Introduction To Psychology

Front 1

Sensations

Back 1

pattern of light and dark, a bitter taste, a change in temperature

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Perception

Back 2

collection of processes used to arrive at a meaningful interpretation of those sensations

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Light

Back 3

the small part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is processed by the visual system

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Hue

Back 4

the dimension of light that produces color; hue is typically determined by the wavelength of light reflection from an object

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Brightness

Back 5

the aspect of the visual experience that changes with light intensity; in general, as the intensity of light increases, so does its perceived brightness

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Transduction

Back 6

the process by which external messages are translated into the internal language of the brain

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Cornea

Back 7

the transparent and protective outer covering of the eye

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Lens

Back 8

the flexible piece of tissue that helps focus light toward the back of the eye

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Pupil

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the hole in the center of the eye that allows light to enter

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Iris

Back 10

the ring of colored tissue surrounding the pupil

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Accommodation

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In vision, the process through which the lens changes its shape temporarily to help focus light on the retina

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Retina

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the thin layer of tissue that covers the back of the eye and contains the light-sensitive receptor cells for vision

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Rods

Back 13

receptor cells in the retina, located mainly around the sides, that transduce light energy into neural messages; these visual receptors are highly sensitive and are active in dim light

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Cones

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receptor cells in the central portion of the retina that transduce light energy into neural messages; they operate best when light levels are high, and they are primarily responsible for the ability to sense color

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Fovea

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the "central pit" area in the retina where the cone receptors are located

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Visual Acuity

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the ability to process fine detail in vision

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Receptive field

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in vision, the portion of the retina that, when stimulated, causes the activity of higher order neurons to change

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Blind spot

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the point where the optic nerve leaves the back of the eye

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Dark adaption

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the process through which the eyes adjust to dim light

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Feature detectors

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Cells in the visual cortex that respond to very specific visual events such as bars of light at particle orientations

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Trichromatic theory

Back 21

a theory of color vision proposing that color information is extracted by comparing the relative activations of 3 different types of cone receptors

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Opponent-process theory

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theory of color vision proposing that cells in the visual pathway increase their activation levels to one color and decrease their activation levels to another color-for example, increasing to red and decreasing to green

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Bottom-up processing

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processing that is controlled by the physical message delivered to the senses

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Top-down processing

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processing that is controlled by one's beliefs and expectations about how the world is organized

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Gestalt principles of organization

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the organizing principles of perception proposed by the Gestalt psychologists. These principles include the laws of proximity, similarity, closure, continuation, and common fate

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Recognition by components

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the idea proposed by Biederman that people recognize objects perceptually vis smaller components called geons

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Monocular depth cues

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cues for depth that require input from only one eye

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Binocular depth cues

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cues for depth that depend on comparisons between the two eyes

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Retinal disparity

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a binocular cue for depth that is based on location differences between the images in each eye

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Convergence

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a binocular cue for depth that is based on the extent to which the two eyes move inward, or converge, when looking at an object

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Phi phenomenon

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an illusion of movement that occurs when stationary lights are flashed in succession

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Perceptual constancy

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perceiving the properties of an object to remain the same even though the physical properties of the sensory message are changing

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Perceptual illusions

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inappropriate interpretations of physical reality. Perceptual illusions often occur as a result of the brain's using otherwise adaptive organizing principles

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Pinna

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the external flap of tissue normally referred to as the "ear"; it helps capture sounds

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Tympanic membrane

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the eardrum, which responds to incoming sound waves by vibrating

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Middle ear

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portion between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three small bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes) that help to intensify and prepare the sound vibrations for passage into the inner ear

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Cochlea

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the bony, snail-shped sound processor in the inner ear where sound is translated into nerve impulses

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Basilar membrane

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a flexible membrane running through the cochlea that, through its movements, displaces the auditor receptor cells, or hair cells

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Place theory

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the idea that the location of auditory receptor cells activated by movement of the basilar membrane underlies the perception of pitch

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Frequency theory

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the idea that pitch perception is determined partly by the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory pathway

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Cold fibers

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neurons that respond to a cooling of the skin by increasing the production of neural impulses

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Warm fibers

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neurons that respond vigorously when the temperature of the skin increases

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Pain

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an adaptive response by the body to any stimulus that is intense enough o cause tissue damage

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Gate-control theory

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the idea that neural impulses generated by pain receptors can e blocked, or gated, in the spinal cord by signals produced in the brain

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Kinesthesia

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in perception, the ability to sense the position and movement of one's body parts

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Semicircular canals

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a receptor system attached to the inner ear that responds to movement and acceleration and to changes in upright posture

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Vestibular sacs

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organs of the inner ear that contain receptors thought to be primarily responsible for balance

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Chemoreceptors

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receptor cells that react to invisible molecules scattered about int he air or dissolve in liquids, leading to the senses of smell and taste

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Olfaction

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the sense of smell

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Gustation

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the sense of taste

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Flavor

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a psychological term used to describe the gustatory experience. Flavor is influenced by taste, smell, and the visual appearance of food, as well as by expectations about the food's quality

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Taste buds

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the receptor cells on the tongue

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Psychophysics

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a field of psychology in which researchers search for ways to describe the transition from the physical stimulus to the psychological experience of that stimulus

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Absolute threshold

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the level of intensity that lifts a stimulus over the threshold of conscious awareness; it's usually defined as the intensity level at which people can detect the presence of the stimulus 50% of the time

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Signal detection

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a technique used to determine the ability of someone to detect the presence of a stimulus

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Difference threshold

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the smallest detectable difference in the magnitude of two stimuli

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Weber's law

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he principle stating that the ability to notice a difference in the magnitude of two stimuli is a constant proportion of the size of the standard stimulus. Psychologically, the more intense a stimulus is to begin with, the more intense it will need to become for one to notice a change

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Sensory adaption

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the tendency of sensory systems to reduce sensitivity to a stimulus source that remains constant