PS 222 Exam 1 advanced assessment
with verified solutions
dependent upon sense organs and brain
product of evolution
brain puts information together - answer ✔✔-perception
change the response in the presence of a stimulus - answer ✔✔-detecting a stimulus means...
light, sound, chemicals, pressure/heat - answer ✔✔-4 things we perceive
funnel the physical stimulus to specialized receptor cells - answer ✔✔-sense organs
1. detect the physical stimulus
2. transduce physical stimuli into neural signals - answer ✔✔-receptor cells
the area on a sensory surface containing receptor cells from which the neuron gets signals -
answer ✔✔-receptive field
Directly from the sensory cells themselves or via other neurons that are connected to those
cells - answer ✔✔-How can the signal be conveyed?
Information about the physical stimulus is encoded by neural stimulus and submitted to the
brain - answer ✔✔-What happens when a physical stimulus reaches a receptor cell?
,It's made into a perceptual experience - answer ✔✔-What happens after the neural stimulus is
sent to the brain?
Funnel the physical stimulus to specialized receptor cells, located inside the sense organs, that
can detect the stimulus - answer ✔✔-What do sense organs do?
The cell in sense organs - answer ✔✔-What are receptors?
An area on the sensory surface containing receptor cells, which, when stimulated, create a
change in the activity of that neuron - answer ✔✔-What is the receptive field of a neuron?
1 to thousands of sensory cells - answer ✔✔-How big can a receptive field be?
A neuron that receives signals from multiple neurons will have an RF equal to the total RFs of
those neurons (Ex. if a neuron gets input from two other neurons, and those two neurons each
have two sensory cells that they get input from, that neurons total RF is 4) - answer ✔✔-How
does RF size relate to the number of neurons a neuron gets information from?
The smaller the receptive field of a neuron, the lower sensitivity of that area ("high resolution"
in that area); Larger receptive field has more sensory cells ("low resolution" in that area) and
high sensitivity - answer ✔✔-How do receptive field size and sensitivity relate?
If one cell does not detect the stimulus, another will - answer ✔✔-What does it mean to be
highly sensitive in an area?
If one cell does not detect the stimulus, none will - answer ✔✔-What does it mean to be not
sensitive in an area?
, Earlier: Small RFs detect edges, fine details; Later: Neurons that are higher up begin to put info
together to identify the object anywhere on the stimulus surface (larger RFs) - answer ✔✔-How
does RF size vary as you move up in processing?
occipital lobe - answer ✔✔-visual cortex
temporal lobe - answer ✔✔-auditory cortex
Has more than 1 function - answer ✔✔-Modularity
How an individual neuron responds to a stimulus - answer ✔✔-Neuronal level of response to
stimuli
How an area of the brain responds to a stimulus - answer ✔✔-Systems level of response
How an organism experiences a stimulus - answer ✔✔-Behavioral level of response
No - answer ✔✔-Can you generate infinitely many action potentials?
# of action potentials in x amount of time - answer ✔✔-What indicates signal strength?
Increasing or decreasing from baseline indicates presence of a signal - answer ✔✔-What
indicates presence of a signal?
The weakest stimulus we are able to detect - answer ✔✔-absolute threshold
The point at which two stimuli become discernible from one another - answer ✔✔-difference
threshold
with verified solutions
dependent upon sense organs and brain
product of evolution
brain puts information together - answer ✔✔-perception
change the response in the presence of a stimulus - answer ✔✔-detecting a stimulus means...
light, sound, chemicals, pressure/heat - answer ✔✔-4 things we perceive
funnel the physical stimulus to specialized receptor cells - answer ✔✔-sense organs
1. detect the physical stimulus
2. transduce physical stimuli into neural signals - answer ✔✔-receptor cells
the area on a sensory surface containing receptor cells from which the neuron gets signals -
answer ✔✔-receptive field
Directly from the sensory cells themselves or via other neurons that are connected to those
cells - answer ✔✔-How can the signal be conveyed?
Information about the physical stimulus is encoded by neural stimulus and submitted to the
brain - answer ✔✔-What happens when a physical stimulus reaches a receptor cell?
,It's made into a perceptual experience - answer ✔✔-What happens after the neural stimulus is
sent to the brain?
Funnel the physical stimulus to specialized receptor cells, located inside the sense organs, that
can detect the stimulus - answer ✔✔-What do sense organs do?
The cell in sense organs - answer ✔✔-What are receptors?
An area on the sensory surface containing receptor cells, which, when stimulated, create a
change in the activity of that neuron - answer ✔✔-What is the receptive field of a neuron?
1 to thousands of sensory cells - answer ✔✔-How big can a receptive field be?
A neuron that receives signals from multiple neurons will have an RF equal to the total RFs of
those neurons (Ex. if a neuron gets input from two other neurons, and those two neurons each
have two sensory cells that they get input from, that neurons total RF is 4) - answer ✔✔-How
does RF size relate to the number of neurons a neuron gets information from?
The smaller the receptive field of a neuron, the lower sensitivity of that area ("high resolution"
in that area); Larger receptive field has more sensory cells ("low resolution" in that area) and
high sensitivity - answer ✔✔-How do receptive field size and sensitivity relate?
If one cell does not detect the stimulus, another will - answer ✔✔-What does it mean to be
highly sensitive in an area?
If one cell does not detect the stimulus, none will - answer ✔✔-What does it mean to be not
sensitive in an area?
, Earlier: Small RFs detect edges, fine details; Later: Neurons that are higher up begin to put info
together to identify the object anywhere on the stimulus surface (larger RFs) - answer ✔✔-How
does RF size vary as you move up in processing?
occipital lobe - answer ✔✔-visual cortex
temporal lobe - answer ✔✔-auditory cortex
Has more than 1 function - answer ✔✔-Modularity
How an individual neuron responds to a stimulus - answer ✔✔-Neuronal level of response to
stimuli
How an area of the brain responds to a stimulus - answer ✔✔-Systems level of response
How an organism experiences a stimulus - answer ✔✔-Behavioral level of response
No - answer ✔✔-Can you generate infinitely many action potentials?
# of action potentials in x amount of time - answer ✔✔-What indicates signal strength?
Increasing or decreasing from baseline indicates presence of a signal - answer ✔✔-What
indicates presence of a signal?
The weakest stimulus we are able to detect - answer ✔✔-absolute threshold
The point at which two stimuli become discernible from one another - answer ✔✔-difference
threshold
