Chapter 5 Flashcards
Perception
The precession of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Sensation
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
Bottom-Up Processing
Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory info
Top-Down Processing
Info processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experiences and expectations
Prosopgnosia
Complete sensation but incomplete perception (failure of perception)
Psychophysics
A study of the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity and our psychological experience with them
Absolute Threshold
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
Subliminal
Below one’s absolute threshold of conscious awareness
Priming
The activation, often unconsciously of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory or response
Difference Threshold
Minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time (Just Noticeable Difference)
Weber’s Law
Two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum % (rather then a constant amount) to be perceived as different
Sensory Adaptation
Our diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus
Transduction
The conversion of one form of energy to another (stimulus energies)
Wavelength
The difference of one wave peak to the next
Hue
The color we experience
Intensity
The amount of energy in the waves determined by a wave’s amplitude or height
Pupil
Adjustable opening to the eye
Iris
Muscle that controls pupil
Lens
Curved and flexible in order to focus the light (flips images upside down while your brain flips it back)
Accommodation
The process by which the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layer of neurons that begin the processing of visual information
Retina
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information
Acuity
The sharpness of vision
Nearsightedness
Nearby objects are seen more clearly
Farsightedness
Far objects are seen more clearly
Cones
Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions, the cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
Rods
Retinal receptors that detect black, white and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond
Optic Nerve
The nerve carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Blind Spot
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there
Fovea
The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster
Feature Detectors
Nerve Cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement
Parallel Processing
The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of info processing for many functions, including vision
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (Three-Color) Theory
The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors - one of the most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color
Opponent-Process Theory
The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision
Color Constancy
Color of an object remains the same under different illuminations
Audition
The sense or act of hearing
Frequency
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
Pitch
A tone’s experienced highness or low (depends on frequency)
Middle Ear
Chamber between eardrum and cochlea (contains hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window
Cochlea
A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner-ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses
Inner Ear
Contains the cochlea, semicircular canal and vestibular sacs
Place Theory
Suggests that sound frequencies stimulate the basilar membrane at specific places resulting in perceived pitch
Frequency Theory
That the rate of nerve impulses, traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch
Conduction Hearing Loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
Cochlear Implant
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
Gate-Control Theory
Theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers or by info coming from the brain
Sensory Interaction
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste
Kinesthesis
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Vestibular Sense
The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance
