4.1-4.4: Sensory and Perceptual Systems

Question 1

The process by which our sensory organs receive stimulus energies from the environment and convert them into the electrical energy of the nervous system

Answer 1

Sensation

Question 2

The transformation of sensory stimulus energy from the environment into neural impulses

Answer 2

Transduction

Question 3

The processing of electrical signals to form a representation inside the brain of what it thinks is on the outside

Answer 3

Perception

Question 4

The study of the relationship between the physical characteristics of environmental stimuli and our mental experience of them

Answer 4

Psychophysics

Question 5

The minimum amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect a particular stimulus half of the time

Answer 5

Absolute threshold

Question 6

An approach to measuring thresholds that takes into account both the intensity of the stimulus and psychological biases for a more accurate assessment

Answer 6

Signal detection theory

Question 7

The minimum change in a stimulus for an observer to detect a difference half the time

Answer 7

Difference threshold, or just-noticeable difference (JND)

Question 8

The observation that the perception of a stimulus change is proportional to the magnitude of the stimuli

Answer 8

Weber’s Law