Psychology 1010: Chapter 5

Front 1

Sensation

Back 1

a physical feeling or perception resulting from something that happens to or comes into contact with the body.

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the senses.

Front 3

Sensory receptors

Back 3

sensory Receptors are specialized neurons or nerve endings that respond to changes in the environment by converting energy from a specific stimulus into an action potential (a process known as transduction).

Front 4

Transduction

Back 4

Meaning the transportation of stimuli to the central nervous system, when physical signals from the environment are transformed into electrical or neural signals.

Front 5

Absolute threshold

Back 5

is the smallest level of energy required by an external stimulus to be detectable by the human senses, including vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It is more precisely defined as the degree of intensity of a stimulus necessary to correctly detect that stimulus 50% of the time.

Front 6

Difference Threshold

Back 6

the smallest amount by which two sensory stimuli can differ in order for an individual to perceive them as different.

Front 7

Weber’s Law

Back 7

Any change in a stimulus that is barely noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus.

Front 8

Who is Ernst Weber?

Back 8

considered one of the founders of experimental psychology.

- Weber's Law

Front 9

Signal detection theory

Back 9

The theory that detection of a faint stimulus is not an all or nothing process, it requires a judgment to be made.

Front 10

Signal

Back 10

Sensory input in the signal detection theory.

Front 11

Response

Back 11

Making a judgment in the signal detection theory.

Front 12

Signal Detection Theory:

Four Possible Outcomes when a person is asked to detect the presence of a sensory input?

Back 12

1. Hit- signal present and person says “yes”

2. Miss- signal present and person says “no”

3. False alarm- signal not present and person says “yes”

4. Correct rejection- signal absent and person says “no”

Front 13

Sensory Adaptation

Back 13

When there is a decrease in sensitivity in regards to a constant amount of stimulation.

Front 14

Cornea

Back 14

the transparent layer forming the front of the eye

Front 15

Iris

Back 15

a flat, colored, ring-shaped membrane behind the cornea of the eye, with an adjustable circular opening (pupil) in the center.

Front 16

Pupil

Back 16

The opening of the iris. The pupil may appear to open (dilate) and close (constrict), but it is really the iris that is the prime mover; the pupil is merely the absence of iris. The pupil determines how much light is let into the eye. Both pupils are usually of equal size.

Front 17

Lens

Back 17

By changing its shape, the lens changes the focal distance of the eye. In other words, it focuses the light rays that pass through it (and onto the retina) in order to create clear images of objects that are positioned at various distances. It also works together with the cornea to refract, or bend, light.

Front 18

Retina

Back 18

The thin layer at the back of the eye that is sensitive to light and holds the sensory receptors.

Front 19

Rods:

Back 19

A photoreceptor that is in the retina, is responsible for sight and stimulated by light (works best in dim light)

- Primarily responsible for night vision

Front 20

Cones

Back 20

A photoreceptor this is in the retina, is responsible for color vision and works best with bright light.

Front 21

Fovea

Back 21

Is placed at the center of the retina where vision is clearest and is responsible for helping with clear vision.

- No rods are in the fovea.

Front 22

Ganglion Cells

Back 22

Neurons near the inner surface of the eye, they fire axon potentials

Front 23

Optic Nerve:

Back 23

The bundle of ganglion cells that transmits impulses to the brain from the retina.

- You have blind spots in both your left and right fields of vision.

Front 24

Primary Visual Cortex

Back 24

Located in the Occipital lobe it receives input from the Retina and provides basic information about vision.

Front 25

Amplitude

Back 25

The extent of the wavelength from top to bottom.

Front 26

Brightness:

Back 26

Giving out/reflecting light. Ex. bright red vs. dark red.

Front 27

Wavelength

Back 27

the distance between successive crests of a wave, especially points in a sound wave or electromagnetic wave.

Front 28

Hue

Back 28

A shade of a color- ex. Blue- light blue, teal, dark blue, etc.

Front 29

Saturation

Back 29

Determines how intense the color is.

Front 30

Trichromatic Theory

Back 30

Proposed by Thomas Young it’s the theory that there are three different receptors in the retina that are responsible for three colors- red, blue and green.

- Trichromatic = “three colors”

Front 31

What are the three cone receptors?

Back 31

S Cones: Sensitive to short wavelengths and perceive blue.

M Cones: Sensitive to medium wavelengths and perceive green.

