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Questions and Answers
What does Weber's Law suggest about detecting differences between two stimuli?
Telepathy is an example of awareness using the five senses.
False
What is the primary focus of Cartwright's Problem-Solving Theory regarding dreams?
to help people work through everyday problems
The sleep disorder characterized by sudden sleep attacks during the day is called _____
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Match the following sleep disorders with their descriptions:
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Which part of the ear is responsible for maintaining balance?
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Anosmia refers to the ability to perceive smells.
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What are the four basic tastes recognized in gustation?
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The sound wave characteristics that describe the unique quality of sound is called ______.
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Match the following hearing theories with their descriptions:
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Which of the following is NOT one of the primary olfactory qualities?
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What is the function of the Eustachian tube?
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Cutaneous sensitivities for pain are less dense compared to pressure spots on the skin.
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Which type of receptor is found in the linings of muscles, tendons, and joints?
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The human eye is sensitive to wavelengths from 400 to 800 millimicrons.
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What condition is characterized by the inability to see nearby objects?
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The area with the clearest vision in the eye is known as the ______.
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Match the type of color blindness with its characteristic:
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What is the term for the minimum amount of stimulus that can excite a receptor?
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Astigmatism is caused by irregularities in the shape of the iris.
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Describe what 'dark adaptation' refers to in vision.
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The theory that describes color vision through the interaction of red versus green and blue versus yellow is known as the ______.
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What unit is used to measure the frequency of sound in the auditory system?
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What ability does attention define?
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Contrasting stimuli are less noticeable than non-contrasting stimuli.
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What is size constancy?
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The ability to perceive shapes as complete even when parts are missing is known as __________.
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Match each type of set with its description:
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Which factor does NOT affect attention?
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Sensory adaptation refers to the increased sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time.
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What is the absolute threshold?
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A newborn can typically see objects clearly up to __________ inches from their face.
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Which law of perception involves elements being perceived as part of the same group due to their proximity?
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Study Notes
Hearing
- Timbre: The unique quality of sound, allowing us to distinguish between different instruments playing the same note.
- Ultrasonic: Sounds beyond the range of human hearing, above 25,000 cycles per second (cps).
- Subsonic: Sounds below the range of human hearing, below 16 cps.
- Pinna: The outer part of the ear that collects sound waves and directs them to the ear canal.
- Eardrum: A thin membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves.
- Middle Ear Bones: Malleus, incus, and stapes – these tiny bones amplify and transmit vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear.
- Stapes: The smallest bone in the body, it transmits vibrations to the fluid-filled inner ear.
- Labyrinths (Semicircular Canals): Fluid-filled canals responsible for balance and detecting head movement.
- Cochlea: A snail-shaped structure in the inner ear containing hair cells that convert sound vibrations into electrical signals sent to the brain.
- Eustachian Tube: A tube connecting the middle ear to the back of the throat, equalizing pressure within the ear.
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Hearing Defects:
- Conductive deafness: Caused by problems with the outer or middle ear, preventing sound from reaching the inner ear.
- Discriminatory deafness: Caused by damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve, affecting the brain's ability to interpret sound.
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Theories of Hearing:
- Place theory: Different frequencies of sound stimulate different locations on the basilar membrane in the cochlea.
- Volley theory: Nerve fibers in the auditory nerve fire in rapid succession to encode high frequencies.
- Frequency theory: The frequency of a sound is encoded by the rate of nerve firing.
- Modern hearing theory: Combines place and frequency theories to explain how we hear a wide range of frequencies.
Olfaction (Sense of Smell)
- Olfactory stimuli: Airborne molecules that dissolve in mucus and bind to receptors in the nose.
- Schneiderian membranes: Specialized tissues in the upper part of the nasal cavity that contain olfactory receptors.
- Olfactory Bulbs: Structures in the brain that receive signals from the olfactory receptors and process smell information.
- Primary Olfactory Qualities: Basic categories of smell: fragrant, spicy, fruity, resinous, putrid, and burnt.
- Anosmia: Loss of smell.
- Olfactory Adaptation: Decreased sensitivity to an odor after prolonged exposure.
Gustation (Sense of Taste)
- Gustatory stimuli: Chemical substances that dissolve in saliva and activate taste receptors on the tongue.
- Taste buds: Structures on the tongue that contain taste receptors.
- Four Basic Tastes: Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.
- Taste sensitivity: Decreases with age and can be reduced by smoking.
Cutaneous Sensitivities (Touch)
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Skin senses: Touch, pressure, pain, warmth, and cold are detected by specialized receptors in the skin.
