Chapter 6 Sensation and Perception recognition

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 sensory receptors and works up to brain’s integration of sensory information

Answer 3

Bottom-up processing

Question 4

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

Answer 4

Top-down processing

Question 5

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 brain can interpret.

Answer 5

transduction

Question 6

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, 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 (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

Answer 8

signal detection theory

Question 9

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Answer 9

subliminal

Question 10

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

Answer 10

priming

Question 11

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time, we experience the difference threshold as just a noticeable difference.

Answer 11

difference threshold

Question 12

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

Answer 12

Weber’s law

Question 13

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Answer 13

sensory adaptation

Question 14

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Answer 14

perceptual set

Question 15

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 cosmic rays to long pulses of radio transmission.

Answer 15

wavelength

Question 16

the dimension of color that is determined by wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, an so forth.

Answer 16

hue

Question 17

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

Answer 17

intensity

Question 18

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

Answer 18

feature detectors

Question 19

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

Answer 19

parallel processing

Question 20

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.

Answer 20

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

Question 21

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

Answer 21

Opponent-processing theory

Question 22

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Answer 22

gestalt

Question 23

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).

Answer 23

Figure-ground

Question 24

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.

Answer 24

grouping

Question 25

the ability to see objects in three dimension although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance.

Answer 25

depth perception

Question 26

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Answer 26

visual cliff

Question 27

depth cues, such s retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Answer 27

binocular cues

Question 28

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance – the grater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Answer 28

retinal disparity

Question 29

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Answer 29

monocular cues

Question 30

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.

Answer 30

phi phenomenon

Question 31

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, brightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images.

Answer 31

perceptual constancy

Question 32

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

Answer 32

color constancy

Question 33

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

Answer 33

cochlear implant

Question 34

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

Answer 34

place theory

Question 35

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 35

frequency theory

Question 36

the 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 36

Gate-control theory

Question 37

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

Answer 37

sensory interaction

Question 38

the psychological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments.

Answer 38

embodied cognition

Question 39

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.

Answer 39

perceptual adaptation

Question 40

the sensor act of hearing.

Answer 40

audition

Question 41

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

Answer 41

frequency

Question 42

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.

Answer 42

pitch

Question 43

the camber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

Answer 43

middle ear

Question 44

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.

Answer 44

cochlea

Question 45

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

Answer 45

inner ear

Question 46

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness.

Answer 46

sensorineural hearing loss

Question 47

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

Answer 47

conduction hearing loss

Question 48

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

Answer 48

pupil

Question 49

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

Answer 49

iris

Question 50

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

Answer 50

lens

Question 51

the light-sensitive inner surface of the ye , containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information.

Answer 51

retina

Question 52

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

Answer 52

accommodation

Question 53

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

Answer 53

rods

Question 54

retinal receptors 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.

Answer 54

cones

Question 55

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

Answer 55

optic nerve

Question 56

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

Answer 56

blind spot

Question 57

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

Answer 57

fovea

Question 58

Stimulus that interrupts the brain’s processing before conscious perception.

Answer 58

masking stimulus

Question 59

the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.

Answer 59

kinesthesis

Question 60

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

Answer 60

vestibular sense

Question 61

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

Answer 61

ESP (extrasensory perception)

Question 62

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis.

Answer 62

parapsychology