Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
64 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system and represent stimulus energies from our environment
|
Sensation
|
|
|
the process of organizing, and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
|
Perception
|
|
|
analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.
|
Bottom-Up Processing
|
|
|
information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perception drawing on our experience and expectations.
|
Top-Down Processing
|
|
|
the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (JND)
|
Difference Threshold
|
|
|
the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
|
Psychophysics
|
|
|
the minimum stimulation necessary to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
|
Absolute Threshold
|
|
|
the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loud, as determined by the wave's amplitude
|
Intensity
|
|
|
below one's absolute threshold conscious awareness.
|
Subliminal Threshold
|
|
|
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage.
|
Weber's Law
|
|
|
a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background noise.
|
Signal Detection Theory
|
|
|
the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
|
Selective Attention
|
|
|
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
|
Inattentional Blindness
|
|
|
failing to notice changes in the environment.
|
Change Blindness
|
|
|
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.
|
Priming
|
|
|
diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
|
Sensory Adaption
|
|
|
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.
|
Transduction
|
|
|
the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next.
|
Wavelength
|
|
|
the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light.
|
Hue
|
|
|
the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
|
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.
|
Iris
|
|
|
the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus the images on the retina.
|
Lens
|
|
|
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
|
Retina
|
|
|
the process by which the eye's lens changes to shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.
|
Accommodation
|
|
|
retinal receptors that detect black, white, and grey necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond
|
Rods
|
|
|
retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. Detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
|
Cones
|
|
|
the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.
|
Optic Nerve
|
|
|
the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.
|
Blind Spot
|
|
|
the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.
|
Fovea
|
|
|
the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision.
|
Parallel Processing
|
|
|
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.
|
Trichromatic Theory
|
|
|
nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement.
|
Feature detectors
|
|
|
the theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision.
|
Opponent Process Theory
|
|
|
the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time.
|
Frequency
|
|
|
a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.
|
Pitch
|
|
|
the sense or act of hearing
|
Audition
|
|
|
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.
|
Middle Ear
|
|
|
a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses.
|
Cochlea
|
|
|
Pinna. Collects sounds
|
Outer Ear
|
|
|
the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.
|
Inner Ear
|
|
|
in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.
|
Place Theory
|
|
|
in hearing, the theory that rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.
|
Frequency Theory
|
|
|
hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.
|
Conduction Hearing Loss
|
|
|
hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness.
|
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
|
|
|
a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.
|
Cochlea Implant
|
|
|
the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allow them to pass on to the brain.
|
Gate-Control Theory
|
|
|
the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.
|
Sensory Interaction
|
|
|
the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.
|
Kinesthesis
|
|
|
the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance.
|
Vestibular Sense
|
|
|
an organized whole.
|
Gestalt
|
|
|
the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).
|
Figure-Ground
|
|
|
the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.
|
Grouping
|
|
|
the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two dimensional; allows us to judge distance.
|
Depth Perception
|
|
|
a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.
|
Visual Cliff
|
|
|
depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.
|
Binocular Cues
|
|
|
a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distane-- the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.
|
Retinal Disparity
|
|
|
depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.
|
Monocular Cues
|
|
|
an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.
|
Phi Phenomenon
|
|
|
perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change.
|
Perceptual Constancy
|
|
|
in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.
|
Perceptual Adaptation
|
|
|
a mental disposition to perceive one thing and not another
|
Perceptual Set
|
|
|
perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object.
|
Color Constancy
|
|
|
the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input
|
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
|
|
|
the study of paranormal phenomena
|
Parapsychology
|
