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vestibular system
monitors the position of your body in space; receptors are fluid and hari cells in the semicircular canals; head movement causes fluid to move which stimulates hair cells notifying the brain exactly which way the head has moved
gate-control theory
incoming pain sensations must pass through a gate in the spinal cord that can be closed thus blocking ascending pain signals
pain receptors
free nerve endings (just like temp); two pathways: fast and slow
touch senses pathway
sensory receptors, spinal column, brainstem, cross to opposite side of brain, thalamus, somatosensory (parietal lobe)
three classes of skin receptors
touch: physical contact of objects with skin; temperature, and pain
smell; only system that doesn't send info through the thalamus (instead directly to the cortex); olfactory cilia in nasal passages
olfactory system stimuli
volatile chemical substances
flavor is comprised of
both taste AND smell
gustatory system: pathway
taste buds, neural impulse, thalamus, cortex
determining pitch: Frequency Theory (Rutherford)
different pitches cause the entire membrane to vibrate at different rates (volleys)
determining pitch: Place Thory (helmholtz)
different pitches cause different areas of the basialr membrane to vibrate
auditory pathway
sound waves vibrate bones in mid ear; stirrup hits against the oval window of the cochlea; sets fluid inside in motion; hair cells are stimulated with the movement of the basilar membrane; physical stimlation converted into neural impulses; sent through the thalamus to the adutory cortex (temporal lobes)
inner ear
cochlea, etc.; waves in a fluid; basilar membrane (inside the cochlea) contains hair cells (auditory receptors) that are stimulated by sound
middle ear
ossicles; bibration bones (anvil, hammer, and stirrup-- 3 tinniest bones); lever system designed for amplification
external ear
pinna; vibration air
sound waves: purity
timbre
sounds waves: wavelength
pitch
sounds waves: amplitude
loudness
optical illusions
discrepancy between visual appearance and physical reality
perceptual constancies
stable perceptions amid changing stimuli: things like size, shape, brightness, hue, and location in space
monocular cues
clues from a single eye; motion parallax, accomodatin, and pictoial depth cues
binocular cues
clues from both eyes together; retinal disparity and convergence
proximal
stimulus energies impinging on sensory receptors
distal
stimuli outside the body
top-down processing
formulate perceptual hypothesis about the nature of the stimuls as a whole, select and examine features to check hypothesis, recognize the stimulus
bottom up processing
detect specific features of stimulus, combine specific features into more complex forms, recognize stimulus
inattentional blindness
failure to see fully visible objects or events in a visual display
perceptual sets
readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way
reversible figures
drawing that is compatible with 2 interpretations
Gestalt psychologists
whole is more than the sum of its parts
form perception
top-down processing
subjective contours
contours are perceived when none actually exist (invisible triangle pic)
feature detection theory
bottom-up processing
additive color mixing
more light; applies to lights only-- mixing of all colors results in white
subtractive color mixing
less light; applies to paints, color filters-- mix of all colors results in black
Hering: Opponent-Process Theory
colors are derived from activity of 3 antagonistic systems: black-white, red-green, and blue-yellow
Young-Helmholtz: Trichromatic Theory
color is explained by diffential activation of 3 color elements in the eye; receptors for red, green, blue-- color mixing; couldn't account for negative color afterimages
three types of cones in the eye
S: blue, M: green, L: red
demensions of color: saturation
purity of the color
demensions of color: brightness
intensity of a color
demensions of color: hue
apparent color of an object; determined by wavelength (longer = red and shorter = violet)
feature detectors
response of an orietnation detector in primary visual cortex to a bar of light at various orientations; other cells prefer different orientations and/or different locations in the visual field
Hubel and Wiesel
1960's, microelectrode recording of axons in primary visual cortex of animals; discovered feature detectors: neurons that respond selectively to lines, edges, etc.; Nobel prize in 1981
activity in one cell opposes activity in surrounding cells
center-surround
light falling on the center has the opposite effect of light falling on surrounding areas
receptive fields
areas that when stimulated, affect the firing of a cell
adaptation
becoming more or less sensitive to light as needed
receptor cells: cones
color and daylight vision; found in center of retina (fovea) and are sensitive to fine detail and color
receptor cells: rods
black and white/ low light vision; found in periphery of retina and are sensitive to movement but not fine detail
optic disk
where the optic nerve leaves the eye/ blind spot
retina
absorbs light, processes images, and sends info to the brain; light travels through retina to impinge on photoreceptors at the back of the eye
pupil
regulates teh amount of light
iris
colored ring of muscle, constricts or dilates via amount of light
lens
focuses the light rays on the retina
cornea
where light enters the eye
light detection is useful because
travels rapidly (no delay like hearing), travels in straight lines (no distortion), interacts with the surfaces of objects in the environment (reflected or absorbed)
vision is...
functional: detection of movement, detection of color, etc.
the eye can detect
electromagnetic radiation
signal-detection theory
sensory processes and decision processes
sensory adaptation
decline in sensitivity
subliminal perception
existence vs. practical effects
Webster's Law
size of the JND is proportional to the size of initial stimulus
Just Noticible Difference (JND)
smallest difference detectable (minimum difference in stimulation that is just noticeable)
Fechner
concept of the threshold: absolute threshold is detected about 50% of the time
sensory systems are...
sensitive to changes in stimulation level; sensory receptors are tuned to a particular form of energy
absolute threshold
sensory systems require a minimum amount of energy for activation
sensory receptors
translate physical stimulation into neural signals (called transduction)
three basic principles in regard to sensation and perception
1. there is not a one-one correspondance between physical and psychological reality 2. sensation and perception are active processes 3. sensation and perception are adaptive
psychophysics
study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience
perception
selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input
