Auditory System

Sensation – the initial message from the senses

Perception – process by which messages from the senses are given meaning

Accessory structure (eye lens or outer ear) modifies energy à sensory receptors transduces energy into a neural response à sensory nerves transfer the coded activity to the central nervous system à thalamus processes and relays the neural response à cerebral cortex receives input and processes the sensation and perception.

Adaptation – process by which responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus decreases over time

Coding – translating the physical properties of a stimulus into a pattern of neural activity

Doctrine of specific nerve energies – stimulation of a particular sensory system provides codes for that sense, no matter what the form of the stimulation

Temporal codes – coding attributes of a stimulus in terms of changes in the timing of neural firing

Spatial codes – coding attributes of a stimulus in terms of the location of firing neurons relative to their neighbours

Liberal response bias – able to see stimulus when one hasn’t been presented

Conservative response bias – refuse to report a stimulus until you are certain it is there

Amplitude of sound – the intensity, the loudness of the sound

Pitch – how high or low the sound is, depending on the frequency of the sound waves.

Timbre – quality of sound

Auditory system – sound waves are collected in the pinna à pinna funnels sound down into the ear canal à sound waves reach middle ear where they strike the eardrum/tympanic membrane à vibrations on the membrane are passed on by the three bones of the ear (malleus/hammer, incus/anvil and stapes/stirrup) à amplify the changes in pressure by focussing vibrations on the oval window membrane à sounds enter the inner ear (cochlea) where transduction occurs à basilar membrane runs the base of the cochlea à when a sound wave passes through the fluid, bending the hair cells of the organ of the Corti and membraneà the hair cells connect to the fibres of the auditory nerves which transfers the sound to the brain for processing.

Visual System

Cornea – the curved, transparent layer through which light waves enter the eye.

Pupil – an opening in the eye just behind the cornea through which light passes

Iris – the colourful part of the eye, which constricts and relaxes to allow light to enter the eye

Lens – the part of the eye behind the pupil that bends light rays, focussing them on the retina (accommodation)

Retina – the surface at the back of the eye which the lens focuses light rays

Photoreceptors – nerve cells on the retina that code light energy into neural activity

Photopigments – chemicals in photoreceptors that respond to light and assist in converting light into neural activity

Rods – highly light-sensitive, but colour insensitive, photoreceptors that allow vision in low light

Cones – photoreceptors that distinguish colours

Fovea – region of the centre of the retina where cones are highly concentrated

Acuity – visual clarity which is greatest in the fovea

Lateral inhibition – creates more difference between dark and light areas because of interneurons

Ganglion cells – cells in the retina that generate action potentials, locked onto bipolar cells and interneurons

Receptive fields – the portion and the visual world that affects a given ganglion cell

Optic nerve – the bundle of fibres that is composed of a bundle of ganglion cell axons

Blind spot – the area at which the ganglion cells converge and exit the eyeball

Optic chasm – part of the bottom of the brain where half of the optic fibres cross sides

Lateral geniculate nucleus – a region of the thalamus in which axons from most of the ganglion cells in the retina end and form synapses

Primary visual cortex – an area at the back of the brain to which neurons in the lateral geniculate relay visual input

Feature detectors – cells in the cortex that respond to a specific feature of an object

Seeing colours

Hue – the essential colour determined by the dominant wavelength of light

Saturation – the purity of the colour

Brightness – the sensation of the overall intensity of all the wavelengths that make up light

Trichromatic theory – a theory of colour vision identifying three types of visual elements (blue, green and red), each of which is most sensitive to different wavelengths of light

Opponent-process theory – a theory of colour vision stating that colour-sensitive visual elements are grouped into green-red, blue-yellow and black-white elements

Chemical Senses

Synthesia – a blending of sensory experiences that causes some people to ‘see’ sounds or ‘taste’ colours

Anosmia – people who are unable to distinguish between different smells

Olfaction – the sense of smell

Olfactory system – employs thousands of receptors, and sensory information goes directly into the brain

