Chapter 6: sensation and perception

refers to the stimulation of the sensory organs by physical energy from the external world, and the conversions of this energy into neural signals raw information

sensation

stimuli below the absolute threshold are

subliminal

__________ is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular sensory stimulus (e.g, light, sound, pressure, taste) _______ of the time

Absolute threshold; 50%

Visual information is processed by ganglion cells

After it is processed by rods and cones and after it is processed by bipolar cells

Theory where we have cones specialized for perception of three colors (red, green, blue), and patterns of firing across these cones give us our perception of different colors

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

the minimum stimulation necessary to detect physical stimulation half the time; that is, a particular light, sound, pressure, taste, or odor

absolute threshold

A process where the lens focuses the light on the retina

accommodation

process where all the information that is processed by the different neural pathways is brought together and integrated

binding

sensory receptors called nociceptors detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

biological influences

sensation; starts at sensory receptors and working its way up to higher levels of processing; allows us to detect lines, angles, color

bottom-up processing

enable color vision and are concentrated in the fovea; the retinas area of central focus

cones

the clear coating that protects the eye

cornea

the light enters the eye through the ______

cornea

prosopagnosia is also calles

face blindness

Nerve cells in the brain respond to specific features of a stimulus, such as shape or angle. This is known as _______. The brain then processes all that information at the same time, which is known as ______. Then the process know as _____ couples all of the neural activity into a complete image in the cerebral cortex

feature detection; parallel processing, and binding

______ in the occipital lobe receive information from the optic nerves, and respond selectively to the specific features of a scene, such as edges, lines, angles, and movements

feature detectors

You wake up early in the morning and your room is fairly dark. You look over and see your shirt hanging on the hook. You know its your red shirt because you hung it up there before you went to bed, but in the dark you can't see its color. It looks dark gray to you. Why is that?

in the dim light the rods in your eyes are not effective

refers to the amplitude of the light wave (its height) ad determines brightness

intensity

a colored muscle that gives your eyes their color and dilates or constricts in response to light intensity

iris

sensors in the skin as well as the joints, tendons, bones, and ears they enable __

kinesthetic sense

your sense of the position and movement of your body parts

kinesthetic sense

The amount of energy in a wave, which is determines by the wave's amplitude, relates to the perceived loudness, and is determined by the number of hair cells in the inner ear activated

loudness

The strength of a sound wave (i.e., the amplitude of the wave) determines what aspects of hearing

loudness

______ leave the eye and creates a _____ because no receptor cells are located there

optic nerve; blind spot

The ____ funnels sound waves to the _______ the bones of the _____ amplify and relay the vibrations through the ______ into the ____

outer ear; eardrum; middle ear; oval window; cochlea

multitasking

parallel processing

refers to our interpretation of what we sense based on experience, expectations, and surroundings (constructs the information)

perception

Professor X is conducting a study on _______________. She shows her study participants a picture of an adult child pair. She tells half of the participants that they are looking at a parent and their child. She tells the other half that they are looking at a daycare worker and a child in the daycare center. The group that thinks the pair is related rate them as looking more alike than the group that thinks they are not related

perceptual sets

a set of mental tendencies and assumptions (from motivations, attitudes, culture, emotions, and expectations) that greatly affects what we perceive

perceptual sets

determined by the wave's frequency

pitch

people who suffer from _____ are able to recognize the spatial layout and characteristics of facial features, but they are unable to process them as one entire face

prosopagnosia

out mental state can influence the degree to which we experience pain

psychological influences

a small adjustable opening surrounded by the iris

pupil

the light enters through the cornea and passes through the ___

pupil

Which of the following would decrease your absolute threshold for detecting a sound?

putting in a hearing aid

the light energy triggers neural impulses in rods and cones, and then in bipolar and ganglion cells

retina

the light enters the eye through the cornea and then passes through the pupil, the lens focuses the light on the ___

retina

the light sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing receptor rods and cones in addition to layers of other neurons that process visual information

retina

enable black and white vision and are concentrated away from the fovea

rods

experiencing sudden pain is to ___________ as recognizing that you are suffering a heart attack is to __________

sensation; perception

our perception of pain varies with the social situation and cultural traditions (we tend to perceive more pain when others also seem to be experiencing it)

sociocultural influences

the stimulus input of hearing

sound wave

an example of an absolute threshold for human vision

spotting a single candle on a completely dark night from 30 miles away

Perception is the start of ______ processing as sensation is the start of _________ processing

top down; bottom up

perception; constructs perceptions from those sensory input by drawing on our experiences and expectations; lets us detect faces

top-down processing

You open your eyes in the morning to see flowers by your bedside. At that point, your eyes are receiving light energy, which they change into neural messages for the brain to process. This conversion of one form of energy into another is called

transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another form of energy

transduction

monitors positions and movement of the head

vestibular sense

refers to the distance between one wave peak and the next and determines hue (color)

wavelength