Psych B105 Ch.3 Sensation And Perception

Front 1

What is Sensation?

Back 1

Sensation refers to the detection and basic sensory experience of environmental stimuli, such as sounds, objects, and odors.

Front 2

What is Perception?

Back 2

Perception occurs when we integrate, organize, and interpret sensor information in a way that is meaningful.

Front 3

Give an example of Sensation.

Back 3

Light rushing into the eye, sending information to the brain.

Front 4

Give an example of Perception.

Back 4

Interpreting lines and splotches of color as being a painting.

Front 5

What are Sensory Receptors?

Back 5

Sensory Receptors receive sense data, examples are eyes, ear, nose, tongue, and the nerve endings found within the skin.

Front 6

How do sensory receptors work?

Back 6

They convert energy into electrical impulses that can be received and understood by the brain.

Front 7

What is transduction?

Back 7

The conversion of energy (waves) into coded neural signals that can be processed by the nervous system and brain.

Front 8

What is Absolute Threshold?

Back 8

The smallest amount of stimuli that can be detected half of the time.

Front 9

What is Sensory Adaptation?

Back 9

The gradual decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus.

Front 10

What is the cornea?

Back 10

The clear membrane that covers the front of the eye.

Front 11

What is the Sclera?

Back 11

The white area of the eye.

Front 12

What is the Pupil?

Back 12

The black opening in the center of the.

Front 13

What is the Iris?

Back 13

The colored muscle that expands and contracts to allow more and less light in.

Front 14

What is the Lens?

Back 14

The Lens is a curved transparent structure that thins or thickens (a process called Accomodation) to bend or focus incoming light, so that the light falls on the Retina.

Front 15

What is Nearsightedness?

Back 15

Also known as Myopia, light from distant objects is focused in front of the retina.

Front 16

What is Accomodation?

Back 16

The thickening or thinning of the lens inside the eye.

Front 17

What is Farsightedness?

Back 17

Farsightedness or "hyperopia" occurs when light from a near object is focused behind the retina.

Front 18

What is Presbyopia?

Back 18

Presbyopia is caused when the lens becomes brittle and inflexible.

Front 19

What is an Astigmatism?

Back 19

An Astigmatism occurs when lines in a particular direction become blurry as a result of an abnormally curved eyeball.

Front 20

What is the Retina?

Back 20

A thin, light-sensitive membrane located at the back of the eyes that contains the sensory receptors for vision.

Front 21

What are Rods?

Back 21

Rods are located within the Retina, and are long, thin, blunt sensory receptors within the eye, that are highly sensitive to light but do not detect color. Rods are primarily responsible for peripheral vision and night vision.

Front 22

What are Cones?

Back 22

Cones are short, thick, pointed sensory recepter within the eye that detect color and are responsible for color vision and visual accuity.

Front 23

What is the Fovea?

Back 23

The small area in the center of the retina, composed entirely of cones, where visual information is most sharply focused.

Front 24

What is the Optic Disk?

Back 24

The area of the retina without rods or cones, where the optic nerve exits the back of the eye.

Front 25

What is the Blind Spot?

Back 25

The point at which the optic nerve leave the eye, producing a small gap in the field of vision.

Front 26

What is Color?

Back 26

The perceptual experience of different wavelengths of light, involving hue, saturation (purity), and brightness (intensity).

Front 27

What is Hue?

Back 27

The property of wavelengths of light known as color; different wavelengths correspond to our subjective experience of different colors.

Front 28

What is Saturation?

Back 28

The property of color that corresponds to the purity of the light wave.

Front 29

What is Brightness?

Back 29

The perceived intensity of a color, which corresponds to the amplitude of the light wave.

Front 30

What is the Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision?

Back 30

There are three variaties of cones : "red" "green" and "blue" - "sensitive".

Front 31

What is the Opponnent-Process Theory of Color Vision?

Back 31

There are four basic colors, red, green, blue, and yellow. They oppose each other as red-green and blue-yellow. If green is stimulate, red is inhibited. If blue is stimulated, yellow is inhibited.

Front 32

What is Audition?

Back 32

The technical term for the sense of hearing.

Front 33

What is an Afterimage?

Back 33

A visual experience that occurs after the original source of stimulation is no longer present.

Front 34

What is Loudness?

