PSYA01H3 Chapter 5: Chapter 5 Notes
Document Summary
Sensation: detection of the elementary properties of a stimulus. Perception: detection of the more complex properties of a stimulus, including its location and nature; involves learning. detection of objects (both animate and inanimate), their locations, their movements, and their background. Transduction: the conversion of physical stimuli into changes in the activity of receptor cells of sensory organs. process by which the sense organs convert energy from environmental events into neural activity. each sense organ responds to a particular form of energy given off by an environmental stimulus and translates that energy into neural firing to which the brain can respond. ex. photons of light striking receptor cone cells cause biochemical changes in a molecule that leads to an action potential. Receptor cell: a neuron that directly responds to a physical stimulus, such as light, vibrations, or aromatic molecules. releases neurotransmitters that stimulate other neurons which alter the rate of firing of their axons.
