Lecture 1

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

the ability to detect a stimulus

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

giving meaning to a detected sensation

Question 3

sensation happens in the

Answer 3

sensory organs

Question 4

perception happens in the

Answer 4

brain

Question 5

transduction

Answer 5

converting something into another form

Question 6

sensory receptors

Answer 6

specialized cells that transduce sensory energy into neural activity

Question 7

receptive fields

Answer 7

region of sensory space in which a stimulus modifies a receptor’s activity

Question 8

density is essential for

Answer 8

determining the sensitivity of a sensory system

Question 9

greater density =

Answer 9

greater ability

Question 10

neural relays allow

Answer 10

sensory systems to interact

Question 11

all sensory systems enter the brain through the

Answer 11

brain stem

Question 12

the ‘relay and filter’ portion of the brain

Answer 12

the thalamus

Question 13

thalamus illustrates a

Answer 13

crossover effect

Question 14

psychophysics

Answer 14

the science of defining quantitative relationships between physical and psychological events

Question 15

Gustav Fechner

Answer 15

invented psychophysics; attempted to describe the relationship between the mind and body using mathematics

Question 16

scaling

Answer 16

measuring private experience

Question 17

signal detection theory

Answer 17

the biology of sensation and perception

Question 18

neuroimaging

Answer 18

an image of the mind

Question 19

absolute threshold

Answer 19

minimum intensity of a stimulus that can be detected 50% of the time

Question 20

method of constant stimuli

Answer 20

randomization of stimulus

Question 21

method of threshold

Answer 21

starting from highest then going down, and vice versa intermittently

Question 22

method of adjustment

Answer 22

allows participant to test themselves by going until they can’t detect the stimulus anymore