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Questions and Answers
What is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive energy from the environment called?
What is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive energy from the environment called?
Which of the following accurately describes top-down processing?
Which of the following accurately describes top-down processing?
What condition occurs when a person loses the ability to recognize faces?
What condition occurs when a person loses the ability to recognize faces?
What does the absolute threshold refer to?
What does the absolute threshold refer to?
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Which theory predicts how and when we detect the presence of faint stimuli amid background noise?
Which theory predicts how and when we detect the presence of faint stimuli amid background noise?
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What does Weber's law state?
What does Weber's law state?
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What is the role of rods in human vision?
What is the role of rods in human vision?
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What does the process of accommodation involve in eye function?
What does the process of accommodation involve in eye function?
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Which structure in the eye is primarily responsible for sharp central vision?
Which structure in the eye is primarily responsible for sharp central vision?
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What phenomenon occurs when a person presents blindness in a part of their field of vision due to damage in the brain's visual cortex?
What phenomenon occurs when a person presents blindness in a part of their field of vision due to damage in the brain's visual cortex?
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What is the role of hair cells in the cochlea?
What is the role of hair cells in the cochlea?
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In hearing, what does the place theory link the pitch we hear to?
In hearing, what does the place theory link the pitch we hear to?
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What type of color mixing occurs when wavelengths are added to increase light?
What type of color mixing occurs when wavelengths are added to increase light?
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Which process explains the idea of seeing an afterimage?
Which process explains the idea of seeing an afterimage?
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What does frequency theory explain regarding hearing?
What does frequency theory explain regarding hearing?
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What type of hearing loss is caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or auditory nerves?
What type of hearing loss is caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or auditory nerves?
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Which term describes the ability to only focus on one voice among many in a noisy environment?
Which term describes the ability to only focus on one voice among many in a noisy environment?
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What is the primary role of the vestibular sense?
What is the primary role of the vestibular sense?
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What does the concept of perceptual constancy refer to?
What does the concept of perceptual constancy refer to?
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Which of the following is a condition where individuals perceive a ringing sensation in their ears?
Which of the following is a condition where individuals perceive a ringing sensation in their ears?
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In terms of depth perception, what do binocular cues specifically depend on?
In terms of depth perception, what do binocular cues specifically depend on?
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Which theory proposes that pain signals can be blocked or allowed to pass on to the brain?
Which theory proposes that pain signals can be blocked or allowed to pass on to the brain?
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What is the term used for the gradual change from a coarse texture to a fine indistinct texture as distance increases?
What is the term used for the gradual change from a coarse texture to a fine indistinct texture as distance increases?
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Which of the following options best describes the phenomenon of filling in gaps to create a complete object?
Which of the following options best describes the phenomenon of filling in gaps to create a complete object?
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What is the ability to adjust to artificially displaced or inverted visual fields called?
What is the ability to adjust to artificially displaced or inverted visual fields called?
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What do olfactory receptor cells in the nasal cavity primarily respond to?
What do olfactory receptor cells in the nasal cavity primarily respond to?
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Which of the following best describes the phi phenomenon?
Which of the following best describes the phi phenomenon?
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What is the main function of the kinesthetic sense?
What is the main function of the kinesthetic sense?
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Study Notes
Sensation and Perception
- Sensation: The process by which sensory receptors and the nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment.
- Perception: The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
- Top-Down Processing: Information processing guided by high-level mental processes, as we construct perceptions drawing on our experiences and expectations.
- Bottom-Up Processing: Analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.
Specific Senses: Vision
- Psychophysics: The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli (e.g., intensity) and our psychological experience of them.
- Absolute Threshold: The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
- Signal Detection Theory: Predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise).
- Subliminal Stimulation: Stimulation that is below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.
- Difference Threshold: The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time.
- Weber's Law: For two stimuli to be perceived as different, they must differ by a constant minimum percentage.
- Sensory Adaptation: Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
- Transduction: Conversion of one form of energy into another.
- Electromagnetic Spectrum: Range of wavelengths that exist (from gamma rays to radio waves).
- Wavelength: Distance from peak to peak of a light or sound wave.
- Hue: The color we experience, determined by the wavelength of light.
- Intensity: Amount of energy in a light or sound wave.
- Amplitude: Height of a wave.
- Cornea: Transparent outer layer through which light enters the eye, protecting the eye while bending light.
- Pupil: Adjustable opening in the eye where light passes through.
- Iris: Colored muscle tissue surrounding the pupil that controls the pupil's size.
- Lens: Transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape (accommodation) to focus images on the retina.
- Accommodation (Vision): Eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.
- Retina: Light-sensitive inner surface of the eye that begins the visual process.
- Acuity: Sharpness of vision.
- Nearsightedness: Distant objects focus in front of the retina.
- Farsightedness: Nearby objects focus behind the retina.
- Rods: Retinal receptors detecting black, white, and gray, and night vision.
- Cones: Retinal receptors concentrated in the fovea, detecting fine details and color vision.
- Bipolar Cells: Activated when rods and cones undergo chemical changes.
- Ganglion Cells: Receive signals from bipolar cells.
- Optic Nerve: Carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.
- Fovea: Central focal point in the retina where cones cluster for acute vision.
