Unit 5-8 Critical Thinking Essay

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5-8
The Eye
Retina: The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers or neurons that begin the processing of visual information.
Rods: Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray.
Cones: Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. They detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.
Optic nerve: The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.
Blind spot: The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.
We do not see images upside down because the cells in our retina make light energy into neural impulses …show more content…

Parallel processing: The processing of several aspects of a problem or scene simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision.

Feature detectors in our temporal lobe by our right ear allow us to perceive faces. When magnetic pulses disrupt that area of the brain we lose that ability. Parallel processing allows us to have a perception of movement without it it would seem like people would suddenly appear in a different place then they were before.
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Color Vision
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three color) theory: The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors-one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue-which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color.

Opponent-process theory: The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.
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Visual Organization
Gestalt: an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful …show more content…

Pain treatments often combine physical and psychological elements, including placebos and distractions.

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Taste
Taste and smell are chemical senses. Taste is a composite of five basic sensations—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—and of the aromas that interact with information from the taste receptor cells of the taste buds.

There are no basic sensations for smell. We have some 5 million olfactory receptor cells, with about 350 different receptor proteins. Odor molecules trigger combinations of receptors, in patterns that the olfactory cortex interprets. The receptor cells send messages to the brain's olfactory bulb, then to the temporal lobe, and to parts of the limbic system.

The influence of smell on our sense of taste is an example of sensory interaction. Embodied cognition is the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments.

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Body Position and Movement
Kinesthesia: The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.
Vestibular sense: The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of

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