MTC Psychology1120A Chapter 3 Review

• The basic experience of stimulating the body's senses.
• They include smells, sights, sounds, tastes, balance, touch, and pain and are the raw data of experience.

The least amount of energy that can be detected as a stimulation 50 percent of the time.

An adjustment of the senses to the level of stimulation they are receiving.

The smallest change in stimulation that can be detected 50 percent of the time.

The principle that the jnd (Just Noticeable Difference) for any given sense is a constant fraction or proportion of the stimulation being judged.

The transparent protective coating over the front part of the eye.

A small opening in the iris through which light enters the eye.

The colored part of the eye that regulates the size of the pupil.

The transparent part of the eye behind the pupil that focuses light onto the retina.

The lining of the eye containing receptor cells which are sensitive to light.

The area of the retina that is the center of the visual field.

The different energies represented in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision and perception of brightness.

Receptor cells in the retina responsible for color vision.

Neurons that have only one axon and one dendrite; in the eye, these neurons connect the receptors on the retina to the ganglion cells.

Increased sensitivity of rods and cones in darkness.

Decreased sensitivity of rods and cones in bright light.

Sense experience that occurs after a visual stimulus has been removed. *Refer to diagram 3-5*

Neurons that connect the bipolar cells in the eyes to the brain.

The bundle of axons of ganglion cells that carries neural messages from each eye to the brain.

The place on the retina where the axons of all the ganglion cells leave the eye where there are no receptors.

The aspects of color that correspond to names such as red, blue and green.

The vividness of richness of a hue.

The nearness of a color to white as opposed to black.

The process of mixing lights of different wavelengths to create new hues.

The theory of color vision that holds that all color preception derives from three different color receptors in the retina (usually red, green, and blue receptors).

People (and animals) that have normal color vision.

Partial or total inability to perceive hues.

People (and animals) that are blind to either red-green or yellow-blue

Organisms that are totally color-blind.

Theory of color vision that holds that three sets of color receptors (yellow-blue, red-green, black-white) respond to determine the color you experience.

A psychological experience created by the brain in response to changes in air pressure that are received by the auditory system.

Changes in pressure caused when molecules of air or fluid collide with one another and then move apart again.

The number of cycles per second in a wave. In sound... The primary determinant of pitch. (Measures in Hertz Hz)

The magnitude of a wave; in sound, the primary determinant of loudness. Measured in Decibel.

• The vibration membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear that contains sense receptors for sound.
• Each ear sends messages to the brain. The information about the sound crosses over at the medulla. From here other nerves carry the message to other parts of the brain. Some go to the cerebellum, some go to the reticular formation but most go to the temporal lobe.

The theory that pitch is determined by the location of greatest vibration on the basilar membrane.

• Activated by a complex protein, called odorant binding protein (OBP), which is produced in the nasal gland and sprayed in through a duct in the tip of the nose where it binds with airborne molecules that activate its receptor cells.
• The receptor cells send the information to the olfactory bulb where the message can be sent to other areas of the brain to identify the smell.
• Adaptation occurs in this sense
• Also on lock and key principle as air molecules of certain shapes fit into receptor sites.
• Strong link between odors and memory because the limbic system, emotional center of the brain, is involved in the processing of odors.
• Smell and taste go hand in hand.

• Occurs along with smelling (olfaction)
• consist of sweet, sour, bitter and salty but differ from flavor which is actually a combination of smell and taste together.
• Receptor cells for taste are housed in the taste buds. Know the location of the tastes on the tongue.
• The number of taste buds can decrease with age and therefore explains why come people have trouble tasting their food.
• Chemical substances dissolve in out saliva and make contact with the taste receptors. These receptors fire the neurons which send the information to the parietal lobe and limbic system within the brain. Once key is in, information is transmitted to brain.
• Adaptation occurs in this sense.

Senses of muscle movement, posture, and strain on muscles and joints. These system of receptors located in muscles and joints provide information about the location of our extremities.

The senses of equilibrium and body position in space. It is located in inner ear allowing us to make adjustments to bodily movements and postures. Car sickness/motion. The command center is the inner ear

Most information regarding touch is sent and resolved in the parietal lobe of the brain. Touch may be the most comforting sense.

The theory that a "neurological gate" in the spinal cord controls the transmission of pain messages to the brain. The release of Sub P in spinal cord produces the sensation of pain. Closing the pain gate is through endorphines (opoid peptides) blocks the release of Sub P

That the interaction of biological, psychological, and cultural factors influences the intensity and duration of pain. It takes more than physical injury to induce pain. It also takes our thoughts, beliefs and emotions as well as the degree of support and cultural expectations contribute to it.

• That the brain creates a coherent perceptual experience that is more than simply the sum of the available sensory information and that is does this in predictable ways.
• Gestalts then discovered that many perceive information through figure and ground – distinguishing the figure form the ground against which they appear. We use figure and ground in smell, hearing and vision.
• When we can not distinguish the figure vs. the ground it is camouflage or an object without figure and ground may be perceived two different ways.

• A tendency to perceive objects as stable and unchanging despite changes in sensory stimulation.
• Proximity, similarity, closure, and continuity --pg.106
• Size, shape, color and brightness constancy --pg. 107

• Ability to see world 3 dimensionally through:
• 1)Binocular Cues – use of both eyes for depth perception.
• 2)Monocular Cues – one eye is used to perceive depth

• Motivation
• values
• Expectations
• Cognitive style –-- the way we learn and interpret things
• Experience and Culture
• Personality