3.1 Sensation and perception.

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

The process by which we precieve, transfom, and process stimuli from the outside world to create sensory experiences of vision, touch, hearing, taste, smell and so on.

Question 2

Sensory receptors

Answer 2

Specialized cells that detect sensory stimuli and convert them into neural impulses.

Question 3

psychophysics

Answer 3

The study of the relationship between features of physical stimuli, such as the intensity of light and sound, and the sensation we experience in response to these stimuli

Question 4

Absolute threshold

Answer 4

the smallest amount of a given stimulus a person can sense.

Question 5

Difference threshold

Answer 5

The minimal difference in the magnitude of energy needed for people to detect a difference between two stimuli.

Question 6

Weber’s Law

Answer 6

The principle that the amount of change in a stimulus needed to detect a difference is given by a constant ratio or fraction, called a constant, of the original stimulus.

Question 7

signal detection theory

Answer 7

The belief that the detection of a stimulus depends on factors involving the intensity of the stimulus, the level of the background stimulation, and the biological and psychological characteristics of the preciever.

Question 8

sensory adaptaion

Answer 8

The process by which sensory receptors adapt to constant stimuli by becoming less sensitive to them.