Chapter 6 Sensation and Perception Flashcards
Sensation?
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
Sensory Receptors?
sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli
Perception?
the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful.
Bottom up Processing
“starts at your sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing.”
Top down Sensory
constructs perceptions from this sensory input by drawing on your experience and expectations.
Transduction?
“The process of converting one form of energy into another that our brain can use”
Psychophysics?
“studies the relationships between the physical energy we can detect and its effects on our psychological experiences.”
What three steps are basic to all our sensory systems?
1) RECIVE: sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells.
2) TRANSFORM: that stimulation into neural impulses.
3) DELIVER: the neural information to our brain.”
“What is the rough distinction between sensation and perception?”
Sensation is the bottom-up process by which your sensory receptors and your nervous system receive and represent stimuli. Perception is the top-down process by which your brain creates meaning by organizing and interpreting what your senses detect.
Absolute Thresholds
“the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.”
signal detection theory
“a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation ”
subliminal?
“below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.”
priming
“the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.”
difference threshold
“the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference”
Weber’s law
The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)”
Sensory Adaptation?
“diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.”
Perceptual Set?
“a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.”
Sensory adaptation helps us focus on?
a) visual stimuli
b) auditory stimuli.
c) constant features of the environment.
d) important changes in the environment.
D
What is wavelength?
the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next.
Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long pulses of radio transmission
Hue?
the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth.
Intensity?
the amount of energy a light wave or sound wave contains, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness.
What is 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
Eye: accommodation?
the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
Eye: What are Rods?
retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement. Rods are necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond
Eye: What are Cones?
retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
Eye: What is optic nerve?
the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Eye: Blind spot?
the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there
Eye: What is Fovea?
the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster
