Sensation/Perception 1
Fill in the step:
Sensation --> ______ --> Coding --> Perception
Transduction
What are the two major categories of the nervous system?
Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System
The correlation coefficient spans from __ to __. This tells us the _____ and _________ of a relationship.
-1 to 1
strength, direction
Describe the basic structure of a neuron.
What is adaptation in the context of stimuli?
stimulus remains constant over time and seems to disappear
What is absolute threshold?
minimum amount of stimulus needed for a person to detect a particular stimulus half of the time
Plasticity
What's the difference between validity and reliability?
Validity = degree to which a finding, measurement, or statistic is accurate and performs its function
Reliability = degree to which a finding, measurement, or statistic is consistent and stable over time
True or False:
What makes neurons work is chemical. Communication between neurons is electrical.
False. Inner-workings of neurons are electrical and communication between is chemical.
What is prosopagnosia?
failure to recognize faces
Can you have sensation without perception? If so, give an example.
Yes! Example could be when you "block out" different noises or other stimuli when in a classroom and paying attention to the teacher.
Which area in the brain is responsible for the ability to produce language?
Broca's area
What sections should you have in a research report?
title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, references, appendix
What are three methods of getting rid of extra neurotransmitter in the synapse? Describe/define each.
Diffusion = neurotransmitter drifts away
Reuptake = autoreceptors on presynaptic neuron take the neurotransmitter back
Degradation = enzymes break down/eat neurotransmitter
What is proprioception?
sensory system responsible for awareness of body positions
Can you have perception without sensation? If so, give an example.
Frontal = contains primary motor cortex; movement and planning; contains prefrontal cortex; decision-making and self-control
Parietal = contains primary somatosensory cortex; touch
Temporal = contains primary auditory cortex; recognize objects/people
Occipital = contains primary visual cortex
What are the three components of a theory?
- can be disproven (falsifiable)
- can be modified or discarded if needed
- have to be testable
Define an agonist and antagonist.
Agonist = drug that occupies certain receptor and activates it; mimics the endogenous ligand
Antagonist = drug that blocks the receptor activation
What is the difference between binocular and monocular cues?
Binocular = depth information gathered by both eyes
Monocular = gathered by one eye
What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up processing?
top-down = analysis that moves from the whole to the parts; use knowledge of the whole to interpret the parts; interested in the big picture
bottom-up = analysis that moves from the parts to the whole; putting together parts to form a whole; concerned with the details
Compare the limbic system with the basal ganglia.
Limbic system = system primarily for emotion, learning, memory; contains structures such as the hippocampus (memory) and amygdala (emotion)
Basal ganglia = system primarily for motor control and spatial memory
There are three specific types of validity that we talked about. Name at least two and define them.
External validity = degree to which it is reasonable to generalize from a sample to its population of interest
Internal validity = ability of a study to rule out alternative explanations
Construct validity = how accurately the operationalizations used in a study capture the variables of interest
What are the two amino acid neurotransmitters? Describe/list functions of each.
GABA = inhibitory; regulates anxiety, sleep, and arousal
glutamate = excitatory; contributes to learning and memory; associated with long-term memory
The optic nerve (used to send visual messages from the eyes to the brain) connects to the back of the eye. In the connection spot, there are no photoreceptors, so, therefore, that area cannot sense visual information.