Sensation And Perception

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sensation

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the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

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perception

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the process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaninful objects and events

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bottom up prcessing

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analysis tht begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's inegration of sensory info

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top down processing

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

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prosopagnosia

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after loss of temporal lobe area essential to recognizing faces-has complete sensation by incomplete perception

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psychophysics

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

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absoulte threshold

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

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signal detection theory

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a theory predicting how and when we detect the presesnce of a faint stimulus signa lamid background stmulation (noise). assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue
-causes false alarms

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subliminal

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below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

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priming

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

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difference threshold

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the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. we experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference
-constant proportion of the stimulus

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weber's law

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the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

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sensory adaptation

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diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimlation

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transduction

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conversion of one form of energy into another. in sensation, the transfoorming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret

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wavelength

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the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic raws to the long pulses of radio transmission

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hue

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the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelengh of light, what we know as the color nams blue green, ets

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intensity

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the amound of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceiv as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude

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cornea

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light enters through it, prtects the eye and bends light to provide focus

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pupil

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

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iris

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a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored protion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

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lens

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

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accomodation

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the process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

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retina

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the light sensistive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that being the processing of visual info

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acuity

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sharpness of vision

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nearsightedness

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a condition in which nearby ojects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina

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farsightedness

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a condition in which far away objects are seen more clearly that near objects because the image of near objects in focused behind the retina

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cones

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retinal receptor cells that are concenttrated near the center of thte reina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. the cones detect fine detain and give rise to color sensations

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rods

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retinal receptors that detect black, which, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones dont repsond

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bipolar cells

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activate the ganglion cells

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optic nerve

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

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fovea

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

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feature detectors

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

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parallel processing

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the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of informatin processing for many functinos, including vision. contrasts w/ step-by-step processing of most computers of conscious problem solving

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blindsight

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blindness in part of the brain's visual field due to stroke or surgery-loss of portion of brain;s visual cortex

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young-helmoltz trichromatic three color theory

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the theory that the retina contains three different color receptiors-one most senstive to red, one to green, one to blue-which when sitmulated in combination can produce the perception of any color
-no receptors sensitive to yellow
-when re and green sensitive cones stimulated, see yellow

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subtractive color mixing

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subtracts wavelengths from reflected light

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additive color mixing

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helholtz did- add wavelengths and increases light

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opponent process theory

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the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. some celss are stimulated by green and inhibited b red, others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

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color constancy

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perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters wavelengths refelcted by the object

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audition

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the sense or act of hearing

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frequency

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the number of complete wavelenghts that pass apoint in a given time

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pitch

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a tone's experienced highness or lowness-
-short waves=high frequency, high pitch
-long waves=low frequency, low pitch

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outer ear

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channels sound waves through auditory canal to eardrum

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eardrum

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tight membrane vibrates w/ waves

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middle ear

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chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing 3 bones-hammer, anvil, and stirrup, that concentrate vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

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cochlea

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coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

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inner ear

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innermost part of the ar, containing the cochlea, senicircular canals, an vestibular sacs

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basilar membrane

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lined w/ hair cells-triggers impulses in adjacent berve fibers-form auditory nerve

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compressed

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harder to hear sounds are amplified mre than loud sounds

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place theory

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in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear w/ placce where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
-high frequencines near beginning of cochlea's membrane, low near end

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frequency theory

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in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses thraveling ip the auditory nere matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

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conduction hearing loss

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hearing loss cause by dammage to the mechanical system that cnducts sound waves to the cochlea

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sensorineural hearing loss

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a hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or the auditory nerves; aka nerve deafness
-caused by biological changes linked w/ heredity, agin, prolonged exposure loud nose/ music

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cochlear implant

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

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tinnitus

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reinging in the ears sensation

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gate control theory

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theory that the spinal cord contains a nerological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on ot the brain. the gate is opened by the actibity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by info coming from brain

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unami

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flavor enhancer monosodium gultamate

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sensory interaction

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the principle tha tone sense ma;yu influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

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synaesthesia

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where one sort of sensation produces another

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kinesthesis

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the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

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vestibular sense

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the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance-inner ear

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perception

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select, organize, and interpreting our sensations

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selective attention

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the focus of conscious awareness on a particualr stimulus, as in the cocktail party effet

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cocktail party effect

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the ability to pay attention to only one voice among many

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inattentional blindness/chage blindness

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failing to see visisble objects wen our attention is directed elsewhere

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choice blindness

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showed women faces-then chose 1 face, then switched it and asked why chose face and didnt switch

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visual capture

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the tendency for vision to dominate other senses

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gestalt

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an organized whole. gestalt psychologists emphasiced our tendency to integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

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figure ground

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the organization of fthe visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

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grouping

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the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into cohenerent groups
-proximity, similarity, cointinuity, connectedness, closure

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depth perception

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the ability to see objects in 3 dimensions although the images that strike the etina are 2 dimensional, allows us to judge distance

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visual cliff

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a lab devicer for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

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binocular cues

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depth cues, such as retinal disparit and convergence, that depend on use of 2 eyes

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retinal dearity

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a binocular cue for percepving depth: by comparing images from 2 eyeballs, the brain computed dostance-the greater the disparity (difference) between the 2 images, the closer the object

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convergence

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a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inwards when looking at an object. the greater the inward strain, the closer the object

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monocular cues

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

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relative size

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2 objects similar in size, perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

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interposition

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if 1 object partially bocks our view of another, we perceive it as close

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relative clarity

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perceive hazy objects as farther waway than sharp, clear objects

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texture gradient

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gradual change from a coarse, distinct texture to a fine, indisticny texture signals increasing distance

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relative height

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perceive objecter higher in field of vision as farther away because we perceive the lower part of a figure ground illustration as closer

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relative movition (motion parallax)

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as move objects that are stable they appaer to move. objects beyond fixation point appear to move w/ you and the farther awa, the faster the move

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linear perspective

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parallel lines appear to converge w/ distance--more lines converge, the greater their perceived distance

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light and shadow

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nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes

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stroboscopic movement

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brain perceive continuout movement in a rapid series of slightly varying images

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phi phenomenon

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an illusion of movement created when 1 or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

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lightness constancy

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we perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its illumination varies

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relative luminance

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the amound of light an object reflects relative to ties surroundings

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perceptual adaptation

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in vision, the ability to adjust to an artifically dispalced or even inverted visual field

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perceptual set

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a mental predispostiion to percive one thing and not another
-lockness monster
-schemas influcne how interpret ambiguous senasations w/ top down processing

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human factors psychologists

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a branch of psychology tht explores how people and machines interact and how machines anad physical environmnets can be made safe and easy to use

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extrasensory perception (ESP)

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the controversial clain that perception can occur apart from sensory input/ said to include telepathy, clairvoryance, and precognition

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parapsychology

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the study of paranormal phneomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

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teleptathy

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mind to mind communication

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clairvoyance

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sensing that a friend;s house is on fire

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prcognition

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perceiving future events

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psychokenisis

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mind over matter- levititating a table or influencing the roll of a die