Chapter 4 Key Terms Pt. 1 [Sensation & Perception] Flashcards
sensation
simple stimulation of a sense organ
perception
the organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation
transduction
what takes place 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 sensitive to that stimulus
absolute threshold
the minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus in 50% of the trials
just noticeable difference (JND)
the minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected {{related to Weber’s law}}
Weber’s law
the just noticeable difference (JND) of a stimulus in a constant proportion despite variations in intensity
signal detection theory
the response to a stimulus depends both on a person’s sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person’s response criterion
sensory adaptation
sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
visual activity
the ability to see fine detail
retina
light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball
accommodation
the process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina
cones
photoreceptors that detect color, operate under normal daylight conditions, and allow us to focus on fine detail
rods
photoreceptors that become active under low-light conditions for night vision
fovea
an 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
visual form agnosia
the inability to recognize objects by sight
binding problem
how features are linked together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or miscombined features
illusory conjunction
a perceptual mistake where features from multiple objects are incorrectly combined
monocular depth cues
aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye
binocular density
the difference in the retinal images of the two eyes that provides information about depth
apparent motion
the perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations
change blindness
when people fail to detect changes to the visual details of a scene
inattentional blindness
a failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention
