Chapter 5: Sensation

Question 0

Perception

Answer 0

The process of organizing & interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects & events.

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process by which our sensory receptors & nervous system receive & represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Question 2

Bottom-up processing

Answer 2

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors & works up to the brain’s integration of sensory info.

Question 3

Top-down processing

Answer 3

Info processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience & expectations.

Question 4

Psychophysics

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Absolute threshold

Answer 5

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time. (Light, sound, pressure, taste or odor)

Question 6

Signal detection theory

Answer 6

A theory predicting how & when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (“signal”) amid background stimulation (“noise”). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold & that detection depends partly on a person’s experiences, expectations, motivation & level of fatigue.

Question 7

Subliminal

Answer 7

Below one’s absolute threshold for consciousness awareness.

Question 8

Priming

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Difference threshold

Answer 9

The minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference.

Question 10

Weber’s Law

Answer 10

The principle that to be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Question 11

Sensory adaption

Answer 11

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant motion.

Question 12

Transduction

Answer 12

Encode physical energy as neural signals.

Question 13

Wavelength

Answer 13

The distance from the peak of one light or soundwave to the peak of the next

Question 14

Hue

Answer 14

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light

Question 15

Intensity

Answer 15

The amount of energy in a light or soundwave, which we perceive as brightness of loudness, as determined by the wave amplitude.

Question 16

Pupil

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Iris

Answer 17

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil & controls the size of the pupil opening.

Question 18

Lens

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Accommodation

Answer 19

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

Question 20

Retina

Answer 20

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods & cones plus layers of neurons that begin processing visual info.

Question 21

Acuity

Answer 21

The sharpness of vision

Question 22

Nearsightedness

Answer 22

Nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina.

Question 23

Farsightedness

Answer 23

Faraway objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina.

Question 24

Rods

Answer 24

Retinal receptors that detect black, white & gray; necessary for peripheral & twilight vision, when cones don't respond.

Question 25

Cones

Answer 25

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina & that function in daylight or in well-lot conditions. The cones detect fine detail & give rise to color sensations.

Question 26

Optic nerve

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Blind spot

Answer 27

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Question 28

Fovea

Answer 28

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.

Question 29

Feature detectors

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Parallel processing

Answer 30

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of info processing for many functions.

Question 31

Blindsight

Answer 31

Blindness in part of the field of vision due to destruction in the visual cortex - from a stroke or surgery.

Question 32

Young-helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Answer 32

The theory that the retina contains 3 different color receptors - red, green & blue - that when stimulated in combinations can produce the perception of any color.

Question 33

Opponent-process theory

Answer 33

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.

Question 34

Color constancy

Answer 34

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even in changing illumination alters the wave-lengths reflected by the objects

Question 35

Audition

Answer 35

The sense or act of hearing

Question 36

Frequency

Answer 36

The # of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Question 37

Pitch

Answer 37

A tone's experienced highness or lowness, depends on frequency.

Question 38

Middle ear

Answer 38

The chamber between the eardrum & cochlea, containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil & stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window.

Question 39

Cochlea

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Inner ear

Answer 40

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals & vestibular sacs.

Question 41

Place theory

Answer 41

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.

Question 42

Frequency theory

Answer 42

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 it's pitch.

Question 43

Conduction hearing loss

Answer 43

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to cochlea.

Question 44

Sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 44

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells to the auditory; also called nerve deafness.

Question 45

Cochlear implant

Answer 45

Device for converting sounds into electrical signals & stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

Question 46

Sensory interaction

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Kinesthesis

Answer 47

The system for sensing the position & movement of individual body parts.

Question 48

Vestibular sense

Answer 48

The sense of body movement & position, including the sense of balance.

Question 49

Olfaction

Answer 49

Sense of smell

Question 50

Synesthesia

Answer 50

The phenomenon where the senses become joined. (Hear a sound, see a color)

Question 51

Prosopagnosia

Answer 51

Impairment in the recognition of faces

Question 52

Bipolar cells

Answer 52

Transmits signals from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells.

Question 53

Ganglion ces

Answer 53

Receives visual info from photoreceptors via 2 intermediate neuron types: horizontal cells & ampicrine cells

Question 54

Cilia

Answer 54

Tiny hairs lining the cochlea

Question 55

Gate-control theory

Answer 55

Pain asserts that non-painful input closes the "gates" to painful input, which prevents pain sensation from traveling to the central nervous system. Therefore, stimulation by non-noxious input is able to suppress pain

Question 56

McGurk Effect

Answer 56

Phenomenon that demonstrates an interaction between hearing and vision in speech perception. The illusion occurs when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound, leading to the perception of a third sound.