L Cones: Sensitive to long wavelengths and perceive red.

Front 32

Additive Color Mixing

Back 32

- When wavelengths are combined.

Additive color mixing is the kind of mixing you get if you overlap spotlights in a dark room, as illustrated at left. The commonly used additive primary colors are red, green and blue, and if you overlap all three in effectively equal mixture, you get white light as shown at the center.

Front 33

Subtractive Color Mixing

Back 33

When pigments are combined.

- The color of pigment is determined by the wavelengths that the pigment does NOT absorb.

Front 34

Opponent Process Theory:

Back 34

Theory proposed by Ewald Herring and expanded on by Richard Solomon proposes that the retina receives input from one type of cone and then input from another type of cone that results with the perception that some colors are opposites.

- Color-number synesthesia reveals that each person’s perception of color and visual perception in general are unique to each person’s brain and how it processes information.

Front 35

Proximity:

Back 35

If objects are close to one another they form a group.

Front 36

Similarity:

Back 36

Stimuli that look similar are grouped together.

Front 37

Continuity:

Back 37

When two objects intersect, they are perceived as different.

Front 38

Closure of gaps:

Back 38

The mind tends to complete figures even with gaps.

Front 39

Illusory Contours:

Back 39

When a contour doesn’t exist we still perceive contours.

Front 40

Bottom-up processing:

Back 40

The sensory receptors analyze the environmental stimulus; this analysis influences the conceptual processing of that information in the brain; that is how objects are perceived.

Front 41

Top-down processing:

Back 41

We perceive objects the way we do because of the complex analysis of prior experiences and expectations in the brain.

Front 42

Binocular depth Perception:

Back 42

Our depth perception has certain cues because we have two eyes.

Front 43

Binocular disparity:

Back 43

In order to perceive depth through binocular disparity we have to use both of our eyes because each retina has a slightly different view of the world.

- The brain has access to two different and overlapping retinal images.

Front 44

Monocular Depth Perception:

Back 44

Each eye has its own cues of depth perception.

- Also known as: Pictorial depth cues

Front 45

Occlusion:

Back 45

When an object that is near you is blocking an object that is farther away.

Front 46

Height in field:

Back 46

An object is lower in the visual field is then seen as closer than the object that is higher in the visual field.

Front 47

Relative size:

Back 47

An object that is farthest away projects a smaller retinal image then the object that is closer and the (about) the same size.

Front 48

Familiar size:

Back 48

When a person is familiar with the size of an object and can then estimate how far away the object is by the size of their retinal image.

Front 49

Linear perspective:

Back 49

When parallel lines appear to the person to cross in the distance.

Front 50

Texture gradient:

Back 50

When a textured surface recedes, the texture of the surface continues to become denser.

Front 51

Motion Aftereffects:

Back 51

Occurs when a person is viewing a moving image for a long time and then fixate on a stationary scene. They appear to see the new scene as moving in the opposite direction from the moving image.

- Also known as, “The waterfall effect.”

Front 52

Stroboscopic Motion:

Back 52

When many still pictures are presented in a fast series, we then perceive motion of pictures.

Front 53

Outer ear:

Back 53

Hearing begins with the outer ear and helps the ear capture sound waves.

Front 54

Eardrum:

Back 54

is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear.

Front 55

Middle ear:

Back 55

The middle of the ear that contains the ossicles.

Front 56

Ossicles:

Back 56

Made up of three tiny bones that help amplify the vibrations.

Front 57

Inner ear:

Back 57

the semicircular canals and cochlea, which form the organs of balance and hearing and are embedded in the temporal bone.

Front 58

Oval window:

Back 58

Membrane that leads from the middle ear to the inner ear.

Front 59

Cochlea:

Back 59

the spiral cavity of the inner ear containing the organ of Corti, which produces nerve impulses in response to sound vibrations.

- A bony structure that holds two fluids- endolymph and perilymph, is shaped like a snail and resides in the inner ear.

Front 60

Basilar membrane:

Back 60

a membrane in the cochlea that bears the organ of Corti.

- A membrane that runs through the center of the cochlea.

Front 61

Hair cells:

Back 61

are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in the ears of all vertebrates.

- Located in the Cochlea these sensory receptors detect sound waves, convert them into signals that are then processed in the brain as sound.

Front 62

Auditory nerve:

Back 62

Carries information from the cochlea directly to the brain.

