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Unit 4: Sensation and Perception (Hearing (inner ear (cochlea, basilar…
Unit 4: Sensation and Perception
Vision/eyes/etc.
Light waves
wavelength: distance between two tops of waves (short = blues/violets; long = reds and such)
amplitude: height of wave (big = bright, short = dull)
Parts of eye
iris: the colored part of the eye; the muscle that relaxes and contracts to let more or less light through the pupil
pupil: the dark, center of the eye that lets light into the eye
lens: the clear membrane behind the pupil that changes shape to focus light on the retina
accommodation: when the lens changes shape to focus far/near objects on retina
cornea: the protective layer in front of the iris and pupil; also helps to focus light a little
retina: the lining inside the eye that contains the rods, cones, bipolar cells, and ganglion cells to process light
cones: light receptors that receive color; only work in abundance of light; clustered around the fovea
bipolar cells: the cells in between the cones/rods and the ganglion cells; activated by cones/rods
rods: light receptors that receive black, gray, and white; allow for night vision; very sensitive to light; more numerous than cones and far from fovea
ganglion cells: activated by bipolar cells; axons make up optic nerve: relays visual info to visual cortex thru thalamus
blind spot: the spot where the optic nerve leaves the eye; there are no light receptors there
fovea: the center, focal point of the eye; there are lots of cones there, so you can focus
Visual perception/theories
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory: there are three types of color receptors: red, green, and blue. the combination of these can create any color. (doesn't explain how red-green color blind people can see yellow, or yellow in general, but is still considered correct.)
opponent-process theory: there are three types of color receptor pairs: red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white. Explains afterimages.
more key terms: depth perception, feature detection, parallel processing, retinal disparity, grouping, etc.
other senses
kinesthesis: movement of individual body parts
vestibular sense: movement/position of head; enabled by semicircular canals
olfaction: smell
gustation: taste
touch/pain
Sensation/Perception basics
Sensation = detection; perception = interpretation (someone who has prosopagnosia, or face blindness, but has perfect vision = great sensation, but damaged perception.)
bottom-up processing begins w/ senses and works up to brain's integration of info; top-down processing = info processing guided by higher-level mental processes, drawing on experience/expectations
Key terms about attention: selective attention (think texting and driving), inattentional blindness (think Invisible Gorilla/umbrella woman), change blindness/deafness, choice blindness.
transduction: transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses. 3 steps: receive stimulation, transform into neural impulse, and deliver info to brain
psychophysics: the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
Hearing
inner ear
cochlea, basilar membrane, semi-circular canals, auditory nerve, hair cells
middle ear
eardrum, hammer, anvil, stirrup
outer ear
pinna (your actual visible ear), auditory canal, eardrum
audition: hearing
frequency: # of wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (per second). high = high pitch, low = low pitch
amplitude: height of wave; determines volume
timbre: clearness/clarity; depends on how the sound waves interact
sensorineural hearing loss = damage to hair cells/auditory nerve; fixed w/ cochlear implant. conduction hearing loss = damage to mechanical system that conducts sound to cochlea; less common. fixed w hearing aids
perceiving pitch: place theory = pitch depends on place that the cochlea is stimulated; frequency theory = rate of nerve impulses matches frequency of tone.