Sensation
Define sensation
The process that occurs when special neuron receptor sites in the sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue) are activated, allowing various forms of outside stimuli to become neural signals in the brain. Bringing raw sensory data from our environment to our brain
Define Transduction
The process of converting outside (chemical or physical) stimuli, into neural activity that the brain can interpret
Define perception
The method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment are interpreted and organized into something meaningful.
How do we define reality?
Reality is the result of this entire process of sensation and perception, where our brains construct a subjective understanding of the world based on both incoming sensory data and your personal experiences, memories, and expectations.
What is selective attention?
The cognitive process of to focus on specific stimuli and filtering out distractions of irrelevant information.
Where does all sensory information go in the brain after transduction (except for smell)?
Thalamus
What is the environmental stimuli for sight and hearing?
Light waves and sound waves
What is top-down processing?
The use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole.
How does our brain filter reality?
Through attention. We only perceive sensory information that we pay attention to
When we fail to notice significant changes in the scene/our visual environment, even though the changes are arguably obvious to see.
What is your absolute threshold?
The lowest level of stimulation that a person can consciously detect 50% of the time the stimulation is present.
What is the environmental stimuli for gustation (taste) and olfaction (smell)?
Chemicals
What is bottom-up processing?
The analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception.
What does Synesthesia tell us about reality?
Everyone's reality can be different. For people with synesthesia, they experience multiple senses at the same time consistently. That is their reality
What is inattentional blindness?
The failure to notice a fully visible but unexpected object or event because one's attention is focused on another task or object.
What is sensory adaptation?
When sensory receptor cells themselves become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging and they no longer send signals to the brain.
List receptor cells for olfactory and gustation information
Olfactory: cilia (hair cells); Gustation: tastebuds
What does Prosopagnosia (face blindness) tell us about the difference between sensation and perception?
Prosopagnosia shows us that sometimes people have no issues with sensation, they can "see" all parts of the stimuli, but they can't perceive/recognize the face due to their brain did not fully develop the section that handles facial recognition
How do the Gestalt principles help to explain our construction of reality?
Our brains organize and interpret the flood of sensory data into meaningful, predictable, and coherent wholes. The Gestalt principles explain how we perceive patterns and complete images even when information is missing, which is a shortcut that enables us to understand our environment quickly.
What is this an example of:
While reading, you block out the sound of the TV in the next room.
Selective attention
What is our kinesthetic sense?
Our body's ability to understand its movement and position in space, and the body in relation to itself. (Receptors that are located in muscles, tendons, and joints)
List the receptor cells for visual and auditory
Visual: rods and cones; Auditory: cilia (hair cells)
What is perceptual set?
The tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions.
How can bottom-up and top-down process create our reality?
Bottom-up and top-down processes create our reality through a constant interplay between sensory input and our internal knowledge and expectations. Together, they allow us to construct a meaningful and coherent perception of the world, from recognizing a simple object to understanding complex social situations.
You notice your name mentioned in another group’s conversation across the room.
What is this effect called?
Cocktail party effect