Pysch. Natural Science Final

Front 1

Senstation

Back 1

Detection of external stimulus, sensory organ's responses and transmission of those responses to the brain

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

brain's further processing that results in internal representations of the stimuli that form a conscious experience of the world.

"construction of useful and meaningful information about a particular environment"

--Based on prior experiences

--Perception (unconsciously) corrects sensory info
creating a stable perception that better matches inputthan does sensory events

Front 3

Sensory coding

Back 3

sensory organs translate physical properties of stimuli into to chemical patters of neural impulses.

Front 4

transduction

Back 4

the translation of stimuli into chemical and electrical signals that the brain can interpret.

Front 5

sensory receptors

Back 5

specialized cells in sense organs recieve physical or chemical stimulation and pass the resulting information of the brain in the form of neural impulses.

-provide coarse coding

Front 6

Path of sensory information (most of it)

Back 6

sensory receptors--> connection neurons--> thalamus--> cortex

Front 7

To function effectively brain needs...

Back 7

qualitative and quantitative information about the stimulus

Front 8

qualitative information

Back 8

basic qualities of stimulus such as differentiation of colors or sounds

--different sensory receptors respond to different stimuli

Front 9

quantitative information

Back 9

the magnitude or degree of those qualities such as how bright a color is or how loud a sound is

--stimuli coded by the rate of a particular neuron's firing (rapidly firing neuron is responding at a higher frequency to a more intense stimulus)

Front 10

Sensory system

Back 10

a system that transforms externalevents into neural activity

Front 11

accessory structures

Back 11

such as noses, ears, eyes, tounge

1) gather information

2) translate information into action potentials

Front 12

coarse coding

Back 12

sensory qualities are coded by only a few types of receptors, each responding to a broad range of stimuli. Combined responses of different stimuli responding at different rates enables us to differentiate the stimuli.

thus senstation and perception result from symphony of sensory receptors and the neurons those receptors communicate with.

Front 13

consciousness

Back 13

the sum of activity of sensory receptors and neurons those receptors communicate with, all firing at different rates to make up sensation and perception.

a person's subjective experience of the world

Front 14

absolute threshold

Back 14

min. intensity of stimulation that must occur before you experience sensation

Front 15

difference threshold

Back 15

just noticeable difference between 2 stimuli.

Front 16

Emission Theory (fire in eyes)

Back 16

 Plato: 4th century BC

 Ptolemy: 2nd century AD

people projected rays that reflected off object in vision and back to person

Front 17

Early intromission theory (a “touch” theory of vision)

Back 17

 Democritus (460-370 BC), Epicurus (341-270BC)
 Objects emit little versions of themselves (“eidola”)

Front 18

light

Back 18

is the visible component of the electromagnetic spectrum

Front 19

Thomas Young’s (1773-1829) theory

Back 19

it is possible to make any
given color from a mixture of any three other colors

We should find at least three “transducers” that
respond differentially as wave length varies
We should find cases of color blindness that reveal
the properties of the receptors

Front 20

Continued...

Back 20

shorter waves appear blue-violet

- medium waves appear yellow-green

-longer waves appear red-orange

(400-700 nanometers)

Front 21

How can objects appear to have the same level of brightness at different times of day?

Back 21

 A particular object reflects a characteristic proportion of incident light as a function of its physical properties.
 The amount of incident light varies as a function of time of day.

Brightness depends on contrast with surround

Perceptual processes accomodate for changing stumuli and retinal images so we percieve the world coherently

Front 22

depth perception cues

Back 22

Front 23

Motion Parallax

Back 23

Relative position of objects on retina change as we move.
Amount of movement is a function of distance from viewer.

like looking out of a window of a car

Front 24

Levels of consciousness

Back 24

 Undirected wakefulness

 Directed, selective attention

 Reduced states:

-- Sleep

-- Coma

Front 25

Altered consciousness

Back 25

 Meditation

 Drug-induced changes

 hallucinations
 Variations in “normal” states

 Music

 Friendship/falling in love

 mental disorders

Front 26

cocktail party phenom

Back 26

E. C. Cherry--> selective hearing. you can focus on a single conversation in a cocktail party.

He ran experiments where sent two recordings one in each ear (dichotic) and asked a person to "shadow" or repeat one of the recordings. the person usually noticed the other recording but didn't have any knowledge of any content.

Front 27

Conventional view (of sleep)

Back 27

The natural periodic suspension of
consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored.(Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Front 28

Modification:

Back 28

The natural periodic alteration of consciousness
during which the powers of the body, particularly the brain andimmune system, are restored.

Front 29

The nature of consciousness during sleep

Back 29

ususally unconscious of external events

consciousness of oneself can be high
Thoughts vary from mundane to bizarre
thoughts while sleeping can usually not be recalled, unless probed for

Front 30

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Back 30

measure's electrical brain activity

Front 31

Consciousness serves 3 vital functions

Back 31

1) perform complex actions that may require input from several brain regions

2) relate to others and change perspective

3) problem solve and complicated thinking

Front 32

coma

Back 32

state when people have sleep/wake cycles-- eyes open and close and appear to be asleep and awake, but they don't respond to surroundings.

