Psych unit 5 vocab

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive 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

bottom-up processing

Answer 3

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

Question 4

top-down processing

Answer 4

information processing guided by higher-level men- tal processes, as when we construct per- ceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Question 5

psychophysics

Answer 5

the study of relation- ships between the physical characteris- tics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.

Question 6

absolute threshold

Answer 6

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particu- lar stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Question 7

signal detection theory

Answer 7

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, expec- tations, motivation, and level of fatigue.

Question 8

subliminal

Answer 8

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Question 9

priming

Answer 9

the activation, often uncon- sciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.

Question 10

difference threshold

Answer 10

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (or jnd).

Question 11

Weber’s law

Answer 11

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percent- age (rather than a constant amount).

Question 12

sensory adaptation

Answer 12

diminished sensi- tivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Question 13

transduction

Answer 13

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 14

wavelength

Answer 14

the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wave- lengths vary from the short blips of cos- mic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission.

Question 15

hue

Answer 15

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 16

intensity

Answer 16

the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as deter- mined by the wave’s amplitude.

Question 17

pupil

Answer 17

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.

Question 18

iris

Answer 18

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening.

Question 19

lens

Answer 19

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

Question 20

retina

Answer 20

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 21

accommodation

Answer 21

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

Question 22

The eye

Answer 22

Light rays reflected from the candle pass through the cornea, pupil, and lens. The curvature and thickness of the lens change to bring either nearby or distant objects into focus on the retina. Rays from the top of the candle strike the bottom of the retina and those from the left side of the candle strike the right side of the retina. The candle’s reti- nal image is thus upside-down and reversed.

Question 23

rods

Answer 23

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

Question 24

cones

Answer 24

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

Question 25

optic nerve

Answer 25

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.

Question 26

blind spot

Answer 26

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Question 27

fovea

Answer 27

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

Question 28

he blind spot

Answer 28

There are no receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves the eye. This creates a blind spot in your vision. To demonstrate, close your left eye, look at the spot, and move the page to a distance from your face (about a foot) at which the car disappears. The blind spot does not normally impair your vision, because your eyes are moving and because one eye catches what the other misses.

Question 29

feature detectors

Answer 29

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

Question 30

parallel processing

Answer 30

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultane- ously; the brain’s natural mode of infor- mation processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step- by-step (serial) processing of most com- puters and of conscious problem solving.

Question 31

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Answer 31

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 any color.

Question 32

opponent-process theory

Answer 32

the theory that opposing 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 33

frequency

Answer 33

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second).

Question 34

pitch

Answer 34

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.

Question 35

middle ear

Answer 35

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

Question 36

cochlea

Answer 36

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

Question 37

inner ear

Answer 37

he innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

Question 38

place theory

Answer 38

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

Question 39

frequency theory

Answer 39

in hearing, the the- ory that the rate of nerve impulses trav- eling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.

Question 40

conduction hearing loss

Answer 40

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Question 41

sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 41

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

Question 42

cochlear implant

Answer 42

a device for con- verting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

Question 43

kinesthesis

Answer 43

the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.

Question 44

vestibular sense

Answer 44

the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance. Body orientation, equilibrium in inner ear in semicircular canal

Question 45

gate-control theory

Answer 45

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

Question 46

sensory interaction

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Olfaction

Answer 47

Smell, odor cannot be separated

Question 48

visual capture

Answer 48

vision dominate other senses

Question 49

depth persception

Answer 49

seeing 3D

Question 50

visual cliff

Answer 50

testing depth perception in infants

Question 51

binocular cues (depth)

Answer 51

retinal disparity

convergence

Question 52

monocular cues (one eye)

Answer 52

linear perspective

Question 53

retinal disparity

Answer 53

compare images from 2 eye to find distance

Question 54

convergence

Answer 54

distance

Question 55

phi phenomenon

Answer 55

movement made by lights blinking

Question 56

perceptual constancy

Answer 56

percieving things as unchanging

Question 57

perceptual set

Answer 57

mental predisposition to perceive one thing

Question 58

human factors psychology

Answer 58

ppl and machine interaction