Chapter 5 Vocab Flashcards
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Perception
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
Sensation
Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information
Bottom-up processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
Top-down processing
Fatigue of perception, complete sensation but incomplete perception inability to top-down process
Prosopagnosia
The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
Psychophysics
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
Absolute threshold
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 persons experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue
Signal detection theory
Below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Subliminal
The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing ones perception, memory, or response
Priming
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference
Difference threshold
The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
Weber’s Law
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
Sensory adaptation
Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.
Transduction
The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the shirt blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission
Wavelength
The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth
Hue
The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the waves amplitude
Intensity
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
Pupil
A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
Iris
The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
Lens
The process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
Accommodation
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
Retina
The sharpness of vision
Acuity
A condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than near objects distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina
Nearsightedness
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
Farsightedness
Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond
Rods
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.
Cones
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Bipolar Cells
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Ganglion Cells
The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Optic nerve
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there
Blind spot
The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster
Fovea
Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement
Feature detectors
The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of information processing for many functions.
Parallel processing
Blindness in part of the field of vision due to destruction in the visual cortex
Blindsight
The theory that the retina contains three 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
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory
The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision.
Opponent-process theory
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object
Color constancy
The sense or act of hearing
Audition
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
Frequency
A tones experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency
Pitch
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochleas oval window
Middle ear
A coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses
Cochlea
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Cilia
The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
Inner ear
In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochleas membranes is stimulated
Place theory
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
Frequency theory
Heating loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
Conduction hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochleas receptor cells or to the auditory nerves, also called nerve deafness
Sensorineural hearing loss
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
Cochlear implants
The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
Gate-control theory
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences it’s taste
Sensory interaction
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McGurk Effect
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Olfaction
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Synesthesia
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
Kinesthesis
The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance
Vestibular Sense
