UNIT 1 - Chapter 3 - Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process that occurs when special receptors in the sense organs are activated, allowing various forms of outside stimuli to become neural signals in the brain

Question 2

Transduction

Answer 2

The process of converting outside stimuli, such as light, into neural activity

Question 3

Just Noticeable difference (jnd or the the difference threshold)

Answer 3

The smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50% of the time

Question 4

Absolute threshold

Answer 4

The lowest level of stimulation that a person can consciously detect 50% of the time the stimulation is present

Question 5

Signal detection theory

Answer 5

Provides a method for assessing the accuracy of judgements or decisions under uncertain conditions; used in perception research and other areas. An individuals correct “hits” and rejections are compared against their “misses” and “false alarms.”

Question 6

Habituation

Answer 6

Tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant, unchanging information

Question 7

Sensory adaptation

Answer 7

Tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging

Question 8

Visual Accomodation

Answer 8

The change in the thickness of the lens as the eye focuses on objects that are far away or close

Question 9

Rods

Answer 9

Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina, responsible for non-color sensitivity to low levels of light

Question 10

Cones

Answer 10

Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina, responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision

Question 11

Blind spot

Answer 11

Area in the retina where the axons of the three layers of retinal cells exit the eye to form the optic nerve, insensitive to light

Question 12

Dark adaptation

Answer 12

The recovery of the eye’s sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after exposure to bright lights

Question 13

Light Adaptation

Answer 13

The recovery of the eye’s sensitivity to visual stimuli in light after exposure to darkness

Question 14

Trichromatic theroy

Answer 14

Theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and green

Question 15

Afterimages

Answer 15

Images that occur when a visual sensation persists for a brief time even after the original stimulus is removed

Question 16

Opponent-Process Theory

Answer 16

Theory of color vision that proposes visual neurons (or groups of neurons) are stimulated by light of one color and inhibited by light of another color

Question 17

Hertz(Hz)

Answer 17

Cycles or waves per second, a measurement of frequency

Question 18

Pinna

Answer 18

The visible part of the ear

Question 19

Auditory canal

Answer 19

Short tunnel that runs from the pinna to the ear drum

Question 20

Cochlea

Answer 20

Snail-shaped structure of the inner ear that is filled with fluid

Question 21

Auditory nerve

Answer 21

Bundle of axons from the hair cells in the inner ear

Question 22

Pitch

Answer 22

Psychological experience of sound that corresponds to the frequency of the sound waves; higher frequencies are perceived as higher pitches

Question 23

Place theory

Answer 23

Theory of pitch that states that different pitches are experienced by the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of Corti

Question 24

Frequency theory

Answer 24

Theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane

Question 25

Volley principle

Answer 25

Theory of pitch that states that frequencies from about 400 Hz to 4,000 Hz cause the hair cells (auditory neurons) to fire in a volley pattern, or take turns in firing

Question 26

Gustation

Answer 26

The sensation of a taste

Question 27

Olfaction

Answer 27

The sensation of smell

Question 28

Olfactory bulbs

Answer 28

two bulb-like projections of the brain, located just above the sinus cavity and just below the frontal lobes that receive information from the olfactory receptor cells

Question 29

somesthetic senses

Answer 29

The body senses consisting of the skin senses, the kinesthetic and proprioceptive senses and the vestibular senses

Question 30

Kinesthesia

Answer 30

the awareness of body movement

Question 31

Proprioception

Answer 31

awareness of where the body and body parts are located in relations to each other in space and to the ground

Question 32

Vestibular Sense

Answer 32

The awareness of the balance, position, and movement of the head and body through space in relation to gravity’s pull

Question 33

Sensory conflict theory

Answer 33

An explanation of motion sickness in which the information from the eyes conflicts with the information from the vestibular senses, resulting in dizziness, nausea, and other physical discomfort

Question 34

Perception

Answer 34

The method by which the sensations experienced at any given movement are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion

Question 35

Size Constancy

Answer 35

the tendency to interpret an object as always being the same actual size, regardless of its distance

Question 36

Shape constantcy

Answer 36

The tendency to to interpret the shape of an object as being constant, even when its shape changes on the retina

Question 37

Brightness constancy

Answer 37

the tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when the light conditions change

Question 38

Binocular cues

Answer 38

cues for perceiving depth based on both eyes

Question 39

Linear perspective

Answer 39

Monocular depth perception cue; the tendency for parallel lines to appear converging on each other

Question 40

Relative size

Answer 40

monocular depth perception cue; perception that occurs when objects that a person expects to be of a certain size appear to be small and are, therefore, assumed to be much farther away

Question 41

Overlap (interposition)

Answer 41

Monocular depth perception cue; the assumption that an object that appears to be blocking part of another object is in front of the second object and closer to the object

Question 42

Aerial (atmospheric) Perspective

Answer 42

Monocular depth perception cue; the haziness that surrounds objects that are farther away from the viewer, causing the distance to be perceived as greater

Question 43

Texture gradient

Answer 43

Monocular depth perception cue; the tendency for textured surfaces to appear to become smaller and finer as distance from the viewer increases

Question 44

Motion Parallax

Answer 44

monocular depth perception cue; the perception of motion of objects in which close objects appear to move more quickly than objects that are farther away

Question 45

Accomodation

Answer 45

as a monocular cue of depth perception; the brains use of information about changing thickness of the lens of the eye in response to looking at objects that are close or far away

Question 46

Convergence

Answer 46

binocular depth perception cue; the rotation of the two eyes in their sockets to focus on a single object, resulting in greater convergence for closer objects and lesser convergence if objects are distant

Question 47

Binocular disparity

Answer 47

binocular depth perception cue; the difference in images between the two eyes, which is greater for objects that are close and smaller for distant objects

Question 48

Muller-Lyer Illusion

Answer 48

Illusion of line length that is distorted by inward-turning or outward-turning corners on the ends of the lines, causing lines of equal length to appear to be different

Question 49

Perceptual set (perceptual expectancy)

Answer 49

the tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions

Question 50

Top-down processing

Answer 50

the use of pre-existing knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

Question 51

Bottom-up processing

Answer 51

the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception