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Perception Book Notes
Chapter 4
34
Psychology
Undergraduate 4
03/01/2011

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Term
Summary of the perceptual process in the retina
Definition
eye. Light is reflected from an object into the eye, the light is focused to from an image on retina. Light which is absorbed intensely and dimly in certain receptors, is absorbed by the visual pigment molecules in the rods and cones outer segments. Chemical reactions in the outer segments transduce the light into electrical signals through the retina; and interact, excite, and inhibit, eventually reaching the ganglion cells, which because of have center-surround receptive fields on the retina. After being processed by the retina, these electrical signals are sent to the back of the eye in fibers in the optic nerve.
Term
LGN
Definition
region of the brain in the thalamus that receives most of the signals from the retina that travel into the optic nerve. From here, signals travel to the primry visual receiving area (striate cortex) in the occipital lobe.Signals from the striate cortex travel to the temporal lobe and the parietal lobe.
Term
superior colliculus
Definition
area involved with controlling eye movements and other visual behaviors
Term
Major function of LGN
Definition
to regulate and organize neural information as it flows from the retina to the visual cortex
Term
ipsilateral eye
Definition
eye on the same side of teh body as the LGN (layers 2,3,5)
Term
contralateral eye
Definition
eye on opposite side of the bodyfrom the LGN (layers 1,4,6)
-information from the left and right eyes is kept separated in the LGN.
Term
retinotopic map
Definition
Spot on LGN corresponds to a spot on the retina
Term
Simple cortical cells
Definition
Cells with side by side receptive fields
Term
orientation tuning curve
Definition
relationship between orientation and firing of a neuron, determined by measuring the responses of simple cells to different orietnations
Term
Complex cells
Definition
Respond best to bar-like orientation, but only respond when a correctly oriented bar of light moves across the entire receptive field.
Term
End-stopped cells
Definition
Fire to moving lines of a specific length or moving corners and angles
Term
Importance of orient-response neurons
Definition
Indicates that neurons do not only respond to light, but certain patterns of light and not others.
Term
AS travel further from the retina...
Definition
neurons fire to more complex stimuli.
Term
Selective adaptation
Definition
If neurons fire long enough, they adapt, causing 2 responses:
1. firing rate decreases
2. fires less when stimulus is immediately presented again
Term
grating stimuli
Definition
alternating bars
Term
selective rearing
Definition
If an animal is reared in an environment that contains only certain types of stimuli, then neurons that respond to these stimuli will become more prevalent.
Term
Neural plasticity
Definition
Response properties of neurons can be shaped by perceptual experience
Term
cortical magnification
Definition
The large proportion the fovea has on the area of the cortex
Term
fMRI indicates the presence of brain activity because...
Definition
the hemoglobin molecules in areas of high brain activity lose some of the oxygen they are transporting. This makes hemoglobin more magnetic, and the fMRI determines changes in magnetic responses of hemoglobin when presented with a stimulus
Term
Location column in the striate cortex
Definition
Perpendicular to the surface of the cortex so that all of the neurons within a location column have their receptive fields at the same location on the retina
Term
Orientation column
Definition
Each column containing cells that respond best to a particular orientation
Term
Ocular dominance columns (ODC)
Definition
Preferential response to one eye (ocular dominance) and neurons organized with the same ocular dominance are ODC
Term
Hypercolumns
Definition
Location, orientation, and ocular dominance all combined into one larger unit.
-Processes info from a specific area of the retina
Term
Objects represented in striate cortex
Definition
Disproportionate activation compared to actual object, where magnification factor allots more space on the cortex to parts of the image that fall on the fovea.
Term
Ventral pathway
Definition
'What' pathway, identifying objects
-action pathway, determines how a person carries out an action
Term
Dorsal pathway
Definition
"Where" pathway, locating objects
Term
Dissociation
Definition
Situations in which one function is absent when another is present
Term
A perceptual visual illusion had no effect on the person's ability to take action regarding the stimulus, thus...
Definition
perception and action are served by different mechanisms
Term
Module
Definition
Structure that is specialized to process info about a particular type of stimulus
Term
Fusiform face area (FFA)
Definition
-located in the fusiform gyrus below the IT cortex.
-responds to faces
Term
Prosopagnosia
Definition
Difficulty recognizing the faces of familiar people
Term
Parahippocampal place area (PPA)
Definition
activation of indoor and outdoor scenes, importance of spatial layout
Term
Extrastriate body area (EBA)
Definition
activated by pictures of bodies and parts of bodies
Term
Objects may cause a focus of activity in a particular area, but...
Definition
they are represented in the cortex by activity that is distributed over a wide area.
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