Psycology Midterm #2
What is Biological Psychology
Studies the relationship between the nervous system and behaviour (researchers)
What is Phrenology
- Attempt to map the brain to psychological characteristics
- Skull shape doesnt reflex cognitive functions and personalitiy
What is a Neuropsychology tests
-assess cognitive function in people with brain damage
-accommodate language and culture
what is a lesion
damage to the of the brain that results is destruction of neurons
What is a Electroencephalograph (E E G)
Measures electrical activity via electrodes on the skull
what is the advantage of Electroencephalograph (E E G)
Excellent temporal resolution
Excellent at studying when brain activity is changing
Can measure brain activity within milliseconds
Non invasive
What is the disadvantage of Electroencephalograph (E E G)
Poor spatial resolution
Tough to pinpoint specific areas of activation
What is Neuroimaging
See brain structure, function or both
What is computed tomography (CT) (cat scan)
multiple X-rays to construct a 3D image of the brain
what is resonance imaging (MRI)
- magnetic fields to indirectly visualize brain structure
- measures the release of energy from water in biological tissues following exposure to a magnetic field
- MRI superior to CT for detecting soft tissue, like brain tumours
what is functional imaging
measures changes in brain activity in response to stimuli
what is Positron emission tomography (PET)
- Measures consumption of glucose-like molecules to give a picture of neural activity
-Requires the injection of radioactive glucose-like molecules
- Do little to no harm
what is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the advantages and disadvantages
- Uses magnetic fields to visualize brain activity using changes in blood oxygen level
- Brain cells use more oxygen when they’re working
- Gold standard in functional brain-imaging research
- During rest the brain is still active and has spontaneous thought and daydreaming
- Advantage, excellent spatial resolution
-Disadvantage, poor temporal resolution
what is Magnetoencephalography (M E G)
- Measures tiny magnetic fields generated by the brain
- Patterns of activity on the skull’s surface
- Excellent temporal resolution (within milliseconds)
- Fairly good spatial resolution, but not as good for deeper parts of the brain
what is the substraction technique
- Images shown in neuroimaging studies show activating of experimental condition after subtracting activity of control condition
- A comparison of activity, not direct activity
what is Exciting vs inhibiting
When areas of the brain are active, we don’t always know whether the neurons are exciting or inhibiting other neurons
what is Neuro-seduction
when people think brain scans are more scientific than they actualy are
what is it called when the evidence from brain imaging studies is derived
unwarranted confidence
what is brain stimulation (DBS) and its risks
- Modify brain function through electrical stimulation from implanted electrodes
- Potential treatment for disorders (e.g. Parkinson’s Disease, - Depression and more)
- Invasive and risky
- Requires surgery on the brain
- Risks: infection, hemorrhaging, replacement of battery
what is Transcranial magnetic stimulation (T M S)
- Applies strong and quickly changing magnetic fields to the surface of the skull
- Can either enhance or interrupt brain function
- Non-invasive
- Can infer causation (directly manipulate brain areas)
- May provide relief for depression and decrease auditory hallucinations
how much of our brains do we use
10%
what is the 10% myth
- May originate from William James -> most people fulfill only a small percentage of their intellectual potential
- Losses of even small areas of certain parts of the brain can cause devastating, often permanent losses of function
- No investigator using brain stimulation or neuroimaging techniques has ever uncovered any consistently silent areas
what is defult mode network
when resting, the brain is still active
what are neurons and how many do we have
-brain cells that have communication with eachother
- 86 billion neurons with 160 trillion synaptic connection between them- van-halifax 5x
- contains genetic material and the parts necessay to make proteins
what is the electified mambrane
-outer covering of the cell that enables it to exchange electrical and chemical signals with other neurons
-Communication with other neurons
what is the cell body (soma)
- Centre of neuron; builds new cell components
- Contains nucleus (where proteins are manufactured)
- Serious damage to this part is fatal for the neuron
what are dendrites
branchlike extensions that receive information
what are axons
"tails" that transit information
what are synaptic vesicles
- spherical sack containing neurotransmitters
- knob at the of the axon
what are neurotransmitters
chemical messengers that allow neuron-neuron communication
what is a synaptic cleft
space between neurons through which neurotransmitters travel
what are glial cells
- glue
- 1:1 ratio with neurons
- play a rold in psychological functioning
- Astroglia and aligodedroglia
what is a astrocytes