Front 63

Primary auditory cortex:

Back 63

is located on the superior temporal gyrus in the temporal lobe and receives point-to-point input from the ventral division of the medial geniculate complex; thus, it contains a precise tonotopic map.

- A part of the temporal lobe that processes auditory information (sound waves).

Front 64

Frequency:

Back 64

The frequency of the sound waves is what determines the pitch of the sound.

The SI unit of audio frequency is the hertz (Hz). It is the property of sound that most determines pitch. The generally accepted standard range of audible frequencies is 20 to 20,000 Hz, although the range of frequencies individuals hear is greatly influenced by environmental factors.

Front 65

Hertz:

Back 65

Vibrations per second.

- Humans can generally detect sound waves with frequencies from 20 Hz to about 20,000 Hz.

Front 66

Temporal Coding:

Back 66

The rate at which hair cells are stimulated by sound waves of lower frequencies results in the perception of lower pitched sounds.

Front 67

Place Coding:

Back 67

The location on the basilar membrane where hair cells are stimulated by sound waves of varying higher frequencies results in the perception of higher pitched sounds.

Front 68

Localization:

Back 68

refers to a listener's ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound in direction and distance.

Front 69

Flavor:

Back 69

The specific taste of a food that is produced by taste and smell.

Front 70

Gustation:

Back 70

The sense of taste.

Front 71

Taste receptors:

Back 71

Sensory receptor that helps facilitate taste.

Front 72

Taste Buds:

Back 72

Contain the gustatory cells and are located in the papillae on the tongue.

Front 73

Papillae:

Back 73

Mushroom shaped structures that are on the tongue.

Front 74

Facial nerve:

Back 74

Nerve of facial expression.

Front 75

Gustatory cortex:

Back 75

Responsible for the perception of taste.

Front 76

Olfaction:

Back 76

Sense of smell.

Front 77

Odorants:

Back 77

The chemical molecules that come from outside your body.

Front 78

Olfactory receptors:

Back 78

Detect odorants that then give rise to smells.

Front 79

Olfactory Epithelium:

Back 79

Located deep within the nasal cavity, this thin layer of tissue is responsible for producing information that is processed in the brain as smell.

Front 80

Olfactory Bulb:

Back 80

Resides above the olfactory epithelium and carries information about smell to the brain.

Front 81

Olfactory nerve:

Back 81

Sends smell information to different parts of the brain.

Front 82

Olfactory cortex:

Back 82

A portion of the cerebral cortex that is involved in the sense of smell.

Front 83

Warm receptors:

Back 83

Specialized receptors that are embedded within the skin that detect the temperature of stimuli and processes the information in the brain as warmth.

Front 84

Cold receptors:

Back 84

Specialized receptors that are embedded with in the skin that detect the temperature of stimuli and processes the information in the brain as cold.

Front 85

Pressure receptors:

Back 85

Specialized receptors that are embedded within the skin that detect tactile stimulation and processes the information in the brain as different types of pressure on the skin.

Front 86

Cranial nerves:

Back 86

When a person is touched above the neck information is sent to the brain by the cranial nerve.

Front 87

Spinal nerves:

Back 87

When a person is touched below the neck information is sent to the spinal cord and then the spinal nerves send the information to the brain.

Front 88

Somatosensory Cortex:

Back 88

The main sensory area for touch located in the parietal lobe.

Front 89

Wilder Penfield

Back 89

Neurosurgeon that discovered that the somatosensory cortex can evoke the perception of touch in different parts of the body.

Front 90

Fast Fibers:

Back 90

Sensory receptors that convey sharp and immediate pain to the brain. Myelinated fibers

Front 91

Slow Fibers:

Back 91

Sensory receptors that convey chronic, dull and steady pain to the brain. Unmyelinated fibers.

- The actual perception of pain is created by the brain.

Front 92

Gate Control Theory of Pain:

Back 92

Created by Ronald Melzack and his collaborator Patrick Wall. According to them we experience pain when a neural “gate” allows the signals through to the brain. The gate is in the spinal cord. They believe that if the “gate” is closed pain will be able to be suppressed.

Ex. Scratching an itch

Front 93

Kinesthetic sense:

Back 93

Body awareness; helps us detect movements in our body.

Front 94

Vestibular sense:

Back 94

Awareness of body balance.