Chap 6 Psych

Front 1

Sensation

Back 1

the process by which our sensory receptors receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information

Front 3

Bottom up processing

Back 3

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

Front 4

Top down processing

Back 4

Information processing guided by higher level mental processes

Front 5

Transduction

Back 5

conversion of one form of energy to another. Such as sights sounds and smells

Front 6

Psychophysics

Back 6

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity

Front 7

Absolute threshold

Back 7

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

Front 8

Signal detection theory

Back 8

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Claims there is no absolute threshold and is based on a persons attention and experience

Front 9

Subliminal

Back 9

Below ones absolute conscious awareness

Front 10

Priming

Back 10

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

Front 11

Difference threshold

Back 11

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

Front 12

Webers law

Back 12

The principle that,to be percieved as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

Front 13

Sensory adaptation

Back 13

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation (no longer smelling that **** odor)

Front 14

Perceptual set

Back 14

A mental predisposition to percieve one thing and not another. (Guy playing saxiphone)

Front 15

Lens

Back 15

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

Front 16

Retina

Back 16

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

Front 17

Acommodation

Back 17

The process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects.

Front 18

Rods

Back 18

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; )needed for peripheral and twighlight vision in dark(

Front 19

Cones

Back 19

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina that function in daylight or well lit conditions.

Front 20

Optic nerve

Back 20

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

Front 21

Blind spot

Back 21

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye

Front 22

Fovea

Back 22

The central point on the retina, around which the eyes cones cluster

Front 23

Feature Detectors

Back 23

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

Front 24

Parallel Processing

Back 24

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Front 25

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

Back 25

(Three color theory)

The theory that the retina contains 3 different color receptors, one most sensitive to red, one to green and one to blue

Front 26

Opponent process theory

Back 26

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

Front 27

Gestalt

Back 27

An organized whole.

Front 28

Figure ground

Back 28

The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings (walking people and arrows)

Front 29

Grouping

Back 29

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Front 30

Depth perception

Back 30

The ability to see objects in three dimensions

Front 31

Binocular cues

Back 31

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of 2 eyes.

Front 32

Retinal disparity

Back 32

The binocular cue for percieving depth

Front 33

Monocular cues

Back 33

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective,( available to each individial eye)

Front 34

Phi phenomenon

Back 34

Illusion of movement created by fast flashing lights.

Front 35

Perceptual Constancy

Back 35

Percieving objects as unchanging, even as illumination and retinal images change.

Front 36

Color constancy

Back 36

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

Front 37

Perceptual adaptation

Back 37

In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field. (Sideways glasses)

Front 38

Audition

Back 38

The sense or act of hearing

Front 39

Middle ear

Back 39

Chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones responsible for concentrating vibrations of eardrum on cochleas oval window.

Front 40

Cochlea

Back 40

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

Front 41

Inner ear

Back 41

Inner most part of the ear containing cochlea and semicircular canals

Front 42

Sensorineural hearing loss

Back 42

Hearing loss caused by damage to cochleas nerve receptor cells (nerve deafness)

Front 43

Conduction hearing loss

Back 43

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

Front 44

Cochlear Implant

Back 44

Device converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into cochlea.

Front 45

Place theory

Back 45

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

Front 46

Frequency hearing

Back 46

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the aiditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.

Front 47

Gate control theory

Back 47

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

Front 48

Sensory information

Back 48

The principle that one sense may influence another, like taste and smell

Front 49

Kinesthesis

Back 49

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

Front 50

Parapsychology

Back 50

The study of paranormal phenomena, including esp and psychokinesis