-Shaped like a star
-most abundant type of glial cell
-increase reliability of neuronal transmission
-Found in blood-brain barrier -> a protective shield of blood vessels that insulates the brain from infection
what is Oligodendrocytes and myelin sheath and multiple sclerosis
-Promote new connections and produce the myelin sheath around axons
-insulates axons and speeds the transmission of electrical signals down the length of the axon
-Wrapper around axons
-Multiple Sclerosis -> deterioration of Myelin sheath
Signals can’t travel down axon as efficiently
what is neuronal membrane
-has electric potential,neurotransmitters can change this potential
what is resting potential
membrane potential when the neuron is not being stimulated or inhibited
what is action potential in neuronal membrane
-electrchemical impulse travelling down the membrane that results in the neurotransmitter is released
- how neurons communicate
-requires stimulation to threshold of excitation
-Abrupt waves of electric discharge triggered by a change in charge inside the axon
-This is the neuron “firing,” all-or-none response
-Neurons either fire or do not
-Originates near cell body and travels down the axon to the axon terminal, triggering neurotransmitter release
-Neurons can fire 100 to 1,000 times per second
-In between firings, there is a very brief absolute refractory period
-Absolute refractory period -> Brief interval during which another action potential can’t occur
-The longer the axon, the more limited their maximal firing rate is
what is neurotransmission
-Communication inside neurons is electrical, but communication between neurons is chemical
-When neurotransmitters are released, they bind with receptor sites of the next neuron
-Lock and key -> Certain neurotransmitters fit in certain receptor sites
-This process is halted by reuptake, when neurotransmitters go back into the axon terminal
-synaptic vesicle reabsorbs the neurotransmitter
-Some neurotransmitters excite while others inhibit cells
-Each neurotransmitter has a specific role and function in brain and body function
what is glutamate and GABA
-in the central nervous system
-learning and memory
-excitatory and increases the chance of neurons will communicate
-toxic in highdoses, may contribute to schizophrenia and other mental disorders
-inhibitory, dampening neural activity
what is acetylcholine and what blocks it
-influences arousal, selective attention, sleep and memory
-connects to muscles that release acetylcholine and triggers movement
-benadryl, helps you sleeo and blocks acetylcholine
what is a monoamines and what it includes and its function
-contains one amino acid
- norepinephirine (brain arousal, mood, hunger, sleep. amphetamine and meth)
-dopamine (motor function and reward, parkinsons and schizophrenia)
-Serotonin (mood, temp, regulation, aggression and sleep cycles, treatment and depression)
what are anandamines and its functions
-eating, motivation, memory and sleep
-binf the same receptors as THC (weed, munchies and sleepliness)
what are neuropeptides
-short strings of amino acids
-endorphins, relieves pain (morphine)
-some regulate hunger others learning and memory
what are psychoactive drugs
interact neurotransmitter systems and affect mood, arousal and behaviour
what are agonists
-increases activity of the neurotransmitter system
-opiotes (codeine and morphine), mimic endorphin
- some drugs block reuptake
what are antagonists
-decreases activity in neurotransmitters
-dopamine blockers for schizophrenia
-fake neurotransmitters that bind to receptor sites but dont exert the effect
what is neural plasticity
-ability in the nervous system to change
-highest when we are babies
-not hardwires and can change overtime
-different areas of the brain have different time frames for plasticity
what 4 ways do neurons change during develpoment
1. growth of dendrites and axons
2. synatogenisis, formation of new synapses
3. pruning, consisting of death of certain neurons and the retraction of axons to remove connections that arent useful (70% die off)
4. myelination, the insulation of axons with myelin sheath
what are Binocular cues
rely on 2 eyes, left and right eyes transmit different info
what is convergence
-nearby objects make our eye muscles to turn our eyes inwards
-judge depth
what is potentiation
-strengthening of existing synaptic connections
-neurotransmitters released into synapses produce a stronger and more prolonged response from neighbouring neurons
what is a stem cell and why is it contoversial
-A cell, often originating in embryos, that has the capacity to differentiate into a more specialized cell
-Stems cells have the capacity to make any cell, even neurons
-Researchers can implant stem cells directly into the host’s nervous system and induce them to grow and replace damaged cells
-Controversial -> Some people believe these cells are an early form of human life
what is neurogenesis
generation of new neurons
what is the central nervous system (CNS) and whats ut called when the nerves are outside
- sensory info goes in and decisions come out
-includes brain and spinal cord
-controls mind and behaviour- nerves out the CNS are called the perpheral nervous system
