sensory & perception

Question 1

Psychophysics

Answer 1

study of the relationship between stimuli & our responses to them

Question 2

Difference threshold/just noticeable difference

Answer 2

smallest amount between two stimuli that we can tell apart

Question 3

Absolute thresholds

Answer 3

our lowest levels of awareness of faint stimuli with no competing stimuli present

Question 4

Subliminal perception

Answer 4

perception of a stimulus below the threshold for conscious recognition

Question 5

Signal/Stimulus Detection Theory

Answer 5

a way to measure how we discern a faint stimulus (signal) that conveys info & separate it from background stimulation (noise)

Question 6

Top-down processing

Answer 6

approach to processing info that’s guided by our thoughts or higher-level mental processes

Question 7

Deductive reasoning

Answer 7

approach to logical thinking that begins with a general idea & then develops specific evidence to support or refute it

Question 8

Bottom-up processing/feature analysis

Answer 8

information-processing approach that starts by noticing individual elements & then looks at the whole picture

Question 9

Inductive reasoning

Answer 9

approach to logical thinking that begins with SPECIFIC details/observations & forms broad perceptions of them

Question 10

Feature detectors

Answer 10

neurons in the visual association cortex that focus on edges, lines, angles, curves, & movements

Question 11

Focused/selective attention

Answer 11

honing in on one particular stimulus in our environment

Question 12

Divided attention

Answer 12

focusing on 2 or more tasks or stimuli

Question 13

Selective inattention

Answer 13

screening out of unwanted stimuli because it causes anxiety, feels threatening, or is thought of to have no importance

Question 14

Inattentional blindness

Answer 14

when our focus is on one stimulus & it leaves us blind to other stimuli

Question 15

Change blindness

Answer 15

inability to see changes in our environment when our attention is directed elsewhere

Question 16

Perceptual adaptation

Answer 16

ability of the body & brain to adapt to an environment & filter out distractions

Question 17

Sensory adaptation

Answer 17

occurs when neural or sensory receptors alter or reduce their sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

Question 18

Habituation

Answer 18

occurs when we stop having an interest in a stimulus

Question 19

Figure-ground pattern

Answer 19

figure is what’s in focus & the ground is the blurry (ignored) background

Question 20

Grouping

Answer 20

organization of stimuli into groups

Question 21

Ambiguous figures

Answer 21

don’t have a set figure/ground

Question 22

Illusory figures

Answer 22

do not exist outside of our brains

Question 23

Retinal disparity

Answer 23

the difference between images our eyes perceive based on slightly different angles

Question 24

Convergence

Answer 24

based on how far inward your eyes need to move when focusing on an object

Question 25

Monocular cues

Answer 25

depth perception clues that only use one eye

Question 26

Linear perspective

Answer 26

makes parallel lines appear to converge at a vanishing point on the horizon

Question 27

Interposition

Answer 27

partial blocking of one object by another, leaving the perspective that the blocking object is closer

Question 28

Relative size

Answer 28

causes us to perceive as farther away because it looks similar than an object in the foreground that we assume is similar in size

Question 29

Relative height

Answer 29

makes objects higher in your field of vision appear farther away

Question 30

Relative clarity

Answer 30

makes clear objects appear closer than blurry or fuzzy objects

Question 31

Light & shadow

Answer 31

causes nearby objects to reflect more light into our eyes than distant objects, so the dimmer object seems farther away

Question 32

Texture gradient

Answer 32

the closer the object, the clearer the gradient, and the farther away the object, the smoother the gradient is

Question 33

Motion parallax

Answer 33

makes objects closer to us appear to move faster than those farther away