Chapter 4 Flashcards
Illusion
Perception in chich the way we perceive a stimulus doesn’t match its physical reality
Sensation
Detection of physical energy sense by organs, which send information to the brain
Perception
The brain’s perception of raw sensory inputs
Transduction
process of converting an external anergy or substance into electrical activity within neurons
Sense Receptor
Specialized cell responsible for converting external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system
Sensory Adaptation
Process in which activation is greatest when a stimulus is first detected
Psychophysics
The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics
Absolute Threshold
Lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change 50% of the time
Just Noticeable Difference
The smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect
Weber’s Law
Principle stating there is a constant proportional relationship between the JND and original stimulus intensity
Signal Detection Theory
Theory of how stimuli are detected under different conditions
Synthesia
A condition in which people experience cross-modal senses
Selective Attention
Process of selecting one sensory channel and ignoring or minimizing others
Inattentional Blindness
Failure to detect stimuli that are in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere
Hue
Colour of light
Pupil
Circular hole through which light enters the eye
Cornea
Part of the eye containing transparent cells that focus light on the retina
Lens
Part of the eye that changes curvature to keep images in focus
Accomodation
Changing the shape of the lens to focus on objects near or far
Retina
Membrane at the back of eye responsible for converting light into neural activity
Fovea
Central portion of retina
Acuity
Sharpness of vision
Rods
Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in low levels of light
Dark Adaptation
Time in dark before rods regain maximum light sensitivity
Cones
Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see colour
Optic Nerve
Nerve that travels from the retina to the brain
Blind Spot
Region of the retina containing no rods and completely devoid of sense receptors
Feature Detector Cell
Cell that detects lines and edges
Trichromatic Theory
The idea that colour vision is based on our sensitivity to three primary colours
Colour Blindness
Inability to see some or all colours
Opponent Process theory
Theory that we perceive colours in terms of three pairs of opponent colours
Timbre
Complexity or quality of sound that makes sounds unique
Cochlea
Bony, spiral-shaped sense organ used for hearing
Organ of Corti
Tissue containing the hair cells necessary for hearing
Basilar Membrane
Membrane supporting the organ of Corti and hair cells in the cochlea
Place Theory
A specific place along the basilar membrane matches a tone with a specific pitch
Frequency theory
Rate at which neurons fire the action potentials reproduces the pitch
Olfaction
Sense of smell
Gustation
Sense of taste
Taste Bud
Sense receptor in the tongue that responds to sweet, salty, sour, umami and perhaps fat
Pheromone
Odourless chemical that serves as a social signal to members of one’s species
Somatosensory
Sense of touch, temperature and pain
Gate Control Model
Idea that pain is blocked or gated from consciousness by neural mechanisms in the spinal cord
Phantom Pain
Pain or discomfort felt in an amputated limb
Vestibular Sense
Our sense of equilibrium or balance
Semicircular Canals
Three fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance
Parallel Processing
Ability to attend to many sense modalities simultaneously
Bottom-up Processing
Processing in which a whole is constructed from parts
Top-down Processing
Conceptually driven processing influenced by beluefs and expectancies
Perceptual set
Set formed when expectations influence perceptions
Perceptual constancy
The process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions
Depth Perception
Ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relations
Monocular Depth Cues
Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using only one eye
Binocular depth cues
Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes
Subliminal Perception
Perception below the limen or threshold of conscious awareness
