topic 3 pt 1: sensation and perception

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

the faculty through which the external world is apprehended

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

the process of organizing the interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Question 3

bottom-up processing

Answer 3

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

Question 4

top-down processing

Answer 4

perceiving the world around us by drawing from what we already know in order to interpret new information

Question 5

psychophysics

Answer 5

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Question 6

absolute threshold

Answer 6

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Question 7

signal detection theory

Answer 7

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (“Signal”) amid background stimulation (“Noise”). assumes there is no single absolute threshold and detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue

Question 8

subliminal

Answer 8

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 9

priming

Answer 9

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

Question 10

difference threshold

Answer 10

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. we experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. (also called just noticeable difference or JND)

Question 11

weber’s law

Answer 11

the amount of stimulus needed to notice a change that doesnt depend on the amount of strength of the stimulus change.

Question 12

sensory adaptation

Answer 12

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Question 13

transduction

Answer 13

conversion of one form of energy into another. in sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

Question 14

wavelength

Answer 14

the distance between crests of waves, such as those of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Question 15

hue

Answer 15

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know the color names blue, green and so forth

Question 16

intensity

Answer 16

the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude

Question 17

pupil

Answer 17

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters (the black part of your eye)

Question 18

iris

Answer 18

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

Question 19

lens

Answer 19

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Question 20

accommodation

Answer 20

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Question 21

retina

Answer 21

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Question 22

acuity

Answer 22

a measure of the ability of the eye to distinguish shapes and the details of objects at a given distance

Question 23

nearsightedness

Answer 23

a condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina. sharpness of perception.

Question 24

farsightedness

Answer 24

a condition that is the result of the eye’s physical inability to focus an image correctly on the retina at the back of the eye

Question 25

rods

Answer 25

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones dont respond

Question 26

cones

Answer 26

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. the cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

Question 27

optic nerve

Answer 27

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Question 28

bling spot

Answer 28

the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses

Question 29

fovea

Answer 29

a small depression in the central portion often retina in which retinal cone cells are most concentrated and an image is focused most clearly.

Question 30

feature detectors

Answer 30

specialized neurons in the visual cortex that receive information from retinal ganglion

Question 31

parallel processing

Answer 31

the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving

Question 32

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

Answer 32

within your eyes are tiny cells that can reveive waves of light and translate them into one of three colors: blue, green, and red

Question 33

Opponent-process theory

Question 34

color constancy

Question 35

audition

Question 36

frequency

Question 37

pitch

Question 38

middle ear

Question 39

cochlea

Question 40

inner ear

Question 41

place theory

Question 42

frequency theory

Question 43

conduction hearing loss

Question 44

sensorineural hearing loss

Question 45

cochlear implant

Question 46

Gate-control theory

Question 47

sensory interaction

Question 48

kinesthesis

Question 49

vestibular sense