Chapter 4

Question 1

Illusion

Answer 1

Perception in which the way we perceive a stimulus doesn’t match its physical reality

Question 2

Sensation

Answer 2

Detection of physical energy by sense organs, which then sends information to the brain

Question 3

Perception

Answer 3

The brain’s interpretation of raw sensory inputs

Question 4

Transduction

Answer 4

The process of converting an external energy or substance into electrical activity within neurons

Question 5

Sense receptor

Answer 5

Specialized cell responsible for converting external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system

Question 6

Sensory adaptation

Answer 6

Activation is greatest when stimulus is first detected

Question 7

Psychophysics

Answer 7

The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics

Question 8

Absolute threshold

Answer 8

Lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change 50% of the time

Question 9

Just noticeable difference

Answer 9

The smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect

Question 10

Weber’s law

Answer 10

There is a constant proportional relationship between the jnd and the original stimulus intensity

Question 11

Signal detection theory

Answer 11

Theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions

Question 12

Synesthesia

Answer 12

A condition in which people experience cross modal sensation

Question 13

Selective attention

Answer 13

Process of selecting one sensory channel and ignoring or minimizing others

Question 14

Inattentional blindness

Answer 14

Failure to detect stimuli that are in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere

Question 15

Hue

Answer 15

Color of light

Question 16

Retina

Answer 16

Membrane at the back of the eye responsible for converting light into neural activity

Question 17

Fovea

Answer 17

Central portion of the retina

Question 18

Acuity

Answer 18

Sharpness of vision

Question 19

Rods

Answer 19

Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in the levels of light

Question 20

Dark adaptation

Answer 20

Time in dark before rods regain maximum light sensitivity

Question 21

Cones

Answer 21

Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in color

Question 22

Optic nerve

Answer 22

Nerve that travels from the retina to the brain

Question 23

Blind spot

Answer 23

Part of the visual field we can’t see because of an absence of rods and cones

Question 24

Color blindness

Answer 24

Inability to see some or all colors

Question 25

Opponent process theory

Answer 25

Siri that we perceive colors in terms of three pairs of opponent colors: either red or green, blue or yellow, or black or white

Question 26

Audition

Answer 26

Our sense of hearing

Question 27

Timbre

Answer 27

Complexity or quality of sound that makes musical instruments, human voices, or other sources sound unique

Question 28

Cochlea

Answer 28

Boney, spiral shaped sense organ used for hearing

Question 29

Organ of Corti

Answer 29

Tissue containing the hair cells necessary for hearing

Question 30

Basilar membrane

Answer 30

Membrane supporting the organ of Corti and hair cells in the cochlea

Question 31

Place theory

Answer 31

Specific place along the basilar membrane matches a tone with a specific pitch

Question 32

Frequency theory

Answer 32

Rate at which neurons fire the action potential reproduces the pitch

Question 33

Olfaction

Answer 33

Our sense of smell

Question 34

Gustation

Answer 34

Our sense of taste

Question 35

Taste bud

Answer 35

Sense receptor in the tongue that responds to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, and perhaps fat

Question 36

Pheromones

Answer 36

Odorless chemical that serves as a social signal to members of one's species

Question 37

Somatosensory

Answer 37

Our sense of touch, temperature, and pain

Question 38

Gate control model

Answer 38

Idea that pain is blocked or gated from consciousness by neural mechanisms in the spinal cord

Question 39

Phantom pain

Answer 39

Pain or discomfort felt in an amputated limb

Question 40

Proprioception

Answer 40

Our sense of body position

Question 41

Vestibular sense

Answer 41

Our sense of equilibrium or balance

Question 42

Semicircular canals

Answer 42

3 fluid-filled canals and the inner ear responsible for a sense of balance

Question 43

Parallel processing

Answer 43

The ability to attend to many sense modalities simultaneously

Question 44

Bottom-up processing

Answer 44

Processing in which a hole is constructed from parts

Question 45

Top down processing

Answer 45

Conceptually driven processing influenced by beliefs and expectancies

Question 46

Perceptual set

Answer 46

Set formed when expectations influence perceptions

Question 47

Perceptual constancy

Answer 47

The process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions

Question 48

Depth perception

Answer 48

Ability to judge distance in three-dimensional relations

Question 49

Monocular depth cues

Answer 49

Stimuli that enables us to judge depth using only one eye

Question 50

Binocular depth cues

Answer 50

Stimuli that enables us to judge the depth using both eyes

Question 51

Subliminal perception

Answer 51

Perception below the limen or threshold of conscious awareness

Question 52

Extra sensory perception

Answer 52

Perception of events outside the known channels of sensation