Chapter 10 Vocab Flashcards
Sensation
The neural activity triggered by a stimulus that activates a sensory receptor and results in sensory nerve impulses traveling the sensory nerve pathways to the brain
Perception
A multistage process that takes place in the brain and includes selecting, processing, organizing, and integrating information received from the senses
Acuity
Sharpness of sight
Presbyopia
The gradual loss of accommodation power to focus on near objects. It accompanies advancing age
Age-Related Maculopathy
Disease affecting the central area of the retina that provides detailed vision
Depth perception
A person’s judgment of the distance from self to an object or place in space
Retinal disparity
The difference in the images received by the two eyes as a result of their different locations
Motion parallax
The change in optical location for objects at different distances during viewer motion
Optic flow
Change in the pattern of optical texture, a transformation of the optic array, as a viewer moves forward or backward in a stable environment
Figure-and-ground perception
The ability to see an object of interest as distinct from the background
Whole-and-part perception
The ability to discriminate parts of a picture or an object from the whole, yet integrate the parts into the whole, perceiving them simultaneously
Size constancy
The perception of actual object size despite the size of its image as projected on our retina
Shape constancy
The perception of actual object shape despite its orientation to a viewer.
Habituation
The state of having adapted to a stimulus
Spatial orientation
The orientation or position of objects as they are located in space or in a two-dimensional drawing
Detection threshold
The point on a continuum at which the energy level is just sufficient for one to register the presence of a stimulus
Preferential looking
A research technique in which two stimuli are presented to a subject, who turns to look toward the preferred stimulus
Proprioceptor
The collective name of the various kinesthetic receptors located in the periphery of the body; the two types of proprioceptors are the somatosensors and the vestibular apparatus
Somatosensors
The receptors located under the skin, in the muscles, at muscle-tendon junctions, and in joint capsules and ligaments
Vestibular apparatus
Houses the receptors located in the inner ear
Tactile localization
The ability to identify without sight the exact spot on the body that has been touched
Body awareness
The recognition, identification, and differentiation of the location, movement, and interrelationships of body parts and joints; it also refers to a person’s awareness of the spatial orientation and perceived location of the body in the environment
Laterality
A component of body awareness–specifically, the awareness that one’s body has two distinct sides that can move independently
Lateral dominance
The constant preference for use of one eye, ear, hand, or foot instead of the other, although the preference for different anatomical units is not always on the same side
Directionality
The ability to protect the body’s spatial dimensions into surrounding space and to grasp spatial concepts about the movements or locations of objects in the environment
Absolute threshold
The minimal detectable sound that a hearer can sense at least half of the time a signal is sounded
Differential threshold
The closest that two sounds can be yet still allow the hearer to distinguish them at least 75% of the time
Presbycusis
A loss of hearing sensitivity
Amodal invariants
Patterns in space or time that do not differ across the sensory-perceptual modalities
