Sensing and Perceiving

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

awareness resulting from the stimulation of a sense organ

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

the organization and interpretation of sensations

Question 3

transduction

Answer 3

the conversion of stimuli detected by receptor cells to electrical impulses that are then transported to the brain

Question 4

Psychophysics

Answer 4

the branch of psychology that studies the effects of physical stimuli on sensory perceptions and mental states

Question 5

Gustav Fechner

Answer 5

the first to study the relationship between the strength of a stimulus and a person’s ability to detect the stimulus.

Question 6

absolute threshold of a sensation

Answer 6

the intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism to just barely detect it.

Question 7

Signal detection analysis

Answer 7

a technique used to determine the ability of the perceiver to separate true signals from background noise

Question 8

hit

Answer 8

correctly say “ yes‖ when there was a sound

Question 9

false alarm

Answer 9

when you respond “ yes‖ to no signal. In the other two cases you respond “no‖

Question 10

miss

Answer 10

(saying “no‖ when there was a signal)

Question 11

correct rejection

Answer 11

(saying “ no‖ when there was in fact no signal

Question 12

sensitivity

Answer 12

refers to the true ability of the individual to detect the presence or absence of signals.

Question 13

response bias

Answer 13

refers to a behavioral tendency to respond “yes‖ to the trials, which is independent of sensitivity.

Question 14

difference threshold/ just noticeable difference [JND]

Answer 14

the change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected by the organism

Question 15

Ernst Weber law

Answer 15

just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original intensity of the stimulus

Question 16

subliminal stimuli

Answer 16

events that occur below the absolute threshold and of which we are not conscious. It can influence our judgments and behavior, at least in the short term. Making someone buy something just because you mention it over and over again, however the effectiveness of it depends on people and situations.

Question 17

blindsight

Answer 17

a condition in which people are unable to consciously report on visual stimuli but nevertheless are able to accurately answer questions about what they are seeing.

Question 18

electromagnetic energy;

Answer 18

pulses of energy waves that can carry information from place to place

Question 19

cornea

Answer 19

a clear covering that protects the eye and begins to focus the incoming light

Question 20

pupil

Answer 20

a small opening in the center of the eye.

Question 21

lights travel

Answer 21

cornea, pupil, lens, retina, rods and cones, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve, thalamus, brain

Question 22

iris

Answer 22

surrounds the pupil, it’s the colored part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil by constricting or dilating in response to light intensity

Question 23

lens

Answer 23

a structure that focuses the incoming light on the retina, the layer of tissue at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptor cells

Question 24

visual accommodation

Answer 24

the process of changing the curvature of the lens to keep the light entering the eye focused on the retina

Question 25

nearsighted

Answer 25

if the focus is in front of the retina

Question 26

farsighted

Answer 26

when the focus is behind the retina we say that the person is

Question 27

optic nerve

Answer 27

a collection of millions of ganglion neurons that sends vast amounts of visual information, via the thalamus, to the brain

Question 28

Rods

Answer 28

visual neurons that specialize in detecting black, white, and gray colors

Question 29

Cones

Answer 29

visual neurons that are specialized in detecting fine detail and colors.

Question 30

fovea

Answer 30

the central point of the retina, where the cones are located

Question 31

blind spot

Answer 31

the hole where no photoreceptor cells at the place where the optic nerve leaves the retina

Question 32

feature detector neurons

Answer 32

specialized neurons, located in the visual cortex, that respond to the strength, angles, shapes, edges, and movements of a visual stimulus. Helps us recognize objects, and some neurons respond selectively to faces and other body parts.

Question 33

hue

Answer 33

The shade of a color, the length of the wave. longer wavelengths are red and shorter wavelengths are blue/ violet

Question 34

brightness

Answer 34

intensity or height of the wave (bigger or more intense waves are perceived as brighter).

Question 35

Hermann von Helmholtz

Answer 35

theorized that color is perceived because the cones in the retina come in three types

Question 36

Young-Helmholtz theory, known as the opponent-process color theory,

Answer 36

proposes that we analyze sensory information not in terms of three colors but rather in three sets of “ opponent colors‖: red-green, yellow-blue, and white-black. He's saying that some of the colors are inhibited. So when we see green, we are actually seeing other colors, kind of reflecting

Question 37

gestalt

Answer 37

a meaningfully organized whole. "Seeing more tahn the sum of the parts". Principles include: figure and ground, similarities, proximity, continuity, closure

Question 38

Figure and ground

Answer 38

We structure input such that we always see a figure (image) against a ground

Question 39

Similarity

Answer 39

Stimuli that are similar to each other tend to be grouped together

Question 40

Proximity

Answer 40

We tend to group nearby figures together

Question 41

Continuity

Answer 41

We tend to perceive stimuli in smooth, continuous ways rather than in more discontinuous ways

Question 42

Closure

Answer 42

We tend to fill in gaps in an incomplete image to create a complete, whole object.

Question 43

Depth perception

Answer 43

the ability to perceive three-dimensional space and to accurately judge distance. We learn this through experience

Question 44

Binocular depth

Answer 44

depth cues that are created by retinal image disparity—that is, the space between our eyes, and thus which require the coordination of both eyes

Question 45

convergence

Answer 45

the inward turning of our eyes that is required to focus on objects that are less than about 50 feet away from us

Question 46

accommodation

Answer 46

help determine depth it comes in handy when threading a needle or tying shoelaces, it is far less effective when driving or playing sports.

