Sensation and Perception
What is sensation and perception?
What is transduction?
Sensation: Receiving and converting external stimuli into neural signals.
Perception: Interpreting those neural signals to form a mental representation of the environment.
Transduction: Converting physical energy (light, sound, etc.) into neural impulses.
How do you measure qualitative and quantitative coding for vision?
Amplitude: brightness (quantitative)
Wavelength: color (qualitative)
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
Physiological
Safety
Love/Belonging
Esteem
Self-actualization
What is the three-store model?
Sensory Memory: Brief, pre-attentive awareness.
Working/Short-Term Memory: Active thinking; capacity 7±2; duration <1 min.
Long-Term Memory: Permanent storage; large capacity.
What is scaffolding and provide an example?
Scaffolding: Supportive guidance to extend learning.
What is the absolute and difference threshold?
What does Weber's law state?
Absolute Threshold: Minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.
Difference Threshold (JND): Minimum difference between two stimuli detectable 50% of the time.
Weber’s Law: The JND is proportional to the original stimulus magnitude.
What is the purpose of the cornea, the pupil, and the iris?
Cornea: Transparent outer layer; initial light bending.
Pupil: Opening that allows light in.
Iris: Muscle that controls pupil size.
What is Utility Maximization Theory?
People aim to maximize pleasure (utility) and minimize pain.
What is explicit and implicit memory?
Explicit (Declarative):
Episodic: Personal experiences (hippocampus).
Semantic: Facts, concepts (temporal lobe).
Implicit (Nondeclarative):
Procedural: Skills/habits.Priming, Conditioning: Automatic effects.
What was Bandura's social learning theory and how did he prove it?
Learning through observation and imitation.
Bobo Doll Experiment: Kids imitate aggressive models.
Vicarious Reinforcement: Observing consequences affects imitation.
What is bottom-up and top-down processing? Provide examples!
Bottom-up: Data-driven (starts with the sensory input).
Ex: (anything that shows the brain completing perception from the bottom up)
Top-down: Concept-driven (influenced by expectations, experience).
Ex: (anything that shows the brain filling in with prior knowledge)
What is the purpose of the lens, the retina, the fovea, and the optic nerve?
Lens: Focuses light on retina (accommodation).
Retina: Contains photoreceptors (rods and cones).
Fovea: Central focus area; high concentration of cones.
Optic Nerve: Transmits visual information to brain.
What is grain frame and loss frame? Provide examples!
Gain frame: Risk-averse. Ex:( Anything that emphasizes the positive)
Loss frame: Risk-seeking. Ex:(Anything that emphasizes the negative)
How is memory encoded and retrieved?
Memory is encoded by transforming sensory information into a storeable format through processes like visual, acoustic, or semantic encoding
Depth of Processing: Deeper thinking → better memory.
Context-Dependent Learning: Recall better in same environment.
State-Dependent Learning: Recall better in same internal state.
Encoding Specificity: Matching context/state improves retrieval.
What are Piaget’s Cognitive Stages?
Sensorimotor (0–2 yrs): Object permanence develops.
Preoperational (2–7 yrs): Egocentrism, centration, lack of conservation.
Concrete Operational (7–11 yrs): Logical but concrete thinking.
Formal Operational (12+ yrs): Abstract reasoning.
What is the signal detection theory?
Detection depends on both stimulus intensity and psychological factors (expectations, motivation, alertness).
What is the correct order of how sound travels in the ear and what is the purpose of each part?
Ossicles, Eardrum, Cochlea, Pinna, and the auditory canal
Pinna → Auditory Canal → Eardrum → Ossicles → Cochlea
the Pinna collects sound waves, the Auditory Canal funnels them to the Eardrum, which vibrates. These vibrations are passed to the Ossicles (three small bones) which amplify them and transmit them to the Cochlea in the inner ear. Inside the cochlea, the vibrations are converted into electrical signals that are sent to the brain for interpretation as sound.
What is availability, representativeness, and anchoring? Provide examples!
Availability: Judging likelihood by ease of recall. Ex:(Making judgements based on how you remember something)
Representativeness: Judging by similarity to prototype. Ex:(making judgments based on how closely something or someone matches a stereotype)
Anchoring: Relying too much on initial information. Ex: (making judgements based on a starting point)
What is consolidation and reconsolidation?
The way memories are constructed.
Consolidation: Stabilizing new memories.
Reconsolidation: Updating old memories when recalled.
What are the attachment styles? (explain them)
1. Secure
Upset when caregiver leaves, comforted when they return.
Caregiver is consistent and responsive.
2. Insecure-Avoidant
Indifferent to caregiver leaving or returning.
Caregiver is distant or overstimulating.
3. Insecure-Resistant
Very distressed when caregiver leaves; hard to comfort.
Caregiver is inconsistent or insensitive.
4. Disorganized
Confused, fearful behavior.
Caregiver is both comforting and frightening (often linked to abuse).
What is qualitative and quantitative coding? Provide examples of both!
Qualitative coding: Which receptors are activated (type of stimulus).
Quantitative coding: Rate of firing (intensity of stimulus).
What is the pain pathway sequence?
Receptors → spinal cord → thalamus → somatosensory cortex.
sensory receptors are activated by a stimulus, sending a signal along a chain of neurons that travels up the spinal cord to the thalamus, and finally to the somatosensory cortex in the brain for conscious perception.
What is confirmation, overconfidence, and hindsight bias? Provide examples!
Confirmation Bias: Favoring evidence that supports beliefs.
Overconfidence Bias: Overestimating accuracy.
Hindsight Bias: “I knew it all along.”
What is Trace decay theory and Interference theory?
What are the 2 types Interference?
Trace decay theory: memories weaken over time
Interference theory: memories interfere with each other
Retroactive interference: new learning disrupts previously-learned material
Proactive interference: prior learning disrupting learning of new information
What are the 4 main parenting styles and what do they lead to?
1. Authoritative – Warm, firm, explains rules → confident, well-adjusted children.
2. Authoritarian – Strict, low warmth → anxious, low self-esteem.
3. Permissive – Warm, few rules → impulsive, poor self-control.
4. Neglectful – Uninvolved → low achievement, poor relationships.