ch 3 pt 1

Question 1

inattentional blindess

Answer 1

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Question 2

selective attention

Answer 2

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Question 3

transduction

Answer 3

conversion of one form of energy into another. in sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret.

Question 4

psychophysics

Answer 4

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity and our psychological experiences of them

Question 5

absolute threshold

Answer 5

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Question 6

difference threshold(JND)

Answer 6

the minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

Question 7

signal detection theory

Answer 7

predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

Question 8

Weber’s law

Answer 8

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Question 9

rods

Answer 9

retinal receptors that detect black, white and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

Question 10

cones

Answer 10

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Question 11

retina

Answer 11

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Question 12

trichromatic theory

Answer 12

that the retina contains three different types of color receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue- which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color

Question 13

opponent-process theory

Answer 13

that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision

Question 14

figure-ground

Answer 14

the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

Question 15

retinal disparity

Answer 15

the binocular cue for perceiving binocular cue depth. by comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater the difference between the two images the closer the object

Question 16

binocular cue

Answer 16

a depth cue, that depends on the use of two eyes.

Question 17

monocular cue

Answer 17

a depth cue such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Question 18

gate-control theory

Answer 18

that the spinal cord contains a neurological thing that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. the thing is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Question 18

Gustav Fechner

Answer 18

German scientist and philosopher who studied our awareness of faint stimuli and labeled them absolute thresholds

Question 19

Ernst Weber

Answer 19

German physician who discovered the just noticeable difference; his law states that the just noticeable difference will vary depending on its relation to the strength of the original stimulus