Ch. 4 sensation and perception

Question 1

a binocular cue to depth and distance in which the muscle movements in an individual’s two eyes provide information about how deep and/or far away something is

Answer 1

Convergence

Question 2

the process of receiving stimulus energies from the environment and transforming those energies into neural energy

Answer 2

sensation

Question 3

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense

Answer 3

perception

Question 4

the operation in sensation and perception in which sensory receptors register information about the external environment and send it up to the brain for interpretation

Answer 4

bottom-up processing

Question 5

the operation in sensation and perception, launched by cognitive processing at the brain’s higher levels, that allows the organism to sense what is happening and to apply that framework to information in the world

Answer 5

top-down processing

Question 6

specialized cells that detect stimulus information and transmit it to sensory (afferent) nerves and the brain

Answer 6

sensory receptors

Question 7

the minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect

Answer 7

absolute threshold

Question 8

irrelevant and competing stimuli– not only sounds but also any distracting stimuli for the senses

Answer 8

noise

Question 9

the degree of difference that must exist between two stimuli before the difference is detected

Answer 9

difference threshold

Question 10

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

Answer 10

Weber’s Law

Question 11

the detection of information below the level of conscious awareness

Answer 11

subliminal perception

Question 12

an approach to perception that focuses on decision making about stimuli under conditions of uncertainty

Answer 12

signal detection theory

Question 13

the process of focusing awareness on a narrowed aspect of the environment

Answer 13

attention

Question 14

the act of focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others

Answer 14

selective attention

Question 15

a predisposition or readiness to perceive something in a particular way

Answer 15

perceptual set

Question 16

a change in responsiveness of the sensory system based on the average level of surrounding stimulation

Answer 16

sensory adaptation

Question 17

the receptor cells in the retina that are sensitive to light but not very useful for color vision

Answer 17

rods

Question 18

the receptor cells in the retina that are sensitive to light but not very useful for color vision

Answer 18

rods

Question 19

the receptor cells in the retina that allow for color perception

Answer 19

cones

Question 20

the structure at the back of the eye, made up of axons of the ganglion cells, that carries visual information to the brain for further processing

Answer 20

optic nerve

Question 21

neurons in the brain’s visual system that respond to particular features of a stimulur

Answer 21

feature detectors

Question 22

in the sense of vision, the bringing together and integration of what is processed by different neural pathways or cells

Answer 22

binding

Question 23

theory stating that color perception is produced by three types of cone receptors in the retina that are particularly sensitive to different, but overlapping, ranges of wavelengths

Answer 23

trichromatic theory

Question 24

theory stating that cells in the visual system respond to complementary pairs of red-green, blue-yellow colors; a given cell might be excited by red and inhibited by green, whereas another cell might be excited by yellow and inhibited by blue

Answer 24

opponent-process theory

Question 25

the principle by which we organize the perceptual field of stimuli that stand out (figure) and those that are left over (ground)

Answer 25

figure-ground relationship

Question 26

a school of thought interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns

Answer 26

Gestalt psychology

Question 27

the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally

Answer 27

depth perception

Question 28

a binocular cue to depth and distance in which the muscle movements in an individual’s two eyes provide information about how deep and/or far away something is

Answer 28

Convergence

Question 29

a binocular cue to depth and distance in which the muscle movements in an individual’s two eyes provide information about how deep and/or far away something is

Answer 29

Convergence

Question 30

powerful depth cues available from the image in one eye, either the right or the left

Answer 30

monocular cues

Question 31

the perception that a stationary object is moving

Answer 31

apparent movement

Question 32

the recognition that objects are constant and unchanging even though sensory input about them is changing

Answer 32

perceptual constancy

Question 33

the part of the ear consisting of the pinna and the external auditory canal

Answer 33

outer ear

Question 34

the part of the ear that channels sound through the eardrum, hammer, anvil, and stirrup to the inner ear

Answer 34

middle ear

Question 35

the part of the ear that includes the oval window, cochlea, and basilar membrane and whose function is to convert sound waves into neural impulses and send them to the brain

Answer 35

inner ear

Question 36

theory on how the inner ear registers the frequency of sound, stating that each frequency produces vibrations at a particular spot on the basilar membrane

Answer 36

place theory

Question 37

theory on how the inner ear registers the frequency of sound, stating that the perception of a sound’s frequency depends on how often the auditory nerve fires

Answer 37

frequency theory

Question 38

modification of frequency theory stating that a cluster of nerve cells can fire neural impulses in rapid succession, producing a volley of impulses

Answer 38

volley principle

Question 39

the nerve structure that receives information about sound from the hair cells of the inner ear and carries these neural impulses to the brain’s auditory areas

Answer 39

auditory nerve

Question 40

sensory nerve endings under the skin that respond to changes in temperature at or near the skin and provide input to keep the body’s temperature at 98.6 degrees fahrenheit

Answer 40

thermoreceptors

Question 41

the sensation that warns an individual of damage to the body

Answer 41

pain

Question 42

rounded bumps above the tongue’s surface that contain the taste buds, the receptors for taste

Answer 42

papillae

Question 43

the lining the roof of the nasal cavity, containing a sheet of receptor cells for smell

Answer 43

olfactory epithelium

Question 44

senses that provide information about movement, posture, and orientation

Answer 44

kinesthetic senses

Question 45

sense that provides information about balance and movement

Answer 45

vestibular sense

Question 46

three fluid-filled circular tubes in the inner ear containing the sensory receptors that detect head motion caused when an individual tilts or moves the head and/or the body

Answer 46

semi-circular canals