Psych Chapter 4

Vibrations of the air, water, or other medium

Hertz (Hz)

The perception closely related to frequency

Example: High frequency as high pitched, low frequency as low pitched

Perception that depends on the amplitude of sound waves

Psychological experience

Fluid-filled, snail-shaped organ with canals.

Contains receptors for hearing

Results when the bones connected to the eardrum fail to transmit sound waves properly to the cochlea

Results from damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory nerve.

Disease, heredity, and loud noises are often causes of nerve deafness

A sound-wave through the fluid of the cochlea vibrates all the hair cells, which produce action potentials in synchrony with the sound waves

Ex: A sound with a frequency of 50 Hz makes the nerves send the brain 50 impulses per second

Beyond about 100 Hz, hair cells cannot keep pace. Still, each sound wave excites at least a few hair cells and volleys of them respond to each vibration with an action potential

A tone of 1000 Hz may produce 1000 impulses per second even though no neuron fires that rapidly

The highest frequency sounds vibrate hair cells near the stirrup end, and lower frequency sounds vibrate hair cells farther along the membrane

Detects the tilt and acceleration of the head and the orientation of the head with respect to gravity.

Ex: Posture, balance, motion sickness

Pressure on the skin, warmth, cold, pain, itch, movement across the skin, stretch of the skin. Also known as the somatosensory system

The idea that pain messages must pass through a gate, presumably in the spinal cord that can block the messages

Ex: If you injure yourself, the surrounding skin sends inhibitory messages to the spinal cord closing the pain gates

Neurotransmitters that weaken pain sensations

The cerebral cortex synthesizes color perception by comparing light from different parts of the retina

Color is perceived in red v green, blue v yellow, white v black. Staring at one color fatigues those cells, so we see a negative after-image

Three types of cones: blue, green, and red

The brain computes ratios of activation

Cones are for color, rods are for dim light

More rods than cones

Causes pain, then desensitizes the nociceptors

Ex: What makes peppers spicy

Continuing sensations including pain in the limb long after it has been amputated

Detects chemicals on the tongue

Located in the folds of the surface in the tongue, taste receptors

Sense of smell is known as olfaction

A condition in which a stimulus of one type such as sound also elicits another experience, such as color.

Intensity at which a given individual detects a stimulus 50% of the time

Nociceptors send pain signals to the spinal cord

The just noticeable difference in a stimulus is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus

Weber's law explains why you don't notice your headlights are on in the daytime

Tendencies to make hits, correct rejections, misses, and false alarms

Ex: Peoples' tendency to change as their motivation changes

For example, when you walk to your car that is parked in an empty parking lot  late at night all by yourself, you might be much more aware of noises because  the situation is somewhat threatening (you are primed and listening carefully to  hear anything and everything

Stimuli sometimes influence our behavior, even when they are presented so faintly or briefly that we do not perceive them consciously

Ex: When you see a happy face, you slightly mimic what you saw

The increase or decrease in an object's apparent brightness in contrast to objects around it

Specialized neurons in the visual cortex that respond to the presence of simple features such as lines and angles

If you stare at a waterfall for a minute or more and turn your eyes to the nearby cliffs, the cliffs appear to flow upward

A field that emphasizes perception and overall patterns

Tiny elements combine to produce larger items

• 12
• A13C
• 14

The ABC is dependent on how choose to read it

In which you apply your experience and expectations to interpret each item in context

When you see a word because you are expecting it (cat in the hat)

You distinguish the object from the background

You can't see the object unless you look really hard (Black spots)

Can be perceived in more than one way

The tendency to perceive objects that are close together as belonging to a group

The tendency to perceive similar as being a group

Filling in of the gaps when lines are interrupted

We imagine the rest of the figure to see something that is simple, symmetrical, or consistent with our past experience

Tendency to perceive objects as keeping their shape, size, and color, despite distortions in the actual pattern reaching the retina.

Incorrectly perceived object as moving

When an object is stationary, and the background

Carwash

An illusion of movement created by a rapid succession of stationary images

Still images in movies

Perception of distance enables us to experience the world in 3D

Difference in the apparent position of an object as seen by the left and right retinas

Degree in which they turn in to focus on a close object. The more the muscles pull, the closer the object must be.

Retinal disparity and convergence are called binocular cues because they depend on both eyes

Enable you to judge depth and distance with just one eye

The difference in speed of movement of images across the retina as you travel

A misinterpretation of visual stimulus

The conversion of energy into a pattern of responses by the nervous system

The moon at the horizon appears about 30% larger than it appears when it is higher in the sky