Chapter 5 Sensation

Front 1

Sensation

Back 1

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

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

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

Front 3

Bottom-Up Processing

Back 3

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

Front 4

Top-Down Processing

Back 4

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

Front 5

Psychophysics

Back 5

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them.

Front 6

Absolute Threshold

Back 6

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

Front 7

Signal Detection Theory

Back 7

A theory predicting how and when we detect he presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes there is no single Absolute Threshold and that detection depends on a person's experience, expectations, motivation and level of fatigue.

Front 8

Subliminal

Back 8

Below the Absolute Threshold for conscious awareness

Front 9

Priming

Back 9

The activation, often unconsciously, of associations. Predisposes one's perception, memory, or response

Front 10

Difference Threshold

Back 10

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time.
Also called Just Noticeable Difference (jnd)

Front 11

Weber's Law

Back 11

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

Front 12

Sensory Adaptation

Back 12

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of a constant stimulation

Front 13

Transduction

Back 13

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, turning sights, sounds and smells into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

Front 14

Wavelength

Back 14

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the next.

Front 15

Hue

Back 15

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light. We call it by color names like blue or green.

Front 16

Intensity

Back 16

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

Front 17

Pupil

Back 17

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

Front 18

Iris

Back 18

The colored ring of muscle tissue around the pupil. Controls the size of the pupil opening.

Front 19

Lens

Back 19

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

Front 20

Accommodation

Back 20

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

Front 21

Retina

Back 21

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 22

Acutiy

Back 22

The sharpness of vision

Front 23

Nearsightedness

Back 23

Nearby objects are seen more clearly then far object because distant objects focus in front of the retina

Front 24

Farsightedness

Back 24

Far objects are seen more clearly then close objects because close objects focuses behind the retina

Front 25

Rods

Back 25

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

Front 26

Cones

Back 26

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina. Functions in daylight and well-lit conditions. These detect fine detail and color.

Front 27

Optic Nerve

Back 27

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

Front 28

Blind Spot

Back 28

The point which the optic nerve leaves the eye. No receptor cells are located there.

Front 29

Fovea

Back 29

The central focus point in the retina. The eye's cones cluster here.

Front 30

Feature Detectors

Back 30

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

Front 31

Parallel Processing

Back 31

The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously. The brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions.

Front 32

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

Back 32

The theory that the retina contains prime color receptors that combine to form all colors

Front 33

Opponent-Process Theory

Back 33

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

Front 34

Color Constancy

Back 34

Perceiving familiar objects as having a consistent color, despite changing illuminations.

Front 35

Audition

Back 35

The sense or act of hearing

Front 36

Frequency

Back 36

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Front 37

Pitch

Back 37

A tone's experienced highness or lowness. Depends on frequency

Front 38

Middle Ear

Back 38

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Front 39

Cochlea

Back 39

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

Front 40

Inner Ear

Back 40

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

Front 41

Place Theory

Back 41

The theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

Front 42

Frequency Theory

Back 42

The theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, enabling us to sense it's pitch

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

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Back 44

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves. Nerve Deafness

Front 45

Cochlear Implant

Back 45

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

Front 46

Sensory Interaction

Back 46

The principle that one sense may influence another

Front 47

Kinesthesis

Back 47

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

Front 48

Vestibular Sense

Back 48

The sense of body movement and position, including balance

Front 49

Gate-Control Theory

Back 49

The theory that the spinal cord has a "gate" through which pain passes.