Back 34

Loudness is determined by the amplitude of the sound wave, and is measured in units called Decibels.

Front 35

What is Pitch?

Back 35

The "highness" or "lowness" of a sound, and is determined by Frequency (Number of waves per second, measured in Hertz)

Front 36

What is Timbre?

Back 36

The combination of different sound-waves/frequencies creates a distinctive quality to a sound called Timbre.

Front 37

What is the Outter Ear?

Back 37

The Outter Ear includes the Pinna, the Ear Canal, and the Ear Drum.

Front 38

What is the Pinna?

Back 38

The oddly shaped flap of skin and cartilage attached to each side of the head. The pinna's primary role is to catch sound waves and funnel them down the ear canal to the ear drum.

Front 39

What is the Ear Drum?

Back 39

The Ear Drum is a tightly stretched membrane. When sound waves hit the eardrum, the ear drum vibrates, matching the vibrations of the sound wave in intensity and frequency.

Front 40

What is the Middle Ear?

Back 40

The Middle Ear consists of three bones that vibrate : the Hammer, the Anvil, and the Stirrup. The stirrup transmits the amplified vibration through the Oval Window.

Front 41

What is the Oval Window?

Back 41

A small membrane that vibrates and relays the sound to the inner ear structure the Cochlea.

Front 42

What is the Cochlea?

Back 42

The Cochlea is a fluid-filled tube that's coiled in a spiral.

Front 43

What is the Basilar Membrane?

Back 43

The Basilar Membrane runs the length of the Cochlea, and contains the sensory receptors for sound, "Hair Cells". These fibers make up the auditory nerve.

Front 44

What is the Frequency Theory of Hearing?

Back 44

The theory that the hair cells on the auditory nerve (in the Basilar Membrane) vibrate at the same frequency as the original sound.

Front 45

What is the Place Theory of Hearing?

Back 45

The theory that vibrations of different frequencies, cause vibrations in different places along the Basilar Membrane and Auditory Nerve.

Front 46

What are the two "Chemical Senses" ?

Back 46

Olfaction (smell) and Gustation (taste)

Front 47

What is Olfaction?

Back 47

Smell

Front 48

What is Gustation?

Back 48

Taste

Front 49

What are Pheromones?

Back 49

Chemical signals released by an animal that communicate information and affect behavoir of other animals of the same species.

Front 50

What is the Olfactory Bulb?

Back 50

The enlarged ending of the Olfactory Cortex at the front of the brain where the sensation of smell is registered.

Front 51

What are Taste Buds?

Back 51

The specialized sensory receptors for taste that are located on the tongue and inside the mouth and throat.

Front 52

How many basic taste categories are there, and what are they?

Back 52

There are Five (5) : Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, and Umami ("Yummy")

Front 53

What are Nocicpetors?

Back 53

Pain Receptors

Front 54

What is Substance P?

Back 54

Substance P stimulates free nerces endings at the site of an injury, and increases pain messages within the spinal cord. (produced by "C Fibers")

Front 55

What is "Phantom Limb Pain" ?

Back 55

Occurence in which a person continues to experience intense painful sensations in a limb that has been amputated.

Front 56

What is Kinesthetic Sense?

Back 56

The sense that involves location and position of body parts relative to one another. (Literally means "feelings in motion")

Front 57

What are Proprioceptors?

Back 57

Proprioceptors are specialized sensory neurons located in muscles and joints, that constantly communicate information to the brain about changes in body positiona nd muscle tension.

Front 58

What is Vestibular Sense?

Back 58

Sense of balance or equilibrium.

Front 59

What is "Bottom-Up Processing" ?

Back 59

Also called "data-driven processing", the flow of sensory data from the sensory receptors to the brain.

Front 60

What is "Top-Down Processing" ?

Back 60

Top-Down Processing occures when we draw on our knowledge, experiences, expectations, and other cognitive processes to arrive at meaningul perceptions, such as people or objects in a particular context.

Front 61

What is Gestalt Psychology?

Back 61

Wertheimer's idea that the whole is always greater than the sum of it's parts.

Front 62

What is the "Figure-Ground Relationship" ?

Back 62

The figure-ground relationship is our tendency to recognize a figure, and a background (we rely on recognition of shapes to identify objects, as well as some top-down processing).