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sensation
stimulation of our sense organs by the outer world
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perception
act of organizing and interpreting sensory experience. how our psychological world represents our physical world
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sensory adaption
our diminished sensitivity to a constant stimulation. it ensures that we notice changes in stimulation more than stimulation tiself
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transduction
conversion of physical into neural information (sense organs convert physical stimulus into action potentials)
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psychophysics
study of how people psychologically perceive physical stimuli such as light and sound waves and touch
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absolute threshold
lowest intensity level of a stimulus we can detect HALF of the time
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decision-making process of the person in a particular context
detecting sensations is not only matter of intensity of the stimulus but also the ____
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signal detection theory
takes into account both stimulus intensity and the decsion-making processes people use when saying whether they detect a stimulus
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four outcomes of signal detection theory:
hit (correctly detecting a stimulus) miss (failing) false alarm (stimulus exists when it does not) correct rejection (not reporting a stimulus that is not there)
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Difference threshold
JND (smallest amount of change b/w two stimuli that a person can detect HALF of the time)
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Weber's law
size of the JND is a constant fraction of the intensity of the stimulus (EX: 3% for weight perception)
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perceptual set
our frame of mind can impact how we perceive things (mood, health, knowledge of how the world works, cultural upbringing) think of that deer and the elephant of the navahoooooooooes
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retina; simple and complex cells; hypercomplex cells; complex cells
we perceive movement when an image moves across the ___. ___ respond to either the orientation of direction of moving image. ___ respond to certain patterns of ____.
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factors that contribute to how we perceive movement:
- -background against which an object moves (object moves faster across a complex background)
- -size of the object (smaller objects appear to move faster)
- - illusion (thinking something is moving when it is not)
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apparent motion
brains interpret images that move across our retinas as movement (when shit ain't moving)
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real movement neurosn
responding only when the image itself moves and not when the eye itself moves (this is one way the brain can determine the difference b/w real and false movement)
IS THERE AN EARTHQUAKE?
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Depth perception
allows for the discrimination b/w what is near and far from us
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binocular depth cues; binocular disparity
- 1. rely on input from BOTH EYES
- 2. comes from the fact that the eyes are separated by a few inches, so the image from each eye will provide slightly different viewpoints
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convergence
occurs when the eyes move inward as an object moves closer to you (muscles that move the eyeball contract and the brain makes use of the feedback from these muscles to perceive distance. This is the most effective as a depth cue for stimuli that are within 10 feet of us)
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monocular depth cues
rely on input from ONE EYE
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linear perspective
- parallel lines that converge or come together the further away they are from the viewer (more they converge, the greater distance we perceive)
- EX: train tracks
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texture gradient
texture of a surface becomes more tightly packed together and denser as the surface moves to the background. These changes in textural information help use judge depth
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atmospheric perspective
comes from looking across a vast space into the distance in the outdoors. Objects farther away appear more blurred and bluish
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interposition
objects closer to the viewer often overlap with those farther away
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ponzo illusion
judging an object's size based on the background (EX: moon illusion)
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perceptual constancy
ability of the brain to preserve perception of objects in spite of the change in retinal image is known as..
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size constancy
we see things as the same size regardless of the changing size of the image on the retina because we KNOW what the size of the object is (Ames room)
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shape constancy
brain uses its knowledge of shapes to override changing retinal images that might make the world very confusing
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gestalt psychologists (Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler)
___ recognized we see shit wholes as more than merely the sum of their parts
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law of similarity
tendency to group like objects teogeht
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law of continuity
tendency to see pts or lines in such a way that they follow a continuous path
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law of proximity
says that we tend to group together objects that are near one another
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law of closure
occurs when we perceive a whole object in the absense of complete information
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figure vs ground
- figure is the thing that stands in front of a somewhat unformed background (EX: the ground)
- think: face vase
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bottom-up processing
process of building a visual experience from smaller peices
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top-down processing
occurs when the perception of the whole guides perception of smaller elemental features
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stroop effect
naming the color of the word takes longer and is more prone to errors than when the color of the ink matches the name of the color
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triochromatic color theory
there are three kinds of cones: red, green, and blue (all color we experience must result from a mixing of these three colors of light)
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human retina and kinds of receptor cones
- red cones: fire in response to longer wavelength light
- green cones: fire in response to medium wavelength light
- blue cones: fire in response to shorter wavelength light
Different patterns of firing combine to help create our experience of a wide array of colors
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opponent processed theory
cones are lined together in three opposing color pairs, whereby activation of one member of the pair inhibits activity in the other
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blue/yellow; red/green; black/white
what are hte opposing color pairs
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afterimages
visual images that remains after removal of the stimulus (helps to explain some types of color blindness and why we never experience some colors)
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red/green
fun fact: most popular colorblindness (colorblindlesss results from inherited pigment deficiency and occurs in men/boys)
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sound; light waves
____ travel much slower than ____
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amplitude
- what we perceive as loudness (taller= louder)
- scale is in decibels
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frequency
how many waves occur (hertz)
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purity
complexity of the waves
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bodily senses
senses based in the skin, body or any membrane surfaces (touch, pain, motion, balance)
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interoception
perception of bodily sesnations
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receptor cells-mechanoreceptors- that are sensitive to different tactile qualities (some to shape, some to grooves, some to vibrations and movements)
what do top layers of skin have?
