Brain Damage Resulting in Visual Disorders Prosopagnosia - a disease where the ability to perceive and recognize faces is impaired, whereas the ability to recognize other objects may be relatively unaffected Blindsight - a disease where discrimination of flicker, wavelength, and orientation are present but not accompanied by conscious awareness |
1.6.C.1 Detecting Movement of Air Middle Ear - the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window Cochlea - a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses through electrodes threaded into the cochlea Inner Ear - the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs 1.6.C.2 Theories of Pitch Detection Place Theory - in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated Volley Theory - when high-frequency sounds are experienced too frequently for a single neuron to adequately process and fire for each sound event, the organs of the ear combine the multiple stimuli into a "volley" in order to process the sounds Frequency Theory - in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch 1.6.C.3 Determining Location of Sound Sound Localization - the ability of an organism to discover the location of something producing sound waves based on things like intensity and timing Wavelengths - the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next Frequency - Dimension of frequency determined by wavelength of sound Pitch - The dimension of frequency determined by the wavelength of sound Amplitude - the intensity or amount of energy of a wave, reflected in the height of the wave; the amplitude of a sound wave determines a sound's loudness 1.6.C.4 Hearing Difficulties Conduction Deafness - hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea Sensorineural Deafness - hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness Cochlear Implant - a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve |
1.6.D Explain how the structures and functions of the chemical sensory systems relate to behavior and mental processes. 1.6.D.1 Detection and Transduction in the Nose Olfactory System - the sense of smell. Odors first interact with receptor proteins associated with hairs in the nose. The hairs convey information to the brain's olfactory bulbs, located on the underside of the brain. Certain smells can invoke memory Pheromones - Chemical signals released by organisms to communicate with other members of their species 1.6.D.2 Types of Taste Umami - "savory" or "meaty"—the kind of taste we experience when we eat things like broth, gravies, soups, and soy sauce Oleogustus - A proposed basic taste sensation triggered by fatty acids 1.6.D.3 Structures That Transduce Taste & Types of Tasters Gustation - the mouth's ability to tell the difference between sweet, sour, bitter, and salty properties Taste receptors - tiny bumps on the tongue. They contain microscopic hairs called microvilli that send messages to the brain about taste. They detect sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami (savory) Supertasters - equipped with taste receptors that are not found in nontasters. More sensitive to certain bitter and sweet substances. Those who experience taste with far greater intensity than most others Medium tasters - those who have an average ability to sense different flavors Nontasters - people who genetically are unable to taste, or someone who has less taste perception than the average person 1.6.D.3 Interaction and Coordination of Chemical Senses Thalamus - receives and sorts all sensory input to other parts of the brain 1.6.E Explain how the structures and functions of the touch sensory system relate to behavior and mental processes. 1.6.E.1 Structures That Process Touch in the Skin & Brain |
1.6.F Explain how the structures and functions of the pain sensory system relate to behavior and mental processes. 1.6.F.1 Explain the Processes and Complexities of Pain Gate-Control Theory - the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain Phantom limb sensation - the feeling that an amputated limb is still present 1.6.G Explain how the structures and functions that maintain balance (vestibular) and body movement (kinesthetic) relate to behavior and mental processes. 1.6.G.1 Vestibular Sense Vestibular Sense - the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance Semicircular canals - a set of three looped tubular channels in the inner ear that detect movements of the head and provide the sense of dynamic equilibrium that is essential for maintaining balance 1.6.G.2 Kinesthesis Kinesthesia - the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
2.1.A.1 Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processing Bottom-Up Processing - Analysis that begins with the sense receptors & works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. You begin by examining small details & piece them together into a larger picture. Top-Down Processing - Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes. As when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience & expectations. |
2.1.A.2 Internal Factors that Influence Perception Perception - the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events Schemas - Mental filters or maps that organize our information about the world are called - they can impact our perceptual sets Perceptual Set - a tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others. Perceptual set works in two ways: (1) The perceiver has certain expectations and focuses attention on particular aspects of the sensory data: This he calls a Selector'. (2) The perceiver knows how to classify, understand and name selected data and what inferences to draw from it. This she calls an 'Interpreter' |
2.1.A.3 External Factors that Influence Perceptions Cocktail Party Effect - Phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli Inattentional Blindness - Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere. Change Blindness - Failing to notice change in the environment around us |
2.1.A.4 Perceptual Principles Gestalt Psychology - an organized whole. These psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes Closure - filling in gaps to create a whole. Figure and Ground (figure-ground) - a human's ability to visually differentiate between an object and its background Grouping - Humans have a tendency to organize stimuli into some coherent groups Proximity - Objects close together will be viewed together visually. Similarity - Two items that share attributes will be visually grouped together. |
2.1.A.5.I Selective Attention Selective Attention - the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus The Cocktail Party Effect - Phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli |
2.1.B.1 Binocular Cues Depth Perception - the ability to see objects in three dimensions Visual Cliff - a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals Binocular Cues - depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes Convergence - When two eyes move inward (towards the nose) to see near objects and outward (away from the nose) to see faraway objects. More convergence – closer the object Retinal Disparity - a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object |
2.1.B.2 Monocular Cues Monocular Cues - depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone Relative Clarity - Because light from distant objects passes through more light than closer objects, we perceive hazy objects as being further Relative Size - If two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image to be farther away. Texture Gradient - Indistinct (fine) texture signals an increasing distance. Less detail shows closeness, finer and denser is further away Linear Perspective - Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge in the distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance. Interposition - Objects that occlude (block) other objects tend to be perceived as closer. |
2.1.B.3 Visual Perceptual Constancies Perceptual Constancies - our ability and need to perceive objects as unchanging even as changes may occur in distance, point of view, and illumination Color Constancy - Perception that the color of an object remains the same even if lighting conditions change |
2.1.B.4 Apparent Movement Apparent Motion - the appearance of real motion from a sequence of still images Stroboscopic Movement - the visual phenomenon in which viewing a series of slightly varying pictures in rapid succession produces the effect of continuous motion. Phi Phenomenon - an illusion of movement that arises when stationary objects—light bulbs, for example—are placed side by side and illuminated rapidly one after another |