Mod 3 ITP Midterm

• Sensation


  The activation of receptors in the various sense organs
• Sensory receptors

  • Specialized forms of neurons
  • Stimulated by different kinds of energy rather than by neurotransmitters
• Sense organs


  • eyes
  • ears
  • nose
  • skin
  • taste buds

  
• Transduction


  Turning outside stimuli into neural activity
• Just noticeable difference (jnd or the difference threshold)

  The smallest difference between 2 stimuli that is detectable 50 percent of the time
• Absolute threshold


  The smallest amount of energy needed for a person to consciously detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time it is present
• Subliminal stimuli


  • Stimuli that are below the level of conscious awareness
  • Just strong enough to activate the sensory receptors, but not strong enough for people to be consciously aware of them

  
• Subliminal perception


  The process by which subliminal stimuli act upon the unconscious mind, influencing behavior
• Subliminal messages and perception are linked to the idea of mind control, and the roots of this are placed very far back in our history. Mind control is where an individual or group of individuals can be controlled without their awareness. It is perception below the individual's/group's threshold. It is also the idea that people can be made to do things they would not ordinarily do.
• Ways subliminal messages can be sent to the unconscious


  • Visual
  • Auditory
• Habituation


  The tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant, unchanging information
• Sensory adaptation


  The tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging
• Brightness


  Determined by the amplitude of the wave - how high or how low the wave actually is
• Color (hue)


  Determined by the length of the wave
• Saturation


  The purity of the color people sees
• Parts of the eye

  • Cornea
  • Aqueous humor
  • Pupil
  • Iris
  • Lens
  • Vitreous humor
  • Retina
• Visual accommodation


  The change in the thickness of the lens as the eye focuses on objects that are far away or close
• Nearsightedness (myopia)


  The shape of the eye causes the focal point to fall short of the retina
• Farsightedness (hyperopia)


  The focus point is behind the retina
• Layers of the retina

  • Ganglion cells
  • Bipolar cells
  • Photoreceptors
• Rods


  • Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina
  • Responsible for noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light
• Cones


  • Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina
  • Responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision
• Blind spot


  Area in the retina where the axons of the three layers of retinal cells exit the eye to form the optic nerve; insensitive to light
• Dark adaptation


  The recovery of the eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after exposure to bright lights
• Light adaptation


  The recovery of the eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in light after exposure to darkness
• Trichromatic theory


  Theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and green

  
• Opponent-process theory


  Theory of color vision that proposes four primary colors with cones arranged in pairs: red and green, blue and yellow

  
• Monochrome colorblindness


  A condition in which a person's eyes either have no cones or have cones that are not working at all

  
• Red-green colorblindness


  Either the red or the green cones are not working
• Sex-linked inheritance


  The gene for color-deficient vision is recessive
• Wavelength


  Interpreted as frequency or pitch (high, medium, or low)
• Amplitude


  Interpreted as volume (how soft or loud a sound is)
• Purity


  Interpreted as timbre (a richness in the tone of the sound)
• Hertz (Hz)


  Cycles or waves per second, a measurement of frequency
• Parts of the ear

  • Auditory canal
  • Eardrum
  • Cochlea
  • Organ of Corti
  • Auditory nerve

  
• Pitch


  Psychological experience of sound that corresponds to the frequency of the sound waves
• Place theory


  Theory of pitch that states that different pitches are experienced by the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of Corti
• The medulla oblongata controls vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, swallowing, vomiting, sneezing, coughing, digestion, urination, defecation, and sexual responses.
• The purpose of the midbrain is to relay sensory information from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth
• The pons relays motor signals between the cerebellum and spinal cord