Psychology Chapter 6 & 7: Sensory Processing

Sensory Information Pathways

• Subdivisions of the thalamus relay sensory information: lateral geniculate nucleus (visual), medial geniculate nucleus (auditory), and ventral posterior nucleus (somatosensory).

Auditory and Visual Processing

• Dorsal and ventral streams process auditory and visual information (Chapter 6, page 226).
• Dichotic listening paradigm presents different auditory information to each ear to study selective attention.

Theories of Sound Perception

• Frequency, place, frequency-volley-place theories explain sound perception (Chapter 7, page 255).

Binaural Cues for Sound Localization

• Inter-aural intensity and timing differences help locate sounds.
• Sound shadow effect is more apparent with higher-frequency sounds.
• Lateral and medial superior olives process sound localization.
• Coincidence detectors are used to locate sound.

Language Processing

• Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the Wernicke-Geschwind model are important for language processing.
• Angular gyrus is involved in language processing.
• Expressive and receptive aphasia, dyslexia, and alexia are different types of language disorders.

Cognitive Processing of Multiple Languages

• Cognitive processing of a second language acquired later in life differs from first language acquisition.
• Lexical knowledge is stored in declarative memory, and grammatical knowledge is in implicit and declarative memory (L1 and L2 respectively).

Visual System

• Light is the adequate stimulus for the visual system.
• Colors have different wavelengths (shortest: purple, longest: red).
• Color perception involves hue, brightness, and saturation.
• Vergence, saccadic, and pursuit movements are different types of eye movements.
• Photopic and scotopic vision are related to photoreceptor distribution.

Visual Field and Receptive Field

• Visual field and receptive field are described and distinguished.
• Retinal disparity helps identify distance to objects.

Visual Information Processing

• Visual pathways and retinotopic maps are discussed.
• Color perception theories are described: trichromatic theory, opponent process theory, and Hurvich-Jameson theory.
• Common visual illusions (Hermann grid, Mach bands) are described.
• Spatial frequency theory is related to visual perception.

Skin Senses Receptors

• Skin senses have free nerve endings (for temperature and pain) and encapsulated receptors (for touch).
• Receptor types for touch include Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel's discs, Pacinian corpuscles, and Ruffini endings.
• Sensory sensitivity is correlated with receptor density.

Vestibular System

• Vestibular organs (semicircular canals, utricle, saccule) are part of the vestibular system, involved in balance and spatial orientation.

Muscle System

• Skeletal muscles, smooth muscles, and cardiac muscles are different types of muscles.
• Movements involve flexion, extension, and the functions of agonist and antagonist muscles (specific movements are mentioned).
• Muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs are related to muscle action.

Body Senses Pathways

• Body senses pathways are described including organization of pathways.

Motor Areas

• Primary, premotor, and supplementary motor areas contribute to movement control.
• Basal ganglia and cerebellum are crucial for coordinated movement.

Emotion

• Different models of emotion are described including dimensional models and discrete emotion theory.
• Schacter-Singer, James-Lange, and Cannon-Bard theories of emotion are discussed including the related experiments that support them.

Emotional Processing Areas

• Functions of the septum, cingulate cortex, amygdala, and prefrontal area in emotional processing.

Stress Response

• Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is described as a stress response mechanism and how it differs in short-term and long-term stress.
• Instincts, drives, and arousal related to stress response

Thermoregulation

• Major thermoregulation centers location in the preoptic area in the hypothalamus, thirst, and the mechanisms of eating (fasting/absorptive).

Learning and Memory

• Learning and different learning models are described.
• Declarative vs. non-declarative memory.
• Classic and instrumental conditioning types are described.
• Memory related types of amnesia (H.M.) are described.
• Other related memory properties

Working Memory

• Details of working memory including components and cortical areas are included.
• The storage characteristics of working memory are described including its active and limited nature.

Long-Term Potentiation

• Neurochemical processes in long-term potentiation, including Hebb rule are described.
• Different concepts of neurons firing together to form long-term memories.

Circadian Rhythms and Sleep

• Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) plays a major role in circadian rhythms.
• Effects of flying across time zones.
• Descriptions of stages and patterns of sleep are included.
• Sleep-wake cycle regulation concepts

Abnormal Behavior

• Different types of anxiety disorders are described, along with their descriptions and neural mechanisms associated.
• Common psychotic disorders are described, including schizophrenia and its symptoms and the related neural hypotheses.
• Affective disorders (mood disorders) are outlined including the major types, descriptions, and associated theories.

Explore the pathways of sensory information as relayed by different thalamic nuclei and understand auditory and visual processing through the dorsal and ventral streams. This quiz also delves into theories of sound perception and the mechanisms behind sound localization, enhancing your comprehension of language processing areas in the brain.