Perception Terms From Ch. 4

Front 1

Binocular Rivalry

Back 1

A situation in which two different images are simultaneously presented to the left and right eyes and perception alternates back and forth between the two images.

Front 2

Brain Imaging

Back 2

Procedures that make it possible to visualize areas of the human brain that are activated by different types of stimuli, tasks, or behaviors. The two most common techniques used in perception research are positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Front 3

Contralateral Eye

Back 3

The eye on the opposite side of the head from a particular structure.

Front 4

Cortical Magnification Factor

Back 4

See Magnification Factor.

Front 5

Dissociation

Back 5

A situation that occurs as a result of brain damage in which one function is present and another is absent.

Front 6

Distributed Coding

Back 6

Type of neural code in which different perceptions are signaled by the pattern of activity that is distributed across many neurons.

Front 7

Dorsal Pathway

Back 7

Pathway that conducts signals from the striate cortex to the parietal lobe. This is also called the where, the how, and the action pathway to indicate its function.

Front 8

Double Dissociation

Back 8

In brain damage, when function A is present and function B is absent, and, in another person, when function A is absent and function B is present. This means that the two functions involve different mechanisms and operate independently of one another.

Front 9

Experience-dependent Plasticity

Back 9

A process by which neurons adapt to the specific environment within which a person or animal lives. This is achieved when neurons change their response properties so they become tuned to respond best to stimuli that have been repeatedly experienced in the environment.

Front 10

Extrastriate Body Area (EBA)

Back 10

An area of the temporal lobe that is activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies.

Front 11

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Back 11

A brain imaging technique that indicates brain activity in awake behaving humans in response to perceptual stimuli.

Front 12

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

Back 12

An area in the human inferotemporal (IT) cortex that contains neurons that are specialized to respond to faces.

Front 13

Grandmother Cell

Back 13

A hypothesized type of neuron that responds only to a very specific stimulus.

Front 14

How Pathway

Back 14

See Dorsal Pathway

Front 15

Ipsilateral Eye

Back 15

The eye on the same side of the head of the structure to which the eye sends inputs.

Front 16

Landmark Discrimination Problem

Back 16

The behavioral task used in Ungerleider and Mishkin’s experiment in which they provided evidence for the dorsal, or “where,” visual processing stream. Monkeys were required to respond to a previously indicated location.

Front 17

Lesioning

Back 17

Removal of an area of the brain. This is usually done in experiments on animals to determine the function of a particular area. Also called ablation.

Front 18

Location Column

Back 18

A column in the visual cortex that contains neurons with the same receptive field locations on the retina.

Front 19

M-cell

Back 19

Retinal ganglion cells that have medium-sized cell bodies and that respond with sustained firing.

Front 20

Magnification Factor

Back 20

The apportioning of proportionally more space in a structure, such as the cortex, to the representation of specific areas of sensory receptors.

Front 21

Magno Layers

Back 21

Layers 1 and 2 of the lateral geniculate nucleus that receive inputs from the M ganglion cells.

Front 22

Ablation

Back 22

Removal of an area of the brain. This is usually done in experiments on animals, to determine the function of a particular area. Also called lesioning.

Front 23

Modularity

Back 23

Specialization of the brain in which specific cortical areas processes information about specific perceptual qualities.

Front 24

Module

Back 24

A structure that processes information about a specific behavior or perceptual quality. Often identified as a structure that contains a large proportion of neurons that respond selectively to a particular quality.

Front 25

Neuropsychology

Back 25

The study of the behavioral effects of brain damage in humans.

Front 26

Object Disscrimination Problem

Back 26

The behavioral task used in Ungerleider and Mishkin’s experiment in which they provided evidence for the ventral, or “what,” visual processing stream. Monkeys were required to respond to an object with a particular shape.

Front 27

Occular Dominance

Back 27

The degree to which a neuron is influenced by stimulation of each eye. A neuron has a large amount of ocular dominance if it responds only to stimulation of one eye. This cannot happen if the neuron responds equally to stimulation of both eyes.

Front 28

Occular Dominance Column

Back 28

A column in the visual cortex that contains neurons that respond best to stimulation of the same eye.

Front 29

Orientation Column

Back 29

A column in the visual cortex that contains neurons with the same orientation preference.

Front 30

P-cell

Back 30

Retinal ganglion cells that have larger cell bodies than the M-cells and that respond with brief bursts of firing.

Front 31

Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA)

Back 31

An area in the temporal lobe that is activated by pictures of indoor and outdoor scenes.

Front 32

Parvo Layer

Back 32

Layers 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the lateral geniculate nucleus. These neurons receive inputs from the P ganglion cells (P-cell).

Front 33

PET

Back 33

See Positron emission tomography (PET).

Front 34

Positron Emisson Tomography (PET)

Back 34

A brain mapping technique that is used in awake human subjects to determine which brain areas are activated by various tasks.

Front 35

Prosopagnosia

Back 35

A form of visual agnosia in which the person can’t recognize faces.

Front 36

Retinotopic Map

Back 36

A map on a structure in the visual system, such as the lateral geniculate nucleus or the cortex, that indicates locations on the structure that correspond to locations on the retina. Locations adjacent to each other on the retina are usually represented by locations that are adjacent to each other on the structure. See also Topographic map.

Front 37

Rod-and-frame Illusion

Back 37

An illusion in which the perception of the perceived orientation of a rod is affected by the orientation of a surrounding frame.

Front 38

Sensory Code

Back 38

The information contained in the firing of neurons, which represents what we perceive.

Front 39

Single Dissociation

Back 39

When, as a result of brain damage, one function is present and another is absent. This indicates that the two functions involve different mechanisms but may not be totally independent of one another.

Front 40

Specificity Coding

Back 40

Type of neural code in which different perceptions are signaled by activity in specific neurons. See also Distributed coding.

Front 41

Subtraction Technique

Back 41

A technique used to analyze the results of brain imaging experiments, in which brain activity elicited by a control condition is subtracted from the activity elicited by an experimental condition to determine the activity that can be attributed to the experimental condition alone.

Front 42

Theory of Natural Selection

Back 42

The idea that genetically based characteristics that enhance an animal’s ability to survive, and therefore reproduce, will be passed on to future generations.

Front 43

Ventral Pathway

Back 43

Pathway that conducts signals from the striate cortex to the temporal lobe. Also called the what pathway because it is involved in recognizing objects.