Exam 2 review Chapter 4 Sensation The conversion of energy from the environment into a pattern of response by the nervous system the detection of stimuli Light rays striking your eyes Sensation example Perception The interpretation of that information Recognizing your roommate Perception example Parts and functions of the eye Pupil an adjustable opening in the eye The pupil widens and narrows to control the amount of light entering in the eye Iris the colored structure on the surface of the eye surrounding the pupil It is the structure we describe when we say someone has blue green or brown eyes Light that passes through the eye passes through a layer of vitreous humor jellylike substance to strike the retina Retina A layer of visual receptors covering the back surface of the eyeball Cornea A rigid transparent structure on the outside of the eyeball Always focuses light in the same way Lens Just below the cornea can bend and vary in thickness to allow for accommodation of objects at different distances The cornea and the lens focus the light on the retina Fovea Central area of the human retina adapted for highly detailed vision Greatest density of receptors When you want to see something in detail you look at it so tht light focuses on the fovea Visual receptors Located in the retina in the back of the eyeball very sensitive and very specialized Cones Adapted for color vision daytime vision Only 5 of total receptors but far more axonal connections to brain send much more information The fovea is all cones The proportion of cones is highest toward the retina Rods Adapted for vision in dim light not color Away from the fovea the proportion of rods increases sharply this reason color vision becomes weaker toward the periphery of the eye Parts of the ear Ear is technically known as the pinna Sound waves strike eardrum cause it to vibrate Eardrum connects to 3 tiny bones hammer anvil and stirrup aka malleus incus stapes Stirrup vibrates last and transfers vibrations to the cochlea Contain fluid filled canals Also contain receptors for hearing which are hair cells These hair cells connect to neurons which transmit signals to the brain Mammalian ear converts sound waves into mechanical displacements along a row of Sound waves are vibrations of air or another medium Frequency the number of cycles vibrations a sound wave goes through in a second receptor cells hertz Hz Loudness amplitude of sound waves intensity Pitch it is a perception closely related to frequency The spacing of the waves the distance from the high point of one wave to the next one is the wavelength Types and cause of deafness Conduction deafness bones connected to the eardrum fail to transmit sound waves properly to the cochlea Can be repaired surgically Nerve deafness disease heredity exposure to loud noises destroys either cochlea or efferent neurons Cannot be surgically repaired Hearing aids help Cutaneous senses Aka skin senses Pain sensory and emotional aspect a Emotional aspect anterior cingulate cortex b Physical aspect has strong placebo effect Gate theory of pain Signals from the brain can stop painful signals from reaching the Substance P signals intense pain while endorphins reduce or block pain brain Depth and perception cues Binocular cues a Retinal disparity the difference in the apparent position of an object as seen by the left and right retinas b Convergence of the eyes degree to which they turn in to focus on a close object Monocular cues a Experience drawing of man aiming at far away elephant if you ve never seen a drawing it s a baby elephant Include object size linear perspective detail interposition texture gradient shadows lens accommodation Motion parallax closer objects move more than farther objects Chapter 5 Nature nurture and human development All information related to Piaget The effect of any experience depends on someone s maturity Jean Piaget 1896 1980 Children have qualitatively different thought processes from adults Behavior is based on Schemata plural of schema an organized way of interacting with others e g babies have a grasping schema and a sucking schema add more as time goes on Assimilation applying an old schema to new objects or problems i e a child observes that moving things are alive sun and moon move must be alive also Accomodation modifying an old schema to fit a new object or problem only living things move on their own exceptions the sun and moon may not be alive Infants shift back and forth between assimilation and accomodation Equilibration is the establishment of balance between the two intellectual growth Piaget s 4 Stages of Intellectual Development The sensorimotor stage birth to 2 years The preoperational stage just before 2 to 7 years The concrete operational stage from about 7 11 years The formal operations stage from about 11 years onward Infancy Piaget s Sensorimotor Stage Sense of permanence Show an infant a toy then hide it Infants don t attempt to find it Presumably to them it no longer exists Some concept of permanence as time goes by Sense of self Put unscented blush on a baby s nose then show it a mirror Under 18 months the baby will reach out to the mirror Over 18 mos the baby will touch his her own nose Early Childhood Piaget s Preoperational Stage Understand permanence but still can t grasp some contents two year olds will deny their brother has a sibling they can t grasp that their mother is someone s daughter Egocentrism a young child sees the world as centered around himself or herself and cannot easily take another person s perspective lacks in seeing other s perspectives Theory of Mind when a child begins to understand what other people know and that each person knows things that others don t Distinguishing Appearance from Reality sponge rock example Looks like a rock it is a rock Looks like a sponge it is a sponge Can tell some reality from fantasy they play make believe E g Scale model of house toy in same place 2 year old search haphazardly 3 year olds go to correct place Conservation don t understand that objects conserve properties such as mass length volume number pour water into a taller glass child will say there is less water He thought so caterpillar butterfly Modern researchers disagree if this were the case then while a child was in a given stage he she would always perform at that level In fact children fluctuate Vygotsky zone of proximal development the difference between what a child can learn on their own vs with adult help
View Full Document