SENSATION AND PERCEPTION Flashcards
Absolute threshold
The minimum amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect the stimulus 50 percent of the time.
Accommodation
The process by which the shape of an eye’s lens adjusts to focus light from objects nearby or far away. Also: the modification of a schema as new information is incorporated.
Adaptation
An inherited characteristic that increases in a population because it provides a survival or reproductive advantage.
Afterimage
A color we perceive after another color is removed.
Amplitude
The height of a wave.
Auditory nerve
A nerve that sends impulses from the ear to the brain.
Basilar membrane
A membrane in the inner ear that runs along the length of the cochlea.
Binocular cues
Depth perception cues that require both eyes.
Cilia
Hair cells that are embedded in the basilar membrane of the ear.
Closure
The tendency to interpret familiar, incomplete forms as complete by filling in gaps.
Cochlea
A coiled tunnel in the inner ear that is filled with fluid.
Color blindness
A hereditary condition that makes people unable to distinguish between colors.
Cones
Photoreceptor cells in the retina that allow people to see in color.
Conservation
The ability to recognize that measurable physical characteristics of objects can be the same even when objects look different.
Continuity
The tendency to perceive interrupted lines and patterns as being continuous by filling in gaps.
Convergence
The turning inward of eyes when an object is viewed close up.
Cornea
The transparent outer membrane of the eye.
Dark adaptation
The process by which receptor cells become more sensitive to light.
Dichromat
A person who is sensitive to only two of the three wavelengths of light.
Difference threshold
The smallest difference in stimulation that is detectable 50 percent of the time. This threshold is also called the just noticeable difference, or jnd.
Feature detectors
Specialized neurons that are activated by specific features of the environment.
Figure
What stands out when people organize visual information.
Fovea
The center of the retina, where vision is sharpest.
Frequency
The number of times per second a sound wave cycles from the highest to the lowest point.
Frequency theory
A theory explaining how people discriminate low-pitched sounds that have a frequency below 1000 Hz.
Gestalt psychology
A German school of thought that studies how people organize visual information into patterns and forms.
Ground
The background in which a figure stands when people organize visual information.
Illusion
A misinterpretation of a sensory stimulus.
Iris
A ring of muscle that surrounds the pupil in the eye.
Lens
Part of the eye behind the pupil and iris. It can adjust its shape to focus light from objects that are near or far away.
Light
A kind of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun, stars, fire, and lightbulbs.
Light adaptation
The process by which receptor cells become less sensitive to light.
Light intensity
The amount of light emitted or reflected by an object.
Monocular cues
Depth perception cues that require only one eye.
Muller-Lyer illusion
Illusion in which two lines of the same length appear to be different lengths because of different diagonal lines attached to the end of each line.
Optic disk
The point in the retina at which the optic nerve leaves the eye. This point is also called the blind spot.
Optic nerve
A bundle of ganglion cell axons that originate in the retina.
Ossicles
Three bones in the middle ear called the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup.
Papillae
Papillae - Small bumps on the skin that hold taste buds, which in turn hold the taste receptors in the tongue and throat, on the inside of the cheeks, and on the roof of the mouth.
Perception
Organization and interpretation of sensory information.
Perceptual constancy
The ability to recognize that an object is the same even when it produces different images on the retina.
Perceptual set
The readiness to see in a particular way that’s based on expectations, experiences, emotions, and assumptions.
Perceptual speed
The amount of time a person takes to accurately perceive and discriminate between stimuli.
Phi phenomenon
Phi phenomenon - An illusion of movement that arises when a series of images is presented very quickly one after another; also called stroboscopic movement.
Photoreceptor
Cells that are specialized to receive light stimuli.
Pinna
The visible part of the ear.
Place theory
Explains how people discriminate high-pitched sounds that have a frequency greater than 5000 Hz.
Principle of closure
The Gestalt psychology principle that states that people tend to interpret familiar incomplete forms as complete by filling in gaps.
Principle of continuity
The Gestalt psychology principle that states that people tend to perceive interrupted lines and patterns as continuous by filling in gaps.
Principle of parsimony
The principle of applying the simplest possible explanation to any set of observations; also called Occam’s razor.
Principle of proximity
The Gestalt psychology principle that states that people tend to perceive objects as a group when they are close together.
Principle of similarity
The Gestalt psychology principle that states that people tend to group similar objects together
Principle of simplicity
The Gestalt psychology principle that states that people tend to perceive forms as simple, symmetrical figures rather than as irregular ones.
Psychophysics
The study of the relationship between physical properties of stimuli and people’s experience of the stimuli.
Pupil
An opening that lets light into the back of the eye.
Pure light
Light of a single wavelength.
Retina
A thin layer of neural tissue in the back of the eye.
Retinal disparity
The difference between the images picked up by the two eyes.
Reversible figure
An ambiguous drawing that can be interpreted in more than one way.
Rods
Photoreceptor cells in the retina that allow people to see in dim light.
Selective attention
The ability to focus on some pieces of sensory information and ignore others.
Semicircular canals
Three fluid-filled tubes that are the main structures in the vestibular system. They are located in the inner ear.
Sensation
Occurs when physical energy from objects in the world or in the body stimulates the sense organs.
Sensory adaptation
The decrease in sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus.
Signal detection theory
A theory used to predict when a weak signal will be detected.
Sound waves
Changes in pressure generated by vibrating molecules.
Timbre
The particular quality of a sound.
Trichromatic theory
A theory of color vision that states that there are three different types of cones in the retina, which are sensitive to light of three different wavelengths. It is also called the Young-Helmholtz theory.
Vestibular system
The sensory system involved in balance.
Wavelength
The distance between the peaks of waves.
Olfaction
The sense of smell.
Kinesthesis
The sense of the position and movement of body parts.
Alpha waves
Type of brain waves present when a person is very relaxed or meditating.
Beta waves
The type of brain waves present when a person is awake and alert.
Brain waves
Tracings that show the electrical activity of the brain.
Complexity
The range of wavelengths in light.
Delta waves
The type of brain waves present when a person is deeply asleep.
Lens
Part of the eye behind the pupil and iris. It can adjust its shape to focus light from objects that are near or far away.
Opponent process theory
A theory of color vision that states that the visual system has receptors responding in opposite ways to wavelengths associated with three pairs of colors.
Theta waves
The type of brain waves present when a person is lightly asleep.
