History Of Psychology Ch. 8 Early Developments In Physiology And The Rise Of Experimental Psychology

Front 1

Absolute threshold

Back 1

the smallest amount of stimulation that can be detected by an organism.

Front 2

Adequate stimulation

Back 2

stimulation to which a sense modality is maximally sensitive.

Front 3

Charles Bell

Back 3

discovered, in modern times, the distinction between sensory and motor nerves.

Front 4

Bell-Magendie law

Back 4

there are two types of nerves: sensory nerves carrying impulses from the sense receptors to the brain and motor nerves carrying impulses from the brain to the muscles and glands of the body.

Front 5

Paul Broca

Back 5

found evidence that part of the left frontal lobe of the cortex is specialized for speech production or articulation.

Front 6

Broca's area

Back 6

the speech are on the left frontal lobe of the cortex (the inferior frontal gyrus).

Front 7

Clinical method

Back 7

the technique that Broca used. It involves first determining a behavior disorder in a living patient and then, after the patient had died, locating the part of the brain responsible for the behavior disorder.

Front 8

Differential threshold

Back 8

the amount that stimulation needs to change before a difference in that stimulation can be detected.

Front 9

Doctrine of specific nerve energies

Back 9

each sensory nerve, no matter how it is stimulated, releases an energy specific to that nerve.

Front 10

Gustav Theodor Fechner

Back 10

expanded Weber's law by showing that, for just noticeable differences to vary mathematically, the magnitude of a stimulus must vary geometrically.

Front 11

David Ferrier

Back 11

discovered the sensory area of the cortex.

Front 12

Pierre Flourens

Back 12

concluded that the cortical region of the brain acts as a whole and is not divided into a number of faculties, as the phrenologists had maintained.

Front 13

Formal discipline

Back 13

the belief that the faculties of the mind can be strengthened by practicing the functions associated with them. Thus, one supposedly can become better at reasoning by studying mathematics or logic.

Front 14

Gustav Fritsch

Back 14

along with Hitzig, discovered motor areas on the cortex by directly stimulating the exposed cortex of a dog.

Front 15

Franz Joseph Gall

Back 15

believed that the strengths of mental faculties varied from person to person and that they could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on a person's skull. Such an examination came to be called phrenology.

Front 16

Hermann von Helmholtz

Back 16

a monumental figure in the history of science who did pioneer work in the areas o nerve conduction, sensation, perception, color vision, and audition.

Front 17

Ewald Hering

Back 17

offered a nativistic explanation of space perception and a theory of color vision based on the existence of three color receptors, each capable of a catabolic process and an anabolic process. Hering's theory of color vision could explain a number of color experiences that Helmholtz's theory could not.

Front 18

Eduard Hitzig

Back 18

along with Fritsch, discovered motor areas on the cortex by directly stimulating the exposed cortex of a dog.

Front 19

Just noticeable difference (jnd)

Back 19

the sensation that results if a change in stimulus intensity exceeds the differential threshold.

Front 20

Kinesthesis

Back 20

the sensations caused by muscular activity.

Front 21

Christine Ladd-Franklin

Back 21

proposed a theory of color vision based on evolutionary principles.

Front 22

Francois Magnedie

Back 22

discovered, in modern times, the distinction between sensory and motor nerves.

Front 23

Method of adjustment

Back 23

an observer adjusts a variable stimulus until it appears to be equal to a standard stimulus.

Front 24

Method of constant stimuli

Back 24

a stimulus is presented at different intensities along with a standard stimulus, and the observer reports if it appears to be greater than, less than, or equal to the standard.

Front 25

Method of limits

Back 25

a stimulus is presented at varying intensities along with a standard (constant) stimulus, to determine the range of intensities judged to be the same as the standard.

Front 26

Johannes Muller

Back 26

expanded the Bell-Magendie law by demonstrating that each sense receptor, when stimulated, releases an energy specific to that particular receptor. This finding is called the doctrine of specific nerve energies.

Front 27

Negative sensations

Back 27

according to Fechner, sensations that occur below the absolute threshold and are therefore below the level of awareness.

Front 28

Panpsychism

Back 28

the belief that everything in the universe experiences consciousness.

Front 29

Perception

Back 29

according to Helmholtz, the mental experience arising when sensations are embellished by the recollection of past experiences.

Front 30

Personal equations

Back 30

mathematical formulae used to correct for differences in reaction time among observers.

Front 31

Phrenology

Back 31

the examination of the bumps and depressions on the skull in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of various mental faculties.

Front 32

Physiognomy

Back 32

the attempt to determine a person's character by analyzing his or her facial features, bodily structure, and habitual patterns of posture and movement.

Front 33

Principle of conservation of energy

Back 33

the energy within a system is constant; therefore, it cannot be added to or subtracted from but only transformed from one form to another.

Front 34

Psychophysics

Back 34

the systematic study of the relationship between physical and psychological events.

Front 35

Reaction time

Back 35

the period of time between presentation of and response to a stimulus.

Front 36

Resonance place theory of auditory perception

Back 36

the tiny fibers on the basilar membrane of the inner ear are stimulated by different frequencies of sound. The shorter the fiber, the higher the frequency to which it responds.

Front 37

Sensation

Back 37

the rudimentary mental experience caused when sense receptors are stimulated by an environmental stimulus.

Front 38

Johann Kasper Spurzheim

Back 38

a student and colleague of Gall, who did much to expand and promote phrenology.

Front 39

Two-point threshold

Back 39

the smallest distance between two points of stimulation at which the two points are experienced as two points rather than one.

Front 40

Unconscious inference

Back 40

according to Helmholtz, the process by which the remnants of past experience are added to sensations, thereby converting them into perceptions.

Front 41

Vitalism

Back 41

the belief that life cannot be explained solely on the basis of physical and biological forces.

Front 42

Ernst Heinrich Weber

Back 42

using the two-point threshold and the just noticeable difference, was the first to demonstrate systematic relationships between stimulation and sensation.

Front 43

Weber's law

Back 43

just noticeable differences correspond to a constant proportion of a standard stimulus.

Front 44

Carl Wernicke

Back 44

discovered an area on the left temporal lobe of the cortex associated with speech comprehension.

Front 45

Wernicke's area

Back 45

the area on the left temporal lobe of the cortex associated with speech comprehension.

Front 46

Young-Helmholtz theory of color vision

Back 46

separate receptor systems on the retina are responsive to each of the three primary colors: red, green, and blue-violet. Also called trichromatic theory.