Psychology: Chapter 4 (Sensation and perception) part 1

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Psychology: Chapter 4 (Sensation and perception) part 1
2013-10-30 13:55:57
chapter sensation

chapter 4 (sensation)
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  1. sensation
    bringing information from the outside world into the brain
  2. perception
    selecting organizing and interpreting sensory information
  3. 1. Sensory organs receive energy from or are otherwise stimulated by the environment
    2. sensory receptors convert this energy into neural signals which are sent to the brain
  4. Absolute threshold of sensation
    smallest detectable level of stimulus
  5. Just noticeable difference (JND)
    smallest detectable change in intensity of stimulus
  6. Weber's Law
    • Just noticeable difference varies as a proportion of the intensity
    • for ex. vision has to be intensified much less than taste for you to perceive difference
  7. transduction
    • converting a stimulus into neuronal signals
    • sensory receptors produce neural impulses when they receive chemical/physical stimulation
  8. coding
    the way information is encoded in neural signals
  9. frequency theory
    frequency is encoded by the rate of neuronal firing
  10. place theory
    different neurons in the inner ear code for different frequencies
  11. Is frequency theory or place theory correct?
    • Both are used for all frequencies
    • Place coding is relied on more for high frequencies, frequency coding for low frequencies
  12. rods
    • achromatic
    • greater sensitivity in low light
    • found more in retina periphery (better light sensitivity)
  13. cones
    • chromatic
    • not as sensitive to light
    • found more in the center of retina
  14. What are the three different types of photopigments for cones?
    • S (blue light)
    • M (green light)
    • L (red light)
  15. trichromatic theory
    Color vision results from activity in 3 different types of cones that are sensitive to different wavelengths (S, M, L)
  16. What is unexplained by the trichromatic theory?
    Why color leave afterimages
  17. opponent-process theory
    • Visual system treats colors as complementary pairs
    • all colors are combinations of yellow OR blue PLUS red or green
    • accounts for idea of opposite colors
  18. when is unique blue perceived?
    when S receptor is stimulated and M and L are not
  19. when is unique yellow perceived?
    when M and L are stimulated and S is not
  20. when is unique red perceived?
    When L & S are stimulated and M is not
  21. x topic cortical organization
    primary sensory cortices represent sensory info in a structured manner
  22. retintopic organization
    adjacent points in space are processed by adjacent points in visual cortex
  23. tonotopy
    similar tones are processed near each other
  24. cortical magnification
    more cortical space is devoted to more sensitive regions of body (somatosensory cortex)
  25. process of transduction
    sensory receptors ->connecting neurons -> thalamus -> cortex
  26. signal detection theory
    detecting a stimulus requires making a judgment about its presence based on subjective interpretation of ambiguous information
  27. response bias
    a participant tends to report detecting a signal when trial is ambiguous
  28. sensory adaptation
    decrease in sensitivity to constant level of stimulation
  29. 5 basic qualities of taste
    sweet sour salty bitter umami (savory)
  30. supertasters
    especially intense taste sensation
  31. odorants
    chemical particles involved in smell
  32. olfactory epithelium
    thin layer of tissue embedded w. small receptors
  33. olfactory bulb
    brain center for smell
  34. what is the process of odorants to brain?
    odorants-> naval cavity -> olfactory epithelium -> olfactory bulb -> other brain areas
  35. pheromones
    chemicals released by animals which trigger behavioral reactions in other animals
  36. touch
    • conveys sensations of temperature, pressure and pain
    • delivers sense of where our limbs are in space
  37. where are pressure receptors located?
    at bases of hair follicles and capsules in skin
  38. what are the two types of pain and why are they different?
    • fast fibers: sharp immediate pain (myelinated axons)
    • slow fibers: chronic, dull, steady pain (non-myleniated fibers)
  39. amplitude
  40. process of sound waves reaching brain
    outer ear-> auditory canal ->eardrum -> ossicles -> oval window -> movement of basilar membrane -> hair cells bend -> info is sent to auditory nerve
  41. cornea
    eye's thick transparent outer layer, focuses incoming light
  42. lens
    light is bent farther inward and focused to form image on retina
  43. retina
    contains photoreceptors that transduce light into neural signals
  44. accomodation
    change in shape of lens to focus on distant/near objects
  45. how is info processed from the left visual field?
    info reaches retina (via ganglion axons) -> optic nerve ->optic chiasm -> thalamus -> R. visual cortex
  46. 3 categorizations of color
    • hue
    • saturation (color's purity, vividness of hue)
    • brightness (determined by amount of light which reaches eye)
  47. subtractive color mixing
    • color is determined by mixture of wavelengths from a stimulus
    • occurs within stimulus
    • is a physical process
    • ex. mixing paints
  48. subtractive primary colors
    red, yellow, blue
  49. additive color mixing
    interaction of wavelengths within the eye's receptors
  50. vestibular sense
    perceptions of balance
  51. gate control theory
    • to experience pain, pain receptors must be activated, neural "gate" in spinal cord must allow signals through to brain
    • cognitive factors such as distraction and positive moods can close the gate
  52. parallel processing streams in vison
    • ventral stream: perception and recognition of objects (what)
    • dorsal stream: spatial perception (where)
  53. blindsight
    when someone experience some blindness but subconsciously retains some sight
  54. what is the purpose of cochlear implants?
    to restore hearing for people with loss of hair cells
  55. kinesthetic sensory system
    assists in perception body's position in space and in voluntary movement