Sensation and Perception

Question 1

absolute threshold

Answer 1

the smallest amount of stimulation needed for detection by a sense

Question 2

agnosia

Answer 2

loss of ability to perceive stimuli

Question 3

anosmia

Answer 3

loss of ability to smell

Question 4

audition

Answer 4

ability to process auditory stimuli also called hearing

Question 5

auditory canal

Answer 5

a tube running from outer ear to inner ear

Question 6

auditory hair cells

Answer 6

receptors in the cochlea that transduce sound into its electrical potentials

Question 7

binocular disparity

Answer 7

the difference is images processed by the left and right eyes

Question 8

binocular vision

Answer 8

ability to perceive 3D and depth because of the difference

Question 9

bottom-up processing

Answer 9

building up to perceptual experience from individual pieces

Question 10

chemical senses

Answer 10

our ability to process the environmental stimuli of smell and taste

Question 11

cochlea

Answer 11

the spiral bone structure in the inner ear containing auditory hair cells

Question 12

cones

Answer 12

photorecptors of the retina sensitive to color, located primarily in the fovea

Question 13

dark adaptation

Answer 13

adjustment of eyes to low levels of light

Question 14

differential threshold

Answer 14

the smallest difference needed in order to differentiate two stimuli

Question 15

dorsal pathway

Answer 15

pathway of visual processing, the “where” pathway

Question 16

flavor

Answer 16

combination of smell and tatse

Question 17

gustation

Answer 17

abilty to process gustatory stimuli, called tatse

Question 18

just noticeable difference

Answer 18

the smallest difference needed to differentiate two stimuli

Question 19

light adaptation

Answer 19

adjustment of the eye to high levels of light

Question 20

mechanoreceptors

Answer 20

mechanical sensory receptors in the skin that respond to tactile stimulation

Question 21

multimodal perception

Answer 21

the effects that concurrent stimulation in more than one sensory modality has one preception of events and objects in the world

Question 22

nociception

Answer 22

our abiltiy to sense pain

Question 23

odorants

Answer 23

chemicals transduced by olfactory receptors

Question 24

olfactory epithelium

Answer 24

organ containing olfactory receptors

Question 25

olfaction

Answer 25

ability to process olfactory stimuli also called smell

Question 26

opponent-process theory

Answer 26

theory proposing color vision as influenced by cells responsive to pairs of colors

Question 27

ossicles

Answer 27

collection of three small bones in the middle ear that vibrate against the tympanic membrane

Question 28

perception

Answer 28

a psychological process of interpreting sensory information

Question 29

phantom limb

Answer 29

pain in a limb that no longer exists

Question 30

pinna

Answer 30

outer most portion of the ear

Question 31

primary auditory cortex

Answer 31

area of the cortex involved in the processing auditory stimuli

Question 32

primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 32

area of the cortex involved in processing somasensory stimuli

Question 33

primary visual cortex

Answer 33

area of cortex processing visual stimuli

Question 34

principal of inverse effectiveness

Answer 34

finding multimodal stimulus, if the response to each modal component (on its own)is weak, then opportunity for multi-sensory

Question 35

rods

Answer 35

Photoreceptors of the retina sensitive to low-level light. located around the fovea

Question 36

sensation

Answer 36

the physical processing of environmental stimuli by sense organs

Question 37

sensory adaptation

Answer 37

a decrease in sensitivity of a receptor to a stimulus after constant stimulation

Question 38

the shape of theory olfaction

Answer 38

theory proposing that odorants of different size and shape corresponding to the different smells

Question 39

signal detection

Answer 39

method for studying the ability to correctly identify sensory stimuli

Question 40

somatosensation

Answer 40

ability to sense, touch, pain, and temperature

Question 41

somatotopic map

Answer 41

organization of the primary somatosensory cortex maintaining a representation of the arrangement of the body

Question 42

tastants

Answer 42

chemicals transduced by the taste receptor cells

Question 43

top-down processing

Answer 43

experience influencing the perception of stimuli

Question 44

transduction

Answer 44

the conversion of one form of energy into another

Question 45

Trichromatic theory

Answer 45

theory proposing color vision as influenced by three different correspondings preferentially to red, green and blue

Question 46

tympanic membrane

Answer 46

thin stretched membrane in the middle of the ear that vibrates in response to sound also called eardrum.

Question 47

ventral pathway

Answer 47

pathway of visual processing the "what" pathway

Question 48

vestibular system

Answer 48

parts of the inner ear involved in balance

Question 49

Webers Law

Answer 49

states that just noticeable difference is proportional to the magnitude of the initial stimulus