Question 47

Monocular depth

Answer 47

depth cues that help us perceive depth using only one eye. Such as position, relative size, linear perspective, light and shadow, interposition, aerial perspective

Question 48

Aerial perspective

Answer 48

Objects that appear hazy, or that are covered with smog or dust, appear farther away.

Question 49

Interposition

Answer 49

When one object overlaps another object, we view it as closer.

Question 50

Light and shadow

Answer 50

The eye receives more reflected light from objects that are closer to us. Normally, light comes from above, so darker images are in shadow.

Question 51

Linear perspective

Answer 51

Parallel lines appear to converge at a distance.

Question 52

Relative size

Answer 52

Assuming that the objects in a scene are the same size, smaller objects are perceived as farther away.

Question 53

Position

Answer 53

We tend to see objects higher up in our field of vision as farther away.

Question 54

beta effect

Answer 54

the perception of motion that occurs when different images are presented next to each other in succession

Question 55

the phi phenomenon

Answer 55

perceiveing a sensation of motion caused by the appearance and disappearance of objects that are near each other

Question 56

Vision

Answer 56

the process of detecting the electromagnetic energy that surrounds us.

Question 57

frequency of the sound wave

Answer 57

the number of waves that arrive per second

Question 58

pitch

Answer 58

the perceived frequency of a sound. Longer sound waves have lower frequency and produce a lower pitch, whereas shorter waves have higher frequency and a higher pitch

Question 59

amplitude

Answer 59

height of the sound wave, determines how much energy it contains and is perceived as loudness (the degree of sound volume)

Question 60

decibel

Answer 60

the unit of relative loudness

Question 61

pinna

Answer 61

the external and visible part of the ear, which is shaped like a funnel to draw in sound waves and guide them into the auditory canal.

Question 62

the tympanic membrane (or eardrum),

Answer 62

tightly stretched, highly sensitive membrane which vibrates with the waves.

Question 63

middle ear

Answer 63

three tiny bones, known as the ossicles—the hammer (or | malleus), anvil (or incus), and stirrup (or stapes)—

Question 64

cochlea,

Answer 64

a snail-shaped liquid-filled tube in the inner ear

Question 65

hearing pathway

Answer 65

Sound waves enter the outer ear (the pinna) and are sent to the eardrum via the auditory canal. The resulting vibrations are relayed by the three ossicles, causing the oval window covering the cochlea to vibrate. The vibrations are detected by the cilia (hair cells) and sent via the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex.

Question 66

cilia

Answer 66

the fibers on top of the hair cells within the cochlea. They are sensitive and can detect movements

Question 67

Conductive hearing loss

Answer 67

caused by physical damage to the ear (such as to the eardrums or ossicles) that reduce the ability of the ear to transfer vibrations from the outer ear to the inner ear

Question 68

Sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 68

which is caused by damage to the cilia or to the auditory nerve, is less common overall but frequently occurs with age

Question 69

tinnitus

Answer 69

a ringing or a buzzing sensation, after being exposed to loud sounds have very likely experienced some damage to their cilia

Question 70

The frequency theory of hearing

Answer 70

suggests that as a sound wave’s pitch changes, nerve impulses of a corresponding frequency enter the auditory nerve

Question 71

The place theory of hearing

Answer 71

suggests that we hear different pitches because different areas of the cochlea respond to higher and lower pitches.

Question 72

proprioception

Answer 72

the ability to sense the position and movement of our body parts.

Question 73

the vestibular system and the semicircular canals

Answer 73

a set of liquid-filled areas in the inner ear that monitors the head’s position and movement, maintaining the body’s balance.

Question 74

Gate control theory

Answer 74

explains how large and small neurons work together to transmit and regulate the flow of pain to the brain.

Question 75

McGurk effect

Answer 75

an error in perception that occurs when we misperceive sounds because the audio and visual parts of the speech are mismatched

Question 76

synesthesia

Answer 76

an experience in which one sensation (e.g., hearing a sound) creates experiences in another (e.g., vision).

Question 77

selective attention

Answer 77

the ability to focus on some sensory inputs while tuning out others.

Question 78

cocktail party phenomenon

Answer 78

shows us that although selective attention is limiting what we processes, we are nevertheless at the same time doing a lot of unconscious monitoring of the world around us—you didn’t know you were attending to the background sounds of the party, but evidently you were

Question 79

sensory adaptation

Answer 79

a decreased sensitivity to a stimulus after prolonged and constant exposure.

Question 80

saccades

Answer 80

thousands of tiny movements. Our eyes take in all of these changes to keep it from undergoing sensory adaptation where the image can become bored and your mind will start thinking that it is not there.

Question 81

perceptual constancy

Answer 81

The ability to perceive a stimulus as constant despite changes in sensation, ie the swinging door

Question 82

Illusions

Answer 82

occur when the perceptual processes that normally help us correctly perceive the world around us are fooled by a particular situation so that we see something that does not exist or that is incorrect

Question 83

Mueller-Lyer illusion

Answer 83

The line segment in the bottom arrow looks longer to us than the one on the top, even though they are both actually the same length

Question 84

Ponzo illusion

Answer 84

Seeing one line as being longer than the other (in railroad picture) caused by a failure of the monocular depth cue of linear perspective: Both bars are the same size even though the top one looks larger

Question 85

Cognitive illusions

Answer 85

examples of how our expectations can influence our perceptions