Ch. 5 Flashcards
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
Sensation
The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, transforming it into meaningful objects and events
Perception
Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
Bottom-up processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
Top-down processing
Changing 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
Transduction
The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
Absolute threshold
Below a person’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Subliminal
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time
Difference threshold
Activating, often unconsciously, associations in our mind, thus setting us up to perceive, remember, or respond to objects or events in certain ways
Priming
The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
Weber’s law
Reduced sensitivity in response to constant stimulation
Sensory adaptation
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Perceptual set
The distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next
Wavelength
The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as color names (blue, green, etc)
Hue
The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness. Determined by the wave’s amplitude (height)
Intensity
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye; contains the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information
Retina
Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement
Rods
Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina; in daylight or well-lit conditions, they detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
Cones
The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Optic nerve
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye; this part of the retina has no receptor cells
Blind spot
The theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, and one to blue
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory
The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision
Opponent-process theory
Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of a stimulus, such as shape, angles, or movement
Feature detectors
Processing many aspects of a problem or scene at the same time; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision
Parallel processing
An organized whole
Gestalt
The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings
Figure-ground
The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into meaningful groups
Grouping
The ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
Depth perception
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
Visual cliff
A depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes
Binocular cue
A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object
Retinal disparity
A depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone
Monocular cue
Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change
Perceptual constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object
Color constancy
The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field
Perceptual adaptation
The sense or act of hearing
Audition
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
Frequency
A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency
Pitch
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window
Middle ear
A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses
Cochlea
The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
Inner ear
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss, also called nerve deafness
Sensorineural hearing loss
A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
Conduction hearing loss
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
Cochlear implant
A social interaction in which one person suggests to another person that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur
Hypnosis
A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors
Posthypnotic suggestion
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Kinesthesia
The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance
Vestibular sense
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste
Sensory interaction
The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments
Embodied cognition
The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
