psychology test 2: ch. 5

pheromones

chemical messages sent by another individual many species respond to pheromones sent by another individual usually communicate info about the reproductive status of a potential mate

what are the two photoreceptors and explain each

cones and rods cones: phototopic (daytime) vision work best in bright light conditions high-acuity color information location in the fovea rods: scotopic (nighttime) vision work best in low light conditions high-sensitivity allows for low-acuity vision in dim lights involved in the perception of movement in our peripheral vision located in the periphery of the retina

for a stimulus to cause an action potential, what does it first have to do

first has to be strong enough to be detected

explain the factor of perception: attention

inattentional blindness- failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention nearly one third of participants in a study did not notice that a red cross passed on the screen because their attention was focused on the black or white figures

as you are talking to a friend on your cell phone, you might find that you cant hear them because they are speaking very softly. if you ask them to speak up, from a physical perspective you are asking them to ______ of the sound waves they are producing

increase the amplitude

different wavelengths of light are associated with our perception of different colors. what does longer, intermediate, and shorter wavelengths mean

longer wavelengths= reds intermediate wavelengths= greens shorter wavelengths= blues and violets

low frequency=

low pitched sound

there are many types of sensory receptors located in the skin, each attuned to specific touch-related stimuli. what are they

meisnerr's corpuscles- respond to pressure and lower-frequency vibrartions painian corpuscles- detect transient pressure and higher-frequency vibrations merkel's disks- respond to light pressure ruffini corpuscles- detect stretch

what is absolute threshold

minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time on a clear night, the most sensitive sensory cells in the eye can detect a candle flame 30 miles away we are also able to receive messages presented below the threshold of conscious awareness which are known as subliminal messages the stimulus cause an action potential but we are not consciously aware of it

what are some sensory systems

vision, hearing (audition), smell (olfaction), taste (gustation), touch (soatosensation), balance (vestibular sense), body position (proprioception), movement (kinesthesia), pain (nociception), temperature (thermoception)

what is perception

way that sensory information is interpreted, organized, and consciously experienced

when does top-down processing occur

when previous experience and expectations are first used to recognize stimuli

when does bottom-up processing occur

when we sense basic features of stimuli and then integrate them

what are the two types of depth cues and explain both

1. binocular cues- cue that relies on the use of both eyes binocular disparity: slightly different view of the world that each eye receives 2. monocular cues- cue that relies on only one eye linear perspective- when two parallel lines seem to converge interposition- the partial overlap of objects

research demonstrates that we have about 6 groupings of taste. what are they

1. sweet 2. salty 3. sour 4. bitter 5. umami- associated with a taste for monosodium glutamate 6. some research suggests we possess a taste for the fatty content of food

what are the five factors affecting perception

1. sensory adaption 2. attention 3. motivation 4. beliefs, values, prejudices and expectations 5. life/cultural experiences

what is the audible range of sound frequencies in humans

20-2000Hz

the visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see. different species can see different potions of the spectrum. humans can see wavelengths ranging from about ...

380-740nm

congenital insensitiviy to pain

a rare genetic disorder in which the individual is born without the ability to feel pain can detect differences in temp and pressure but cannot experience pain individuals are at greater risk of injury and have shorter life expectancies

what term describes the continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the simulus

afterimage

what is the trichromatic theory of color vision

all colors can be produced by combining red, gree, and blue applies to the retina where color vision is controlled by three types of cones

visual and auditory stimuli both occur in the form of waves. two physical properties of waves are...

amplitude and wavelength the amplitude of height of a wave is measured from the peak to the trough the wavelength is measured from peak to peak

the amplitude of light waves is associated with brightness/intensity of color. what does larger amplitudes mean

appear brighter

sarit is at a bar full of music, chatter, and laughter. he gets involved in an interesting conversation with a woman named mona, and he tunes out all the background noise. sarit's friend, karen, taps him on the shoulder and asks what song just played on the jukebox. sarit say he doesn't know, even though he is sitting right next to the jukebox and is familiar with popular music. this illustrate the role that ______ plays in what is sensed versus what is perceived

attention

why is pain perception important

because it motivates us to remove ourselves from the cause of injury

what are the two forms of processing for perception and explain eaach

bottom-up processing: system in which perceptions are built from sensory input top-down processing: interpretation of sensations is influenced by available knowledge, experiences, and thoughts

