Psy 120 Chapter 5

Front 1

absolute threshold

Back 1

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.

Front 2

accommodation

Back 2

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

Front 3

basilar membrane

Back 3

A flexible membrane running through the cochlea that, through its movement, displaces the auditory receptor cells, or hair cells.

Front 4

binocular depth cues

Back 4

Cues for depth that depend on comparisons between the two eyes.

Front 5

blind spot

Back 5

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

Front 6

bottom-up processing

Back 6

Processing that is controlled by the physical message delivered to the senses.

Front 7

brightness

Back 7

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

Front 8

chemoreceptors

Back 8

Receptor cells that react to invisible molecules scattered about in the air or dissolved in liquids, leading to the senses of smell and taste.

Front 9

cochlea

Back 9

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

Front 10

cold fibers

Back 10

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

Front 11

cones

Back 11

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.

Front 12

convergence

Back 12

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.

Front 13

cornea

Back 13

The transparent and protective outer covering of the eye.

Front 14

dark adaptation

Back 14

The process through which the eyes adjust to dim light.

Front 15

difference threshold

Back 15

The smallest detectable difference in the magnitude of two stimuli.

Front 16

feature detectors

Back 16

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

Front 17

flavor

Back 17

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.

Front 18

fovea

Back 18

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

Front 19

frequency theory

Back 19

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

Front 20

gate-control theory

Back 20

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

Front 21

Gestalt principles of organization

Back 21

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

Front 22

gustation

Back 22

The sense of taste.

Front 23

hue

Back 23

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

Front 24

iris

Back 24

The ring of colored tissue surrounding the pupil.

Front 25

kinesthesia

Back 25

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

Front 26

lens

Back 26

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

Front 27

light

Back 27

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

Front 28

middle ear

Back 28

The 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.

Front 29

monocular depth cues

Back 29

Cues for depth that require input from only one eye.

Front 30

olfaction

Back 30

The sense of smell.

Front 31

opponent-process theory

Back 31

A 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.

Front 32

pain

Back 32

An adaptive response by the body to any stimulus that is intense enough to cause tissue damage.

Front 33

perception

Back 33

The collection of processes used to arrive at a meaningful interpretation of sensations.

Front 34

perceptual constancy

Back 34

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

Front 35

perceptual illusions

Back 35

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

Front 36

phi phenomenon

Back 36

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

Front 37

pinna

Back 37

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

Front 38

pitch

Back 38

The psychological experience that results from the auditory processing of a particular frequency of sound.

Front 39

place theory

Back 39

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

Front 40

psychophysics

Back 40

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.

Front 41

pupil

Back 41

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

Front 42

receptive field

Back 42

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

Front 43

recognition by components

Back 43

The idea proposed by Biederman that people recognize objects perceptually via smaller components called geons.

Front 44

retina

Back 44

The thin layer of tissue that covers the back of the eye and contains the lightsensitive receptor cells for vision.

Front 45

retinal disparity

Back 45

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

Front 46

rods

Back 46

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.

Front 47

semicircular canals

Back 47

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

Front 48

sensations

Back 48

The elementary components, or building blocks, of an experience (such as a pattern of light and dark, a bitter taste, or a change in temperature).

Front 49

sensory adaptation

Back 49

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

Front 50

signal detection

Back 50

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

Front 51

sound

Back 51

The physical message delivered to the auditory system; a mechanical energy that requires a medium such as air or water in order to move.

Front 52

taste buds

Back 52

The receptor cells on the tongue.

Front 53

top-down processing

Back 53

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

Front 54

transduction

Back 54

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

Front 55

trichromatic theory

Back 55

A theory of color vision proposing that color information is extracted by comparing the relative activations of three different types of cone receptors.

Front 56

tympanic membrane

Back 56

The eardrum, which responds to incoming sound waves by vibrating

Front 57

vestibular sacs

Back 57

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

Front 58

visual acuity

Back 58

The ability to process fine detail in vision.

Front 59

warm fibers

Back 59

Neurons that respond vigorously when the temperature of the skin increases.

Front 60

Weber''s law

Back 60

The 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.