Unit 4 Unit Test Flashcards
Gustav Fechner
With Weber, founder of psychophysics who studied the relations between physical changes and perceived changes in stimuli
Ernst Weber
A founder of psychophysics who investigated the just noticeable difference and proposed Webers law
David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel
demonstrated how specialized cells in the brain respond to visual information
Transduction
is the process of converting physical energy into electrical signals
Psychophysics
the study of relationship between physical energy and psychological experiences
Bottom-Up processing
build up from the smallest pieces of sensory information
Top-Down processing
brain applies what it knows and expects to perceive sensory information
Webers Law
the size of the JND is directly proportional to the strength of the original stimulus
Signal detection theory
maintains that min threshold varies with fatigue, attention, expectations, motivation, emotional distress, and from one person to another
Cornea
transparnet curved layer in the front of the eye that bends incoming light rays
Iris
colored muscle surrounding the pupil that regulates the size of the pupil opening
Pupil
small adjustable opening in the iris that is smaller in bright light and larger in darkness
Lens
structure behind the pupil that changes to focus on near or far objects by adjusting how light hits the retina
Retina
light sensitive surface in the back of the eye containing rods and cones
Photoreceptors
specialized light-sensitive neurons in the retina that convert light into neural impulses; includes rods and cones
Feature detectors
specialized nerve cells in the visual cortex that respond to particular elements like shape movement edges and angles
Trichromatic Theory
the retina has three color receptors that are sensitive to red green and blue light
Opponent processing theory
the retina has receptors for three opposing pairs of colors; white-black, red-green, and yellow-blue
Afterimages
images that remain visible after viewing an object. A negative afterimage reverse the colors in the original image
Frequency
the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given amount of time (determines the pitch of a sound)
Pitch
The highness of lowness of a sound, the shorter the wavelength (higher frequency) the higher the sound
Sound localization
the process by which you determine the location of a sound
Outer ear
includes the pinna, the auditory canal, and the eardrum
Middle ear
includes the three tiny bones, hammer, anvil, and stirrup
Inner Ear
includes the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
Cochlea
a snail shaped fluid filled tube in the inner ear with hair cells on the basilar membrane that transduce mechanical energy of vibrating molecules to the electrochemical energy of neural impulses
Auditory Nerve
axons of neurons in the cochlea converge transmitting sound messages
Place theory
the position on the basilar membrane at which waves reach their peak depends on the frequency of a tone, accounts for higher-pitched sounds
Frequency theory
the rate of the neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, enabling you to sense its pitch. Explains low-pitched sounds
Gustation
the chemical sense of taste with receptor cells in taste buds
Olfaction
the chemical sense of smell with receptors in a mucous membrane to the roof of the roof of the nasal cavity
Olfactory Bulb
the smell center of the brain, which receives and processes chemical information from the olfactory nerve
Gestalt Psychology
a subfield of psychology that suggests that the brain forms a perceptual whole that is greater than the sum of its parts
Figure ground
ability to differentiate an object from its background
Relative Motion
occurs when we ourselves are the moving objects. Objects that are fixed in one place appear to move along with us
Cocktail Party Effect
ability to focus on a particular sound while partially filtering out other sounds
Parapsychology
the study of paranormal phenomenon such as extrasensory perception and psychokinesis
Figure Ground Pattern
the figure is what is focused on and the ground is the blurry background which is likely ignored
Muller-Lyer Illusion
an optical illusion consisting of two line segments, one with arrows pointing inwards and one with arrows pointing outwards. Though both lines are of equal length, the line with the inward-pointing arrows is typically perceived to be longer
lines on train tracks, look different actually the same
Phi Phenomenon
the human visual system can process up to 10-12 images per second and still perceive the images as individual pictures, The movement of a series of pictures at a rate that suggests motion is called stroboscopic movements
the circle of dots that look like their moving but are actually just blinking
