PSYC 107 1st Edition Exam 3 Study Guide Lectures 8 14 Chapter 3 Sensations Bottom Up vs Top Down Processing Starting with the bottom of the chain and working to the top starting with the sensory nerves then working up to processing is bottom up processing Starting at the highest level then working to the small details is top down processing Absolute and Subliminal Thresholds Absolute thresholds are the minimal stimulation necessary to detect the light sound pressure taste or odor 50 of the time Subliminal thresholds are below threshold stimuli and they can occur without our awareness We can still detect the stimulus some of the time Sometimes a subliminal perception which is something that our brain saw but does not know that we saw it can affect how we look at the thing immediately following What is the function of sensory adaptation The function of sensory adaptation is for our mind to adapt to an unchanging stimulus Sensory adaptation also allows our mind to focus on informative changes and cut out the unimportant things that stay the same we perceive the world not exactly as it I but as it is useful for us to perceive it What is the energy that is seen as visible light Our eyes see light but the light is pulses of energy that our visual system perceives as color The color hue is dependent on the wavelength of the energy and the brightness is dependent on the intensity or the amount of energy in the pulses of energy How does the eye transform the light energy into neural messages Light enters the cornea and passes through the pupil Behind the pupil is a lens that focuses the light on the retina How does the brain process visual information Impulses travel across the optic nerve to the thalamus onto the visual cortex Which theories help understand color vision Young Helmholtz tri color the retina contains three types of color receptors or three different types of cones sensitive to three colors Hering the brain pairs colors together into opposing pairs in order to have a contrast Red vs green blue vs yellow and black vs white Characteristics of Air Pressure Waves Sound waves are sections of compressed and expanded air Our ears collect their waves and send them to the brain in order for the brain to decode them Frequency is correlated to pitch and amplitude is correlated to loudness How does the ear transform the sound energy into messages Outer ear channels collect these sound waves which cause tiny vibrations of the eardrums The bones of the middle ear amplify the vibrations which are then transferred to the cochlea Tiny hairs are bent in the fluid filled cochlea which the cells then send neural messages to the auditory cortex How do we locate sounds Sound waves hit the ear stronger and faster in one ear which is the brain analyzes the differences to determine where the sound came from How do we experience taste The brain region associated with memory and taste are closely connected therefore many memories are associated with taste Perceptual Organization Figure 6 37 our brain tells us that a farther away object can only be the same size as one that is nearer if in reality the one farther away is bigger How do we see the world in 3D Depth perception is the ability to judge distance all species can see a drop at a young age Depth perception is learned and innate Binocular convergence is most useful for close up objects The muscles are forming the eyes to make the move determining how far or close something is Chapter 4 Learning What distinguishes the forms of learning Learning is a permanent change to the organism s behavior due to experience Associative learning is when learning to associate to stimuli together while in observational learning is when learning is done by watching others Neutral Stimulus to Conditioned Stimulus A neutral stimulus is introduced right before a stimulus that elicits a unconditioned response or natural response Acquisition Extinction Spontaneous Recovery Generalization and Discrimination Acquisition a neutral stimuli is converted into a conditions stimuli Extinction when the conditioned stimuli stops being conditioned Spontaneous Recovery the reappearance of whatever became extinct after a rest time Generalization tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a CS Discrimination only responding to the CS Importance of Pavlov Classical conditioning is a basic form of learning that applies to all species Operant Conditioning vs Classical Conditioning When an organism learns associations between its own behavior and resulting events Classical conditioning is the formation of associations between stimuli automatic responses Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Target behavior is Automatic Emitted voluntarily Reward or punishment is Provided Contingent on unconditionally behavior Behavior depends on Autonomic Skeletal nervous system muscles Types of Reinforcers Reinforcements are any even that strengthens the following behavior positive reinforcement is adding a stimuli while negative reinforcement takes something away Primary innately reinforcing secondary leads to satisfaction immediate NOW Extra Readings Videos Original Pavlov Footage Pavlov was initially interested in the salivation of dogs When presented with food the dog salivated Eventually only seeing the food dish or hearing the footsteps of the researches would elicit the same response Pavlov decided to introduce different stimuli and measure how much the dogs salivated Metronomes lights and bells were all used for stimuli Pavlov discovered classical conditioning which are the stimulus and response are natural The neutral stimulus is introduced just before the classical stimulus Conditioning has taken place when the neutral stimulus elicits the classical response Any sound sight or smell can influence us any way Synesthesia Synesthesia is when some sense fuse together Words can be tasted and sounds can be smelled etc Synesthesia is born this way it is not a disease Synesthesia is joined sensations When a doorbell rings they may see blue spots The Ames Room Explained The brain has to resolve ambiguities that is knows about the world knowing this you can trick the mind The room is trapezoidal but the room looks normal The brain has an assumption that walls are always parallel so the walls are seen as being parallel even when the people change size McGurk Effect When an actor is recorded saying BA but his mouth is recorded saying FA you will hear FA even though he is saying BA The