Chapter 6

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

activation of sensory receptors, physical process

Question 2

transduction

Answer 2

sensory system encodes stimulus energy as neural messages

Question 3

perception

Answer 3

organizing and interpreting sensory info to recognize objects and events, psychological process

Question 4

prosopagnotia

Answer 4

faceblindness

Question 5

bottom-up processing

Answer 5

data driven, begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory info

Question 6

top-down processing

Answer 6

“conceptually driven,” guided by higher level mental processes, knowledge and expectations influence perception

Question 7

absolute threshold

Answer 7

smallest amount of physical energy that can be reliablly detected 50% of the time

Question 8

signal detection theory

Answer 8

predicts when we will detect a weak stimulus

Question 9

subliminal stimulation

Answer 9

below absolute threshold, no powerful enduring effect on behavior

Question 10

difference threshold

Answer 10

smallest difference between 2 stimuli that can be reliably detected 50% of the time

Question 11

JND

Answer 11

just noticeable difference, depends on intensity of stimuli

Question 12

sensory adaptation

Answer 12

diminished sensitivity given constant stimulation, need change and contrast, eyes move slightly to avoid vision adaptation

Question 13

light waves

Answer 13

physical input of vision, small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum

Question 14

wavelength

Answer 14

frequence, distance between peaks, influences hue-color, short= blue, long= red

Question 15

amplitude

Answer 15

intensity- height of the wave, how bright

Question 16

cornea

Answer 16

eyeball’s protective cover

Question 17

pupil

Answer 17

controls the amount of light

Question 18

iris

Answer 18

muscle controlling the pupil size

Question 19

lens

Answer 19

changes shape to cocus light on retnia

Question 20

retnia

Answer 20

inner surface that contains visual receptors

Question 21

rods

Answer 21

low levels of light, non-color vision, peripheral

Question 22

cones

Answer 22

color vision, need light, concentrated at fovea

Question 23

dark adaptation

Answer 23

recovery of the eye’s sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after exposure to bright light

Question 24

optic nerve

Answer 24

carries neural impulese from eye to brain

Question 25

perception feature detection

Answer 25

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific featuers, angles, lines, orientation, location

Question 26

parallel processing

Answer 26

processing many aspects of a problem simultatneously

Question 27

gestalt principle

Answer 27

the whole is greater than the parts

Question 28

figure-ground relationships

Answer 28

objects/ figures exist on a background

Question 29

grouping

Answer 29

tendency to organize stimuli into groups

Question 30

grouping principles

Answer 30

proximity, similarity, continuity, common region, closure

Question 31

size constancy

Answer 31

perception that objects remain the same size even though retinal image may changes

Question 32

shape constancy

Answer 32

perception that objects remain the same shape even through retinal image change

Question 33

depth perception

Answer 33

ability to perceive the world in 3 dimensions

Question 34

retinal disparity

Answer 34

differing views on each retnia, binocular cue

Question 35

convergence

Answer 35

how the eyes are turned towards each other, binocular cue

Question 36

relative size

Answer 36

larger objects are closer, M

Question 37

interposition

Answer 37

objects occluding others are closer, M

Question 38

relative clarity

Answer 38

hazy objects are further, M

Question 39

texture gradient

Answer 39

we see more texture of close up objects, M

Question 40

relative height

Answer 40

objects higher in visual field are further, M

Question 41

motion parallax

Answer 41

apparent motion faster for nearer objects, M

Question 42

linear perspective

Answer 42

parallel lines converge in the distance

Question 43

ponzo illusion

Answer 43

same sizes arranged differently

Question 44

muller lyer illusion

Answer 44

arrow lines, reflects common experience of corners of walls