Chapter 5 Key Terms

Question 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Answer 1

sensation

Question 2

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Answer 2

perception

Question 3

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

Answer 3

bottom-up processing

Question 4

information processing guided by the higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our own experiences and expectations

Answer 4

top-down processing

Question 5

have complete sensation, but incomplete perception;Sense visual info, but can’t recognize it; cannot process top-down (cannot relate stored knowledge to sensory input)

Answer 5

prosopagnosia

Question 6

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Answer 6

psychophysics

Question 7

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Answer 7

absolute threshold

Question 8

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation ; assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue

Answer 8

signal detection theory

Question 9

faint stimulus

Answer 9

signal

Question 10

background stimulation

Answer 10

noise

Question 11

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Answer 11

subliminal

Question 12

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

Answer 12

priming

Question 13

the minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time; we experience it as a just noticeable difference

Answer 13

difference threshold

Question 14

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Answer 14

Weber’s Law

Question 15

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Answer 15

sensory adaptation

Question 16

conversion of one form to another; in sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret

Answer 16

transduction

Question 17

the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next; vary from short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission

Answer 17

wavelength

Question 18

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, etc

Answer 18

hue

Question 19

the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude

Answer 19

intensity

Question 20

height of wave

Answer 20

amplitude

Question 21

light enters the eye through it, protects the eye and bends light to provide focus

Answer 21

cornea

Question 22

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Answer 22

pupil

Question 23

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

Answer 23

iris

Question 24

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Answer 24

lens

Question 25

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Answer 25

accommodation

Question 26

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

Answer 26

retina

Question 27

sharpness of vision (affected by small distortions in the eye’s shape)

Answer 27

acuity

Question 28

a condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina

Answer 28

nearsightedness

Question 29

a condition in which far away objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina

Answer 29

farsightedness

Question 30

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

Answer 30

rods

Question 31

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; they detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Answer 31

cones

Question 32

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Answer 32

optic nerve

Question 33

point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, no receptor cells are located there

Answer 33

blind spot

Question 34

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster

Answer 34

fovea

Question 35

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Answer 35

feature detectors

Question 36

step by step processing computers do

Answer 36

serial processing

Question 37

the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision; contrasts with step by step serial processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving

Answer 37

parallel processing

Question 38

blindness in part of their field of vision, there’s a parallel processing system operating unseen

Answer 38

blindsight

Question 39

theory that the retina contains 3 different color receptors - one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color

Answer 39

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Question 40

subtracts wavelengths from the reflected light

Answer 40

Subtractive color mixing

Question 41

adds wavelengths and increases the light

Answer 41

Additive color mixing

Question 42

when you stare at one color for a long time and then look at a white paper, you will see its opponent color

Answer 42

afterimages

Question 43

theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision; some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red, others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

Answer 43

opponent-process theory

Question 44

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Answer 44

color constancy

Question 45

the sense or act of hearing (highly adaptive)

Answer 45

audition

Question 46

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Answer 46

frequency

Question 47

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depend on the frequency

Answer 47

pitch

Question 48

measuring unit for sound energy

Answer 48

decibels

Question 49

channels sound waves through the auditory canal

Answer 49

outer ear

Question 50

tight membrane that vibrates with the waves

Answer 50

eardrum

Question 51

chamber b/w the eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Answer 51

middle ear

Question 52

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

Answer 52

cochlea

Question 53

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Answer 53

inner ear

Question 54

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated

Answer 54

place theory

Question 55

in hearing, the 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

Answer 55

frequency theory

Question 56

neural cells can alternate firing

Answer 56

volley principle

Question 57

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (Ability to conduct vibrations diminishes)

Answer 57

conduction hearing loss

Question 58

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves

Answer 58

Sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness)

Question 59

device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

Answer 59

Cochlear implant

Question 60

extreme sensitivity to pain, makes life miserable

Answer 60

Hyperalgesia

Question 61

perceive sensations in nonexisting limbs; misinterpret CNS activity

Answer 61

phantom sensations

Question 62

phantom sounds, ringing in the ears, for people with hearing loss

Answer 62

tinnitus

Question 63

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 and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Answer 63

Gate-control theory

Question 64

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Answer 64

sensory interaction

Question 65

seeing a speaker say one syllable and hearing another, we may perceive a third syllable that blends both inputs

Answer 65

McGurk effect

Question 66

one sort of sensation produces another

Answer 66

Synaesthesia

Question 67

system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Answer 67

kinesthesis

Question 68

sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

Answer 68

vestibular sense