cerebral cortex and what are the 4 parts
-outermost part of the forebrain
- analyses sensory info
- higher brain function
- frontal lobe
-parential lobe
-occipital lobe
-temporal lobe
cerebral hemisphere and what connects it
-preforms highly integrated functions
-corpus callosum connets the 2 parts with fibers that communicate
what is lateralization
rely on one side of the brain then the other
what happens in the left hemisphere
language skills
reading writing
phonology
motion detection
facial expression
what happens in the right hemisphere
course language skills
simple speech and writing
tone of voice
perceptual grouping
face perception
is it a myth that some people are left brained and some are right brained
yes, corpus collosum keeps left and right hemisphere communicating
frontal lobe and its areas
motor function
language
movement
Profrontal cortex, thinking planning, language
broncas area, speech production
motor cotex, body movement
Phineas gage and what happened
-Railroad foreman in 1848 in Vermont
-Tamping iron exploded and thrust into his head
-Destroyed most of his left prefrontal cortex
-Remarkable behavioral and personality changes following injury
-“No longer Gage”
parietal lobe
-Upper middle part of cerebral cortex
-Specialized for touch and perception
-Communicates information to the motor cortex every time we reach, grasp, or move our eyes
somoatosensory and what lobe is it in
sensitive to pressure, pain and temperature
temporal lobe and where is it
lower part of the cerebral cortex
hearing
understand language
long term memory
autobigraphical memories
wernickes area and the lobe its in
Temporal lobe
speech
language
comprehension
auditory cortex and the lobe its in
temporal lobe
hearing
fusiform face area and the lobe its in
temporal lobe
recognizing the configuration of features that match the objects (faces)
occipital lobe and location
back of the brain
visual cortex, dedicated to seeing
cortical hiertarchies and association meaning
info from primary-association cortex
association, through all 4 lobess, intergrates sensory to preform complex functions (size, shape, colour and location)
limbic system
emotional centre
smell
motivation
memory
thalamus
relays info from the sense organs to primary sensory cortex
hypothalamus
controls internal bodily states
4 Fs (feeding, fighting, fleeing an fucking)
amygdlala
fear
excitment
arousal
hippocampus and what happens when its damaged
spactial memory
damage causes inability to form new memories
brain stem and location
back of the brain
connects cerebral cortex and spinal cord (relat station)
basic bodily function
midbrain and where is it
brain stem
movement
traching visual stimuli
reflexes triggered by sound
pons and where is it
brain stem
connects cerebellum and triggers dreams
medulla and where is it
brain stem
regulates
breathing
heartbeat
vital functions (puking)
reticular actuvation system and where is it and what happens when damaged
brain stem
connects forebrain and cerebrak cortex
arousal
damage can cause coma
interneurons and where its located
spinal cord
send messages to nearby neurons
connect sensort and motor nerves without going to the brain
reflexes and where its located
spinal cord
automatic motor responses to sensory stimuli
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) and its 2 branches
-nerves outside th ecentral nervous system
-somatic nervous system, conveys info from the CNS to the muscles in the body controlling and coordinating voluntary movement
-auntomatic nervous system, controls involuntary actions of organs and glands
sympathetic nervous system
-active durning arousal
-fight or flight response
-increased heart rate, breathing and sweating
parasympathetic nervous system
- rest and digestion
- opperates when there is no threat
genes
-composed of DNA, containing everything a cell needs to reproduce
-genotype, gene set we have
-phenotype, obersavable traits
-dominant, mask other genes
-recessive, masked by other genes
-epigentic, gene and expression can be motified throughout life
adaptations and fitness
-make organism better suited for the enviroment
-capacity to survive and reproduce
evolution of the brain
-human and apes share common ancestor from 6-7 million years ago
-human brains trippled in size and changed the cerebral cortex
relative brain size
-size of brain proprotional to size of body
-dolphins and apes have large relative brain size
- they have more complec social networks
behavioural genetics and heritabliltiy
-studies the relative impact of nature and nurture on psychological traits
-estimates heritability, % of the variability in a trait across individuals due to genes
- some traits are highly heritable (height) and some are not (religous)
3 types of designs to test heritablility
1.family studies, examine whether traits rin through intact families
-families share gene and enviroment
2. twin studies, examine trait differences in monozygotic (identical) snd dizygotic(fraternal twins)
3. adoption studies, examines traits that adopted children share with adoptive vs. biological paretns
