Chapter 4 terminology

Question 1

Perception in which the way we perceive a stimulus doesn’t match its physical reality

Answer 1

Illusion

Question 2

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

Answer 2

Sensation

Question 3

perception

Answer 3

The brains interpretation of raw sensory inputs

Question 4

Transduction

Answer 4

The process of converting an external energy or substance into electrical activity within neurons

Question 5

Specialized cell which converts external stimuli into neural activity

Answer 5

Sense receptor

Question 6

Sensory adaptation

Answer 6

First stimulus is the strongest

Question 7

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

Answer 7

Absolute threshold

Question 8

Just noticeable difference (JND)

Answer 8

The smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Webers law

Question 10

Signal detection theory

Answer 10

Theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions

Question 11

Inattentional blindness

Answer 11

Failure to detect stimuli that are in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere

Question 12

Hue

Answer 12

Color of light

Question 13

Circular hole through which light enters the eye

Answer 13

Pupil

Question 14

Cornea

Answer 14

Focuses light on the retina

Question 15

Part of the eye that changes curvature to keep focus

Answer 15

Lens

Question 16

Changing shape if the lens to focus near or far

Answer 16

accommodation

Question 17

Retina

Answer 17

Dark membrane, converts light into neural activity

Question 18

Acuity

Answer 18

Sharpness of image

Question 19

Optic nerve

Answer 19

Nerve that travels from the retina to the brain

Question 20

Trichomatic theory

Answer 20

That three colors form the base of all colors

Question 21

Opponent process theory

Answer 21

We see colors in terms of pairs of opponent colors

Question 22

Bony, spiral shaped sense organ for hearing

Answer 22

Cochlea

Question 23

Organ of corti

Answer 23

Contains the hair cells needed for hearing

Question 24

Membrane supporting the organ of Corti

Answer 24

Basal Membrane

Question 25

Place theory

Answer 25

Each sound has a region on the basliar membrane

Question 26

Olfaction

Answer 26

Sense of smell

Question 27

Our taste sense

Answer 27

gustation

Question 28

Oderless chemical that serves as a social signal

Answer 28

Pheromone

Question 29

Sense of touch, pain, or temperature

Answer 29

somatosensory

Question 30

Gate control model

Answer 30

Idea that pain is blocked or gated from consciousness by neural mechanisms in spinal cord

Question 31

Phantom pain

Answer 31

Pain in an appendage that does not exist

Question 32

Proprioception

Answer 32

Our sense of body position

Question 33

Vestibular sense

Answer 33

Our sense of equilibrium or balance

Question 34

Parallel processing

Answer 34

the ability to attend to many sense modalities at the same time

Question 35

Bottom-up processing

Answer 35

Whole is built from parts

Question 36

Top-down

Answer 36

Conceptual processing influenced by beliefs and expectancies