Sensation Basics
What is sensory adaptation?
Decreased sensitivity to constant stimulation
What structure in the eye is our primary visual receptor?
Retina
What determines a sounds PITCH and what is pitch's unit of measurement?
Wave frequency and Hertz
What makes smell unique when compared to the other senses?
Bonus: What is the sense of smell's scientific name?
It is not processed by the thalamus
Bonus: olfaction
Cold and warm receptors being activated at the same time
What is the smallest detectable change in stimulus intensity?
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
What structure in the eye adjusts to focus images clearly on the retina?
Bonus: What is this adjustment process called?
Lens
Bonus: accommodation
What is localization?
Identifying where a sound originated from and how far away it is.
What are the 6 tastes?
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, oleogustus
Explain the gate theory of pain.
A neural "gate" is located on the spinal cord and it opens to transmit pain to the brain or closes to prevent pain from reaching the brain
What is synesthesia?
Bonus: A person with synesthesia usually experiences boosts in ____ and ____.
One sensory experience automatically triggering an experience in another sense
Bonus: Memory and creativity
Which structure in the eye helps us see in low light conditions, allows for peripheral vision, and cannot detect color or fine details?
Rods
How does place theory explain high-frequency perception?
Different frequencies stimulate different areas of the cochlea.
Higher frequencies activate the base of the cochlea and lower frequencies activate the apex.
What are specialized chemical signals?
What structure in the inner ear is used to detect rotational movements of the head?
Semicircular canals
Name 1 reason how sensory adaptation helps us.
Helps us tune out background noise
Adjust to different environments
Stay sensitive to new or changing stimuli
Optimize sensory processing for what's happening now
How does the Trichromatic Theory explain how we see color?
Our eyes are filled with 3 types of cones, each one tuned to a particular wavelength and color. They combine signals together to perceive the colors we see.
Short wavelength: blue
Medium wavelength: green
Long wavelength: red
Which type of deafness is usually PERMANENT?
Bonus: Explain why this deafness is usually permanent.
Sensorineural deafness.
Bonus: It is a result of damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve
What are the 3 levels of tasters?
Supertasters, medium tasters, and nontasters
Kinesthesis allows us to understand where our body is without ______.
Visual input/vision
What is Weber's law?
The amount needed to notice a change in a stimulus is a constant proportion to that original stimulus
Explain the 2 types of colorblindness.
Dichromatism: only 2 of the 3 primary colors can be perceived
Monochromatism: all colors appear as shades of one color
How does volley theory explain mid-range frequencies?
Groups of neurons fire in alternating patterns in order to perceive sound
Explain retronasal olfaction.
The smell you sense during chewing and swallowing.
What kinesthetic structure helps detect the stretch in our muscles?
Bonus: What other kinesthetic structure makes sure muscles do not overstretch?
Muscle spindles
Bonus: Golgi tendon organs