Chapter 4: Sensing and Perceiving Our World Flashcards
the experience of having your sense organs stimulated (physical)
sensation
interpreting the sensations that are experienced, to recognize meaning objects and events
perception
diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus
sensory adaptation
converting physical to neural information
transduction
study of the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experiences of them
psychophysics
minimum stimulation needed to detect particular stimulus 50% of the time
absolute threshold
minimum difference can detect between 2 stimuli half the time
just noticeable difference
finding that the size of a jnd is a constant fractions of the intensity of the stimulus
weber’s law
part of the eye that lets light in
pupil
colored ring that surrounds the pupil
iris
clear coating on the outside of your eye, protective layer (coarse focus)
cornea
behind iris and mainly responsible for focusing vision (fine adjustment)
lens
nerve cells/neurons responsible for detecting light
photoreceptors
membrane in the back of the eye that houses photoreceptors
retina
section of the retina that acts as a point of fixation
fovea
carries information based on what you see to the brain
optic nerve
where the optic nerve leaves the eye - where no sensory receptors are
blind spot
for seeing black, white, and gray (shading)
rods
for seeing color and clarity (details)
cones
rods and cones feed information and activate
bipolar cells
bipolar cells activate
ganglion cells
made up on the axons of the ganglion cells
optic nerve
the lens focuses the image in front of the fovea
nearsightedness
lens focuses the image past the retina
farsightedness
neurons in visual cortex that analyze the retinal image and respond to specific aspects of shapes (angles and movements)
feature detectors
bar of light oriented at particular angle
simple cell
theory that all color that we experience results from mixing three colors of light (red, green, blue)
trichromatic color theory
color vision results from cones linked together in three pairs of opposing colors, so activation of one member of the pair inhibits activity of the other
opponent process theory
weakness or deficiency in perception of certain colors
color blindness
compare images from retinas of both eyes - greater disparity means object is closer (BC)
retinal disparity
information about how much eyes must rotate inward to look at an object - more rotation means object is closer (BC)
binocular convergence
depth cues that result from the cures of both eyes
binocular cues
depth cues that are available to each eye separately
monocular cues
parallel lines appear to converge as they get further away (MC)
linear perspective
you can see more texture/detail on objects that are closer to you (MC)
texture gradient
things that are further away from you will appear bluer in color (MC)
atmospheric perspective
partially occluded/blocked objects appear to be further away (MC)
interposition
perceiving objects as unchanging even as the image on the retina changes
perceptual constancy
we tend to group things that are physically similar together
rule of similarity
opt for the simplest explanation
rule of continuity
things that are closer to each other tend to be grouped together
law of proximity
we fill in boundaries/borders even when there’s none physically there
principle of closure
organization of visual field into its objects (figures) and surroundings (ground)
figure-ground
even though the size of the image on your retina changes, you perceive the object in the real world to be the same size
size constancy
you understand that an object has a constant shape even though the shape falling on your retina does change
shape constancy
objects seem to have the constant lightness even when illumination varies
lightness constancy
amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings
relative luminance
perceiving familiar objects as having constant color even when changing illumination alters reflected wavelengths
color constancy