Front 33

beta waves

Back 33

short, frequent, irregular brain signals

-- occurs when you are alert and in REM

Front 34

alpha waves

Back 34

brain activity is slower and more regular as a result of relaxing or focusing attention on something

-- occur just before sleep

Front 35

Stage 1 of sleep

Back 35

if awakened you will probably say you weren't asleep. you might see fantastical images or geometric shapes. you might have sensation of falling or limbs jerked

Theta waves

Front 36

Stage 2 of sleep

Back 36

breathing becomes more regular, less sensitive to external stimulation.

Theta waves, sleep spindles, K- complex ( might be signals from brain to stay asleep)

Front 37

K complex

Back 37

shown as bump in EEG, can occur with a loud noise.

Less frequent with age

possible brain signal to stay asleep

Front 38

Stage 3/4

Back 38

marked y large regular brain patterns called Delta waves, "slow-wave sleep"

people are disoriented when they wake up, and hard to wake up. still process some information as the mind continues to evaluate surroundings for danger

Front 39

REM SLEEP

Back 39

beta waves come back up and it appears to be an alert mind. muscle paralysis, except for genitals. reported dreaming

Front 40

insomnia

Back 40

mental health and ability to fxn are compromised by their inability to sleep. anxiety and depression-- dangerous cycles that perpetuate a lack of sleep

Front 41

obstructive sleep apnea

Back 41

throat closes and trouble breathing at night

Front 42

narcolepsy

Back 42

unexpectedly falling asleep during wake hours due to sleepiness

Front 43

REM sleep disorder

Back 43

sufferers act out dreams.

Front 44

Results of poor sleep

Back 44

Weakened immune system, as in Chron’s disease & heart
disease and rheumatoid arthritis, large increase in molecules that can promote inflammation (cytokines) and decrease in molecules that fight disease (T-cells)
 ^ stress hormones (which contribute to weight gain)

 ^ time needed for tissue damage to heal

Front 45

sleep paralysis

Back 45

occurs during arrousal

 infrequent brief episodes: seconds to a minute

 recurrent: quite long episodes >minutes

Front 46

meditation

Back 46

 Concentrated: The meditator focuses on a particular object, activity or phrase, all else is ignored

 Mindful: focus on one’s breathing along with a detached (nonjudgmental) examination of what comes into mind

Front 47

biological affiliations of sleep

Back 47

1)changes in brain activity,
2)decreases in breathing rate

3) blood pressure

4)inactivity

5) sensory shutdown,

Front 48

benefits of meditation

Back 48

1. Decreases in blood pressure
2. Decreases in oxygen consumption (that are greater than in sleep)

3. Attenuated stress hormone response following exposure to stressors

4. Reports of greater energy, less anxiety, less depression, better health

During meditation EEG shifts to slower waves and
more synchrony (but meditation is not the same as

sleep or rest)

2. Changes in the brain

a. Increase in dopamine & serotonin levels
b. Regional changes in activity levels that correspond toincreased attention and increased arousal (yet musclerelaxation)
c. Even evidence of changes in thickness of the cerebralcortex

Front 49

gate control theory

Back 49

neural gates in the spinal cord allow signals through. those gates can be closed when information about tough is being transmitted (e.g. by rubbing a sore arm) or by distraction

Front 50

dorsal stream

Back 50

"where"--> object recognition

Front 51

ventral stream

Back 51

"what" --> spatial relationships

Front 52

bottom-up processing

Back 52

hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which data are relayed from one level of mental processing to the next always moving to a higher level of processing

Front 53

top-down processing

Back 53

hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which information at higher levels of mental processing can also influence lower, "earlier" levels in the processing hierarchy.

Front 54

perceptual constancy

Back 54

correctly perceiving objects as constant in their shape, size, color and lightness, despite raw sensory data that could mislead perception.

Front 55

changes in brain REM

Back 55

1) pons releases neurotransmitters at 90 minute intervals

2) neurotransmitters lead to inhibition of spinal motor neurons to that voluntary movements cannot occur

3) higher brain change in REM

-prefrontal cortex less active

-thalamus periodically inhibited

-motor cortex very active (but no movement)

-secondary associative areas are active

Front 56

Brain theory of why dreams occur in REM

Back 56

pons send signals to brain that activate emotional parts of the brain and not judgement parts of the brain.

explains timing of dreams so it's better.

Front 57

how do we fall asleep?

Back 57

SCN of the hypothalamus is where the biological clock is located. day and night--> retina--> pineal gland--> melatonin--> feel sleepy

Front 58

kinesthetic sense

Back 58

where our bodies are in space/ movements of them

Front 59

vestibular sense

Back 59

balance from inn ear