Cody Carroll Period 3 Chapter 5 Outline and Cy Ay

Sensation is the detection of physical energy from the environment which we encode as neural signals. When we organize and interpret our sensations, it is known as perception The beginning level of sensory analysis is also known as bottom- up processing Top-down processing is the information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when someone constructs perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. Bottom up processing is sensory analysis that begins at the entry level, with information flowing from the sensory analysis that begins at the entry level with information flowing from the sensory receptors to the brain Patient E.H. suffered from prosopagnosia, which is the inability to recognize and connect the outside the world. Complete sensation was present but perception was incomplete. It is the lack of top-down processing

Thresholds Psychophysics is the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. Absolute threshold is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus50 percent of the time A hearing specialist would expose an individual to varying sounds in order to figure out their absolute threshold Signal detection theory is the theory which predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amidst background stimulation. Assuming that there is no single absolute threshold and the detection depends partly on a persons experience, expectations, motivation and level of fatigue. A persons heightened attention decreases after 30 minutes. More false alarms are detected in heightened responsiveness A stimulus is Subliminal if it is below your absolute threshold; you detect it less than 50% of the time. For instance, a microscopic cell is subliminal to you because you cannot see it with your naked eye. Subliminal advertisements (Drink Coke, eat popcorn etc.), does have an effect on you but do not persuade you. The final statement of subliminal messages could be that much of our information processing occurs automatically, out of sight, off the radar screen of our conscious mind. The Difference Threshold (just noticeable difference or end) is the lowest difference you can detect between the two stimuli 50% of the time. For example, you are just able to notice the difference between 1kg and 1.02kg half the time.

Priming is acuteness to stimuli because of exposure to a certain event or experience. For example, an individual who has just purchased a new car may now start to notice with more frequency other people driving her same make and model. This person has been primed to recognize more readily a car like hers because of the experience she has driving and owning one. Webers Law states that two stimuli must differ in percentages or ratios, not amount, for a person to detect it (end). Sensory Adaptation Sensory Adaptation- lowered sensitivity due to constant exposure from stimulus. For example, when you go into someones house you notice an odorbut this only lasts for a little while because sensory adaptation allows you to focus your attention on changing environment. If a constant image was maintained on the eyes inner surface, the person will first see the complete image, then their sensory receptors will begin to fatigue and the image will start to vanish. The image will reappear and then disappear. This experiment reveals that perceptions reorganized by the meanings that the mind imposes. This adaptation allows the person to focus on informative changes, leaving out uninformative constant stimulations. Vision Transduction refers to Sensory energy being converting (transformed) into neural energy/impulses. Light is composed of electromagnetic waves with Wavelengths (distance from one peak to another peak on a wave)and Amplitudes (height of the wave) Wavelength determines hue and pitch determines the frequency in sound. Amplitude determines intensity and loudness in sound. External Light entering the eye first travels through the Cornea (protective layer) Pupil (an adjustable opening) is controlled by Iris (muscle around the pupil) Lens (an oval transparency) that changes shape to focus light by a process called accommodation. Retina Light is then focused onto the back of the eye called Retina (multi-neuron surface). Johannes Kepler revealed that the retinas did receive upside- down images. Researchers later revealed that the retina does not read the image as a whole, receptor cells convert light energy into neural impulses and these impulses then are sent to the brain, it is then that the image is constructed and perceived. Acuity is how sharp and clear a vision is There are three basic types of Acuity : normal, nearsightedness (only see near things clearly), and farsightedness (only see far things clearly) The Retina has 2 types of receptor cells: Rods and Cones. Cells connecting these detectors form the Optic Nerve that sends the impulses to brain. Receptor cells are the specialized cells that respond to a particular type of energy. Rods are receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision and perception of darkness.

Everyone has a Blind Spot, a small region in the visual field where nothing could be seen. This is because there are no receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves the eye in the retina. Normally, we dont witness this effect because we have two eyes that compensate for each others blind spot, and the fact that our eyes are constantly moving. Fovea is the region in the retina where light is centrally focused. The fovea has no rods, only cones. When light energy strikes the rods and cones, neural signals are generated. These signals activate the bipolar cells. The bipolar cells then activate the ganglion cells. They then form the optic nerve. Cones allow detail an color Cones allow one to perceive color. In the dark, the cone is ineffective. The rods are not affected by the dim light and many rods will focus their energy into one bipolar cell. Visual Information Processing The retina is brain tissue that floats to the eye during early fetal development There are three levels in which visual information is received. First, the retina processes information before sending it via the thalamus to the brains cortex. The retina also analyzes the sensory information Information from the retina is received and transmitted ganglion cells. Pressure can trigger the retina Nobel prize winners Hubel and Wiesel discovered Feature Detectors in the brain cortex that are sensitive to specific features in what we see ,like shape, color, depth, movement, and form. Perret identified nerve cells that specialize in responding to a specific gaze, head angle, posture. Parallel Processing Our brain Processes lots of information simultaneously. For example, looking at an orange, the brain processes the orange color, the round shape, and the bumpy texture all at the same time. People who cannot consciously perceive can still remarkably locate objects but are consciously unaware of how they knew. Such a phenomenon is called Blind Sight Mrs.M was a woman who suffered stroke damage to both sides of her brain. She became unable to perceive movement. David Milner revealed that an individual knows more than they are aware of. Color Vision Young and von Helmholtz revealed that color can be created by combining the light waves of blue, red and green colors. They inferred that the eye must have three types of color receptors. Color processing is described in 2 stages : o 1) Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory Light is detected by 3 types of cones each specifically sensitive to Red, Blue, or Green. Combinations of them produce intermediate colors(yellow, cyan, purple)

