Psych-Chapter 4 Sensation

Question 1

Amplitude

Answer 1

The height of a wave crest, used (in the case of sound waves) as a measure of sound intensity

Question 2

Auditory ossicles

Answer 2

The three bones of the middle ear that transmit the vibrations of the eardrum to the oval bone

Question 3

Basilar membrane

Answer 3

A membrane running the length of the cochlea, sound waves cause deformation of this membrane, bending the hair cells in the cochlea and thus stimulating the auditory receptors

Question 4

Cochlea

Answer 4

The coiled structure in the inner ear that contains the basilar membrane

Question 5

Cones

Answer 5

Visual receptors that respond to greater light intensities and give rise to chromatic(color) sensations

Question 6

Decision criteria

Answer 6

An organism’s rule for how much evidence it needs before responding

Question 7

Difference threshold

Answer 7

The smallest amount that a given stimulus must be increased or decreased sot hat an individual can detect the difference

Question 8

Distal stimulus

Answer 8

An object or event in the outside world

Question 9

Eardrum

Answer 9

The taut membrane that transmits the vibrations caused by sound waves from the auditory canal to the ossicles in the middles ear

Question 10

Feature detectors

Answer 10

Neurons in the retina or brain that respond to specific attributes of the stimulus, such as environment, orientation and so on

Question 11

Fechner’s law

Answer 11

The observation that the strength of a sensation is proportional to the logarithm of physical stimulus intensity

Question 12

Fovea

Answer 12

The area roughly at the retina’s center where cones are plentiful and visual acuity is the greatest

Question 13

Frequency

Answer 13

The number of wave peaks per second. In sound, frequency governs the perceived pitch of the sound

Question 14

Gate control theory

Answer 14

The proposal that pain sensations must pass through a neural “gate” in order to reach thee brain and can be blocked at that gate by neurons that inhibit signals from the nociceptors

Question 15

Glomeruli

Answer 15

Sites in the brain’s olfactory bulb where signals from the smell receptors converge

Question 16

Hair cells

Answer 16

The auditory receptors in the cochlea lodged between the basilar membrane and other membranes above

Question 17

JND just noticeable difference

Answer 17

The smallest difference that an organism can reliably detect between two stimuli

Question 18

Kinesthesis

Answer 18

The sensations generated by receptors in the muscles, tendons, joints that inform us of our skeletal movement

Question 19

Lateral inhibition

Answer 19

The pattern of interaction among neurons in the visual system in which activity in one neuron inhibits adjacent neurons’ response

Question 20

Nociceptors

Answer 20

Receptors in the skin that give rise to the sense pain, they respond to various forms of tissue damage and to temperature extremes

Question 21

Olfactory epithelium

Answer 21

A mucous membrane at the top of the nasal cavity, contains the olfactory receptors neurons that respond to airborne molecules called odorants

Question 22

Opponent-process theory

Answer 22

A theory of color vision that proposes three pairs of color antagonists; red-green, blue-yellow, and white-black. Excitation of neurons sensitive to one member of a pair automatically inhibits neurons sensitive to the other member

Question 23

Optic nerve

Answer 23

The bundle of fibers that proceeds from each retina to the brain

Question 24

Oval window

Answer 24

The membrane separating the middle ear from the inner ear

Question 25

Papillae

Answer 25

Structures on the tongue that contain the taste buds, which in turn contain taste receptors

Question 26

Pattern theory

Answer 26

The proposal that different sensory qualities are encoded by specific patterns of firing among the relevant neurons

Question 27

Payoff matrix

Answer 27

The pattern of benefits and cots associated with certain types of responses

Question 28

Perceptual sensitivity

Answer 28

An organism’s ability to detect a signal

Question 29

Pheremones

Answer 29

Biologically produced odorants that convert information to the other members of the species

Question 30

Photopigment

Answer 30

A chemical in the photo receptors that changes to form in response to light, producing an electrical change that signals to the nervous system that light is present

Question 31

Photoreceptors

Answer 31

A light-sensitive cell located on the retina that converts light energy into neural impulses

Question 32

Place theory

Answer 32

A proposal about pitch perception stating that regions of the basilar membrane respond to particular sound frequencies, and the nervous system interprets the excitation from different basilar regions as different pitches

Question 33

Proximal stimulus

Answer 33

The energies from the outside world that directly reach our sense organs

Question 34

Psychophysics

Answer 34

An approach to perception that relates the characteristics of physical stimuli to the sensory experience they produce

Question 35

Receptive field

Answer 35

For a particular cell in the visual system, the pattern of retinal stimulation that most effectively causes the cell to fire. For some cells, this pattern is defined solely in the terms of a retinal location, for others, the most effective input has a particular shape, color, or direction of motion

Question 36

Retinal image

Answer 36

The image of an object that is projected on the retina. It’s size increases with the size of that object and decreases with the objects’s distance from the eye

Question 37

Rods

Answer 37

Photoreceptors in the retina that respond to lower light intensities and give rise to achromatic (colorless) sensations

Question 38

Sensory adaptation

Answer 38

The process by which the sensitivity to a stimulus declines if the stimulus is presented for an extended period of time

Question 39

Sensory coding

Answer 39

The process through which the nervous system represents the qualities of the incoming stimulus-whether auditory or visual, for example, or whether a red light or a green one, a sour taste or a sweet taste

Question 40

Signal detection theory

Answer 40

The theory that perceiving or not perceiving a stimulus is actually a judgement about whether a momentary sensory experience is due to background noise alone or to the background noise plus a signal

Question 41

Skin senses

Answer 41

The group of senses, including pressure, warmth, cold, pain and through which we gain information about our immediate surroundings

Question 42

Sound waves

Answer 42

Successive pressure variations in the air that vary in amplitude and wavelength

Question 43

Specificity theory

Answer 43

The proposal that different sensory qualities are signaled by different quality specific neurons. the theory is correct in only a few cases (pain)

Question 44

Timbre

Answer 44

The quality of sound part from its pitch or loudness, timbre enables us to distinguish a clarinet from an oboe, or one person’s voice from another

Question 45

Transduction

Answer 45

The process through which a physical stimulus is converted into a signal within the nervous system

Question 46

Trichromatic color vision

Answer 46

The principle underlying human color vision. Color vision occurs through the operation of three sets of cones, each maximally sensitive to a different wavelength of light

Question 47

Vestibular senses

Answer 47

The sensations generated by receptors in the semicircular canals of the inner ear that inform us abou the head’s orientation and movements

Question 48

Weber’s law

Answer 48

The observation that the size of the difference threshold is proportional to the intensity of the standard stimulus

Question 49

Absolute threshold

Answer 49

The smallest quantity of a stimulus that an individual can detect