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tactile sensations from skin travel to spinal cord and up to brain; then goes to thalamus which relays impulse to somatosensory cortex in parietal lobes
process of touch
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amount of cortex involved in processing that particular sensation or movement
repeated sensory and motor tactile experiences changes
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phantom limb pain
experience of pain in limb or tissue that is missing
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nociceptive pain
pain from skin damage (skin has pain receptors that are sensitive to heat, cold, chemical irritation, and pressure)
fun fact: spinal cord may actually play an active rather than passive role in pain perception
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glial cells wrapped around axons
spinal cord relays enhances the pain messages from the sensory neurons to the brain (what does this)
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ACC (anterior cingulate cortex and insula)
brain regions active in both physical and emotional pain
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gate control theory of pain
spinal cord regulates the expeirence pain by either opening or closing neural channels called gates, involved in pain sensations that get sent to brain
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large neural channels
invovled in non-pain sensations (can inhibit or close pain impulses sent to the brain)
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eudorphins
natural painkillers (when we are injured they are released)
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opinoids
severe pain (class of drug known as analgesics)-morphine, heroin, oxycodone
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smell and taste
the chemical sensessss
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how are they different from other senses?
receptors are regularly replaced every few weeks because of thier constnat exposure to dirt and bacteria that can impair function
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cilia
olfactory sensory neurons contain theses, similar to the hair cells in the inner ear (convert chemical info in odor moelcules to neural impulses)
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chemicals come in contact with cilia, transduction, olfactory message travels to olfactory bulb in forebrain
process for smell
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primary olfactory cortex/ secondary olfactory cortex
resdies in temproal lobe; frontal lobe near the eyes
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some fibers from the olfactory bulb go directly to the amygdala, which sends smell information to the hypothalamus, thalamus, and frontal cortex
why can connections explain why smells can instantly evoke an emotional memoery?
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papillae
textured structures on the tongue (contain about 10,000 taste buds)
cells on the buds htat process taste information are called taste cells
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chemicals come in contact with the tips of taste buds; they alter membrane of taste cells in ways that make them more likely to generate action potentials; signals travel down to fibers to the brain stem; travels to thalamus and frontal lobe; neurons go to taste cortex in the insula and other regions of the frontal-parietal cortex
process of taste?
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rorbitofrontal cortex (OFC)
region of the brain most involved in flavor perception (receives inputs from brain areas involved in olfactory and taste as well as touch and vision perception areas
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lens; focus on things
what did ciliary muscles help move? purpose?
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pinnae, auditory cortex, tympanic membrane
outer ear
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hammer (malleus); anvil (incus); stirrup (stapes)
middle ear (amplify the waves and set into motion a series of changes in the inner ear)
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chochlea (snail)
inner ear
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semicircular canals
plays a key role in balance
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hair cells
within the cochlea are ___ which are sensory receptors (photoreceptors in eye)
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vibrations move through the choclear fluid, basilar membrane vibrates, and hair cells bend; hair cells transduce sound vibrations into electrical impulses, which generate an action potential in the auditory nerve
process of hearing
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brain stem, temporal lobe (home of auditory cortex)
neural impulses of hearing are relayed to these parts of the brain
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1. conduction hearing impairment 2. nerve and hearing impairment
- 1.problems with the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to the cochlea
- 2. damageed inner ear receptors
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highest concentration of cones
fovea
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