neuropathic pain

caused by damage to neurons of either the peeripheral or central nervous system

what is gestalt's principle of closure

closure suggests that we will perceive a complete circle and rectangle rather than a series of segments

what is opponent-process theory

color is coded in opponent pairs black-white yellow-blue green-red some cells are excited by one of the opponent colors are inhibited by the other applies to cells after the retina research has found that both theories are true but for different parts of the visual system when staring at a colored stimulus, the color-pairings of the opponent-process theory lead to a negative afterimage afterimage- continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the stimulus like looking at pic for a long time and looking away and seeing that image on the wall

olfactory receptor cells

contain small hail-like extensions which serve as the site for odor molecules to interact with chemical receptors located on these extensions (located in a mucous membrane at the top of the nose)

the amplitude of a wave is the height of a wave as measured from the higher point on the wave ______ to the lowest point on the wave _______

crest; trough

congenital deafness

deafness from birth

loudness is measured in

decibels (dB)

what is used to establish our sense of depth

depth cues of a visual scene

explain the anatomy of the auditory system

ear is divided into 3 division: outer- pinna and tympanic membrane middle- the three ossicles: malleus, incus, and stapes inner- cochlea and basilar membrane

sensorineural hearing loss

failure to transmit neural signals from the cochlea to the brain can be caused by meniere's disease which results in degeneration of inner ear structures

taste buds

groupings of taste receptor cells with hair-like extensions that protrude into the central pore of the taste bud which transmit info to nerves have a life cycle of 10 days to 2 weeks

high frequency=

high pitched sound

what is depth perception

our ability to perceive spatial relationships in 3-D

explain the factor of perception: beliefs, values, prejudices, and expections

people who hold positive attitudes towards low-fat foods are more likely to rate foods with low-fat labels as tasting better than people with less positive attitudes about low-fat products

frequency of soundwaves=

pitch

what are our sensory systems responsible for

providing information about our surroundings which allow us to successfully navigate and interact with our environments

what did dr. atiba goff's research show

showed black boys are considered more responsible for their actions than white boys of the same age 264 university students (mostly white females) involved in the study as a group, they overestimated the age of blaack children by 4.5 years (so, a black 12 year old may seem 15 or even 16 years old) also judged black children over the age of ten as significantly "less innocent" than white children of the same age

inflammatory pain

signals some type of tissue damage

Nikki was walking around a department store shopping one day, and did not realize that the shirt she was wearing looked just like the shirts worn by employees. when a stranger asked, do you work here, she thought it was funny. the other customers assumption that nikki was a story employee demonstrates the gestalt principle of

similarity

what is gestalt's principle of similarity

the idea that things that are alike tend to be grouped together

what is gestalt's principle of proximity

the idea that things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together suggests that you see on block of dots on the left side and three columns on the right side

what is gestalt's principle of continuity

the idea that we are more likely to perceive continuous, smooth flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines

deafness

the partial or complete inablility to hear

Why are olfaction and gustation called chemical senses?

they have sensory receptors that respond to molecules in the food we eat or in the air we breathe

explain the anatomy of the visual system

light waves are transmitted across the cornea and enter through the pupil the pupil's size is controlled by muscles that are connected to the iris (the colored part of the eye) the light crosses the lens and is focused on the fovea, which is part of the retina the fovea contains photoreceptors photoreceptors are connected to retinal ganglion cells. axons from these cells exit through the back of the eye where they form the optic nerve the optic nerve then carries the visual information to the brain blind spot- a point of no receptors, where information exits the eye, where we cannot respond to visual information

what is the muller-lyer illusion

lines appear to be different lengths although they are identical arrows at the ends of lines may make the line on the right appear longer, although the lines are the same length when applied to a three-dimensional image, the line on the right again may appear longer although both black lines are the same length

amplitude of soundwaves=

loudness

higher amplitude=

lounder sounds

explain auditory transduction

sound waves travel along the auditory canal and strike the tympanic membrane, causing it to vibrate the vibration causes the 3 ossicles to move. this presses the stapes into the oval window of the cochlea the fluid inside the cochlea begins to move, stimulating the hair cells (sensory receptors for sound) which become activated the hair cells generate neural impulses that travel along the auditory nerve to the brain auditory info is sent to the inferior colliculus, then the medial geniculate nucleaus of the thalamus and finally to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe for processing

