Chp 5.1/5.2: Intro/Measurement

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The ability to detect a stimulus and, perhaps, to turn that detection into a private experience.

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

The act of giving meaning to a detected sensation. (Influenced by context)

Question 3

synaesthesia

Answer 3

“Mixing of the senses”

=They may experience sounds as colours or tastes as touch sensations that have different shapes

Question 4

Describe the six stages that constitute the process of sensory processing and perception of information.

Answer 4

1. Stimulus is received by the sensory receptors.
2. Receptors translate stimulus properties into nerve impulses (transduction).
3. Feature detectors analyze stimulus features.
4. Stimulus features are reconstructed into neural representation.
5. Neural representation is compared with previously stored information in the brain.
6. Matching process results in recognition and interpretation of stimuli.

Question 5

Transduction

Answer 5

the process whereby the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses

Question 6

feature detectors

Answer 6

Specialised neurons to break down and analyze the specific features of the stimuli.

Question 7

The five (general) senses

Answer 7

vision, audition (hearing), touch, gustation (taste), and olfaction (smell)

Question 8

psychophysics

Answer 8

the study of relations between the physical characteristics of stimuli and the sensory experiences they evoke

Question 9

What two kinds of sensory capabilities are studied by psychophysics researchers?

Answer 9

Absolute Threshold and Difference Threshold

Question 10

absolute threshold

Answer 10

the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected correctly 50 percent of the time

Question 11

the _____ the absolute threshold, the _____ the sensitivity

Answer 11

the lower the absolute threshold, the greater the sensitivity

Question 12

signal detection theory

Answer 12

a theory that assumes that stimulus detection is not based on a fixed absolute threshold but rather is affected by rewards, punishments, expectations, and motivational factors

Question 13

Use of signal detection theory

Answer 13

Signal detection theory makes a distinction between an observers’ ability to perceive a signal (sensitivity) and their willingness to report it (criterion)

Question 14

Sensitivity

Answer 14

A value that defines the ease with which an observer can tell the difference between the presence and absence of a stimulus or the difference between stimulus 1 and stimulus 2.

Question 15

Criterion

Answer 15

An internal threshold that is set by the observer.

Question 16

difference threshold

Answer 16

the smallest difference between two stimuli that people can perceive 50 percent of the time (just noticeable difference)

Question 17

Weber’s law

Answer 17

the principle that to perceive a difference between two stimuli, the stimuli must differ by a constant percentage or ratio

Question 18

sensory adaptation (1, 0.5, 0.5)

Answer 18

diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus with the passage of time as sensory neurons habituate to the stimulation

• Our perceptual systems are finely attuned to changes in the environment
• Occurs in all sensory modalities

Question 19

Sensory systems are particularly responsive to changes in stimulation, and _____ occurs in response to unchanging stimuli.

Answer 19

adaptation

Question 20

decision criterion

Answer 20

in signal detection theory, the potentially changing standard of how certain a person must be that a stimulus is present before they will say they detect it