Chapter 6 - Sensation And Perception

Front 1

Sensation

Back 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system recieve and represent stimulus energies from our enviroment

Front 2

Perseption

Back 2

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Front 3

Bottom-up processing

Back 3

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the rain's integration of sensory information

The letter “A” is really a black blotch brokendown into features by the brain that weperceive as an “A”

What am i seeing?
-taking sensory informationand then assembling and integrating it

Front 4

Top-down processing

Back 4

Information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Previous experience and expectations affect thedetection of analysis of information from the senses
Explains visual illusions

The cat

Is that something that i've seen before?
- using models, ideas, andexpectations to interpret sensory information

Front 5

Transduction

Back 5

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

Front 6

Psychophysics

Back 6

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimulus, such as their intensity and our psychological experience of them

physical world -> psychological world
light -> brightness

Sound->volume

Pressure->weight

sugar->sweet

Front 7

absolute threshold

Back 7

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

Front 8

signal detection theory

Back 8

a theory predicting how when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus(signal) amid background stimulation(noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's ecperience, ecpectations, motivation, and alertness

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Subliminal

Back 9

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awarness

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Primary

Back 10

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory , or response.

Front 11

Difference threshold

Back 11

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 % of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticable difference (or jnd)

Front 12

Weber's law

Back 12

the principle that, to be percieved as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Front 13

sensory adaption

Back 13

diminished predisposition to percieve one thing an not another

Front 14

wavelength

Back 14

the distance from the peak of onel ight or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelenghts vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission.

Front 15

Hue

Back 15

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth

Front 16

intensity

Back 16

the amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we percieve as brightness or loudness. Intensity is determined by the wave's amplitude (height)

Front 17

Pupil

Back 17

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Front 18

Iris

Back 18

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored potion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

Front 19

Lens

Back 19

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Front 20

Retina

Back 20

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, sontaining the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

(motion is detected in the peripheral vision, no color)

Front 21

Accomodation

Back 21

the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Front 22

Rods

Back 22

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond

Front 23

cones

Back 23

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Front 24

Optic nerve

Back 24

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Front 25

Blind spot

Back 25

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye. Creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

Front 26

Fovea

Back 26

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.

Front 27

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Back 27

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.

Front 28

Opponent-process theory

Back 28

The theory that opposing retinal process (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.

Front 29

feature detectors

Back 29

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Front 30

Parallell processing

Back 30

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision.

Front 31

gestalt

Back 31

an organized whole. Gestalt psuchologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Front 32

Figure-ground

Back 32

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

Front 33

Grouping

Back 33

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Front 34

Depth perception

Back 34

the ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Front 35

Visual cliff

Back 35

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Test of early 3-D perception• Most infants refuse to crawl across the visual cliff• Crawling, no matter when it begins, seems toincrease an infant's fear of heights

Front 36

Binocular cues

Back 36

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

• Light and shadow• Relative motion• Relative size• Linear perspective• Interposition• Relative height

Front 37

reitnal disparity

Back 37

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

Front 38

Monocular cues

Back 38

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspecive, available to either eye alone

Front 39

Phi phenomenon

Back 39

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Front 40

Perceptual constancy

Back 40

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having constent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Front 41

color constancy

Back 41

percieveing familiar objecs as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Front 42

perceptual adaption

Back 42

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Front 43

audition

Back 43

the sense or act of hearing

Front 44

frequency

Back 44

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second)

Front 45

pitch

Back 45

a tone's experiences highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Front 46

middle ear

Back 46

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing the tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Front 47

Cochlea

Back 47

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound wavees travelling thorugh the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.

Front 48

inner ear

Back 48

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, simicircular canals, and the vestibular sacs.

Front 49

sensorineural hearing loss

Back 49

the most commom form of hearing loss, also calles nerve deafness; caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves.

Front 50

conduction hearing loss

Back 50

less common form of hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Front 51

cochlear implant

Back 51

a devise for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

Front 52

Place theory

Back 52

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

Front 53

frequency theory

Back 53

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. (also called temporal theory)

Front 54

Nociceptors

Back 54

sensory receptors that enable the perception of pain in response to potentially harmful stimuli

Front 55

gate-control theory

Back 55

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 form the brain.

Front 56

hypnosis

Back 56

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnosist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.

Front 57

dissociation

Back 57

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

Front 58

posthypnotic suggestion

Back 58

a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some dinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

Front 59

sensory interaction

Back 59

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Front 60

embodied cognition

Back 60

in psychological science, the influences of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on dognitive preferences and judgements

Front 61

Scintillation effect

Back 61

changing back and forth

scintillation is taking place in the mind

(same feature detecters as checkerboard effect)

all the dots, black squars inbetween. Dots white or black?

contrast effect (light and shadows)

Front 62

do the stimuli below the absolute threshold have any influence?

Back 62

Rated likeability of Neutral Faces after smelling odour(good, bad, neutral)• If they didn’t realize they smelled the odour, it changedparticipants likeability ratings of the neutral face• Good smell = more positive rating• bad smell = less positive rating

Front 63

Color processing occurs in two stages

Back 63

(1) The retina’s red, green, and blue cones respond invarying degrees to different colour stimuli (YoungHelmholtztrichromatic theory)

(2) The cones’ responses are then processed byopponent-process cells

Front 64

Evolutionary psychology and the modules of the mind

Back 64

The mind: an iphone. Many different apps --> social status, food...

The social status is for example activated when some/ a friend says he/she has been promoted, you feel like you're not doing so good (or orlando bloom)

-------

E.g. girlfriend of yours with boyfriend flirting with someone else.

Moral judgement module: you

mating module: girlfriend

Self module: public relations. Confronting yourself. "I didnt cheat/flirt, I was just being friendly"

We are much more liekly to detect hypocricy in others than to identify it in ourselves.

Front 65

Taste -Linda Bartoshuk

Back 65

People are devided into three categories

Different taste worlds - Non tasters, regular taster, and super tasters (bitter, sweet, burn, twice the intensity of non tasters)

Non tasters tend to be more overweight

To find out which one you are, they count your taste buds

Some super tasters can taste the difference between different coffee beans an so on.

Front 66

Pitch perception and musical ability

Back 66

Research my Helmenth Steinmuth

Part of bran - planum temporale - musicians have larger planum temporale than non-musicians. Also, those with perfect pitch have even larger planum.

Perfect pitch: sing and detect notes wothout hearing a reference note first

(many excellent musicians do not have perfect pitch)

Front 67

Perfect pitch

Back 67

tone language

early musical experience

probably not just nurture