SLS20 Chapter 4 Flashcards
synesthesia
The perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense
sensation
Simple stimulation of a sense organ
perception
The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation
transduction
What takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the central nervous system
psychophysics
Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus
absolute threshold
The minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus
just noticeable difference (JND)
The minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected
Weber’s law
The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity
signal detection theory
An observation that the response to a stimulus depends both on a person’s sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person’s response criterion
sensory adaptation
Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
visual acuity
The ability to see fine detail
retina
Light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball
accommodation
The process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina
cones
Photoreceptors that detect color, operate under normal daylight conditions, and allow us to focus on fine detail
rods
Photoreceptors that become active under low-light conditions for night vision
fovea
An area of the retina where vision is the clearest and there are no rods at all
blind spot
A location in the visual field that produces no sensation on the retina because the corresponding area of the retina contains neither rods nor cones and therefore has no mechanism to sense light
receptive field
The region of the sensory surface that, when stimulated, causes a change in the firing rate of that neuron
trichromatic color representation
The pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provides a unique code for each color
color-opponent system
Pairs of visual neurons that work in opposition
area V1
The part of the occipital lobe that contains the primary visual cortex
visual-form agnosia
The inability to recognize objects by sight
binding problem
How features are linked together so that we see unified objects in our visual world rather than free-floating or miscombined features
illusory conjunction
A perceptual mistake where features from multiple objects are incorrectly combined
feature integration theory
The idea that focused attention is not required to detect the individual features that comprise a stimulus but is required to bind those individual features together
perceptual constancy
A perceptual principle stating that even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains consistent
template
A mental representation that can be directly compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image
monocular depth cues
Aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye
binocular disparity
The difference in the retinal images of the two eyes that provides information about depth
apparent motion
The perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations
change blindness
When people fail to detect changes to the visual details of a scene
inattentional blindness
A failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention
pitch
How high or low a sound is
loudness
A sound’s intensity
timbre
A listener’s experience of sound quality or resonance
cochlea
A fluid filled tube that is the organ of auditory transduction
basilar membrane
A structure in the inner ear that undulates when vibrations from the ossicles reach the cochlear fulid
hair cells
Specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane
area A1
A portion of the temporal lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex
place code
The cochlea encodes different frequencies at different locations along the basilar membrane
temporal code
The cochlea registers low frequencies via the firing rate of action potentials entering the auditory nerve
haptic perception
The active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands
referred pain
Feeling of pain when sensory information from internal and external areas converges on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord
gate-control theory
A theory of pain perception based on the idea that signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from two directions
vestibular system
The three fluid-filled semicircular canals and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in each inner ear
olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs)
Receptor cells that initiate the sense of smell
olfactory bulb
A brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes
pheromones
Biochemical odorants emitted by other members of its species that can affect an animal’s behavior or physiology
taste buds
The organ of taste transduction
