Questions for the first test – make sure to draw all pictures, graphs, etc. Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 16, Appendix A

1. Define sensation and perception. Why is it studied (give an example to help illustrate this point)? According to the book, the perceptual process is made up of many stages – the environmental and attended stimulus, the stimulus on the receptors, transduction, neural processing, perception, recognition, action, and knowledge. Briefly describe each of these stages. Include a discussion of bottom-up and top-down processing.
2. Draw a neuron and label and define its parts. How does it work (include a discussion on resting and action potential, inhibition, excitation, and spontaneous activity)? What is meant by neurotransmitters working in a lock and key fashion?
3. Draw the brain, label, and define the parts (what does each part do?). What is meant by contralateral and ipsilateral? Briefly describe the different techniques the book mentions for studying brain activity in humans.
4. What is absolute and difference threshold and why should we measure them? Describe the 3 classic methods of determining threshold developed by Fechner and give an example of how each might be used (to determine either absolute or difference threshold). When determining threshold, we give ascending and descending trials. Why? How is sensitivity related to threshold?
5. Describe signal detection theory. What is the concept behind/what factors determine d’, B, N, S+N? Make sure to explain how d' and B can vary. Discuss what a ROC curve is (component parts, what do they mean). Make sure to draw all graphs, label, and define them.
6. What is the JND? Who came up with the concept and how does this work? What is the difference between physical intensity and subjective perception according Fechner? Make sure you explain both formulas in detail using examples.
7. What is Steven’s power law (make sure to explain the formula)? Compare the perception (magnitude estimation) of brightness, line length and electric shock with their actual physical intensities. How do we plot the results of a magnitude estimation so a straight line results? What does the slope of the line tell us (again, using brightness, line length and electric shock)? Include a discussion on response expansion and response compression.
8. What part of the electromagnetic spectrum can humans view? What are the properties of light? Describe them in terms of their physical characteristics and corresponding perception. Draw a light wave and label all of the parts in terms of physical characteristics. What is the difference between light and paint?
9. Draw a picture of the eye and label the parts (to the retina – including the 5 levels of neural coding in the back of the retina). Briefly describe the contributions of each of these structures to visual functioning.
10. Describe the different types of structural defects of the eye and their corresponding visual problems (focusing problems, decreased transmission of light, damage to retina, and optic nerve damage). Make sure to cover the ones we discussed in class AND the ones in the book.
11. How do rods and cones differ from each other? What aspects of the retina contribute to some of these differences in the rods and cones (how do you get these differences – draw picture)? What happens in dark adaptation (draw graph - distinguish between rods and cones - why do you see a difference)? What is the Purkinje shift and how is this related to dark adaptation?
12. What is a receptive field? Explain the possible firing patterns of an on-center/off surround receptive field. Using Mach bands, explain how lateral inhibition works. Make sure to draw the appropriate pictures.
13. Distinguish between the parvocellular (p-cells) and magnocellular (m-cells) systems from the retina to the processing of the information that takes place in the visual cortex. Where are they located and how do they differ?
14. What is the function of the neurons in the primary visual cortex (simple, complex, end-stop, blob cells)? How are they arranged in the cortex (columns and hypercolumns)? How could simple, complex, and end-stop cells work based on the information they receive from the eye?
15. What are the pathways that the information from the eye takes? Make sure to indicate what each section of the brain is doing. What kinds of neurons do you see in the extrastriate cortex?