Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

any concrete, conscious experience resulting from stimulation of a specific sense organ, sensory nerve, or sensory area in the brain

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

Question 3

Sense receptors

Answer 3

specialized neurons or nerve endings that respond to changes in the environment by converting energy from a specific stimulus into an action potential

Question 4

Transduction

Answer 4

stimulus-alerting events wherein a physical stimulus is converted into an action potential,

Question 5

Synesthesia

Answer 5

neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate one of your senses stimulates several of your senses

Question 6

Absolute threshold

Answer 6

the minimum stimulus energy that is needed to activate the sensory system

Question 7

Difference threshold

Answer 7

the minimum level of stimulation that a person can detect 50 percent of the time

Question 8

Sensory adaptation

Answer 8

a reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it

Question 9

Sensory deprivation

Answer 9

partial or complete loss of sensory stimulation, usually under involuntary circumstances

Question 10

Selective attention

Answer 10

the process of focusing on a particular object in the environment for a certain period of time

Question 11

Inattentional blindness

Answer 11

he failure to notice a fully-visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged on another task

Question 12

Blind spot

Answer 12

Your blind spots cause you to fail to recognize that emotions, such as fear and distrust, change how you and others interpret and talk about reality

Question 13

Dark adaptation

Answer 13

Your blind spots cause you to fail to recognize that emotions, such as fear and distrust, change how you and others interpret and talk about reality

Question 14

Cocktail party effect

Answer 14

the ability of people to focus on a single talker or conversation in a noisy environment

Question 15

Critical period

Answer 15

a maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli

Question 16

Need

Answer 16

feature that arouses an organism to action toward a goal, giving purpose and direction to behavior.

Question 17

Emotions

Answer 17

a complex state of feeling that results in physical and psychological changes that influence thought and behavior

Question 18

Expectation

Answer 18

personal beliefs about occurrences that may take place in the future

Question 19

Proximity

Answer 19

states that people tend to organize objects close to each other into a perceptual group and interpret them as a single entity

Question 20

Closure

Answer 20

the illusion of seeing an incomplete stimulus as though it were whole

Question 21

Similarity

Answer 21

states that things that share visual characteristics like shape, size, color, texture, value or orientation will be grouped together.

Question 22

Continuity

Answer 22

tendency to create continuous patterns and perceive connected objects as uninterrupted

Question 23

Binocular

Answer 23

compares the input from both eyes to create the perception of depth, or stereopsis

Question 24

Monocular cues

Answer 24

Cues of depth that can be detected by one eye instead of two

Question 25

Retinal Disparity

Answer 25

the difference between the visual images that each eye perceives because of the different angles in which each eye views the world

Question 26

Shape

Answer 26

have emotional connotations and can trigger different images and memories in people’s minds

Question 27

Location size

Answer 27

the tendency for a resting object and its setting to appear to have the same position even if the relationship between setting and observer is altered as the observer shifts position

Question 28

Brightness

Answer 28

an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to emit a given amount of light

Question 29

Color

Answer 29

warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Question 30

Convergence

Answer 30

deals with the closeness of an object

Question 31

Gate control theory

Answer 31

the hypothesis that the subjective experience of pain is modulated by large nerve fibers in the spinal cord that act as gates

Question 32

Phantom pain

Answer 32

is pain that feels like it’s coming from a body part that’s no longer there

Question 33

Kinesthesia

Answer 33

the perception of body movements

Question 34

Equilibrium

Answer 34

a state of balance between an individual’s mental schemata and his environment

Question 35

Semicircular canals

Answer 35

a set of three looped tubular channels in the inner ear that detect movements of the head and provide the sense of dynamic equilibrium that is essential for maintaining balance.

Question 36

Vestibular sense

Answer 36

senses involved with balance and equilibrium, awareness of the orientation of the head and body, and awareness of movement.

Question 37

Subliminal perception

Answer 37

the registration of stimuli below the level of awareness

Question 38

E.S.P.

Answer 38

perception that occurs independently of the known sensory processes

Question 39

Parapsychology

Answer 39

a field of study concerned with the investigation of evidence for paranormal psychological phenomena