Chapter 6: "sensation And Perception" - Psychology, Myers 9Th Edition

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, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

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, 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, such as their intensity, 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 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.

Front 8

subliminal

Back 8

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Front 9

priming

Back 9

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing 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.

We experience the difference threshold as a "just noticeable difference" or jnd.

Front 11

Weber's law

Back 11

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

Front 12

sensory adaptation

Back 12

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Front 13

transduction

Back 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

Front 14

wavelength

Back 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.

Front 15

hue

Back 15

the demension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light.

(what we know as certain colors)

Front 16

intensity

Back 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

Front 17

pupil

Back 17

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

Front 18

iris

Back 18

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the puil and 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

retina

Back 20

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 21

accommodation

Back 21

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

Front 22

rods

Back 22

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

Front 23

cones

Back 23

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

The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Front 24

optic nerve

Back 24

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

Front 25

blind spot

Back 25

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

Front 26

fovea

Back 26

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

Front 27

feature detectors

Back 27

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

Front 28

parallel processing

Back 28

the processing of many 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.

Front 29

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

Back 29

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

Front 30

opponent-process theory

Back 30

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

For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red, others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

Front 31

frequency

Back 31

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

Front 32

pitch

Back 32

a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Front 33

middle ear

Back 33

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.

Front 34

cochlea

Back 34

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

Front 35

inner ear

Back 35

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

Front 36

place theory

Back 36

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

Front 37

frequency theory

Back 37

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

Front 38

conduction hearing loss

Back 38

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

Front 39

sensorineural hearing loss

Back 39

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves.

Also called nerve deafness

Front 40

cochlear implant

Back 40

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

Front 41

kinesthesis

Back 41

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

Front 42

vestibular sense

Back 42

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

Front 43

gate-control theory

Back 43

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

Front 44

sensory interaction

Back 44

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

Front 45

gestalt

Back 45

an organized whole.

Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Front 46

figure-ground

Back 46

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).

Front 47

grouping

Back 47

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.

proximity, similarity, continuity, connectedness and closure

Front 48

depth perception

Back 48

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional.

Allows us to judge distance

Front 49

visual cliff

Back 49

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Front 50

binocular cues

Back 50

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

Front 51

retinal disparity

Back 51

a binocular cue for perceiving depth.

By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Front 52

monocular cues

Back 52

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Front 53

phi phenomenon

Back 53

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Front 54

perceptual constancy

Back 54

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, lightness & color) even as illumination and retinal images change

Front 55

color constancy

Back 55

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

Front 56

perceptual adaptation

Back 56

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Front 57

perceptual set

Back 57

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Front 58

human factors psychology

Back 58

a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

Front 59

extrasensory perception (ESP)

Back 59

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input.

Includes: telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition

Front 60

parapsychology

Back 60

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

Front 61

telepathy

Back 61

mind-to-mind communication

Front 62

clairvoyance

Back 62

perceiving remote events

Front 63

precognition

Back 63

perceiving future events