Olfactory bulb – a brain structure that receives messages regarding olfaction

Pheromones – chemicals released by one animal and detected by another, that affects the second animal’s behaviour or physiology

Vomeronasal organ – a portion of the mammal olfactory system that detects pheromones

Gustation – the sense of taste

Papillae – structures on the tongue containing groups of taste receptors or taste buds

Sensations – salty, sweet, sour, bitter, astringent, umami

Somatic Senses

Somatic senses – senses of touch, temperature, pain and kinaesthesia

Touch – dependant on free nerve endings, but is subject to habituation, coded for by the neurons (baseline firing rate)

Temperature – warm fibred (sensory neurons) produce effects, but often are combined with touch

Pain – very similar to touch and temperature in receptiveness, uses A-delta and C fibres to carry pain sensations

Gate control theory – a theory that suggests a functional gate in the spinal cord can either let pain impulses travel up to the brain or block their progress

Analgesia – the absence of pain sensations in the presence of a normally painful stimulus

Natural analgesics – serotonin and endorphins

Kinaesthesia – the sense that tells you where the parts of your body are in relation

Proprioceptive senses – the sensory systems that allow us to know about where we are and what each part of our body is doing

Vestibular senses – the proprioceptive sense that provides information about the position of the body

Vestibular sacs – organs in the inner ear that connect to the semicircular canals and the cochlea

Otoliths – small crystals in the vestibular sacs that stimulate nerves cells

Semicircular canals – tubes in the inner ear whose fluid, when shifted by head movements, stimulating nerves cells

First, it was the difference between operant and classical conditioning.

Operant Conditioning is the use of reinforcement and punishment to increase or decrease the likelihood of the desired response. For example, Skinner’s Box taught a rat how to press a lever to obtain food. Reinforcement and punishment can be both positive (involving the introduction of a stimulus) and negative (the removal of a stimulus). Reinforcement is usually continual while the desired behaviour is shaped. Then, in order to make the behaviour resistant to extinction, different schedules of reinforcement can be used.

These include are either a time interval or a ratio, and a fixed or variable schedule. A variable ratio is used in casino gambling, because it is the least likely to become extinct.

Classical Contioning involves the repeated pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus in order to produce a desired response. An example of this is Pavlov’s experiment on dogs. With repeated pairings of a bell and the presentation of food, dogs learnt to salivate at only the presentation of the bell.

Some pairings are more likely to occur than others. An electric shock to a rat, when paired with a light, bell and flavoured water, is more likely to illicit the ‘freeze’ response only to the light or bell.

All notes are Copyright Monash University, and have been paraphrased by me for your enjoyment.

Second, it was all the wonderful ideas I had for my news stories for Creative and Professional Writing.

• the state of nursing homes
• the effects of the new Mornington Peninsula Freeway
  • on tourism
  • interview shop-owners
  • impact of just Eastlink?
    • traffic problems
    • extensive advertising when it hasn’t even been opened yet (shops in Frankton Shopping Centre)
    • estimations of arrival times, are they accurate
• the impact of music on teens
  • teens being forced to do music, and the actual benefits
  • relationship between music and emotions
  • the use of music in improving learning – does it work if it is forced?
  • Classical music played in Frankston Train Station to reduce graffiti and vandalism
    • how effective is it?
    • when is the music played?
    • relationship between teens feeling more positive and listening to music?
    • could it see a decrease of both vandalism and mental health problems?
• the closing of MPSP
  • its impact on local community
  • statistics of religious beliefs (last weeks paper?)
  • coordination of activities at Mornington House
  • decline of Anglican religion related to decline of MPSN?
  • is spirituality as a whole dying?
  • statistics on belief in God

• combine questionnaire and interview to ensure names are spelt correctly for contact list
  • sign declaration of allowing their names to be published??
  • tick the box if they would like a copy of the article
  • require a name, email address and phone-number

And last, I wrote a bit more of the novel in my head, scribbling notes by torchlight.

In all, a very productive night, sadly with less than 5 hours sleep, I will not be functioning well for the rest of today.

~ Darkthorn