Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psych > Unit 4- Sensation And Perception > Flashcards

Unit 4- Sensation And Perception Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
0
Q

Sensation

A

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
1
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

Face blindness- sensation is fine but her perception is off (Heather Sellers)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Perception

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Bottom-up processing

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Top-down processing

A

Information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Selective attention

A

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Cocktail party affect

A

Ability to attend to only one voice among many

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Change blindness

A

Failing to notice changes in the environment (giving directions, change people)
There is also change deafness–not noticing change in voices

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Choice blindness

A

We fail to notice when we are presented with something different than what we want/choose and we come up with reasons to defend that choice

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Pop-out phenomenon

A

We don’t choose to attend to these stimuli, they draw our eye and demand our attention

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Psychophysics

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Absolute threshold

A
  • Gustav Fechner studied our awareness of faint stimuli and called them our absolute threshold
  • the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Subliminal stimuli

A

Stimuli we detect less than 50% of the time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Signal detection theory

A

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes their is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivations, and alertness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Subliminal

A

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Priming

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Difference threshold (just noticeable difference)

A

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Weber’s law

A

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage (rather than a constant amount)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Sensory adaptation

A

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Jumpy eye

A

Sights don’t vanish because our eyes are always moving, gaze jumps from one spot to another every third of a second

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Transduction

A

Conversion of one form of energy into another (transform). In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Electromagnetic spectrum

A

Ranges from short waves of gamma rays (violet), to the narrow band we see as visible light, to the long waves (red) of radio transmission

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Wavelength

A

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Hue

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Intensity

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Cornea

A

Light enters the eye through the cornea, which protects the eye and bends light to provide focus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Pupil

A

Light then enters the pupil, which is the small, adjustable opening in the center of the eye thought which light enters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Iris

A

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

The iris dilates or constricts in response to light intensity and inner emotions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Lens

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Retina

A

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

The retina doesn’t see a whole image, the brain reassembles the pieces into a whole upright image

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Accommodation

A

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Rods

A

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Cones

A

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

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

Optic nerve

A

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain (thalamus receives and redistributes info)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

Blind spot

A

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a blind spot because no receptor cells are located there

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Fovea

A

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster (detail)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

Feature detectors

A

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

Supercell clusters

A

Teams of cells that integrate info and fire only when cues collectively indicate the direction of someone’s attention and approach

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

Parallel processing

A

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision

Contrasts with step-by-step serial processing of computers and conscious problem solving

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

Blindsight

A

A localized area of blindness in part of their field of vision as result of stroke or surgery damage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

A

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors (one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue) which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

Afterimage effect

A

See opponent colors when look at certain color combinations for a certain amount of time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

Color deficient Vision

A

Their vision is monochromatic or dichromatic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

Opponent-process theory

A

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision

Some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

Audition

A

The sense or act of hearing (highly adaptive)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

Amplitude of sound waves

A

Strength of sound waves that determines their loudness

47
Q

Frequency

A

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second)

48
Q

Pitch

A

Determined by frequency, a tone’s experienced highness or lowness

Long waves have low frequency and low pitch

Short waves have high frequency and high pitch

49
Q

Decibels

A

Measurement of sound, every ten decibels corresponds to a tenfold increase in sound intensity

50
Q

Outer ear

A

Channels sound waves through the auditory canal to eardrum

51
Q

Eardrum

A

Tight membrane that vibrates with sound waves

52
Q

Middle war

A

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

53
Q

Cochlea

A

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

54
Q

Inner ear

A

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

55
Q

Basilar membrane

A

Ripples in this membrane cause hair cell movement which triggers impulses in the nerve cells, whose axons converge to form auditory nerve, which sends neural messages to auditory cortex

56
Q

Place theory

A

Hermann Von Helmholtz’s hearing theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated (explains high-pitched sounds)

57
Q

Frequency theory

A

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense it’s pitch (explains low-pitched sounds)

58
Q

Volleyball principle

A

Neural cells can alternate firing, by firing in rapid succession, they achieve a combined frequency above 1000 waves per second

59
Q

Conduction hearing loss

A

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (if eardrum is punctured or tiny bones lose their ability to vibrate)