- Pressure: Hair bulbs, Meissner's corpuscles, and Merkel corpuscles.
- Pain: Free nerve endings.
- Warmth: Ruffini cylinders and free nerve endings.
- Cold: Krause end bulbs and free nerve endings.
- Sensitivity: Sensitivity to touch varies across different areas of the body, with the face and fingertips being most sensitive.
- Pain spots: Areas of the skin that are more sensitive to pain than other areas.
- Temperature: Perceived based on comparison with a "psychological zero" (around 32.2°C).
Kinesthetic Sensitivities (Body Movement)
- Proprioceptors: Receptors located in muscles, tendons, and joints that detect movement and position of the body.
- Muscle sense: The ability to sense the position and movement of different body parts, crucial for coordinating movements.
Perception
- Perception: The process of interpreting sensory information and integrating it with prior knowledge and experiences to create a meaningful understanding of the world.
Weber's Law
- States that the just noticeable difference (JND) between two stimuli is proportional to the intensity of the original stimulus. In other words, the larger the initial stimulus, the larger the change needed for it to be noticed.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
- Refers to the purported ability to perceive information outside the known senses.
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Common Forms:
- Telepathy: Direct communication between minds.
- Precognition: Perceiving future events.
- Clairvoyance: Perceiving distant events.
- Psychokinesis: Moving objects with the mind.
Theories and Functions of Dreams
- Freud's Wish Fulfillment Theory: Dreams are a way for unconscious desires and wishes to be expressed.
- Cartwright's Problem-Solving Theory: Dreams help us process information, solve problems, and work through emotions.
- Activation-Synthesis Theory: Dreams are random neural activity in the brain during sleep that is interpreted by the mind.
Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Disorders
- Partial Sleep Deprivation: Chronic lack of sufficient sleep, affecting concentration, performance, and mood.
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Sleep Disorders:
- Insomnia: Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
- Narcolepsy: Sudden attacks of sleepiness during the day.
- Sleep Apnea: Temporary pauses in breathing during sleep.
- Night Terrors: Sudden episodes of intense fear and panic during sleep.
- Nightmares: Disturbing dreams that occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
- Somnambulism (Sleepwalking): Walking or performing other activities while asleep.
Theories of Sleep
- Restorative Theory: Sleep allows the body to repair and restore itself.
- Circadian Theory: Sleep is regulated by our biological clock, helping to conserve energy and protect us from danger.
- Two-Process Theory: Slow-wave sleep restores the body, while REM sleep helps regulate our internal clock (circadian rhythms).
Visual System
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Receptors: Specialized cells that respond to specific stimuli.
- Exteroceptors: Respond to stimuli external to the body.
- Interoceptors: Respond to stimuli within the body.
- Proprioceptors: Sensitive to changes in position of the body.
- Threshold: The minimum amount of stimulus needed for a receptor to be activated.
Vision
- Range of wavelengths: The human eye is sensitive to light wavelengths from 400 to 800 nanometers (nm).
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Three Layers of the Human Eye:
- Sclera: The white outer layer of the eye, providing structure and protection.
- Choroid coat: A middle layer that supplies nutrients to the retina and regulates temperature.
- Retina: Innermost layer containing light-sensitive cells (rods and cones) that convert light into electrical signals.
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Light Receptors:
- Rods: Sensitive to dim light and responsible for night vision.
- Cones: Sensitive to color and provide detail vision in bright light.
Vision Problems
- Fovea Centralis: A small pit in the center of the retina responsible for sharp central vision.
- Blind Spot: The point where the optic nerve leaves the eye, lacking rods and cones.
- Myopia: Nearsightedness, difficulty seeing distant objects.
- Hyperopia: Farsightedness, difficulty seeing close objects.
- Presbyopia: Age-related farsightedness.
- Astigmatism: An irregular curvature of the cornea, causing blurry vision.
- Retinal Disparity: The difference in angles and images received by each eye, helping with depth perception.
- Dark Adaptation: The process of the eye becoming more sensitive to light in low-light conditions.
- Purkinje Phenomenon: The shift in the relative brightness of colors as the intensity of illumination changes.
Color
- Hue: The perceived color, determined by the wavelength of light.
- Brightness: The perceived intensity of light.
- Saturation: The purity or vividness of a hue.
- Psychological Primaries: Red, blue, green, and yellow. These are the most basic colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors.
- Complementary colors: Pairs of colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel, creating a high contrast when placed together.
