CHAPTER 3 Vocab (A-F)

Question 1

The minimum length of time after an action potential during which another action potential cannot begin

Answer 1

Absolute refractory period

Question 2

The minimum amount of stimulation that an organism can detect for a specific type of sensory input

Answer 2

Absolute threshold

Question 3

Changing existing mental structures to explain new experiences

Answer 3

Accommodation

Question 4

An inherited characteristic that increased in population (through natural selection) because it helped solve a problem of survival or reproduction

Answer 4

Adaptation

Question 5

Formation of colors by superimposing lights, putting more light in the mixture than exists in any one light by itself

Answer 5

Additive color mixing

Question 6

A visual image that persists after a stimulus is removed

Answer 6

Afterimage

Question 7

Orientations that locate objects of thought on dimensions of judgment

Answer 7

Attitudes

Question 8

Locating the source of a sound in space

Answer 8

Auditory localization

Question 9

A structure that runs the length of the cochlea in the inner ear and holds the auditory receptors, called hair cells

Answer 9

Basilar membrane

Question 10

Clues about distance based on the differing views of the two eyes

Answer 10

Binocular depth cues

Question 11

In form perception, progression from individual elements to the whole

Answer 11

Bottom-up processing

Question 12

The fluid-filed, coiled tunnel in the inner ear that contains the receptors for hearing

Answer 12

Cochlea

Question 13

Deficiency in the ability to distinguish among colors

Answer 13

Color blindness

Question 14

People, objects, events, and other standards that are used as a baseline for comparisons in making judgments

Answer 14

Comparitors

Question 15

Pairs of colors that produce gray tones when added together

Answer 15

Complementary colors

Question 16

Specialized visual receptors that play a key role in daytime vision and color vision

Answer 16

Cones

Question 17

A cue to depth that involves sensing the eyes converging toward each other as they focus on closure depths

Answer 17

Convergence

Question 18

The process in which the eyes become more sensitive to light in low illumination

Answer 18

Dark adaptation

Question 19

Interpretation of visual cues that indicate how near or far away objects are

Answer 19

Depth perception

Question 20

Stimuli that lie in the distance (world outside body)

Answer 20

Distal stimuli

Question 21

Making a large request that is likely to be turned down as a way to increase the chances that people will agree to a small request later

Answer 21

Door-in-face technique

Question 22

A device that monitors the electrical activity of the brain over time by means of recording electrodes attached to the surface of the scalp

Answer 22

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

Question 23

The entire family of internally produced chemicals that resemble opiates in structure and effects

Answer 23

Endorphins

Question 24

A vision deficiency in which distant objects are seen clearly but close together objects appear blurry

Answer 24

Farsightedness

Question 25

The process of detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a more complex form

Answer 25

Feature analysis

Question 26

Neurons that respond selectively to very specific features of more complex stimuli

Answer 26

Feature detectors

Question 27

A psychophysical law stating that larger and larger increases in stimulus intensity are require to produce perceptible increments in the magnitude of sensation

Answer 27

Fechner’s law

Question 28

A tiny spot in the center of the retina that contains only cones; visual acuity is greatest at this spot

Answer 28

Fovea

Question 29

the theory that perception of pitch corresponds to the rate, or frequency, at which the entire basilar membrane vibrates

Answer 29

Frequency theory