-selective placement, adopted to children are assigned to families with similar characteristics to biological families
sensation
-detection of physical energy
perception
the brains interpretation of raw sensory data
illision
-perception which does not match reality
-demonstrates the issue of naive realism
transduction
-the external stimuli converted by a sense receptor into neural activity
-the action or process of converting something and especially energy or a message into another form
sensory adaptation
-activation is highest when stimuli is first detected, then our response decline in strength
-keeps us from being overwhelmed by sensation
psychophisics
study of how we preceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics
absolute threshold
lowest level of stimuli we can detect at above chance performance (>50% of the time)
examples
- vision, a single candle 50km away
- hearing, a watch ticking 20 ft away
- smell, drop of perfume in a 3 eoom appt
-taste, teaspoom of sugar in a gallon of water
-touch, wing of fly dropped on a cheek from 1cm away
just noticable disease (JND ) and webers law
- JND,smallest amount of stimuli change humans can detect
-webers law, a constant proportional relationship between the JND and stimuli intensity
-stronger stimuli, higher JND
-weaker stimuli, lower JND
signal detection theory
-theory regarding how stimuli are detected under uncertain condition
-detecting signal in noise
mcgurk effect
-change in auditory perception caused by visual speech
-hearing something different then what was said
rubber hand illusion
-visual information influences touch perception
-when guy had no hand and had pain did rubber hang and felt releif
synesthesia
- wehn you experience cross modal sensations
- example
-sounds with color or color with taste
-bob dylans voice, taste of friend chicken
-letter and numbers have colour(grapheme-color synethsia)
what happens after tranduction (when senses meet the brain)
-our brains organize the sensory data into meaningful concepts
-whats in our sensory feild
-what was there a moment ago
-what we remeber from the past
selective attention(donald broadbent)
-when we select one sensory channel and ignore the others (bottleneck)
-
dichotic listening and shadowing
-dichotic listening, when people hear different messages delivered to left and right ears
-shadowing, reporting messages they hear
-people could only report the messages they attended to, but sometimes mixed in information from other ear
cocktail party effect
can notice important messages, such as yout name from a conversation that doesnt involve you
inattentional blindness
missing stimuli in plain sight when out attention is somewhere else
change blindness
-failure to detect obvious changes in your enviroment
-role in traffic accident and air travel is intensively studied
binding problem
-how does our brain combine all stimuli (touch, smell, taste)
-rapid coordinated activitiy make binding possible
-apple is one experience for us but many experiences for our brain
-
narrow spectrum of light
-we can only see a narrow spectrum of light, aniamls may see different spectrum
brightness
related to the amount of light reflected back to the eye
hue
-color of light related to wavelength
-were maximally sensitive to blue, green and red
- mixing of these three types of signals occur
additive and subtractive
-additive, mixing light produces white
-subtractive, mixing pigments produces back
eye structure- sclera
- white portion of the eye
-strong tissue arounf the eyeball
-helps protect th eeye and maintain the ball shape
eye structure- iris
-the coloured portion that controls the amount of light that eneters the eye
-usually blue, green or hazel
eye structure- pupil
-hole where light enters the eye
eye structure- cornea
transparent cells that focus light on the back of the eye
eye structure- lens
-keeps image in focus
-changes curvature to reflect light onto the back of the eye (accomodation)
-important to adjust for distance of object (close or far away)
myopia and hyperopia and presbyopia
-myopia (nearsightedness) trouble seeing far away
-hyperopia (farsightedness) trouble seeing close up
-glasses change the way light enters the eye to help correct either myopia or hyperopia
-presbyopia, when lens can over come the shape of the wye when we are young but is harder as we age
eye structure- retina
- membrane in the back of the eye
- part of the brain that converts light into neural energy (transduction)
-contains 100million sense receptors for vision
eye structure- fovea
-central part of the retina
-responsiblr for acuity (sharpness of vision)
-necassary to read, drive, sew or just do anything that require fine detail
rods and cones
-receptor cells in outermost layer of retina, sensitive to light
rods,
-low light vision, not sensitive to colour
-dark adaptation, time in dark before rods regain max sensitivity to light (30 min)
-absent in fovea
cones
-requires alot of light as they are for colour vision and fine detail
optic nerve
-exits the back of the eye and is composed of the axons of tje ganglion cells
-causes a blind spor in the visual feild
