Ap Psychology Chapter 5 Sensation

Front 1

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

Back 1

Sensation

Front 2

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

Back 2

Perception

Front 3

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

Back 3

Bottom-up Processing

Front 4

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

Back 4

Top-down processing

Front 5

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

Back 5

Psychophysics

Front 6

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Back 6

Absolute Theshold

Front 7

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise"). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue.

Back 7

Signal Detection Theory

Front 8

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Back 8

Sublimal

Front 9

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus pre-disposing one's perception, memory, or response.

Back 9

Priming

Front 10

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the different theshold as a just noticeable different. (Also called just noticeable difference or jnd.)

Back 10

Difference Threshold

Front 11

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

Back 11

Weber's Law

Front 12

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Back 12

Sensory Adaptation

Front 13

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.

Back 13

Transduction

Front 14

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission.

Back 14

Wavelength

Front 15

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

Back 15

Hue

Front 16

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

Back 16

Intensity

Front 17

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.

Back 17

Pupil

Front 18

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening.

Back 18

Iris

Front 19

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

Back 19

Lens

Front 20

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

Back 20

Accommodation

Front 21

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of vital information.

Back 21

Retina

Front 22

The sharpness of vision.

Back 22

Acuity

Front 23

A condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina.

Back 23

Nearsightedness

Front 24

A condition in which far-away objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina.

Back 24

Farsightedness

Front 25

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

Back 25

Rods

Front 26

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

Back 26

Cones

Front 27

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain,

Back 27

Optic Nerve

Front 28

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

Back 28

Blind Spot

Front 29

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.

Back 29

Fovea

Front 30

The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Back 30

Parallel Processing

Front 31

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.

Back 31

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (Three-color) Theory

Front 32

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enables color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

Back 32

Opponent-Process Theory

Front 33

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

Back 33

Color Constancy

Front 34

The sense or act of hearing.

Back 34

Audition

Front 35

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

Back 35

Frequency

Front 36

A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.

Back 36

Pitch

Front 37

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.

Back 37

Middle Ear

Front 38

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

Back 38

Cochlea

Front 39

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

Back 39

Inner Ear

Front 40

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.

Back 40

Place Theory

Front 41

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 its pitch.

Back 41

Frequency Theory

Front 42

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Back 42

Conduction Hearing Loss

Front 43

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

Back 43

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Front 44

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

Back 44

Cochlear Implant

Front 45

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 information coming from the brain.

Back 45

Gate-Control Theory

Front 46

The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.

Back 46

Sensory Interaction

Front 47

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

Back 47

Kinesthesis

Front 48

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

Back 48

Vestibular Sense