Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Illusion

Answer 1

perception in which the way we perceive a stimulus does not match reality

Question 2

Sensation

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Sense organs

Answer 3

Eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue

Question 4

Perception

Answer 4

The brain’s interpretation of raw sensory inputs

Question 5

Transduction

Answer 5

First step of sensation, where the nervous system converts external energy or substance into electrical activity within neurons

Question 6

Sense receptor

Answer 6

specialized cell that converts external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system

Question 7

Sensory adaptation

Answer 7

After we first detect a stimulus (and subsequent activation occurs), our response decreases in strength

Question 8

Psychophysics

Answer 8

the study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics

Question 9

Absolute threshold

Answer 9

the lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change 50% of the time

Question 10

The “just noticeable difference” (JND)

Answer 10

smallest change in intensity of a stimulus that we can detect

Question 11

Weber’s Law

Answer 11

there is a constant proportional relationship between the JND and the original intensity of stimulus

Question 12

Signal detection theory

Answer 12

theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions

Question 13

Response biases

Answer 13

j

Question 14

McGurk effect

Answer 14

k

Question 15

Synesthesia

Answer 15

condition in which people experience cross-modal sensations

Question 16

Mirror-touch synesthesia

Answer 16

When a person experiences the same sensation that another person experiences, such as touch

Question 17

Lexical-gustatory synesthesia

Answer 17

When words are associated with specific tastes or textures

Question 18

Chromesthesia

Answer 18

Sounds trigger the experience of color

Question 19

Personification (synesthesia)

Answer 19

Numbers, letters, or days of the week take on personality characteristics and sometimes even a characteristic appearance.

Question 20

Number-form synesthesia

Answer 20

Numbers are imagined as mental maps

Question 21

Spatial sequence synesthesia

Answer 21

Certain sequences of numbers, dates, or months are perceived as closer or farther in space.

Question 22

Selective attention

Answer 22

process of selecting one sensory system and ignoring or minimizing the others

Question 23

Cocktail party effect

Answer 23

j

Question 24

Inattentional blindness

Answer 24

Failing to detect stimuli in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere

Question 25

change blindness

Answer 25

Failure to detect obvious changes in environment

Question 26

the binding problem

Answer 26

combining diverse pieces of information into a unified whole.

Question 27

signal-to-noise ratio

Answer 27

(connection to signal detection theory)

Question 28

dichotic listening

Answer 28

j

Question 29

light

Answer 29

form of electromagnetic energy

Question 30

hue

Answer 30

color of light

Question 31

additive color mixing

Answer 31

mixing primary colors to make any other color

Question 32

subtractive color mixing

Answer 32

d

Question 33

sclera

Answer 33

j

Question 34

iris

Answer 34

j

Question 35

pupil

Answer 35

hole through which light enters eye

Question 36

cornea

Answer 36

curved transparent layer over the iris and pupil that bends light in order to focus it

Question 37

lens

Answer 37

also curved but can change its curvature to keep an image in focus

Question 38

Accommodation

Answer 38

Changing shape of lens to focus on objects near or far

Question 39

Myopia

Answer 39

nearsightedness: when images are focus in front of the rear of the eye because our cornea is too steep or our eyes are too long. Can see close objects, but not those far away

Question 40

Hyperopia

Answer 40

Farsightedness: when our cornea is too flat, and our eyes are too short. Can see objects far away, but not close ones

Question 41

retina

Answer 41

a

Question 42

fovea

Answer 42

a

Question 43

acuity

Answer 43

sharpness of vision

Question 44

rods

Answer 44

e

Question 45

cones

Answer 45

color

Question 46

dark adaptation

Answer 46

when you enter a dark room after being in a brightly lit environment

Question 47

photopigments

Answer 47

a

Question 48

rhodopsin

Answer 48

a

Question 49

ganglion cells

Answer 49

f

Question 50

optic nerve

Answer 50

j

Question 51

optic chiasm

Answer 51

j

Question 52

blind spot

Answer 52

where the optic nerve connects to the retina

Question 53

feature detection

Answer 53

j

Question 54

feature detection cells

Answer 54

j

Question 55

Trichromatic theory

Answer 55

j

Question 56

opponent theory process

Answer 56

a

Question 57

visual agnosia

Answer 57

a

Question 58

audition

Answer 58

j

Question 59

timbre

Answer 59

quality

Question 60

loudness

Answer 60

amplitude

Question 61

pitch

Answer 61

s