-most of the axons go to the thalamus(sensory relay station) and then the visual cortex, but some go to midbrain (reflexes- turning our head to track stimuli
visual perception and the detector cells
-different corticsl cells to respond maximally to different types of stimuli
-feauture derector cells, allows us to detect lines and edges
-simple cells, orientation specific slits of light in a particular location
-complex cells, orientation specific but less dependant on location
colour preception, trichomatic theory
-colour vision based on our sensitivity to 3 primary colours (blue, green and red)
-3 types of cones, different cones are sensitive to different wavelengths of light
-explains colour blindness
-dichromats havw 2 types of cones (red-green dichromats have trouble distiguishing red and green)
opponent process theory
-colour vision as a function of complementory, opposing colours (red vs, green or blue vs. yellow)
-green canada flag on white wall
blindness and the causes
-dramatic reduction in ability to see
-less than 20/200 vision
-objects at 20 ft appear as they would at 200 ft in a normally sighted person
causes
-cataracts, clouding of the lens
-glaucoma, disease that causes pressure on the eye and damages the optic nerve
what does blindness cause
- can cause reorganization of other sensory cortices and senses
-visual cortex becomes sensitive to touch (neural placticity)
-more cortex can be devoted to visual tasks (reading braille)
-echolocation, making noises to listen for sound that bounces off objects
blindness - visual agnosia
-objects recognition deficit
-damage to higher visual cortical areas
-can perceive features of an object, but cant recognize the object as a whole
blindness- blindsight
-ability of cortically blind patients to make correct guesses about appearance of things around them
-damage to primary visual cortex, blocks flow of information to visual association cortex)
-some visual information reaches visual association cortec through an alternative pathway
hearing and what pitch, loudness and timbre meaning
-the sense we rely on most after sight
-the perception of hearing is based on the physical properties of sound waves
-pitch, wave frequency (20- 20 000 audible sound)
-loundess, amplitude of the sound waves (dB)
-timbre, complexity of sound
the ear
-key organs involved in sound processing
-three main parts with different jobs, outter, middle and inner ear
the ear- outer
-includes the pinna (skin and cartilage flap)
-ear canal, funnels sound waves to the eardrum
the ear- middle
-occicles (hammer, anvil and stirrup) vibrate and transmit sound to the inner ear
-helps to amplify sound
the ear- inner and the cochlea
-cochlea converts vibration into neural activity (transduction)
-contains thick fluid that vibrates form sound
chochlea
-inside the chochlea are the organ of corti and basilar membrane
-organ of corti, tissue containing hair cell with hairs that extend into chochleas fluid
-basilar membrane, membrane that supports the organ of corti
pitch perception- place theory
-specific location along the basilar membrane matches a specific tone and pitch
-accounts for high tones
pitch perception- frequency theory
-the rate at which neurons fire action potentials matches pitch
-accounts for low tones
pitch perception- volley theory
-neurons alternate firing to process higher pitches
-neurons fire slightly out of sync with each other to reach higher rates for higher pitches
music
-not just tones but the arrangment of tones in a melody
-music that provokes "chills" boosted activity in the same brain regions correspondong to euphoric responses to sex, food and drugs
smell and taste- olfaction and gustation
-olfication, smell
-gustation, taste
-go hand in hand and work together to enhance liking or diliking of some foods
smell and taste-chemical senses
-sense receptors are stimulated by chemicals
-odours are airborne chemical sthat interact with lining in our nasal passages
-smell, salty, sour, bitter, umami (fatty)
-taste is influenced by smell
smell and taste- lock and key
-when olfactory neuron contains a single type of receptor that recognized odourants based on their shape
-simulat to neurotransmitters
smell and taste- papillae
-taste buds on the tougue
-bumps on the tougue
-taste buds transmit information to the brain
taste- tongue map myth
-certain regions of the tongue correspond to certain tastes
-only a weak trend for certain receptors to concentrate at certain locations
-good mix of receptors everywhere on the tougue
taste- supertasters
-many more tastebuds than usual
-may find common things (coffee, broccoli, sugary food) unbearably bitter or sweet
pheromones
-odourless chemicals that serve as a social signal to members of the same species
-importance is unclear
-the typical pheromones detection system that mammals use (vomeronasal organ) is not well develpoed in humans
touch
-3 body systems that work together
-somatosensory, touch and pain
-proprioception, kinesthetic sense or sense of body position)
-vestibular sense, equilibrium and balance)
touch- pain sensations and gate control model
-emotional component, some are more sensitive to pain
-gate control model, neural mechanisms in the spinal cord regulates awarness of pain
