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GRE® Psychology Biological: Sensation and Perception Part 2
This deck covers key concepts in sensation and perception, focusing on visual and auditory systems, theories of color and pitch perception, and types of deafness.
Information from the left side of the retinas go to the left side of the brain, and information from the right side of the retinas go to the right side of the brain. Where does the information get routed to each side?
optic chiasm; Since the optic chiasm, where this information intersects, is shaped like an X, an easy way to remember this is to remember that “chi” is the letter X in Greek.
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Key Terms
Term
Definition
Information from the left side of the retinas go to the left side of the brain, and information from the right side of the retinas go to the right side of the brain. Where does the information get routed to each side?
optic chiasm; Since the optic chiasm, where this information intersects, is shaped like an X, an easy way to remember this is to remember that “chi” i...
After visual impulses are processed in the thalamus, where do they end up?
Vision is ultimately processed by the occipital lobe.
There are five feature detectors in vision, labeled V1 through V5. Who won the Nobel Prize for their discovery?
David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel
In the context of vision, what does each of the five feature detectors do?
• V1. mental image formation and imagination • V2. illusory contours • V3. location • V4. color analysis and pattern recognition • V5. motion and dire...
What is the trichromatic theory?
This theory states that the cones in our retinas perceive blue, green, and red, and are activated in combination to create a perception of all the col...
When you look at the sun for a while and then look away, why is there a dark spot in your vision for a period of time?
Because of a negative afterimage: the photoreceptors exposed to intense light become temporarily bleached and less responsive, creating a dark spot wh...
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Information from the left side of the retinas go to the left side of the brain, and information from the right side of the retinas go to the right side of the brain. Where does the information get routed to each side? | optic chiasm; Since the optic chiasm, where this information intersects, is shaped like an X, an easy way to remember this is to remember that “chi” is the letter X in Greek. |
After visual impulses are processed in the thalamus, where do they end up? | Vision is ultimately processed by the occipital lobe. |
There are five feature detectors in vision, labeled V1 through V5. Who won the Nobel Prize for their discovery? | David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel |
In the context of vision, what does each of the five feature detectors do? | • V1. mental image formation and imagination • V2. illusory contours • V3. location • V4. color analysis and pattern recognition • V5. motion and direction |
What is the trichromatic theory? | This theory states that the cones in our retinas perceive blue, green, and red, and are activated in combination to create a perception of all the colors in the visual spectrum. |
When you look at the sun for a while and then look away, why is there a dark spot in your vision for a period of time? | Because of a negative afterimage: the photoreceptors exposed to intense light become temporarily bleached and less responsive, creating a dark spot when you shift your gaze. Color afterimages occur through the opponent-process theory: staring at one color fatigues its receptors, so you perceive its complementary color (e.g., red → green, blue → yellow) when you look away. |
Why would the opponent-process theory help explain color blindness? | It hypothesizes that the retina has its sensory receptors arranged in color pairs, and if a person is missing a specific pair, he will be unable to perceive either of those colors. |
What characteristics of a sound wave determine what we actually hear? | The amplitude of a soundwave determines the loudness of a sound (decibels). The frequency of a soundwave determines the pitch of a sound (hertz). |
Describe the part of the ear: pinna | It is the flap of skin outside the ear that helps capture and focus sound. |
Describe the part of the ear: eardrum | The eardrum or tympanic membrane concentrates sound energy, vibrating when sound from the ear canal hits it. |
Describe the part of the ear: ossicles | These are three tiny bones in the middle ear that connect the eardrum to the oval window. 1. hammer (malleus) 2. anvil (incus) 3. stirrup (stapes) |
Describe the part of the ear: oval window | It compresses the fluid in the cochlea and connects the middle ear to the inner ear. |
Describe the part of the ear: cochlea | The fluid-filled cochlea is small and coiled, like a snail's shell, and converts vibrational activity into neural energy. |
Describe the part of the ear: organ of Corti | It is the part within the cochlea that actually converts soundwaves into neural energy. The hair cells attached to the basilar membrane on the cochlea move in response to compression of fluid, which causes transduction in the organ of Corti, sending neural information to the brain. |
What is place theory? | It believes that pitch processing is activated spatially on receptors in the cochlea, the same way that a piano's notes are arranged spatially. A higher pitch would move a hair cell on a certain part of the cochlea that a lower pitch would not. |
What is frequency theory? | Frequency theory (or volley theory) says that we hear different pitches because of the frequency at which the hair cells in the cochlea fire. |
When you go to a loud concert and stand by the speakers, what kind of deafness are you causing for yourself? | nerve deafness; Loud noises damage the hair cells on the cochlea, preventing them from firing for any sounds at all, so no neural impulses reach the brain. |
What kind of deafness is caused when one of the mechanisms used to move sound from the outer ear to the cochlea is damaged? | conduction deafness |
What sensory modality responds to pressure or temperature? | touch |
If you stub your toe, then fall down and break your wrist, which one will you feel more, and what theory predicts this? | You will feel your broken wrist more than your stubbed toe, which is predicted by gate-control theory. This theory hypothesizes that pain messages are prioritized and the high-priority messages will be delivered first, while the low-priority messages will be shut out, like a swinging gate. Pain killers also help close the gate, as will natural endorphins in the brain. |