Chapter 4

Question 1

Illusion

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Sensation

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Perception

Answer 3

The brain’s interpretation of raw sensory input

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 a stimulus is first detected

Question 7

Psychophysics

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Absolute threshold

Answer 8

Lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change 50 percent 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 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 sensations

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

Pupil

Answer 15

Circular hole through which light enters the eye

Question 16

Hue

Answer 16

Color of light

Question 17

Cornea

Answer 17

Part of the eye containing transparent cells that focus light on the retina

Question 18

Lens

Answer 18

Part of the eye that changes curvature to keep images in focus

Question 19

Accommodation

Answer 19

Changing the shape of the lens to focus on objects near or far

Question 20

Retina

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Fovea

Answer 21

Central portion of the retina

Question 22

Acuity

Answer 22

Sharpness of vision

Question 23

Rods

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Dark Adaptation

Answer 24

Time In dark before rods regain maximum light sensitivity

Question 25

Cones

Answer 25

Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in color

Question 26

Optic Nerve

Answer 26

Nerve that travels from the retina to the brain

Question 27

Blind spot

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Feature detector cell

Answer 28

Cells that detect lines and edges

Question 29

Trichromatic theory

Answer 29

Idea that color vision is based on our sensitivity to three primary colors

Question 30

Color blindness

Answer 30

Inability to see some or all colors

Question 31

Opponent process theory

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Audition

Answer 32

Our sense of hearing

Question 33

Timbre

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Cochlea

Answer 34

Bony, spiral-shaped sense organ used for hearing

Question 35

Organ of Corti

Answer 35

Tissue containing the hair cells necessary for hearing

Question 36

Basilar membrane

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Place theory

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Frequency theory

Answer 38

Rate at which neurons fire the action potential reproduces the pitch

Question 39

Olfaction

Answer 39

Our sense of smell

Question 40

Gustation

Answer 40

Our sense of taste

Question 41

Taste buds

Answer 41

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

Question 42

Pheromone

Answer 42

Odorless chemical that serves as a social signal to member of one species

Question 43

Somatosensory

Answer 43

Our sense of touch, temperature, and pain

Question 44

Gate control model

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Phantom pain

Answer 45

Pain or discomfort felt in an amputated limb

Question 46

Proprioception

Answer 46

Our sense of body position

Question 47

Vestibular sense

Answer 47

Our sense of equilibrium or balance

Question 48

Semicircular canals

Answer 48

Three fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance

Question 49

Parallel processing

Answer 49

The ability to attend to many sense modalities simultaneously

Question 50

Bottom-up processing

Answer 50

Processing in which a whole is constructed from parts

Question 51

Top-down processing

Answer 51

Conceptually driven processing influenced by beliefs and expectancies

Question 52

Perceptual set

Answer 52

Set formed when expectations influence perceptions

Question 53

Perceptual constancy

Answer 53

The process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions

Question 54

Depth perception

Answer 54

Ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relations

Question 55

Monocular depth cues

Answer 55

Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes

Question 56

Binocular depth cues

Answer 56

Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes

Question 57

Subliminal perception

Answer 57

Perception below the limen or threshold of conscious awareness

Question 58

Extrasensory perception

Answer 58

Perception of events outside the known channels of sensation