60
Q

Sensorineural hearing loss

A

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness

61
Q

Cochlear implant

A

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

62
Q

Rubber-hand illusion

A

Researcher simultaneously touches a fake and real (hidden) hand, the volunteer feels as if the fake hand is their own

63
Q

Kinesthesis

A

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

64
Q

Vestibular sense

A

The sense of body movement, and position, including the sense of balance

65
Q

Novice pried

A

Sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, and chemicals

66
Q

Gate-control theory

A

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The gate is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by informations coming from the brain

67
Q

Taste

A

Chemical sense, each younger bump has 200 or more taste buds, their pores catch food chemicals

68
Q

Sweet taste

A

Indicates energy source

69
Q

Salty taste

A

Indicates sodium essential to physiological processes

70
Q

Sour taste

A

Indicates potentially toxic acid

71
Q

Bitter taste

A

Indicates potential poisons

72
Q

Umami taste

A

Indicates proteins to grow and repair tissue

73
Q

Sensory interaction

A

The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences it’s taste

74
Q

McGurk Effect

A

If we hear a speaker say one syllable while we see another being said, we percieve a 3rd syllable that blends both inputs

75
Q

Synaesthesia

A

The senses become joined and one sort off sensation (such as hearing a sound) produces another (such as seeing color)

76
Q

Smell

A

Chemical sense, molecules of substance carried in the air reach a tiny cluster of receptor cells at the top of each nasal cavity

Bypass the brain’s sensory switchboard (the thalamus)

77
Q

Anosmia

A

Unable to smell

78
Q

Gestalt

A

An organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces if information into meaningful wholes

79
Q

Figure-ground

A

The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)

80
Q

Grouping

A

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

81
Q

Proximity

A

Grouping nearby figures together

82
Q

Similarity

A

Grouping similar figures/shapes together

83
Q

Continuity

A

Grouping and perceiving continuous patterns

84
Q

Connectedness

A

Grouping and perceiving things as uniform and linked

85
Q

Closure

A

Grouping where we fill in gaps to complete an image

86
Q

Depth perception

A

The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

87
Q

Visual cliff

A

Gibson and walk- a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

88
Q

Binocular cues

A

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

89
Q

Retinal disparity

A

A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

90
Q

Monocular cues

A

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

91
Q

Horizontal-vertical illusion

A

Perceive vertical dimensions as longer than identical horizontal dimensions (St. Louis Gateway Arch)

92
Q

Relative height

A

We perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away

93
Q

Relative size

A

Perceive object that casts smaller retinal image as farther away

94
Q

Interposition

A

If one object partially blocks view of another, we perceive it as closer

95
Q

Linear perspective

A

Parallel lines appear to converge with distance

96
Q

Relative motion

A

As we move, objects that are actually stable may appear to move as well

97
Q

Light and shadow

A

Nearby objects reflect more light thus the dinner object seems farther away

98
Q

Stroboscopic movement

A

Brain perceives continuous movement in rapid series of slightly varying images

99
Q

Phi phenomenon

A

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

100
Q

Perceptual constancy

A

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, lightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change

101
Q

Shape constancy

A

We perceive the form of familiar objects as constant even as retinal image changes

102
Q

Size constancy

A

We perceive objects as having a constant size, even while our distance from them varies

103
Q

Moon illusion

A

Cues to objects’ distances make horizontal moon appear larger than moon high in the night sky

104
Q

Ponzo illusion

A

Human mind judges an objects’ size based on its background and monocular cues

105
Q

Ames illusion

A

Distorted room (trapezoidal)

106
Q

Lightness (brightness) constancy

A

We perceive an object as having a constant lightness even when illumination varies

107
Q

Relative luminance

A

The amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings

108
Q

Color constancy

A

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

109
Q

Perceptual adaptation

A

In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

110
Q

Perceptual set

A

Our experiences, assumptions, and expectations give it to us

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

111
Q

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

A

The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

112
Q

Parapsychology

A

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

113
Q

Telepathy

A

Mind-to-mind communication

114
Q

Clairvoyance

A

Perceiving remote events-friends house is on fire

115
Q

Precognition

A

Perceiving future events

116
Q

Psychokinesis

A

“Mind over matter” levitating a table or influencing the roll of a die

Psych (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions