Chapter 4

Question 1

Absolute threshold

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Additive colour mixing

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Afterimage

Answer 3

A visual image that persists after a stimulus is removed. McCollough effect - circles of lines

Question 4

Auditory localization

Answer 4

Locating the source of a sound in space.

Question 5

Bottom-up processing

Answer 5

In form perception, progression from individual elements to the whole.

Question 6

Comparitors

Answer 6

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

Question 7

vComplementary colours

Answer 7

Pairs of colours that produce grey tones when added together.

Question 8

Convergence

Answer 8

A cue to depth that involves sensing the eyes converging toward each other as they focus on closer objects.

Question 9

Dark adaptation

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Distal stimuli

Answer 10

Stimuli that lie in the distance (that is, in the world outside the body).

Question 11

Farsightedness

Answer 11

A vision deficiency in which distant objects are seen clearly but close objects appear blurry. Focus of light is behind the retina (FAR from lens), can see FAR.

Question 12

Feature analysis

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Feature detectors

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Fechner’s law

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Frequency theory

Answer 15

The theory that perception of pitch corresponds to the rate, or frequency, at which the entire basilar membrane vibrates. Basilar is like a drum.

Question 16

Gate-control theory

Answer 16

The idea that incoming pain sensations must pass through a “gate” in the spinal cord that can be closed, thus blocking pain signals.

Question 17

Impossible figures

Answer 17

Objects that can be represented in two-dimensional pictures but cannot exist in three-dimensional space.

Question 18

Just noticeable difference (JND)

Answer 18

The smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect.

Question 19

Kinesthetic system

Answer 19

The sensory system that monitors the positions of the various parts of one’s body (vestibular apparatus, etc).

Question 20

Lateral antagonism

Answer 20

A process in the retina that occurs when neural activity in a cell opposes activity in surrounding cells. GRID of black and white, you can see grey spots at intersections of white lines due to LA.

Question 21

Light adaptation

Answer 21

The process whereby the eyes become less sensitive to light in high illumination.

Question 22

Motion parallax

Answer 22

Cue to depth that involves images of objects at different distances moving across the retina at different rates.

Question 23

Nearsightedness A

Answer 23

A vision deficiency in which close objects are seen clearly but distant objects appear blurry. Focus of light falls in front of the retina (NEAR lens), can see NEAR.

Question 24

Opponent process theory

Answer 24

The theory that colour perception depends on receptors that make antagonistic responses to three pairs of colours. Explains afterimages and the need for four names to describe colours. Used high up in processing.

Question 25

Parallel processing

Answer 25

Simultaneously extracting different kinds of information from the same input. Parvocellular channel does colour while magnocellular does brightness.

Question 26

Perception

Answer 26

The selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input.

Question 27

Perceptual constancy

Answer 27

A tendency to experience a stable perception in the face of continually changing sensory input.

Question 28

Perceptual hypothesis

Answer 28

An inference about which distal stimuli could be responsible for the proximal stimuli sensed.

Question 29

Perceptual set

Answer 29

A readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way.

Question 30

Phi phenomenon

Answer 30

The illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession.

Question 31

Pictorial depth cues

Answer 31

Clues about distance that can be given in a at picture.
Linear Perspective (road lines come together)
Texture Gradient
Interposition (things overlapping)
Relative Size (closer = larger)
Height in Plane (near are lower in visual field)
Light and Shadow (3-D)

Question 32

Place theory

Answer 32

The idea that perception of pitch corresponds to the vibration of different portions, or places, along the basilar membrane. Basilar is like a harp.

Question 33

Proximal stimuli

Answer 33

The stimulus energies that impinge directly on sensory receptors.

Question 34

Psychophysics

Answer 34

The study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience.

Question 35

Receptive field of a visual cell

Answer 35

The retinal area that, when stimulated, affects the ring of that cell.

Question 36

Retinal disparity

Answer 36

A cue to the depth based on the fact that objects within 25 feet project images to slightly different locations on the left and right retinas, so the right and left eyes see slightly different views of the object.

Question 37

Reversible figure

Answer 37

A drawing that is compatible with two different interpretations that can shift back and forth.

Question 38

Signal-detection theory

Answer 38

A psychophysiological theory proposing that the detection of stimuli involves decision processes as well as sensory processes, which are inuenced by a variety of factors besides the physical intensity of a stimulus. q

Question 39

Subjective contours

Answer 39

The perception of contrours where none actually exist.

Question 40

Subtractive color mixing

Answer 40

Formation of colors by removing some wavelengths of light, leaving less light than was originally there.

Question 41

Top-down processing

Answer 41

In form perception, a progression from the whole to the elements.

Question 42

Trichromatic theory

Answer 42

The theory of color vision holding that the human eye has three types of receptors with differing sensitivities to different wavelengths. Used in low level of processing (cones).

Question 43

Volley Principle

Answer 43

the groups of auditory nerve fibres fire neural impulses in rapid succession, creating volleys of impulses. accounts for high-frequency sounds in the frequency theory.

Question 44

Weber’s Law

Answer 44

the size of a JND is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus - weber fraction.

Question 45

sensory adaptation

Answer 45

an automatic built-in process that keeps people tuned into the changes rather than the constants in their sensory input.

Question 46

visual pathways

Answer 46

from retina, 90% go directly to LGN and then to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe. 10% go to superior colliculus in midbrain, then thalamus then PVC - coordination of visual input with other sensory input.

Question 47

Gestalt

Answer 47

Phi Phenomenon - illusion of movement
Figure and Ground - reversible figures (Necker cube)
Proximity - things that are near one another seem to belong together
Closure - complete figures that actually have gaps in them
Similarity - group stimuli that are similar
simplicity - ‘Pragnanz’ = good form. organize elements int he simplest way possible
Continuity - see elements in ways that produce smooth continuation