Chapter 4 Flashcards
Devices that convert one kind of energy into another
transducers
The primary function of the sensory organs - our eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin, is to act as biological ____
transducers
Conversion of energy from the environment into a pattern of response by the nervous system; also a sensory impression
sensation
The eyes convert light energy, the ears translate mechanical energy from sounds, and the nose and tongue translate chemical energy from odors and foods. Information arriving at the brain from the sense organs creates ___ _____
sensory impressions
the physical properties of stimuli (such as sound waves, light waves, or chemical molecules in food) are measured and related to the resulting experiences that our brain constructs (such as the loudness of a sound, the brightness of a light, or the sweetness of a piece of cheesecake). (objective to subjective).
Psychophysics
minimum amount of physical energy that can be detected 50 percent of the time
absolute threshold
minimum difference in physical energy between two stimuli that can be detected 50% of the time
the difference must be sufficiently large to be noticed
difference thresholds
Example of ____: If you were to put one extra grain of sugar in your coffee, would you notice a difference in its taste? How much would it take? A few grains? A half-spoonful? A spoonful?
difference threshold
What are the four ways sensory selection takes place:
- Lack of specific transducers
- Restricted range of transducers
- sensory adaption
- feature detection
energy above a specific minimum intensity is necessary for a sensory impression to arise
absolute threshold
sensory receptors do not transduce all the energies that they encounter
lack of SPECIFIC transducers
sense receptors transduce only part of their target energy range
restricted range of transducers
sense receptors transduce only part of their target energy range
sensory adaption
senses reduce the flow of sensory input by dividing the world into basic stimulus patterns
feature detection
a decrease over time in sensory response to an unchanging stimulus
sensory adaption
basic attributes of a stimulus, such as lines, shapes, edges, or colors - or basic stimulus patterns
perpetual features
is a cell, or a collection of cells, in the cerebral cortex that responds to a specific attribute of an object.
feature detector
sensory receptors are biological ______, or devices for converting one type of energy to another
transducers
As time passes, nerve endings in the skin under your clothes send fewer signals to the brain and you become unable to feel your clothes. This process is called.
sensory adaption
Brain cells that respond to a specific attribute of an object are known as feature _____.
detectors
Our ability to focus on specific sensory input
Selective attention