- Feature Detection: Nerve cells in the brain responding to specific stimulus features.
- Parallel Processing: Doing several things at once.
- Blindsight: Visual perception capacity despite reported blindness in a portion of vision.
- Trichromatic Theory: Retina contains three color receptors (red, green, blue) to produce any color.
- Subtracted Color Mixing: Removing wavelengths from reflected light (red, blue, yellow).
- Additive Color Mixing: Combining wavelengths to increase light (red, blue, green).
- Color Blindness: Absence of functioning red or green (or both) cones.
- Afterimage: Perception of a complementary color after staring at a specific color.
- Opponent-Process Theory: Opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enabling color vision.
- Blind Spot: Point where the optic nerve leaves the eye, lacking receptor cells.
- Visual Cliff: Used in depth perception studies.
Specific Senses: Hearing
- Amplitude: Loudness/strength of sound waves.
- Frequency: Number of complete wavelengths passing a point in a given time.
- Pitch: Tone's experienced highness or lowness, dependent on frequency.
- Decibels: Measurement unit for sound energy.
- Outer Ear: Channels sound waves to the eardrum.
- Eardrum: Vibrates with incoming sound waves.
- Middle Ear: Chamber containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) amplifying sound.
- Cochlea: Bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear containing hair cells that vibrate with sound.
- Oval Window: Membrane that vibrates and jostles the cochlea's fluid.
- Inner Ear: Includes the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.
- Basilar Membrane: Membrane in cochlea where sound ripples cause hair cell movement.
- Hair Cells: Tiny projections on the basilar membrane that trigger nerve impulses.
- Place Theory: Links pitch with the location of the basilar membrane stimulation (high-pitched sounds).
- Frequency Theory: Nerve impulses matching the frequency of a stimulus determine pitch (low-pitched sounds).
- Conduction Hearing Loss: Damage to the mechanical system of sound conduction to the cochlea.
- Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or auditory nerves.
- Cochlear Implant: Device converting sounds into electrical signals to stimulate the auditory nerve.
Other Senses
- Pain: Biological alarm system.
- Tinnitus: Ringing in the ears.
- Gate-Control Theory: Spinal cord's neurological "gate" that blocks or allows pain signals to reach the brain.
- Taste Sensations: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami.
- Chemical Senses: Taste and smell.
- Sensory Interaction: One sense influencing another.
- Olfactory Receptor Cells: Detect odor molecules in the nasal cavity.
- Kinesthesis: Sense of body position and movement.
- Vestibular Sense: Sense of body movement and position, including balance.
- Vestibular Sacs: Fluid-filled structures connecting to the cochlea responding to head movement.
- Selective Attention: Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.
- Cocktail Party Effect: Ability to attend to relevant stimuli.
Perceptual Organization
- Gestalt: Organized whole.
- Figure-Ground: Organization of visual field into objects (figures) and their surroundings (ground).
- Grouping: Perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.
- Proximity: Grouping nearby figures together.
- Similarity: Grouping similar figures together.
- Continuity: Perceiving smooth, continuous patterns over discontinuous ones.
- Connectedness: Grouping linked and uniform patterns together.
- Closure: Filling gaps to create a complete, whole object.
Depth Perception
- Depth Perception: Ability to see objects in three dimensions even though images strike the retina as two dimensional.
- Visual Cliff: Experiment to test depth perception in infants and young adults.
- Binocular Cues: Depth cues requiring the use of two eyes (nearby objects).
- Retinal Disparity: Comparing images from two eyes to compute distance.
- Convergence: Eyes turning inward to view nearby objects.
- Monocular Cues: Depth cues available to either eye alone (far objects).
- Relative Size: Assuming similar-sized objects, the smaller retinal image suggests a farther object.
- Interposition: One object blocking the view of another, suggesting a closer object.
- Relative Clarity: Hazy objects seem farther than sharp objects.
- Texture Gradient: A distinct surface texture becoming less distinct with distance.
- Relative Height: Objects higher in the visual field seem farther away.
- Relative Motion (Motion Parallax): Moving objects appear to move faster those farther away.
- Linear Perspective: Parallel lines appear to converge with distance.
- Light and Shadow: Nearby objects reflect more light.
- Motion Parallax: Apparent movement of objects as we move.
- Phi Phenomenon: Illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.
Perceptual Constancy
- Perceptual Constancy: Perceiving objects as unchanging (consistent in lightness, color, shape, size) even as illumination and retinal images change.
- Relative Luminance: Amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings.
- Perceptual Adaptation: Adjustment to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field.
- Perceptual Set: Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and Parapsychology
- ESP: Controversial claim of perception without sensory input.
- Parapsychology: Study of paranormal phenomena (ESP and psychokinesis).
- Telepathy: Mind-to-mind communication (ESP).
- Clairvoyance: Perceiving remote events (ESP).
- Precognition: Perceiving future events (ESP).
- Psychokinesis: Moving objects with the mind (ESP).
Pain
- Large Nerve Fibers: Often close the pain gate.
- Small Nerve Fibers: Often open the pain gate.
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Description
Explore the key concepts of sensation and perception in this quiz. Delve into top-down and bottom-up processing, as well as the role of psychophysics in understanding our sensory experiences. Test your knowledge on how we perceive stimuli from our environment.
