Ch.8 Sensation And Perception Flashcards
The organization of sensory info into meaningful experiences
Perception
The study of the relationship between sensory experiences and the physical stimuli that cause them
Psychophysics
The WEAKEST AMOUNT of stimulus that a person can detect half the time ( hearing a watch ticking 20 feet away)
Absolute threshold
Who created the area of psychology known as psychophysics
Gustav Theodor Fechner
The SMALLEST CHANGE in a physical stimulus that can be detected half the time
Difference threshold
The principle that for any change In a stimulus to be detected, a constant proportion of that stimulus must be added or subtracted
Weber’s law
The study of people’s tendency to make correct judgements in detecting the presence of stimuli
Signal-detection theory
The opening in the iris that regulates the amount of light entering the eye
Pupil
A flexible, elastic, transparent structure in the eye that changes it’s shape to focus light on the retina
Lens
The innermost coating of the back of the eye, containing LIGHT SENSITIVE RECEPTOR CELLS
Retina
The nerve that arrows impulses from the retina to the brain
Optic nerves
The process of combining the images received from the two eyes into a single, fused image
Binocular fusion
The difference between the images stimulating each eye
Retinal disparity
The nerve that carries impulses from the inner ear to the brain, resulting in the perception of sound
Auditory nerve
Three semicircular canals that provide the sense of balance located in the inner ear and connected to the brain by a nerve
Vestibular system
The nerve that carries small impulses from the nose to the brain
Olfactory nerve
The sense of movement and body position
Kinesthesis
The experience that comes from organizing bits and pieces of info into meaningful wholes
Gestalt
Brief auditory or visual messages that are presented below the absolute threshold
Subliminal messages
The apparent movement of stationary objects relative to one another that occurs when the observer changes position
Motion parallax
The tendency to perceive certain objects in the same way regardless of changing angle, distance, or lighting
Constancy
Perceptions that misrepresent physical stimuli
Illusion
An ability to gain info by some means other than the ordinary senses
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
Occurs when a stimulus activates a receptor
Sensation
Night vision
Rods
Light vision
Cones
Can’t feel your clothes
Sensory adaptation
Loudness is measured in what?
Decibels