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Color Blindness: Inability to perceive certain colors.
- Monochromats: Complete colorblindness.
- Dichromats: Partial colorblindness.
- Deuteranopes: Difficulty distinguishing green from red.
- Protanopes: Difficulty seeing red.
- Tritanopes: Difficulty seeing blue.
- Trichromats: Normal color vision.
Afterimages
- Positive Afterimages: Images that appear to persist after the original stimulus is removed, resembling the original colors.
- Negative Afterimages: Images that appear in complementary colors to the original stimulus.
Theories of Vision
- Young-Helmholtz Theory (1852): Proposes that the retina contains three types of color receptors, sensitive to red, green, and blue, and that all other colors are perceived as mixtures of these three.
- Opponent-Process Theory (1874): Suggests that color vision is based on opposing pairs of colors: red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white.
- Trichromatic Theory (1892): Focuses on the three types of cones in the retina, each of which is most sensitive to a different wavelength of light.
Auditory System
- Audition: The sense of hearing.
- CPS (Cycles Per Second): Units of measure for frequency, also known as Hertz (Hz).
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Wave Vibrations:
- Frequency: The number of sound waves that pass a point per second, determining pitch.
- Amplitude: The height of the sound wave, determining loudness.
- Decibels: Units of measure for the intensity of a sound wave.
- Sinewave: A pure tone with a single frequency.
- Complex Wave: A combination of two or more sine waves.
- Double Vibration: Occurs when two frequencies vibrate simultaneously.
- Overtones: Frequencies that are multiples of the fundamental frequency, contributing to the timbre of a sound.
Perception
- Attention: Selective focus on specific stimuli, influenced by factors like intensity, change, and repetition.
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Types of Sets:
- Motor Set: Prepare the body to react to anticipated stimuli.
- Perceptual Set: Prepare the mind to notice specific stimuli.
- Mental Set: Prepare the mind to approach situations in a particular way.
Stimuli Affecting Attention
- Intense Stimuli: Loud or bright stimuli are more likely to grab attention.
- Changing Stimuli: Stimuli that change in intensity or movement are more noticeable.
- Repeated Stimuli: Repetition increases the likelihood of a stimulus being noticed.
- Contrasting Stimuli: Stimuli that stand out from their background are more likely to capture attention.
Gestalt Laws of Perception
- Law of Pragnanz: We perceive shapes in the simplest and most organized way possible.
- Law of Proximity: Objects that are close together are perceived as belonging to a group.
- Law of Continuity: We tend to perceive smooth, continuous lines and curves rather than abrupt changes.
- Law of Closure: We tend to complete incomplete figures, filling in gaps to create a whole shape.
- Law of Similarity: Objects that share similar features are perceived as being part of a group.
Perceptual Constancies
- Size Constancy: We perceive objects as having a constant size despite changes in distance.
- Shape Constancy: We perceive the shape of an object as stable even when viewed from different angles.
- Brightness Constancy: We perceive the brightness of an object as constant even when lighting conditions change.
- Color Constancy: We perceive the color of an object as consistent despite variations in light.
Perceptual Contrast
- The same stimulus can appear different depending on its context.
Development of Visual Perception
- Neonates (newborns): Have limited visual acuity, can only see about 9-12 inches away, experience the world mainly in shades of gray, and their eye coordination is still developing.
- Infants: Visual acuity and color perception develop rapidly, and they develop a preference for complex patterns and bright colors.
- Adults: Have fully developed visual perception and can see clearly up to about 150 feet.
Environmental Influences on Perception
- Ordinary Sensorimotor Experiences: Interaction with the environment shapes our perception of the world.
- Sensory Deprivation: Lack of sensory input can affect perceptual development.
- States of Mind: Emotions, goals, expectations, and mental state influence what we perceive.
- Culture: Cultural background influences our interpretation of sensory information.
- Acquired Knowledge: Prior knowledge and experiences shape our perception.
Psychophysics and Sensory Adaptation
- Psychophysics: The study of the relationship between physical stimuli and our psychological perception of them.
- Sensory Adaptation: A decreased sensitivity to a stimulus after prolonged exposure.
- Absolute Threshold: The weakest stimulus that can be reliably detected by our senses.
- Difference Threshold: (Just Noticeable Difference) - The smallest difference in stimulus intensity that can be detected.
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Description
Test your knowledge on the anatomy of hearing and the science of sound. This quiz covers key terms such as timbre, ultrasonic, and the structures of the ear. Explore how sound is processed and understood by our auditory system.
