Mods 16-21

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system recieve 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

Selective Attention

Answer 3

the focusing of conscious awareness on particular stimulus

Question 4

Transduction

Answer 4

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 brains can interpret.

Question 5

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 5

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation

Question 6

Weber’s Law

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Perception Set

Answer 7

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another (expectations of certain results)

Question 8

Hue

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Intensity

Answer 9

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 10

Fovea

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Trichromatic Theory (Young-Helmholtz)

Answer 11

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 color

Question 12

Opponent Process Theory

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Gestalt

Answer 13

the organized whole; emphasizes our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Question 14

Monocular Cues

Answer 14

a depth cue that requires the use of one eye

Question 15

Phi Phenomenon

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Perceptual Adaptation

Answer 16

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Question 17

Audition

Answer 17

the sense or act of hearing

Question 18

Amplitude

Answer 18

determains the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we percieve as brightness or loudness

Question 19

Frequency

Answer 19

the nuber of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Question 20

Cochlea

Answer 20

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

Question 21

Sensorineural Deafness

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Conduction Hearing Loss

Answer 22

a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system tham conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Question 23

Place Theory

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Frequency Theory

Answer 24

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impluses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Question 25

Gate-Control Theory

Answer 25

the theory that the spinal cord that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain: unblocked by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is blocked by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Question 26

Bottom-Up Processing

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Top-Down Processing

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 28

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of contant stimulation

Question 29

Inattentional Blindness

Answer 29

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Question 30

Change Blindness

Answer 30

failing to notice changes in the environment (form of inattentional blindness)

Question 31

Absolute Threshold

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Difference Threshold

Answer 32

the minimum difference betweeen two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

Question 33

Factors in Perception

Answer 33

Context / Emotion / Motivation

Question 34

Retina

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Accommodation

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Rods

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Cones

Answer 37

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in the daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Question 38

Feature Detectors

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Parallel Processing

Answer 39

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision

Question 40

Binocular Cues

Answer 40

a depth cue that requires the use of both eyes

Question 41

Retinal Disparity

Answer 41

the binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity (difference) between the 2 images, the closer the object

Question 42

Touch

Answer 42

Warmth, Pressure, Cold, Pain

Question 43

Taste

Answer 43

Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Umani

Question 44

Sensory Interaction

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Kinesthesia Sense

Answer 45

our movement sense (system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts)

Question 46

Vestibular Sense

Answer 46

our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance