Psychology 101: Sensation

Front 1

accommodation

Back 1

the process of the lens focusing light onto the back of the eye

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

the process by which sensory input is selected, organized, and interpreted

Front 3

Sensory adaptation

Back 3

diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

Front 4

Subliminally presented stimuli

Back 4

The brain can register messages below a conscious level. However subliminal stimulations do not have suggestive powers that can teach you or influence your behavior.

Front 5

color constancy

Back 5

Our brain uses visual cues from the environment to hold the perceived color of an object constant, even when the wave changes. But your brain notices the differences in surrounding shades (relative luminance) and you still see a red apple. This is a good example of top-down processing.

Front 6

Weber's law

Back 6

The difference threshold between two objects must be of a constant percentage, not a constant amount.

Front 7

bottom-up processing

Back 7

receiving information from our senses.

Front 8

top-down processing

Back 8

using experiences and expectations to interpret the outside sources.

Front 9

Order of Vision Processes

Back 9

Cornea(protects eye) -> Iris(pupil)(recieves light) -> lens(focuses light) -> retina -> fovea(contains cones)&rods -> bipolar cells ->ganglion cells(become optic nerve:blind spot) -> thalamus (opponent processing cells) -> occipital lobe(feature detectors)

Front 10

Order of Hearing Processes

Back 10

outer ear(funnels sound) -> auditory canal -> eardrum -> middle ear bones(ossicles; the hammer, anvil, and stirrup; like pistons) -> cochlea(like the retina; oval window to basilar membrane with hairs that process the vibrations)

Front 11

Opponent process theory

Back 11

some neurons(in the thalamus) receive one color and are turned off by another. This theory is used to explain afterimages, where you wear out the response in one neuron for one color and then can only see the opposing color when staring at a white board, until the neuron replenishes.

Front 12

Absolute Threshold vs. Signal Detection Theory

Back 12

a fixed minimum point required for a stimulus to trigger a sensation (is defined as the threshold with which 50% of people need to perceive a stimulus) vs. which says that our experiences and expectations determine the sensitivity of when we perceive a stimulus (twig at night, twig in hallway)

Front 13

Just Noticeable Difference JND

Back 13

The minimum difference required to tell two stimulus apart. Defined by Weber's law as a proportion.

Front 14

Sensory Adaptations

Back 14

lessened sensitivity to a stimulus over time because of constant exposure. If you stared at something long enough, without eye quivering, it would eventually disappear.

Front 15

Parallel processing

Back 15

Senses working simultaneously
Sight and recognition
Blindsight: ability of those with damage to occipital lobe, to know things they never saw.
Synthasesia: experincing two senses at the same time.

Front 16

The eye receives light waves and then converts that energy into neural impulses by a process called......

Back 16

Transduction

Front 17

hearing & vision
Wavelength
Amplitude(Intensity)

Back 17

Wavelength: hue/color & pitch
Amplitude(Intensity): brightness & loudness(decibels, frequent exposure to 85dB can lead to deafness)

Front 18

Pitch
Place theory
Frequency Theory

Back 18

high pitches are created by where (“the place”) on the basilar membrane the liquid vibrates the hairs. The brain reads the place and make you hear the corresponding pitch. (high pitches)

the brain reads the amount of time per second that the hair vibrates and interprets that to determine low pitches.

Front 19

Sound location

Back 19

determined by visual(can fool you) and sound cues

Front 20

Conduction Deafness
vs.
Nerve Deafness

Back 20

caused by damage to the eardrum or middle ear bone, can be helped by amplifying noises
vs.
damage to hairs in cochlea, caused by loud music or disease, rarely helped by hearing aids, maybe cochlea implant

Front 21

rods
vs.
cones

Back 21

sensitive to light, not color(a group share a bipolar cell)
vs.
clustered in fovia, process color and detail (each has their own bipolar cell)

Front 22

Vestibular sense
vs.
Kinesthesis

Back 22

determines body position by liquid in ear
vs.
sense of body parts and positions

Front 23

Taste

Back 23

receptors located all over mouth that catch food molecules,
only tastes salty, sweet, bitter, and umami, rest from smell

Front 24

Smell

Back 24

skips thalamus, goes straight to memory

Front 25

Sensory Interaction

Back 25

taste is a combination of tast and smell

Front 26

Touch

Back 26

Pressure Warmth, Cold and Pain.
Only pressure has a identified distinct, specialized nerve ending. The others are a complex mix, not yet known.

Front 27

Pain

Back 27

Gate control theory
in spinal chord, lets only pain OR only pressure get through

felt in the brain, not the body(phantom limb syndrome)

Front 28

Sensory Restrictions

Back 28

Limiting one sense can heightened the sensation in others.
Sensory monotony: forced deprivation of all sensory information can cause almost immediate psychopathologies
However, sensory restriction in a controlled environment, generally contributes to positive moods changes.