psych chpt 6

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. (p. 180)

he process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. (p. 180)

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. (p. 180)

i.e.. bottom–up processing enables our sensory systems to detect the lines, angles, and colors that form the horses, rider, and surroundings.

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. (p. 180

i.e.. Using top–down processing, we consider the painting’s title, notice the apprehensive expressions, and then direct our attention to aspects of the painting that will give those observations meaning.

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. (p. 181)

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. (p. 181)

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. (p. 181)

Can we sense stimuli below our absolute thresholds? In one sense, the answer is clearly yes

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response. (pp. 182, 274

“Subliminal procedures offer little or nothing of value to the marketing practitioner

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (or jnd). (p. 182)

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount). (p. 183)

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. (p. 183)

unnoticed by us, our eyes are always moving, flitting from one spot to another enough to guarantee that stimulation on the eyes’ receptors continually changes

are alert to novelty; bore them with repetition and they free our attention for more important things. Stinky or heavily perfumed people don’t notice their odor because, like you and me, they adapt to what’s constant and only detect change.

are only two of the commonalities shared by the senses. All our senses receive sensory stimulation, transform it into neural information, and deliver that information to the brain

Our eyes, for example, receive light energy and transform it into neural messages that our brain then processes into what we consciously see.

what strikes our eyes is not color but pulses of energy that our visual system perceives as color. What we see as visible light (Figure 6.5) is but a thin slice of the whole spectrum of electromagnetic energy ranging from the imperceptibly short waves of gamma rays to the long waves of radio transmission. Other organisms are sensitive to differing portions of this spectrum. Bees, for instance, cannot see red but can see ultraviolet light.

the distance from the peak of one light or sound waveto the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission. (p.185)

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth. (p. 185)

the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude. (p. 185)

Light enters the eye through the cornea, which protects the eye and bends light to provide focus . The light then passes through the pupil, a small adjustable opening surrounded by the iris, a colored muscle that adjusts light intake. The iris dilates or constricts in response to light intensity and even to inner emotions.

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information. (p. 186)

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. (p. 186)

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond. (p. 186)

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. (p. 186)

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. (p. 187)

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there. (p.187)

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster. (p. 188)

Many cones have their own hotline to the brain—bipolar cells that help relay the cone’s individual message to the visual cortex, which devotes a large area to input from the fovea. These directconnections preserve the cones’ preciseinformation, making them better able to detect fine detail

• At the entry level, the retina processes information before routing it via the thalamus to the brain’s cortex
• Any given retinal area relays its information to a corresponding location in the visual cortex, in the occipital lobe at the back of your brain

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of a stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. (p. 188

• the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. (p. 190)
• Studies of patients with brain damage suggest that the brain delegates the work of processing color, movement, form, and depth to different areas

Others with stroke or surgery damage to their brain’s visual cortex have experienced blindsight, a localized area of blindness in part of their field of vision

Color, like all aspects of vision, resides not in the object but in the theater of our brains, as evidenced by our dreaming in color.

the retina contains three different color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color. (p. 191)

• red, green, and blue
• those color blind lack blue or red or even both
• monochromatic (one-color) or dichromatic (two-color)

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green. (p. 192)

The cones’ signals are then processed by the nervous system’s opponent-process cells, en route to the visual cortex.

The physical characteristic of light that determines the color we experience, such as blue or green, is

the optic nerve leaves the eye.

Cones are the eye’s receptor cells that are especially sensitive to _______ light and are responsible for our _______ vision.

The brain cells that respond maximally to certain bars, edges, and angles

The brain’s ability to process many aspects of an object or problem simultaneously

Two theories together account for color vision. The Young-Helmholtz theory shows that the eye contains _______, and the Hering theory accounts for the nervous system’s having _______.

• the sense or act of hearing. (p. 193)
• We are also remarkably attuned to variations in sounds. We easily detect differences among thousands of human voices:

• the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). (p. 193)
• pitch: a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. (p. 193)

Long waves have low frequency—and low pitch. Short waves have high frequency—and high pitch

Every 10 decibels correspond to a tenfold increase in sound intensity.

The middle ear then transmits the eardrum’s vibrations through a piston made of three tiny bones (the hammer, anvil, and stirrup) to the cochlea, a snail-shaped tube in the inner ear. The incoming vibrations cause the cochlea’s membrane (the oval window) to vibrate, jostling the fluid that fills the tube (Figure 6.16b). This motion causes ripples in the basilar membrane, bending the hair cells lining its surface

hese “quivering bundles that let us hear” marvels at their “extreme sensitivity and extreme speed.”

Other skin sensations are variations of the basic four (pressure, warmth, cold, and pain):

• Touch is not only a bottom-up property of your senses but also a top-down product of your brain and your expectations.
• still feel even though not touched

• the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts. (p. 197)
• mportant sensors in your joints, tendons, bones, and ears, as well as your skin sensors enable your kinesthesis

vestibular sense: the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance. (p. 197)

monitors your head’s (and thus your body’s) position and movement.

