Week 2 Perception

Question 1

Absolute threshold

Answer 1

The smallest amount of stimulation needed for detection by a sense.

Question 2

Agnosia

Answer 2

Loss of the ability to perceive stimuli.

Question 3

Anosmia

Answer 3

Loss of the ability to smell.

Question 4

Audition

Answer 4

Ability to process auditory stimuli. Also called hearing.

Question 5

Auditory canal

Answer 5

Tube running from the outer ear to the middle ear.

Question 6

Auditory hair cells

Answer 6

Receptors in the cochlea that transduce sound into electrical potentials.

Question 7

Binocular disparity

Answer 7

Difference is images processed by the left and right eyes.

Question 8

Binocular vision

Answer 8

Our ability to perceive 3D and depth because of the difference between the images on each of our retinas.

Question 9

Bottom-up processing

Answer 9

Building up to perceptual experience from individual pieces.

Question 10

Chemical senses

Answer 10

Our ability to process the environmental stimuli of smell and taste.

Question 11

Cochlea

Answer 11

Spiral bone structure in the inner ear containing auditory hair cells.

Question 12

Cones

Answer 12

Photoreceptors of the retina sensitive to color. Located primarily in the fovea.

Question 13

Dark adaptation

Answer 13

Adjustment of eye to low levels of light.

Question 14

Differential threshold

Answer 14

The smallest difference needed in order to differentiate two stimuli. (See Just Noticeable Difference (JND))

Question 15

Dorsal pathway

Answer 15

Pathway of visual processing. The “where” pathway.

Question 16

Flavor

Answer 16

The combination of smell and taste.

Question 17

Gustation

Answer 17

Ability to process gustatory stimuli. Also called taste.

Question 18

Just noticeable difference (JND)

Answer 18

The smallest difference needed in order to differentiate two stimuli. (see Differential Threshold)

Question 19

Light adaptation

Answer 19

Adjustment of eye to high levels of light.

Question 20

Mechanoreceptors

Answer 20

Mechanical sensory receptors in the skin that response to tactile stimulation.

Question 21

Multimodal perception

Answer 21

The effects that concurrent stimulation in more than one sensory modality has on the perception of events and objects in the world.

Question 22

Nociception

Answer 22

Our ability to sense pain.

Question 23

Odorants

Answer 23

Chemicals transduced by olfactory receptors.

Question 24

Olfaction

Answer 24

Ability to process olfactory stimuli. Also called smell.

Question 25

Olfactory epithelium

Answer 25

Organ containing olfactory receptors.

Question 26

Opponent-process theory

Answer 26

Theory proposing color vision as influenced by cells responsive to pairs of colors.

Question 27

Ossicles

Answer 27

A collection of three small bones in the middle ear that vibrate against the tympanic membrane.

Question 28

Perception

Answer 28

The psychological process of interpreting sensory information.

Question 29

Phantom limb

Answer 29

The perception that a missing limb still exists.

Question 30

Phantom limb pain

Answer 30

Pain in a limb that no longer exists.

Question 31

Pinna

Answer 31

Outermost portion of the ear.

Question 32

Primary auditory cortex

Answer 32

Area of the cortex involved in processing auditory stimuli.

Question 33

Primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 33

Area of the cortex involved in processing somatosensory stimuli.

Question 34

Primary visual cortex

Answer 34

Area of the cortex involved in processing visual stimuli.

Question 35

Sensory adaptation

Answer 35

Decrease in sensitivity of a receptor to a stimulus after constant stimulation.

Question 36

Shape theory of olfaction

Answer 36

Theory proposing that odorants of different size and shape correspond to different smells.

Question 37

Signal detection

Answer 37

Method for studying the ability to correctly identify sensory stimuli.

Question 38

Somatosensation

Answer 38

Ability to sense touch, pain and temperature.

Question 39

Somatotopic map

Answer 39

Organization of the primary somatosensory cortex maintaining a representation of the arrangement of the body.

Question 40

Sound waves

Answer 40

Changes in air pressure. The physical stimulus for audition.

Question 41

Tastants

Answer 41

Chemicals transduced by taste receptor cells.

Question 42

Taste receptor cells

Answer 42

Receptors that transduce gustatory information.

Question 43

Top-down processing

Answer 43

Experience influencing the perception of stimuli.

Question 44

Transduction

Answer 44

The conversion of one form of energy into another.

Question 45

Superadditive effect of multisensory integration

Answer 45

The finding that responses to multimodal stimuli are typically greater than the sum of the independent responses to each unimodal component if it were presented on its own.

Question 46

Tympanic membrane

Answer 46

Thin, stretched membrane in the middle ear that vibrates in response to sound. Also called the eardrum.

Question 47

Ventral pathway

Answer 47

Pathway of visual processing. The “what” pathway.

Question 48

Vestibular system

Answer 48

Parts of the inner ear involved in balance.

Question 49

Weber’s law

Answer 49

States that just noticeable difference is proportional to the magnitude of the initial stimulus.