Psychology Unit 4
prosopagnosia
"face blindness"
Hertz (Hz)
Cycles per second; unit of measurement for the frequency of waves
visual cliff
depth perception starts early - in the experiment, babies would not crawl across a glass table because they perceived a drop-off
feature detectors
detect features like angles, lines, edges, and movements - the brain has specialized cells
retinal disparity
enables our brain's to judge the distance of objects we're looking at
context
impacts our perception - When something is out of _________, we often misperceive it. EX: if someone said, "It's wagging its tail, that cute little log," we'd likely hear "dog" because that's the context.
cocktail party effect
is a person's ability to single out one voice amidst many others, then to "change channels" to another voice EX: A person in a crowded, talking room can weed out other voices and converse with one person. Then the first person can single out another voice and "tune in" on that person if desired.
perception
is how we put the impulses received from our senses together so they make sense - is part of top-down processing where our brain assembles the info to make sense of the impulses being sent to it - Although a person may see perfectly, they cannot perceive or correctly process the impulses so that they make sense.
selective inattention or inattentional blindness
is the ability to purposefully block out all but one bit of sensory input - to focus on one thing only EX: This was seen in an experiment where a person in a gorilla suit walked among people passing a basketball. The observers were to count basketball passes so they focused on that task. Most people never saw the gorilla.
vision
is the dominant sense in human beings - processed by the thalamus before it goes to the occipital lobe. Even though the occipital lobe does most of the visual processing, other parts of the brain can and do process visual signals
proprioception
is the sense of the relative position of one's own parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement
sensory interaction
is two or more senses working together EX: Taste and smell go together - it's hard to taste anything while holding your nose.
change blindness
is where people won't notice a change in "scenery" after a brief interruption EX: This was seen in a scene where person A was getting directions from a bystander, then was interrupted by construction workers, then was replaced with person B. The bystander doesn't notice the switch from person A to person B 40% of the time.
retina
lining of the eye containing receptor cells that are sensitive to light - transduction occurs here
grouping
lump similar things into like groups and we like things complete - grouped by proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, connectedness
oval window
membrane across the opening between the middle ear and inner ear that conducts vibrations to the cochlea
round window
membrane between the middle ear and inner ear that equalizes pressure in the inner ear
Does our emotional state impact perception??
YES!! The emotional state that you're in, positive or negative, can influence your perceptions. EX: a hill looks huge to a tired person, not so big to a refreshed person.
eardrum
a membrane at the end of the auditory canal - it vibrates due to sound waves
sensory adaptation
a person's diminishing sensitivity to a sensory stimulus - if a stimulus persists, you get used to it. EX: Think of a person spilling a bit of perfume in class. You smell it strongly at first, but by the end of the class, you don't really notice it. As soon as the next class walks in, students say, "What's that smell?" EX: This also works for vision. Normally our eyes scan everything to "take it all in". If you were forced to look at the same thing over and over, you'd eventually stop seeing it.
priming
a subliminal stimulus prepared people for a response to a second stimulus
ear canal
also called the auditory canal, carries sound waves into the ear
fovea
area of the retina that is the center of the visual field
monocular cues
at greater distances because things are too far away for binocular cues to matter EX: relative height, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, light and shadow, and relative motion
pitch
auditory experience corresponding primarily to frequency of sound vibrations, resulting in a higher or lower tone
iris
colored part of the eye
Step 2 of vision: Within the eye
cornea, pupil, iris, lens, and retina
Sequence of anatomical structures through which a light wave passes before it is perceived as vision
cornea, pupil, lens, vitreous humor, retina, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve, thalamus, visual cortex
difference threshold
minimum difference between two stimuli that can be detected at least 50% of the time - also known as the Just Noticeable Difference EX: imagine picking up a 20 pound weight and then a 20 pound 1 ounce weight, you likely would not notice a difference. If you kept increasing the weight, you'd eventually say, "This is heavier." At some weight, you'd notice it 50% of the time, that's the JND.
endorphins
nature's pain-killer
Hearing loss
occurs when people lose all or some of their ability to hear because of loud noises, infections, head injuries, brain damage and genetic diseases.
