Psychology Unit 4: Sensation & Perception
Transduction
process of changing what we see into neural impulses
Parallel Processing
processing many things at once (color, motion, form...)
Cornea
protective covering
Frequency Theory
rate of impulses going up the auditory nerve matches the tone...better for low pitched sounds
Feature Detectors
respond to shape, angle, and movement
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the rods and cones, is the
retina
Phantom Limb Sensation
sensations that come even when a limb is missing
Audition
sense of hearing
Kinesthesis
sensing and moving your body parts
Retinal Disparity
the difference in the images produced by your two eyes (retinal sausage)
Stroboscopic Motion
"flip book," looks like it creates movement
Feature detectors
E. are nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that fire in response to specific edges, lines, and angles. Correct
Relative Clarity
distant objects look more hazy
Giulio's bag of marbles is twice as heavy as Jim's. If it takes 5 extra marbles to make Jim's bag feel heavier, it will take 10 extra marbles to make Giulio's bag feel heavier. This best illustrates
Weber's law
Giulio's bag of marbles is twice as heavy as Jim's. If it takes 5 extra marbles to make Jim's bag feel heavier, it will take 10 extra marbles to make Giulio's bag feel heavier. This best illustrates
Weber's law. Correct
Perceptual Set
a mental predisposition to perceive something one way or the other
Although Manuel was sitting right next to his parents, he smelled a skunk minutes before they did. Apparently, Manuel has a lower ___ for skunk odor than his parents have.
absolute threshold
Although Manuel was sitting right next to his parents, he smelled a skunk minutes before they did. Apparently, Manuel has a lower ________ for skunk odor than his parents have.
absolute threshold
Gestalt
an organized whole...the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
bottom-up processing
begins with the senses and works up (sensation)
Nearsightedness
can see close up, light focuses in front of the retina
Farsightedness
can see far away, light focuses behind retina
Optic Nerve
carries information from the eye to the brain (to occipital lobe)
Fovea
central focal point, where the cones cluster
ESP (Extrasensory Perception)
claims of perception without sensory input
Cochlea
coiled, fluid filled tube that triggers nerves impulses
Iris
colored muscle around the pupil...adjusts the light that enters eye
Inner Ear
contains cochlea, semicircular cells, vestibular sacs
Basilar Membrane
contains hair cells, fluid hits here
Retina
contains rods and cones
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
damage hearing cells...comes from loud sounds or age (hearing aid or cochlear implant)
Place Theory
depends on where the sound waves hit along basilar membrane...best for high pitches
Signal Detection Theory
detecting something based on experience, expectation, or motivation (ex. baby's cry, cell phone)
Sensation is to ___ a perception is to___
detection; interpretation
Sensation is to ________ as perception is to ________.
detection; interpretation
Sensory Adaptation
diminished sensitivity to something (cold pool becomes warm)
Conduction Hearing Loss
eardrum is punctured
Sensation
exploring through the senses
Change Blindness
failing to notice changes in the environment (person giving directions)
Inattentional Blindness
failing to see things because our attention is focused elsewhere
Closure
fill in the gaps to make something look whole
Lens
focuses images
selective attention
focusing on a particular stimulus (one letter at a time)
cocktail party effect
focusing on one voice among many (type of selective attention)
Connectedness
group things by how connected they are
Proximity
groups things by how close together they are
Similarity
groups things that are similar
Decibels
how we measure sound (0 is absolute threshold, above 85 causes damage)
Lightness Constancy
knowing that the color of something is the same color even when the lighting changes
Shape Constancy
knowing that the shape of something doesn't change
Size Constancy
knowing the size of something doesn't change (looking at home from a plane
Relative Size
objects higher in the visual field look farther away
Telepathy
mind to mind
Vesitbular Sense
monitors the head, balance (receptors located in inner ear...semicircular canals)
Smell
olfaction,chemical sense uses olfactory bulbs
Sensory Interaction
one sense influences another (smell and taste)
Pupil
opening in the eye...where light enters
Experiencing a green afterimage of a red object is most easily explained by
opponent-process theory
Perception
organizing and interpreting sensory information
Linear Perspective
parallel lines seem to come together in the distance
Blind Spot
part where optic nerve leaves the eye...no cones or rods there
Clairvoyance
perceiving remote events (thinking your house is on fire now)
Sense of Touch
pressure, warmth, cold, and pain
Rods
see black and white
Cones
see color
Precognition
seeing future events (predicting 9/11)
After listening to your high-volume car stereo for 15 minutes, you fail to realize how loudly the music is blasting. This best illustrates
sensory adaptation
After listening to your high-volume car stereo for 15 minutes, you fail to realize how loudly the music is blasting. This best illustrates
sensory adaptation.
Context Effects
the context that we see something in alters our perception of it
Gate-Control Theory
spinal cord contains a gate that either allows or blocks pain signals
Taste
sweet, salty, umami (meaty taste), bitter, and sour...taste buds reproduce every two weeks
Convergence
tendency for eyes to turn inward when looking at something close
Difference Threshold
the minimum it takes to detect a difference between two things (psalm) (aka Just Noticeable Difference/JND)
Absolute Threshold
the minimum stimulation needed to detect something 50% of the time (ex. candle 30 miles away)-subliminal are below our absolute threshold
Experiencing a green afterimage of a red object is most easily explained by
the opponent-process theory
According to the Young-Helmholtz theory
the retina contains three kinds of color receptors
According to the Young-Helmholtz theory
the retina contains three kinds of color receptors.
Relative Motion
things below your field of vision look like they are moving backward
Weber's Law
things must differ by a percentage rather than an amount (quarter in shoe, candy bar)
Middle Ear
tiny bones (anvil, hammer, stirrup)
Patients' negative expectations about the outcome of a surgical procedure can increase their postoperative experience of pain. This best illustrates the importance of
top-down processing
Patients' negative expectations about the outcome of a surgical procedure can increase their postoperative experience of pain. This best illustrates the importance of
top-down processing.
Visual Cliff
used to measure baby's depth perception
Binocular Cues
uses two eyes (retinal disparity and convergence)
top-down processing
view things based on experience or expectations and work down
Outer Ear
visible part
Perceptual Adaptation
we adapt to a changed visual input (football player)
Sound Localization
we can locate sounds based on which ear they strike first
Young Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory
we have cones for red, green, and blue that mix to give all the combinations (subtractive is paint so it is black...additive is light and is white)
Opponent Process Theory
we have opposing pairs (red/green, yellow/blue, black/white)
Muller-Lyer Illusion
we live in a perfectly carpentered world; lines like in the wall example throw off our perception
Continuity
we perceive smooth, continuous patterns
Figure-Ground
what you are looking at become your figure, the rest is the ground
Phi Phenomenon
when lights turn on and off, it creates the sense of movement