There is no one type of stimulus that triggers pain (as light triggers vision). Instead, there are different nociceptors—sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain. (p. 199)

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain. (p. 199)

The brain can also create pain, as it does in people’s experiences of phantom limb sensations, when it misinterprets the spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of normal sensory input

• activity in spinal cord's lare and small fibers
• genetic differences in endorphin production
• the brain's interpretation of CNS

• presence of others
• empathy for other's pain
• cultural expectations

• attention to pain
• learning based on experiences
• expectations

drugs, surgery, acupuncture, electrical stimulation, massage, exercise, hypnosis, relaxation training, and thought distraction.Even an inert placebo can help

• sweet = energy source
• salt = pysiological processes
• sour= potential toxic acid
• bitter= potentially poisoneous
• umami = protiens for muscle

Taste receptors reproduce themselves every week or two, so if you burn your tongue with hot food it hardly matters. However, as you grow older, the number of taste buds decreases, as does taste sensitivity

To savor a taste, we normally breathe the aroma through our nose—which is why eating is not much fun when you have a bad cold. Smell can also change our perception of taste:

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste. (p. 202)

Seeing the mouth movements for ga while hearing ba, we may perceive da—a

Sensory interaction can also affect vision and touch. A weak flicker of light that we have trouble perceiving becomes more visible when accompanied by a short burst of sound

odor molecules bind to different receptor arrays, producing the 10,000 odors we can detect

people come to like that scent, which helps explain why people in the United States tend to like the smell of wintergreen (which they associate with candy and gum) more than do those in Great Britain (where it often is associated with medicine)

A hotline runs between the brain area receiving information from the nose and the brain’s ancient limbic centers associated with memory and emotion

The snail-shaped tube in the inner ear, where sound waves are converted into neural activity, is called the

Of all the skin senses, only ________ has its own identifiable receptor cells.

The vestibular sense monitors the body’s position and movement. Vestibular sense receptors are located in the

small spinal cord nerve fibers conduct most pain signals.

A food’s smell or aroma can greatly enhance its taste. This is an example of

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized ourtendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. (p.205)

we view them all together, we see a whole, a form that psychologists call a

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground). (p. 205)

• the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups. (p. 206)
• Proximity We group nearby figures together, as in Figure 6.28. We see three sets of two lines, not six separate lines.

We group similar figures together. We see the triangles and circles as vertical columns of similar shapes, not as horizontal rows of dissimilar shapes.

We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones. The pattern in the lower-left corner of Figure 6.28 could be a series of alternating semicircles, but we perceive it as two continuous lines—one wavy, one straight.

Because they are uniform and linked, we perceive each set of two dots and the line between them as a single unit.

We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object. Thus we assume that the circles (below left) are complete but partially blocked by the (illusory) triangle. Add nothing more than little line segments that close off the circles (below right) and now your brain stops constructing a triangle.

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance. (p. 207)

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. (p. 207)

The process begins with depth cues, some that depend on the use of two eyes, and others that are available to each eye separately.

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes. (p. 207)

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object. (p. 207)

The creators of three-dimensional (3-D) movies simulate or exaggerate retinal disparity by photographing a scene with two cameras placed a few inches apart

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone. (p. 208)

perceiving objectsas unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, lightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change. (p. 210) »

As the diagram reveals, the girls are actually about the same size, but the room is distorted

depends on relative luminance—the amount of light an object reflects relative to its surrounding

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. (p. 212)

Our perception of the color of a wall or of a streak of paint on a canvas is determined not just by the paint in the can but by the surrounding colors.

In listening to a concert, you follow the lead singer and perceive the other musicians as accompaniment; this illustrates the organizing principle of

Our tendencies to fill in the gaps and to perceive a pattern as continuous are two different examples of the organizing principle called

judge distances

Examples of monocular cues, which are available to either eye alone, include interposition and

Perceiving tomatoes as consistently red, despite shifting illumination, is an example of

In both humans and animals, a similar period of sensory restriction does no permanent harm if it occurs later in life.

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field. (p. 214)

• a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. (p. 215)
• People perceive an adult-child pair as looking more alike when told they are parent and child
• Perceptual set can similarly influence what we hear

Even hearing sad rather than happy music can predispose people to perceive a sad meaning in spoken homophonic words—mourning rather than morning, die rather than dye, pain rather than pane

• The effects of perceptual set and context show how experience helps us construct perception
• is both learned and innate

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input, includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition. (p. 218)

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis. (p. 218)

• Telepathy, or mind-to-mind communication: one person sending thoughts to another or perceiving another’s thoughts.
• Clairvoyance, or perceiving remote events, such as sensing that a friend’s house is on fire.
• Precognition, or perceiving future events, such as a political leader’s death or a sporting event’s outcome.

After surgery to restore vision, patients who had been blind from birth had difficulty