Chapter 4 Flashcards
what is sensation
is the basic registration of light, sound, pressure, odor, or taste as parts of your body interact with the physical world
perception
the organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation
transduction
the process that occurs when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the central nervous system
psychophysics
methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus
absolute threshold
the minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus in 50% of trials
just noticeable difference (JND)
the minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected
weber’s law
states that the just noticeable differences of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity
signal detection theory
holds that the response to a stimulus depends on both a persons sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and the persons response criterion
sensory adaption
the process whereby sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
visual acuity
the ability to see fine detail
retina
a layer of light-sensitive-tissue lining the back of the eyeball
accomadation
the process whereby the eye maintains a clear image on the retina
cones
photoreceptors that detect colour, operate under normal daylight conditions, and allows us to focus on fine detail
rods
photoreceptors that become active under low-light conditions for night vision
fovea
the area of the retina where vision is the clearest and there are no rods at all
blind spot
a location in the visual field that produces no sensation on the retina
area V1
the part of the occipital lobe that contains the primary visual cortex
colour-opponent system
theory stating that pairs of visual neuron’s work in opposition
parallel processing
the brains capacity to perform multiple activities at the same time
binding problem
how the brain links features together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or mis-combined features
illusory conjuction
a perceptual mistake whereby the brain incorrectly combines features from multiple objects
feature-integration theory
the idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that make up a stimulus but is required to bind those individual features together
perceptual constancy
a perceptual principle stating that even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains consistent
template
a mental representation that can be directly compared with a viewed shape in the retinal image
monocular depth curves
aspects of scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye
binocular disparity
the difference in the retinal images of the tow eyes that provides information about depth
apparent motion
the perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different location
change blindness
failure to detect changes to the visual details of a scene
in-attentional blindness
a failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention
pitch
how high or low a sound is
loudness
a sound’s intensity
timbre
a listener’s experience of sound quality or resonance
cochlea
a fluid-filled tube that is the organ of auditory transduction
basilar membrane
a structure in the inner ear that undulates when vibrations from the ossicles reach the cochlear fluid
hair cells
specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane
area A1
a portion of the temporal lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex
place code
the process by which different frequencies stimulate neural signals at specific places along the basilar membrane, from which the brain determines pitch
temporal code
the process whereby the cochlea registers low frequencies via the firing rate of action potentials entering the auditory nerve
haptic perception
the active explanation of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands
referred pain
feeling of pain when sensory information from internal and external areas converges on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord
gate-control theory of pain
a theory of pain perception based on the idea that signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from two directions
vestibular system
the three fluid-filled semicircular canals and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in the inner ear
olfactory receptor neurons (ORN)
receptors cells that initiate the sense of smell
olfactory bulb
a brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes
pheromones
biochemical odorants emitted by other members of its species that can affect an animals behaviour or physiology
taste bud
the organ of taste transduction
