Dr. Fraser Psych Terms Ch 4 3/3

Front 1

Analgesia

Back 1

The absence of pain in the presence of a normally painful stimulus.

Front 2

Blind Spot

Back 2

The point at which the axons from all of the ganglion cells converge and exit the eyeball.

Front 3

Brightness

Back 3

The overall intensity of all the wavelengths that make up light.

Front 4

Complementary Colors

Back 4

Colors that result in gray when lights of those two colors are mixed.

Front 5

Feature Detectors

Back 5

Cells in the cortex that respond to a specific feature of an object (i.e. shape, movement, etc)

Front 6

Gate Control Theory

Back 6

A theory of pain suggesting a functional gate in the spinal cord that either lets pain impulses travel upward to the brain or blocks their progress.

Front 7

Gustation

Back 7

the sense of taste

Front 8

Hue

Back 8

The essential color determined by dominant wavelength of a light.

Front 9

Kinesthesia

Back 9

The sense that tells you where parts of your body are in respect to one another.

Front 10

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN)

Back 10

A region in the thalamus in which the axons from most of the cells in the retina finally end and from synapses.

Front 11

Olfaction

Back 11

the sense of smell

Front 12

Olfactory Bulb

Back 12

The brain structure that receives messages regarding olfaction.

Front 13

Opponent-process Theory

Back 13

A theory of color vision stating that the visual elements snesitive to color are grouped into 3 pairs: red-green, yellow-blue and black-white elements. Each element signals one element or the other, but never both.

Front 14

Optic Chiasm

Back 14

Part of the bottom surface of the brain where half of the optic nerve fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain.

Front 15

Optic Nerve

Back 15

A bundle of fibers composed of axons from ganglion cells that carries visual informatino to the brain.

Front 16

Otoliths

Back 16

Small crystals in the fluid-filled vestibular sacs of the inner ear that, when shifted by gravity, stimulate nerve cells that inform the brain of the position of the head relative to earth.

Front 17

Papillae

Back 17

Structure that contain groups of taste receptors; the taste buds.

Front 18

Pheromones

Back 18

Chemicals released by one animal and detected by another, and then shape that second animal's behavior or physiology.

Front 19

Primary Visual Cortex

Back 19

An area in the occipital lobe, at the back of the brain, to which neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus relay visual input.

Front 20

Proprioceptive

Back 20

The sensory systems that allow us to know about where we are and what each part of our bosy is doing.

Front 21

Saturation

Back 21

The purity of a color

Front 22

Semicircular Canals

Back 22

Arc-shaped tubes in the inner-ear containing fluid that, when shifted by head movements, stimulates nerve cells that provide information to the brain about the rate and direction of those movements.

Front 23

Somatic Senses (Somatosensory System)

Back 23

A sense that is spread throughout the body, not located in a specific organ.

Front 24

Trichromatic Theory

Back 24

The theory postulated by Young and Helmholtz that there are 3 types of visual elements, each of which is most sensitive to different wavelengths, and that information from these three elements combines to produce the sensation of color.

Front 25

Vestibular Sacs

Back 25

Organs in the inner ear that connect to the semicircular canals, the cochlea, and contribute to the body's sense of balance.

Front 26

Vestibular Sense

Back 26

The proprioceptive sense that provides information about the position of the body in space and about its general movements. It is often thought of as the sense of balance.

Front 27

Vomeronasal Organ

Back 27

A portion of the mammalian olfactory system that is sensitive to non-volative pheromones.