Psychology and Sociology: Chapter 2

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

more appropriately aligns with transduction, which means taking the physical, electromagnetic, auditory, and other information from our internal and external environment and converting this information into electrical signals in the nervous system

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

processing the sensation information within the central nervous system in order to make sense of the information’s significance

Question 3

Distal stimuli

Answer 3

physical objects outside of the body

Question 4

Proximal stimuli

Answer 4

sensory-stimulating byproducts (photons, sound waves, heat, pressure, or other stimuli produced by distal stimuli)

Question 5

Photoreceptors

Answer 5

respond to electromagnetic waves in the visible spectrum (light)

Question 6

Mechanoreceptors

Answer 6

respond to pressure or movement

Question 7

Nociceptors

Answer 7

respond to painful or noxious stimuli (somatosensation)

Question 8

Thermoreceptors

Answer 8

respond to changes in temperature (thermosensation)

Question 9

Osmoreceptors

Answer 9

respond to the osmolarity of the blood (water homeostasis)

Question 10

Olfactory receptors

Answer 10

respond to volatile compounds (smell)

Question 11

Taste receptors

Answer 11

respond to dissolved compounds (taste)

Question 12

Threshold of Conscious Perception

Answer 12

The level of intensity that a stimulus must pass in order to be consciously perceived by the brain

Question 13

Subliminal perception

Answer 13

information that is received by the CNS but that does not cross threshold of conscious perception

Question 14

Difference threshold

Answer 14

Refers to the minimum change in magnitude required for an observer to perceive that two different stimuli are, in fact, different

Question 15

Weber’s law

Answer 15

difference thresholds are proportional and must be computed as percentages; applies to the perception of a number of sense, including the perception of loudness and pitch of sounds, the perception of brightness of light, and the perception of weight by objects

Question 16

Visual parallel processing

Answer 16

the brain’s ability to analyze information regarding color, form, motion, and depth simultaneously using independent pathways in the brain

Question 17

Vestibular sense

Answer 17

our ability to detect both rotational and linear acceleration and use this information to inform our sense of balance and spatial orientation

Question 18

Place theory

Answer 18

the location of a hair cell on the basilar membrane determines the perception of pitch when that hair cell is vibrated
-The highest-frequency pitches cause vibrations close to the oval window
-The lowest-frequency pitches cause the vibrations away from the oval window

Question 19

Pacinian corpuscles

Answer 19

respond to deep pressure and vibration

Question 20

Meissner corpuscles

Answer 20

respond to light touch

Question 21

Merkel cells

Answer 21

respond to deep pressure and texture

Question 22

Ruffini endings

Answer 22

respond to stretch

Question 23

Free nerve endings

Answer 23

respond to pain and temperature

Question 24

Two-point threshold

Answer 24

refers to the minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli; below this threshold, the two stimuli will be felt as one

Question 25

Physiological zero

Answer 25

the normal temperature of the skin; temperature is judged relative to this physiological zero

Question 26

Gate theory of pain

Answer 26

a special ‘gating’ mechanism can turn pain signals off or on, affecting whether or not perceive pain

Question 27

Bottom-up processing

Answer 27

refers to object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection; the brain takes individual sensory stimuli and combines them together to create a cohesive image before determining what the object is

Question 28

Top-down processing

Answer 28

driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object and then recognize the components based on these expectations; allows us to quickly recognize objects without needing to analyze their specific parts

Question 29

Convergence

Answer 29

the brain detects the angle between the two eyes required to bring an object into focus

Question 30

Constancy

Answer 30

refers to our ability to perceive that certain characteristics of objects remain the same, despite changes in the environment

Question 31

Gestalt Principles

Answer 31

A set of general rules that account for the fact that the brain tends to view incomplete stimuli as organized, patterned ways

Question 32

Law of proximity

Answer 32

elements close to one another tend to be perceived as a unit

Question 33

Law of similarity

Answer 33

objects that are similar tend to be grouped together

Question 34

Law of good continuation

Answer 34

elements that appear to follow in the same pathway tend to be grouped together; there is a tendency to perceive continuous patterns in stimuli rather than abrupt changes

Question 35

Law of closure

Answer 35

when a space is enclosed by a contour, the space tends to be perceived as a complete figure