Fall 2013 PSYC 2000 Sec 001 003 Exam 2 Study Outline Chapter 3 Sensation Perception 1 What is sensation What is Perception Can you distinguish between the two o Sensation the process that occurs when special receptors in the sense organs are activated allowing various forms of outside stimuli to become neural signals in the brain Transduction the process of converting outside stimuli into neural activity o Perception the method by which the brain takes all the sensations people experience at any given moment and allows them to be interpreted in some meaningful fashion It is not innate or acquired 2 What are sensory receptors Specialized forms of neurons the cells that make up the nervous system o Where are they located or where can you find them on the body Ears eyes nose skin and taste buds o How do they take in information from outside stimuli and convert it into something that can be transmitted in the body and brain hint transduction They are stimulated by different kinds of energy Transduction the process of converting outside stimuli into neural activity 3 Name the environmental stimuli that stimulate the receptors for each sense i e vision hearing taste smell touch That is what is the stimulus input that each sense picks up on from the environment and can convert for transmission note relates to table below o Vision Stimulus input light energy 1 Light tiny packets of waves known as photons Phototransduction Conversion of light energy into neural impulses that brain can understand o Hearing Stimulus input sound waves 1 Vibrations of molecules of air that surround us 2 Acoustical transduction conversion of sound waves into neural impulses in hair cells of the inner ear o Taste Stimulus input chemicals Gustatory taste receptors taste buds 1 25 non tasters 50 medium tasters 25 super testers 2 Clusters of cells found on the taste buds which are responsible for the sense of taste 3 Gustatory transduction conversion of food molecules into neural impulses in the receptors of the taste buds o Smell Stimulus input chemicals Olfactory cilia hair like structures located in upper portion of nasal passages and are responsible for smell Olfactory transduction conversion of chemical molecules in air into neural impulses by the olfactory cilia Olfactory receptors send neural signals related to smell directly up the olfactory bulbs o Touch Stimulus input touch pressure temperature pain 1 Sensory receptors in the skin Nerve fibers that carry information about tactile stimulation are routed through the thalamus and onward to the somatosensory cortex 4 Be able to fill in the blanks of the table below This table represents understanding of how each sensory organ brings in sensations through its receptors to be converted for transmission to and interpretation by the brain I have provided one example to get you started Vision Stimulus input Light waves light energy Hearing Sound waves Chemicals Taste Smell Chemicals Touch Touch pressure temperature pain Elements or properties of stimulus Wavelength color Amplitude brightness Saturation purity Sweet Sour Salty Bitter Brothy Pitch wavelength or frequency Volume amplitude Timbre purity of the sound tone Ear Corti organ hair cells membrane Auditory cortex Sensory organ Eyes Sensory receptors Photoreceptors including rods cones Mouth tongue Nose Gustatory taste buds receptors Olfactory receptor cells Location of receptors Main location of processing in brain Retina of eyes Basilar Papillae Visual cortex Insular cortex Olfactory Cilia little hairs bulbs Skin Pacinian corpuscles free nerve endings Surface under skin Somasensory cortex 5 What we detect or become consciously aware of has to do with sensory thresholds o Be able to define differentiate and recognize examples of the Just Noticeable Difference or Difference Threshold and the Absolute Threshold 1 Just noticeable difference the smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50 of the time difference threshold 2 Absolute threshold the lowest level of stimulation that a person can consciously detect 50 of the time the stimulation is present What is Weber s Law Which threshold theory does it belong too You do not have to apply it 1 Whatever the difference between the stimuli might be it is always constant part of just noticeable differences o What is an alternate theory to the above two thresholds difference and absolute that has been used to explain the detection of stimulus hint Sensation Perception Part 1 lecture 1 Subliminal perception What are subliminal stimuli Generally what influence do they have on us 1 Subliminal stimuli are those just strong enough for our sensory receptors to pick them up but not strong enough for us to be able to detect them 6 What is habituation What is sensory adaptation How are they similar and how are they different information o Habituation tendency of brain to stop attending to constant unchanging o Sensory adaptation tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging o In habituation the sensory adaptation receptors are still responding to stimulation but the lower centers of the brain are not sending the signals from those receptors to the cortex The process of sensory adaptation differs because the receptor cells themselves become less responsive to an unchanging stimulus garbage odors included and the receptors no longer send signals to the brain 7 Vision light o How does the human visual spectrum compare to the whole or total spectrum of Visible spectrum the portion of the whole spectrum of light that is The wavelengths people can see are only a small part of the whole visible to the human eye electromagnetic spectrum o Be able to describe each of the three characteristics or properties of light and what they allow us to perceive e g different wavelengths of light relate to different colors we see Color hue wavelength 1 Long wavelengths measured in nanometers are found at the red end of the visible spectrum whereas shorter wavelengths are found at the blue end Brightness amplitude of wave height of wave 1 The higher the wave the bright the light the lower the wave the dimmer the light Saturation purity determined by whether or how much there is a mixture of wavelengths 1 A highly saturated red for example would contain only red wavelengths whereas a less saturated red might contain a mixture of wavelengths o What are the parts of the eye including the part that leaves the eye to carry the message
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