Chapter 5 - Sensation

I. Intro

______- detecting a physical energy/a stimulus (also known as ______)

______- selecting, organizing, and interpreting our sensations(also known as ______)

______- the study of the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience (Gustav Fechner)

______- the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

______- states there is no single absolute threshold and experiences, expectation, motivation and tiredness play a role in stimulus detection

______- the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time (also known as JND or ______)

______- when stimuli are below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

______- states that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount), to be perceived as different (Ernst Weber)

______- diminished sensitivity is a consequence of constant stimulation

II. Transduction

______- the transformation of stimulus energy into neural impulses

  1. Sight

______- the conversion of light energy into neural impulses that the brain can understand

______(color) - the dimension of color determined by the ______(distance from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next) of the light

______- the amount of energy in a wave of light determined by the ______(the height of a wave). It is related to perceived brightness.

______- transparent tissue where light enters the eye

______- muscle that expands and contracts to change the size of the opening (pupil) for light

______- focuses the light rays on the retina

______- contains sensory receptors that process visual information and sends it to the brain

______- the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to help focus near or far objects on the retina

______- a condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects. ______- condition in which faraway objects are seen more clearly than near objects

______- central point in the retina around which the eye’s cones cluster (visual acuity)

______- carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.

______- point where the optic nerve leaves the eye because there are no receptor cells located there.

______- processing of several aspects of the stimulus simultaneously (uses ______)

______- suggests that the retina contains three receptors that are sensitive to red, blue and green colors which combine to create all colors

______- if three primary colors (lights) are mixed, the wavelengths are added and the color white is the result

______- mixing three primary colors (pigments) subtracts wavelengths and the color black is the result

______- genetic disorder (more males) in which people are blind to green or red colors

______- suggests that we process four primary colors combined in pairs of red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white. This creates ______. (Ewald Hering)

______- suggests that color vision is the result of both the Trichromatic Theory and the Opponent Process Theory

______- the color of an object remains the same under different illuminations

  1. Hearing

______- the conversion of sound waves into neural impulses in the hair cells of the inner ear.

______(pitch) - the dimension of frequency determined by the wavelength of sound.The number of wavelengths that pass a point at a given time.

______(loudness) – the amount of energy in a wave, determined by the amplitude (height), relates to the perceived loudness (volume)

______(timbre) – the characteristics of sound

Outer Ear: ______- collects sounds

______: chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (ossicles: ______, ______& ______) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

Inner Ear: Innermost part of the ear, containing the ______, ______&______

______- the coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear that transforms sound vibrations to auditory signals

______- suggests that sound frequencies stimulate the basilar membrane at specific places resulting in perceived pitch

______- suggests that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch. Once again, it is believed that it is a combination of the Place and Frequency Theories which enables us to hear.

______- sounds that reach one ear faster than the other ear cause us to localize the sound

______- caused by damage to the mechanical system that sound waves to the cochlea (vibration is affected). ______- caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve, also called nerve deafness (often those born with deficiencies)

  1. TouchBody Position

______- the sense of our body parts’ position and movement (registered in joints). Helps you register energy from others.

______- monitors the head (and body’s) position and helps with maintaining balance. Vestibular sense is governed by fluid filled sacs in ______of the inner ear.

______(tactile sense) - a mix of four distinct skin senses—pressure, warmth, cold, and pain

______- suggests that the spinal cord contains neurological “gates” that either block pain or allow it to be sensed. ______can be controlled by a number of different therapies.

D. Smell

______(olfactory sense) - is a chemical sense. Odorants enter the nasal cavity to stimulate 5 million receptors in the olfactory bulb to sense smell.Ability to identify smells usually peaks during early adulthood, but steadily declines after that. ______are often better at detecting odors than men.

The brain region for smell is closely connected with the brain regions involved with ______(limbic system).That is why strong memories are made through the sense of smell.

______- occurs when one sense affects another sense (like sight, smell & taste)

E. Taste

______(gustatory sense) - consisted of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (______) tastes. Recently, scientists have suggested a sixth taste for “curries.”

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