perceptual adaptation
our ability to adjust to changes in our sensations EX: we eventually get used to new glasses that make the world look funky.
parallel processing
our brains handle several tasks simultaneously EX: while looking at a bird, we process its color, motion, form and depth all at the same time.
pinna
our sense of hearing is achieved as sound waves travel through several steps to become neural impulses
color constancy
our tendency to expect things to retain their color - Yet we can be fooled because we perceive colors in relation to their surroundings. When the surroundings change, our perception of the color changes too.
lightness constancy
our tendency to expect things to retain their lightness
shape constancy
our tendency to expect things to retain their shape EX: A door viewed from different angles actually looks like a trapezoid, but our expectations are that it's a rectangle.
size constancy
our tendency to expect things to retain their size EX: A bus view from miles away looks small, but we expect it to be big enough for lots of people to fit inside
cochlea
part of the inner ear containing fluid that vibrates which in turn causes the basilar membrane to vibrate - where conduction and sensorineural occur EX: For psychology, this may be the most important part of the ear because this is where sound waves are converted into neural impulses.
colorblindness
partial or total inability to perceive hues
choice blindness
people are unaware of the choices or preferences they make EX: This was seen in an experiment where women were shown two pictures and asked to choose the most attractive person. Then they were tricked and shown the one they'd rejected and asked, "Why'd you choose this person as more attractive."
dichromats
people who are blind to either red-green or yellow-blue
monochromats
people who are totally color blind
trichromats
people who have normal color vision
kinesthesis
person's ability to know the position and movement of your body parts - this why you're able to touch your nose with your eyes closed
blind spot
place on the retina where the axons of all the ganglion cells leave the eye and where there are no receptors
optic chiasm
point near the base of the brain where some fibers in the optic nerve from each eye cross to the other side of the brain.
What are the four types of touch sensation?
pressure, warmth, cold, and pain
transduction
process where our eyes sense light energy and change it into neural messages that our brain can handle - changing of energy - Process by which sensory signals are transformed into neural impulses
cones
receptor cells in the retina responsible for color vision
rods
receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision and perception of brightness
gate-control theory
says there is a "gate" in the spinal cord that switches pain on and off - the spinal cord has small nerve fibers that conduct pain and large nerve fibers that conduct everything else. When you're hurt, the small fibers are activated and you feel PAIN! Then the large fibers block the sensation to the brain and you feel no pain.
sensation
seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling - is part of bottom-up processing where our senses send information to our brain
pupil
small opening in the iris through which light enters the eye
receptor cells
specialized cell that responds to a particular type of energy
subliminal stimulation
stimulation just below our level of consciousness - occurs when we're subjected to a stimulus, but we just aren't aware of it EX: an image might be flashed so quickly we don't even know we saw it
organ of Corti
structure on the surface of the basilar membrane that contains the receptors cells for hearing
what are the 5 basic taste sensations?
sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and the newcomer called umami (a meaty taste).
vestibular sense
that monitor's your head's position and movement (therefore it also monitor's your body's position and movement)
gestalt
that the whole, the sum of the parts, is greater than the individual parts - a whole sum of multiple parts EX: An example might be a bunch of small squares arranged in a circular pattern. If you asked a person, "What do you see?" they'll likely say, "A circle." They see the whole, not individual squares.
selective attention
the ability to screen out sensory information and focus on only a small portion EX: Think of a housewife telling her husband the things that need to be done around the house while he's watching a football game on TV oblivious to what's she's saying. He's got ___________ _____________.
depth perception
the ability to see things in 3D which helps us gauge distance
ESP (Extra Sensory Perception)
the belief that some people can sense things beyond our normal senses (sight, sound, etc.) - believers feel people some are "psychic" or they can "feel it", read minds, are clairvoyant and the like.
optic nerve
the bundle of axons of ganglion cells that carries neural messages from each eye to the brain
auditory nerve
the bundle of neurons that carries signals from each ear to the brain
Weber's Law
the difference between two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion, not necessarily a constant amount - think about weight, weight must differ by 2% for a person to notice the difference. - think about sound, two tones must differ by 0.3% for a person to notice the difference.
