Chapter 4: Sensation And Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process by which our sensory organs receive stimulus energies from the environment and transduce them into electrical energy of the nervous system.

Question 2

Transduction

Answer 2

The transformation of sensory stimulus energy from the environment into neural impulses.

Question 3

Perception

Answer 3

The neural processing of electrical signals form an internal mental representation inside your brain of what’s on the outside.

Question 4

Psychophysics

Answer 4

The study of the relationship between the physical characteristics of environmental stimuli and our mental experience of them.

Question 5

Absolute threshold

Answer 5

The minimum amount of stimulation necessary for someone to detect a stimulus half of the time.

Question 6

Signal detection theory

Answer 6

An approach to measuring thresholds that takes into account both the intensity of the stimulus and psychological biases for the more accurate assessment.

Question 7

Difference threshold

Answer 7

The minimum difference required between two stimuli for an observer to detect a difference half the time.

Question 8

Just-noticeable difference (JND)

Answer 8

The minimum difference required between two stimuli for an observer to detect a difference half of the time.

Question 9

Weber’s law

Answer 9

The observation that the likelihood of perceiving a stimulus change is proportional to the magnitude of the stimuli.

Question 10

Adaptation

Answer 10

A phenomenon whereby an individual stops noticing a stimulus that remains constant over time, resulting in enhanced detection of stimulus changes.

Question 11

Wavelength

Answer 11

The distance between any two consecutive crests or through of a wave.

Question 12

Frequency

Answer 12

The number of cycles per second of a wave.

Question 13

Amplitude

Answer 13

The height of crests of a wave.

Question 14

Pupil

Answer 14

A hole in the iris where light enters the eye.

Question 15

Iris

Answer 15

The coloured muscle circling the pupil.

Question 16

Lens

Answer 16

A membrane at the front of the eye that focuses the incoming light on the retina.

Question 17

Accommodation

Answer 17

Adjustment of the len’s thickness by specialized muscles in order to change the degree to which it bends light.

Question 18

Retina

Answer 18

A surface on the back of the eye that contains the photoreceptor cells.

Question 19

Rods

Answer 19

Photoreceptor cells that primarily support nighttime vision.

Question 20

Cones

Answer 20

Photoreceptor cells that are responsible for high-resolution colour vision.

Question 21

Optic nerve

Answer 21

A bundle of axons that converge from the retina and transmit action potentials to the brain.

Question 22

Blind spot

Answer 22

An area in the middle of the visual field where there are no photoreceptors and no information can be received.

Question 23

Fovea

Answer 23

A small pit in the center of the retina that is densely packed with cones.

Question 24

Trichromatic theory

Answer 24

A theory of colour perception stating that three types of cone cells, each most sensitive to a specific wavelength of light, work together to produce our perception of a multicoloured world.

Question 25

Opponent-process theory

Answer 25

A theory of colour perception stating that information from the cones is separated into three sets of opposing or opponent channels in the ganglion cell layer.

Question 26

Feature detectors

Answer 26

Specialized cells in the visual cortex that respond to basic features such as lines, edges, and angles.

Question 27

Visual association cortex

Answer 27

The region of the brain where objects are reconstructed from prior knowledge and information collected by the feature detectors.

Question 28

Prosopagnosia

Answer 28

A visual disorder in which individuals are unable to recognize the identity of faces.

Question 29

Phi phenomenon

Answer 29

A visual illusion in which the flashing of separate images in rapid succession is perceived as fluid movement.

Question 30

Pitch

Answer 30

The perceptual quality of sound that makes a flute sound high and a tuba low.

Question 31

Middle ear

Answer 31

The portion of the ear containing the eardrum and ossicles.

Question 32

Ossicles

Answer 32

Three tiny bones in the ear-the hammer, anvil, and stirrup-that act as levers to amplify incoming sound waves.

Question 33

Inner ear

Answer 33

The innermost part of the ear, where the cochlea resides.

Question 34

Cochlea

Answer 34

A spiral structure in the inner ear where the basilar membrane, containing auditory sensory neurons, is located.

Question 35

Basilar membrane

Answer 35

A structure in the cochlea where the auditory cilia, or auditory sensory neurons, are located.

Question 36

Frequency theory

Answer 36

A theory of pitch perception stating that the brain uses the frequency of auditory sensory neuron firing to indicate pitch.

Question 37

Place theory

Answer 37

A theory of pitch perception stating that different pitches arise from stimulation at different places along the basilar membrane.

Question 38

Primary auditory cortex

Answer 38

The region of the brain, located in the temporal lobe, where sound is processed.

Question 39

Tonotopic organization

Answer 39

The arrangement of the auditory cortex such that nearby frequencies are processed near each other in the brain, resulting in a sound map.

Question 40

Tactile sense

Answer 40

The sense of touch.

Question 41

Primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 41

The region of the brain where the processing of touch sensations occurs.

Question 42

Somatosensory homunculus

Answer 42

A depiction of how the body is represented by the brain, proportional to the amount of cortex devoted to each body part.

Question 43

Proprioception

Answer 43

The sensory system responsible for awareness of body positions.

Question 44

Vestibular system

Answer 44

The sensory system primarily responsible for balance.

Question 45

Kinesthesis

Answer 45

The senses responsible for monitoring the position and movement of the body, including proprioception and the vestibular system.

Question 46

Olfaction

Answer 46

The sense of smell.

Question 47

Epithelium

Answer 47

A mucous membrane in the nasal cavity that contains the olfactory receptor neurons.

Question 48

Olfactory bulb

Answer 48

A structure just above the nasal cavity where information is communicated to the primary olfactory cortex via the olfactory tract.

Question 49

Glomeruli

Answer 49

A spherical cluster of neurons in the olfactory bulb.

Question 50

Primary olfactory cortex

Answer 50

The region of the brain, located in the anterior temporal lobe, where smell is processed.

Question 51

Gustation

Answer 51

The sense of taste.

Question 52

Gestalt psychology

Answer 52

A school of psychological thought that attempted to explain how various elements group together to form objects, arguing that perception is more than a simple piecing together of building blocks.

Question 53

Binocular cues

Answer 53

Depth information gathered from the separation between an individuals two eyes.

Question 54

Binocular disparity

Answer 54

The magnitude of difference between the images projected on an individuals two eyes.

Question 55

Monocular cues

Answer 55

Depth information that can be gathered by only one eye.

Question 56

Size constancy

Answer 56

The phenomenon whereby the brain adjusts its perception of distance in order to perceive an object’s actual size as constant, taking into account changes in retinal size.

Question 57

Colour constancy

Answer 57

The phenomenon whereby the brain adjusts its perception of colour to hold it constant, taking into account changes in lighting conditions.

Question 58

Perceptual set

Answer 58

A predisposition that influence what we perceive based on recent experience or context.