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