Chapter 6- Sensation & Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Question 3

Bottom-Up Processing

Answer 3

Analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

Question 4

Transduction

Answer 4

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sounds, lights, and smells, into neural impulses our brain dan interpret

Question 5

Psychophysics

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Absolute Threshold

Answer 6

Minimun stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Question 7

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 7

Theory pretending how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (Noise)

Question 8

Subliminal

Answer 8

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 9

Priming

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Difference Threshold

Answer 10

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time… (JND- Just Noticeable Difference)

Question 11

Weber’s Law

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 12

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Question 13

Perceptual Set

Answer 13

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Question 14

Wavelength

Answer 14

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peace of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission

Question 15

Hue

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Intensity

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Pupil

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Iris

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Lens

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Retina

Answer 20

The light-sensative inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Question 21

Accommodation

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Rods

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Cones

Answer 23

Retinal receptor cells that re 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

Question 24

Optic Nerve

Answer 24

The nerve that carries neural impulses from eye to the brain

Question 25

Blind Spot

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Fovea

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Feature Detectors

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Parallel Processing

Answer 28

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains neural mode of of information processing for many functions, including vision.

Question 29

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (Three-Color) Theory

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Opponent-Process Theory

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Gestalt

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Figure-Ground

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Grouping

Answer 33

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Question 34

Binocular Cues

Answer 34

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

Question 35

Retinal Disparity

Answer 35

A binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the retinas in two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

Question 36

Monocular Cues

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Phi Phenomenon

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Perceptual Constancy

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Color Constancy

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Perceptual Adaptation

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Audition

Answer 41

The sense or act of hearing

Question 42

Frequency

Answer 42

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

Question 43

Pitch

Answer 43

A tones experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Question 44

Middle Ear

Answer 44

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlear containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlear’s oval window

Question 45

Cochlear

Answer 45

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulse

Question 46

Inner Ear

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Conduction Hearing Loss

Answer 48

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

Question 49

Cochlea Implant

Answer 49

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threshold into cochlea

Question 50

Place Theory

Answer 50

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

Question 51

Frequency Theory

Answer 51

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