following the loss of a limb, someone might experience persistant phantom pain allocated to that missing limb
-could be responsive to mirror treatment
sense if body position
-propriception, our kinesthetic sense helps us keep track of where we are and move effciently
-muscle stretch receptors vs tendon force detectors
-information enters spinal cord, travels through the brain stem, thalamus to reach the somatosensory and motor cortexes
sense if balance
-vestibular, our sense of equllibrum to maintain our balance as we move about
-our balance is due to fluid filled semicicular canals in the inner ear
-info sent to cerebellum
-cinscious awarness is limited
-only become conscious when we lose balance or there us a mismatch with visual input
human factors
-optimizes technology to better suit out sensory and perceptual capabilitites
-we can use what we know about psychology and sensory systems to build more ergonomic gadgets and tools
the multitasking brain
-parallel processong, attend to multiple sense at once
-bottom up processing, whole is constructed from the parts
-top down processing, whole is modified by experiences expectations and goals
expectations and perception
-perceptual sets, when expectations influence our perceotions (top down processing)
- THE BAT (H and A look the same)
perceptual constancy
-allows us to perceice stimuli consistently across conditions
-we dont see size, shape and colour of an object changing despite the fact they do change
-colour perception in particular derives from contex
visual perception and the gestalt principles
-involves analyzing an image in the contex of its surrounding and our expectations
-our brains fill in the missing information
-gestalt principles, rules that govern how we preceive objects as wholes within their overall context
face perception and prospagnosia
-holistic processing, ability to visualize a face as a whole rather than the sum of its parts
-prosopagnosia, face blindness, lack the ability to oricess facial features holistically (chuck close, artist with prosopagnosia)
motion
-to determine motion, the brain compares visual frames of what is to what was (frames in a movie)
motion- motion blindness
-cant string frames thet see into the perception of ongoing motion
-eg. cant see a cup of coffee, one second its empty the next its overflowing
motion- phi phenomenon
-can be tricked into seeing motion(circle thingy flashing not moving)
-illusory perception of movement from successive flashes of images
-perceptions of movement based on partial information, brain makes best guess about whats missing
depth perception- monocular and binocular
-monocular, one eye
-binocular, two eyes
depth perception- pictorial cues
-monocular
-depth perception in stationary scene
depth perception-relative size
-more distant things look simular
depth perception-texture gradient
-texture less detailed with far away objects
depth perception-interposition
-objects closer blocks objects farther away
depth perception-linear perspective and vanishing point
-linear perspectives,outlines of rooms or byildings converge as distance increased
-vanishing point, point at lines would meet
depth perception-height in plane
-distant objects appear higher
depth perception-light and shadow
-objects cast shadows that give us a sense of their 3D form
depth perception-motion parallax
-nearby objects seem to move faster than farther away objects moving at the same speed
depth perception- binovular disparity
-left and right eyes tranmit different information for near objects but more simular information for nearby objects
-brain can use information to judge depth
depth perception- convergence
-when we look at nearby objects our musckes to turn our eyes inward
-brain can use this information to judge depth
depth perception- development
-visual cliff
-hesitation as a 6 month old
-demonstrates that depth perception is partly innate and result in experience
perception of location of sounds binaural and monaural cues
-binaural cue (2 ears),
different in time between ears
difference in loudness between ears (direct path vs. shadow)
-monaural cue (one ear)
shape of pinna reflets sound from different directions in different ways
misperception and illusions
-understanding why we pisperceive information provides insight into how we make sense of our surroundings
misperception and illusions- moon illusion
-moon appears larger near the horizon
subliminal information processing
-we may process many sensory inputs unconsciously and many of our actions occur with little to no forethought or deliberation
-if we can detect stimuli without knowing it, does it change our behaviour
subliminal perception
-the process of sensort informationthat occurs below the level of conscious awareness
subliminal perception- short term impact
-on behaviours and attitudes
-subjects exposed to anger related words were more hostile to others
-subjects exposed to religious words(saint, church and preacher)less likely to cheat
-effects disappears when subjects are aware of our suspect subliminal influences
-failry unlikely to produce large scale or enduring attitudes or decisional changes