Step 1 of vision: Gathering Light
the eyes transduce or convert light energy into neural messages
amplitude
the height of the wave, which determines the loudness of the sound, measured in decibels -refers to the intensity of the light wave, or like waves on the beach, how strongly they hit EX: Think of "AM" (amplitude modulation) on the radio where a radio wave's amplitude is changed.
signal detection theory
the idea that predicting whether or not we detect a stimulus depends not only on the stimulus, but also on our experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness - people in life-or-death situations, like war, often have heightened signal detection
semicircular canals
the inner ear contain a small amount of fluid when disrupted alerts the brain of the body being off balance. Once the fluid settles, a feeling of balance will return
decibel
the magnitude of a wave; in sound the primary determinant of loudness of sounds
absolute threshold
the minimum stimulation needed to detect light, a sound, a pressure, taste or odor 50% of the time EX: people lose the ability to hear high-pitched as they grow older EX: Teens use this to set "mosquito" ringtones that adults likely won't hear. Businesses use this to shoo away loitering teens.
frequency
the number of cycles per second in a wave; in sound, it's the primary determinant of pitch -refers to the wavelength of the light wave, or like waves on the beach, how frequently they hit. EX: Think of "FM" (frequency modulation) on the radio where a radio wave's wavelength is changed.
Olfaction
the sense of smell, sends its signal directly to the amygdala, which plays an important role in memory, fear, and emotion. - this may explain why fear memories are triggered when a person smells a dentist's office or why fond memories are triggered when someone smells a favorite childhood meal
Hammer, anvil, stirrup
the three small bones in the middle ear that relay vibrations of the eardrum to the inner ear
cornea
the transparent protective coating over the front part of the eye
trichromatic theory
theory of color vision that holds that all color perception derives from three different color receptors in the retina
opponent-process theory
theory of color vision that holds that three sets of color receptors respond in an either/or fashion to determine the color you experience
frequency theory
theory that pitch is determined by the frequency with which hair cells in the cochlea fire
place theory
theory that pitch is determined by the location of greatest vibration of the basilar membrane
similarity
things alike are grouped
proximity
things close to one another are grouped together
conductive hearing loss
this occurs when sound vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the inner ear are blocked - this may be caused by ear wax in the auditory canal, fluid buildup in the middle ear, ear infections or abnormal bone growth
sensorineural hearing loss
this occurs when there is damage to the vestibulocochlear (auditory) nerve - damage to the cochlea from a high fever lead to this - this type of hearing loss may be caused by head injury, birth defects, high blood pressure or stroke.
Step 3 of vision: Transduction
transduction, receptor cells, rods, cones, fovea, optic nerve, blind spot, and optic chiasm
lens
transparent part of the eye inside the pupil that focuses light onto the retina
phi phenomenon
two lights flashing alternately gives the perception one light moving back-and-forth EX: this is seen in neon lights or marquee signs that are "animated"
basilar membrane
vibrating membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear; it contains sense receptors for sound
figure-ground situation
we can look at a figure against a background. Or we can switch the background to be the figure we're looking at, and the old figure becomes the new ground. Doing this can make us see different things.
connectedness
we like things are linked or brought together
continuity
we like things that are unbroken
closure
we like to complete things that are not complete. We'll finish a circle only 90% complete.
perceptual set
what we've already seen and experienced (and thus expect) add up EX: A log floated in Loch Ness, but people, expecting to see the "monster", indeed perceived the log as the monster.
McGurk effect
where sight and hearing go together EX: If we see a person say one thing but hear them saying something else, the result is that we will hear a third sound that's a blend of the two.
binocular cues
while viewing close objects, we see things from slightly different angles
rubber hand illusion
Here, a fake hand is stroked along with a person's other real hand which is hidden. In most people, they'll feel a sensation in their other non-stroked hand. - this illustrates both the bottom-up influence of touch sensation, but also the brain's top-down expectation of feeling the stroking in both hands.
Does each person have the same scent?
NO!! Each person, except identical twins, has an identifiable scent, like a smell-fingerprint.