o 2) Opponent-Process theory Color is then processed by their opponent colors (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white). Some cells are excited by blue and inhibited by yellow, vice versa. Thus, you cannot see a bluish-yellow. Color Constancy Refers to the importance of surrounding background effects on perceived color. Color constancy states that colors dont look different even indifferent illumination (I sunlight or dark room), even if the light and wavelengths change. Hearing Hearing is highly adaptable Hearing Frequency (Pitch) is the number of waves travelling through a point in one second, relates to how fast a wave travels. Audition, or hearing, requires sounds waves converted into neural impulses, and this is done in the ear. Sound travels through the 3 sections of the ear to the brain : Outer ear : Auditory Canal Middle ear: Ear drum (tight membrane). Concentrates the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochleas oval window Inner ear: contains the Cochlea (coiled, fluid-filled tube) that contains the Basilar Membrane, which is lined with hair cells that vibrates to excite nerve fibers. The fibers form the Auditory Canal connecting to the brain. Loudness is determined by number of activated hair cells. Harder to hear sounds are amplified more than loud sounds How we perceive Pitch Place theory says that we hear different pitches because specific places in the cochlea are stimulated. Frequency theory says that we hear different pitches because the speed of neural impulses traveling to the brain matches the speed of the sound Waves (frequency). Does not explain how we hear low-pitched sounds, it can explain our sensation of high pitched sounds. It does explain our sensation of low-pitched sounds How do we locate sounds? We can tell which direction a sound is coming from because if it is closer to our right ear, the right ear will receive the sound slightly faster than left ear and the brain calculates this difference. If the sound is directly behind or in front, where the distance between two ears is the same, then it is difficult to differentiate. Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other. The ear uses parallel processing to analyze the differences in the sounds received by the two ears, and then finds the source. Hearing loss and Deaf Culture Conduction Deafness loss of hearing due to damage of eardrum, and/or the tiny bones in middle ear. (Could be fixed by hearing aid) Sensor neural hearing loss- damage to the cochleas receptors. Destroys the receptors Shark and bird hair cells are able to regenerate.

Cochlear Implants Cochlear Implants are the only way to restore hearing for people with nerve deafness These implants are wired to many sites on the auditory nerve, which allows them to transmit electrical impulses to the brain Most effective when the child is very young Deaf people argue against the implants since they do not view deafness as advisability, they also believe that the brains plasticity allows a greater strength in another area. Touch Touch is composed of 4 senses : Warmth, Pain, Cold, and Pressure Only pressure has specific receptors Pressure and Cold = wet Cold and warm = hot Pressure and Pain = tickling itch Pain Phantom Limb Sensations occur when pain is felt in a nonexistent limb. Even though the leg is not present, the receptor neurons previously connected to them are still there. And they will fire, resulting in pain sensations The Gate-Control Theory states that the spinal cord has gates that opens/closest transmit pain impulses. Small fibers open Gate = pain. Large fibers close Gate = no pain Pain is merely a physical and psychological interpretation. Distraction methods, where attention is focused elsewhere, can ease the felt pain. Acupuncture (may affect gate-control), electrical stimulation, exercise canals relieve pain. The Biopsychosocial perspective reveals that a persons experience of pain is influenced by biological influences, past experiences and social cultural influences. Taste Taste is a Chemical Sense composed of 4 basic senses : Sweet, Sour, Salty, and Bitter Taste receptors (taste buds) regenerate every 1 or 2 weeks, but age, smoking, and alcohol will lower taste bud number and sensitivity. Sensory Interaction is when one sense affects another sense, thus interacting. Smell and taste seem to interact. Taste buds on top and sides of the tongue and in the back on the roof of the mouth contain taste receptor cells The only sense that doesnt first relay impulses to the Thalamus Smell Smell or Olfaction is also a Chemical Sense that directly transmitsinformation from nose to the temporal lobe. The only sense that doesnt first relay impulses to the Thalamus. Body Position and Movement Kinesthesis (using sensors in muscles, tendons, and joints)

Vestibular sense (using fluids in semicircular canal, cochlea, and vestibular sacs in inner ear) Both sense our position, movement, and balance.

Check Yourself and Ask Yourself 1. Sensation refers to the bottom-up process by which the physical sensory system receives and represents stimuli. Perception refers to the mental process of organizing and interpreting the sensory input. I went into the pool today and at first it was freezing and then it took about 5 minutes until it wasnt freezing anymore. 2. Light waves reflect off the person and travel in tour eye, where the rods and cones convert the light waves energy into neural impulses sent to your brain. Your brain then processes the subdimensions of this visual input including color, depth, movement, and form separately but simultaneously, and then integrates this information into a conscious perception of the person you know. I would probably give up smell if I had to give a sense because Ive already experienced what not having smell is like in a way because when you get sick a lot of the time your nose gets stuffed up and you cant smell anything. 3. 1) Outer Ear: collecting air pressure waves 2) Middle Ear: mechanical waves 3) Inner Ear: fluid waves 4) Auditory Nerve: electrical waves 5) The Brain: perceiving sounds Yes, I would want to have cochlear implants because Ive never experienced what not being to hear is like, so I dont know what I would do without being able to hear. No, it doesnt surprise most deaf people dont because then it would change the way that they have lived their entire life and it would be a dramatic change. Because there technically isnt a blind culture, like there is a deaf culture, also some people are deaf and blind or just one of those. 4. We have three types of color receptors, four basic touch senses, and four basic taste sensations. But we have no basic smell receptors. Instead, 1000 odor receptors, individually and in combination, recognize some 10000 discernible odors. When I was playing golf and my friend hit me with a golf ball after a full swing and it hit my calf and it didnt hurt but I did feel it hit my calf. Ive been hit in the back or my leg before many times and every other time it hurt but that time.