Sensation & Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process by which you detect physical energy from your environment and encode it as neural signals

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

The process that organizes sensory input and makes it meaningful

Question 3

Psychophysics

Answer 3

The study of the relationship between physical energy and psychological experiences

Question 4

Absolute threshold

Answer 4

The weakest level of a stimulus that can be correctly detected at least half the time

Question 5

Signal detection theory

Answer 5

There is no actual absolute threshold because the threshold changes with a variety of factors (fatigue, attention, etc)

Question 6

Subliminal stimulation

Answer 6

The receipt of messages that are below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 7

Difference threshold

Answer 7

The minimum difference between any two stimuli that a person can detect 50% of the time

Question 8

Ernst Weber =

Answer 8

Just noticeable difference (jnd)

Question 9

Just noticeable difference (jnd)

Answer 9

How much you can add before you notice it

Question 10

Weber’s Law

Answer 10

Difference thresholds increase in proportion to the size of the stimulus

Question 11

Sensory adaptation

Answer 11

Permits you to focus your attention on informative changes in your environments without being distracted by irrelevant data such as odors or background noises

Question 12

Receptors

Answer 12

Tranduce energy from one form to another

Question 13

Transduction

Answer 13

Refers to the transformation of stimulus energy to the electrochemical energy of neural impulses

Question 14

Visual information first processed by

Answer 14

Occipital lobes

Question 15

Auditory information first processed by

Answer 15

Temporal lobes

Question 16

Body senses first processed by

Answer 16

Parietal lobes

Question 17

Smell first processed by

Answer 17

Lower portion of the frontal lobes

Question 18

Rods and cones are

Answer 18

Photoreceptors that convert light energy to electrochemical neural impulses

Question 19

Cornea

Answer 19

Transparent tissue in the front of your eye

Question 20

Near-sighted

Answer 20

Near objects are seen more clearly

Question 21

Far-sighted

Answer 21

Distant objects are seen more clearly

Question 22

Astigmatism

Answer 22

Caused by an irregularity in the shape of the cornea and/or lens

Distorts and blurs the image at the retina

Question 23

Dark adaptation

Answer 23

Gradual increase in sensitivity to the low level of light

Question 24

Bipolar cells

Answer 24

Rods and cones with a second layer of neurons in front of them in your retina

Question 25

Visual acuity is also called

Answer 25

Resolution

Question 26

Ganglion cells

Answer 26

Bipolar cells transmit impulses to another layer of neurons in front of them in your retina

Question 27

Axons of ganglion cells form the

Answer 27

Optic nerve, the blind spot

Question 28

Feature detectors

Answer 28

Respond only to specific features of visual stimuli

Question 29

Parallel processing

Answer 29

Simultaneous processing of stimulus elements

Question 30

Trichromatic theory

Answer 30

Three different types of photoreceptors are each most sensitive to a different range of wavelengths

Question 31

Most common type of color blindness is

Answer 31

Red-green (sex linked, males more likely to have it)

Question 32

Ewald Hering's opponent-process theory

Answer 32

Certain neurons can be either excited or inhibited, depending on the wavelength of light, and complementary wavelengths have opposite effects

Question 33

Audition

Answer 33

Sense of hearing

Question 34

How do you hear?

Answer 34

Sound waves result from the mechanical vibrations of molecules -> vibrations move in a medium (like air) -> they compress and expand

Question 35

The greater the compression the ____ the amplitude

Answer 35

Larger

Question 36

Amplitude

Answer 36

The height of the sound wave

Question 37

dB =

Answer 37

Decibels

Question 38

Frequency

Answer 38

The number of compete wavelengths that pass a point in a second

Question 39

Hz =

Answer 39

Hertz

Question 40

Pitch

Answer 40

The highness or lowness of a sound

Question 41

Timbre

Answer 41

Difference in the purity of the wave form or mixture of the sound waves

Question 42

Ossicles

Answer 42

Hammer, anvil, and stirrup

Question 43

Sound localization

Answer 43

Process by which you determine the location of a sound

Question 44

Place theory

Answer 44

The position on the basilar membrane at which waves reach their peak depends on the frequency of a tone

Question 45

Frequency theory

Answer 45

The rate of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, enabling you to sense it's pitch

Question 46

Individual neurons can fire at a maximum of _____ times per second

Answer 46

1000

Question 47

Conduction deafness

Answer 47

A loss of hearing that results when the eardrum is punctured or any of the ossicles lose their ability to vibrate

Question 48

Nerve (sensorineural) deafness

Answer 48

Results from damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory neurons