Modules 16 and 17 Flashcards
1
Q
sensation
A
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
2
Q
perception
A
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
3
Q
bottom-up processing
A
analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.
4
Q
top-down processing
A
information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.
5
Q
selective attention
A
the focusing
of conscious awareness on a
particular stimulus.
6
Q
inattentional blindness
A
failing
to see visible objects when our
attention is directed elsewhere.
7
Q
change blindness
A
failing to
notice changes in the environment.
8
Q
transduction
A
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 brain can interpret.
9
Q
psychophysics
A
the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
10
Q
absolute threshold
A
the
minimum stimulation needed to
detect a particular stimulus 50
percent of the time.
11
Q
signal detection theory
A
a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise).
12
Q
subliminal
A
below one’s absolute
threshold for conscious awareness.
13
Q
priming
A
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.
14
Q
difference threshold
A
the
minimum difference between two
stimuli required for detection 50
percent of the time
15
Q
Weber’s law
A
the principle that,
to be perceived as different, two
stimuli must differ by a constant
minimum percentage (
