Module 16-Sensation & Perception Flashcards
Sensation
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
Sensory receptors
Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli
Perception
The process if organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Bottom-up processing
Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
Top-down processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectation
Transduction
Conversion of on form of energy into another. In sensation, the tranforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret
Absolute threshold
The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
Signal detection theory
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
Subliminal
Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Difference threshold
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference
Weber’s law
The principle that, to be perceived was different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)
Sensory adaptation
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
Perceptual set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Priming
The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.
