Welcome to Psych I!

THE HUMANISTS n How are humans different from mere animals? n FOCUS ON HERE AND NOW!!! n Abraham Maslow and the “hierarchy of needs”

Maslow and Rogers

Self-Actualization n “Making the full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, and potentialities.” n Many don’t reach this

Carl Rogers n People are innately good. n Want to develop capabilities n Often derailed n Self concept- + or -?? n Real self vs. ideal self

Welcome to Psych I! n Stimulus- any bit of information or energy that activates your senses n the five senses? n Vision, audition, gustation, cutaneous, and olfaction.

Sensation and Perception n Sensation- activation of the sensory receptors n Transduction- physical energy of the environment into the neural energy of our nervous system.

Sensation and Perception Perception- the cognitive process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting stimuli Do we differ in our ability to perceive and sense things?

Psychophysics n Sensory Thresholds- the physical intensity of a stimulus a person reports detecting 50% of the time. n Done over many trials

Thresholds n Absolute Threshold- the minimum amount of stimuli needed to be noticed half the time. n OPTIMAL CONDITIONS n Chart on page 118

Our sensory limits n Differential Thresholds- the minimum amount by which stimulus information must be changed in order for it to be noticed

Weber’s Law n Weber’s Law- this is constant for that sense n amount of changed stimulus / the original stimulus is a constant n ΔI / I = K n 5% auditory; 8% vision

Our Sensory Limits n Signal detection- view that stimulus detection is a matter of noticing a difference among background noise. n Hits, misses, false + and -

Sensory Adaptation n you get used to things n Receptors need more stimuli to activate them!!!

Sensation and Perception n Psychophysics- the study of the relationship b/w the physical attributes of stimuli and the psychological experiences they produce. n Variety of approaches

Psychophysics n The power of COLOR n restaurants n foods n cars and reactions n surroundings affect selections

Sensory Systems n Light waves differ in terms of wavelength (hue) or color, amplitude (intensity), and saturation (purity).

Photoreceptors n Cones- able to detect colors, not well adapted to the dark n Rods- able to tell light from dark. Adapt well to the dark

Sight Facts n Receptors create a neural impulse n More cones toward the middle, rods on periphery n FOVEA is where you look for the best precision and detail

Sight Facts n Neural impulses head down the optic nerve n Your brain “flips” the image n blind spot- part where there are no photoreceptors. Optic nerve leaves the eye, thru thalamus to occipital lobe

VISION PROCESS n retinal disparity- each eye gets slightly different information n aka: binocular disparity n Binocular fusion merges disparate images

COLOR VISION n 7 million different colors n 2 theories/processes: n Trichromatic Theory: 3 types of cones, each respond to different light n BLUE/GREEN/RED

COLOR VISION n Evidence: there are three types n Opponent Process Theory- n 3 receptor cells - work in pairs (afterimage) n opposition to each other n one color OR the other

COLOR VISION n THREE PAIRS: n RED vs. GREEN n BLUE vs. YELLOW n BLACK vs. WHITE (brightness) n THINK ABOUT IT...

COLOR VISION n Evidence: colorblindness n red-green or yellow-blue n Dichromat- can’t see 1 of primary colors (lacks cone) n in the bipolar cells and thalamus

TYPES OF COLOR BLINDNESS n Monochromat- can only see black and white (only 1 cone – sees all lightwaves same) rare! n Anomalous trichromats- 1 color processed incorrectly n May confuse red w/ brown

Color deficiencies n May be inherited n Diabetes n Lack of Vitamin B12 n Aging – lens becomes yellow and can’t filter short wavelengths – color confusion b/t blues/greens (pills?)

AUDITION n What is sound? n Compression/vibration of air n amplitude, frequency, purity n amplitude- determines how loud something sounds n decibel scale (70)

Audition n Frequency- how “high” or “low” a sound is. n Has its limits n mid-range sounds the loudest n Hertz

Audition: Our Ears n Pinna- the outside of the ear n Auditory Canal n Ear Drum- membrane of the ear, vibrates n Hammer, anvil, stirrup intensify the sounds n OSSICLES

Audition: Our Ears n Now enter the inner ear n oval window n cochlea- sound waves become neural impulses here n fluid in motion n membrane--> hair cells n auditory nerve, into the brain

AUDITION n Place Theory- membrane vibrate in different places n high frequencies n Frequency Theory- membrane vibrates at different rates----LOW

olfaction n Know relatively little about smell- 1991, 2004 n Cells high in the nasal cavity n chemicals in the air stimulate these cells n VERY CLOSE TO THE BRAIN

olfaction n Hundreds of receptors? n Different responses and locations n One of the best senses for memory

OLFACTION n Limbic system involved (amygdala, hippocampus) n 10,000 different odors n olfactory bulb (Cilia) n pheromones

GUSTATION n Chemicals that stimulate our tongue n taste buds n sweet, salt, sour, bitter (from front to back) n “Pungent” n always replenish themselves

THE TASTE BUDS n Papillae-bumps lined with taste buds n NOT just on the tongue!! n microvilli-hairs on the taste receptors

Gustation n olfactory nerve n Sexual Differences n age differences n Primary Taste vs. flavor (OLFACTION REQUIRED!!)

Vestibular Sense (Balance) n The vestibular sense enables us to adjust to different bodily movements (Head) n Semicircular canals/ otoliths and utricle in inner ear respond to movements of the head.

KINESTHETIC Sense n allows us to determine position of our extremities. (receptors in joints and muscles) n SLEEPING LIMBS??

Cutaneous Senses n Sense of touch n nerve endings in the skin n Somatosensory receptors (nocio, thermo, mechano) n Different types of receptors

Cutaneous Senses n Pain - Gate Control Theory –substance P opens the gate ( spinal cord) n Endorphins- close the gate