what are sensory receptors

specialized neurons that respond to specific types of stimuli

The vestibular sense

Our ability to maintain body posture

conductive hearing loss

associated with a failure in the vibration of the eardrum and/or movement of the ossicles can often be dealt with using hearing aids which amplify incoming sound waves to make vibration of the eardrum and movement of the ossicles more likely to occur caused by: age, genetic predisposition, environmental effects- exposure to extreme noise, certain illnesses or damage due to toxins

localizing sound involves the use of two cues. what are they and explain both

monaural cues: one ear each ear interacts with incoming sound waves differently binaural cues: two ears provide info on the location of sound along a horizontal axis relies on differences in patterns of vibration interaural level difference- sound coming from one side of the body is more intense at the closest ear because of the attenuation of the sound wave as it passes through the head interaural time difference- small difference in the time at which a given sound wave arrives at each ear

Tyrahns rods do not transform light into nerve impulses as easily and efficiently as they should, so he has trouble seeing in dim light. This is called _____ blindness

night

explain the factor of perception: sensory adaption

not perceiving stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time for example, when you first enter a quiet room you may hear the clock ticking. over time you become unaware of the ticking. the ticking is still affecting sensory receptors but you are no longer perceiving the sound

wavelength is directly related to frequency. what is frequency

number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period expressed in Hz longer wavelengths have low frequencies and shorter wavelengths have higher frequencies

what is a sensation

occurs when sensory receptors detect sensory simuli when sensory receptors detect a specific stimuli, they convert that energy into an action potential which is sent to the central nervous system. this is called transduction

explain the factor of perception: life/cultural experiences

one study found that people from western cultures (where there is a perceptual context of buildings with straight lines) were more likely to experience certain types of visual illusions, like the muller-lyer illusion, than individuals form non-western cultures (where they are more likely to live in round huts)

Which nerve carries visual information from the retina to the brain?

optic

lower amplitude=

quieter sounds

nociception

sensory signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain this type of sensory info travels up the spinal cord directly to the brain, specifically the medulla, thalamus and the somatosensory cortex

explain the factor of perception: motivation

sometimes we think we hear something such as a phone ringing when it is not because we are motivated to perceive it (such as waiting for an important phone call) signal detection theory: change in stimulus detection as a function of current mental state

transduction

taste or odor molecules bind to receptors and cause chemical changes which cause signals to be sent to the olfactory bulb (where the olfactory nerves begin) these changes result in neural impulses being sent to the limbic system and primary olfactory cortex

thermoception

temperature perception

The auditory cortex, in which sound stimuli are processed for perception, is located in the ________ lobe.

temporal

pitch perception: how does the auditory system differentiate among various pitches? explain the temporal theory and place theory

temporal theory: frequency is coded by the activity level of a sensory neuron problem- the frequency of action potentials cannot account for the entire range that we are able to hear. there is a point at which a cell cannot fire any faster place theory: different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies the base responds to high frequencies and the tip responds to low frequencie both theories explain different aspect of pitch perception the rate of action potentials applies up to about 4000 Hz but higher frequencies can only be encoded using place cues

after being processed in the occipital lobe, visual information exits and goes through two different pathways. what are they and explain both

the "what" pathway: object recognition, object identification the "where/how" pathway: location in space, how one might interact with a particular visual stimulus

Which of these is not one of the structures that comprises the outer ear?

the basilar membrane

vestibular sense

the maculae are specialized for sensing linear acceleration such as wind gravity acts on the tilting head or if the head starts moving in a straight line the difference in a nerve cell between the hair cell stereocilia and the otolithic membrane in which they are embedded leads to a shearing force that causes the stereocilia to being in the direction of that linear acceleration

what is just noticeable difference (JND)

the minimum difference in stimuli required to detect a change or a difference between stimuli can change depending on the stimulus intensity a cell phone lighting up in a dark movie theatre is more likely to be noticed than if it lights up in a brightly lit shopping mall. the brightness of the cell phone does not change, but the ability to detect the change in illumination does the JND would be the minimum increase in brightness required for the change to be detected

what are optic chiasm

the ptic inerve of each eye merges at the optic chiasm, an x-shaped structure just below the cerebral cortex information from the right visual field is sent to the left hemisphere and information from the left visual field is sent to the right hemisphere this information is then sent to the occipital lobe for processing