Sensation and Perception Flashcards

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0
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.

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1
Q

Sensation

A

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

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2
Q

Cornea

A

Light enters.

Protects eye and bends light to provide focus.

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3
Q

Iris

A

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

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4
Q

Pupil

A

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

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5
Q

Lens

A

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

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6
Q

Retina

A

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

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7
Q

Rods

A

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray.

Necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond.

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8
Q

Cones

A

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

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9
Q

Fovea

A

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

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10
Q

Accommodation

A

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

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11
Q

Opponent-Process Theory

A

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.

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12
Q

Trichromatic Theory

A

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors - one must sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color.

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13
Q

Feature detectors

A

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

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14
Q

Parts (hearing): outer, inner, middle

A

Outer: channels sound waves through the auditory canal to eardrum
Middle: transmits eardrum’s vibrations through a piston made of three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) to the cochlea
Inner: contains cochlea

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15
Q

Sensorineural healing loss (deafness)

A

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

16
Q

Conduction hearing loss (deafness)

A

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

17
Q

Place Theory

A

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

18
Q

Frequency theory

A

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense it’s pitch.

19
Q

Taste (basic tastes)

A

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami

20
Q

Kinesthesis

A

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

21
Q

Vestibular

A

The sense of body movement and position, including balance.

22
Q

Absolute threshold

A

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

23
Q

Difference threshold/JND

A

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time.

24
Q

Weber’s Law

A

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage.

25
Q

Sensory adaptation

A

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

26
Q

Bottom-up processing

A

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

27
Q

Top-down processing

A

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

28
Q

Perceptual set

A

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

29
Q

Priming

A

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.

30
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

31
Q

Selective Attention/Cocktail party phenomenon

A

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

32
Q

Subliminal messages

A

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

33
Q

Gestalt

A

An organized whole.
Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.
Proximity, similarity, closure.

34
Q

Monocular cues

A

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.