Psychology

Front 1

rods

Back 1

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

Front 2

farsightedness

Back 2

A condition in which far away objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects if focused behind the retina.

Front 3

nearsightedness

Back 3

A condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina.

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acuity

Back 4

The sharpness of vision.

Front 5

retina

Back 5

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 6

accomodation

Back 6

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

Front 7

lens

Back 7

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

Front 8

Iris

Back 8

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the color portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening.

Front 9

pupil

Back 9

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

Front 10

intensity

Back 10

The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, determined by the wave's amplitude.

Front 11

hue

Back 11

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth.

Front 12

wavelength

Back 12

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 13

transduction

Back 13

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies into neural pulses.

Front 14

sensory adaptation

Back 14

Diminished senstivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

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Weber's Law

Back 15

The principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a contstant percentage rather than by a constant amount.

Front 16

difference threshold

Back 16

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. [jnd]

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subliminal

Back 17

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Front 18

signal detection theory

Back 18

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise") assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on the person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatique.

Front 19

absolute threshold

Back 19

The mimimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

Front 20

psychophysics

Back 20

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity and our psychological experience of them.

Front 21

top-down processing

Back 21

Information processing guided by a higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Front 22

bottom-up processing

Back 22

Analysis that begins with sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

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perception

Back 23

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Front 24

sensation

Back 24

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Front 25

vestibular sense

Back 25

The sense of body movement and position, including sense of balance.

Front 26

kinesthesis [kin-ehs-THEE-sehs]

Back 26

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

Front 27

sensory interaction

Back 27

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

Front 28

gate-control theory

Back 28

The theory that the spinal chord contains a neuralogical "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 29

sensorineural hearing loss

Back 29

Hearing loss caused by damage to the Cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness.

Front 30

conduction hearing loss

Back 30

Hearing loss caused by damage to the Mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Front 31

frequency theory

Back 31

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nereve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.

Front 32

place theory

Back 32

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

Front 33

cochlea [KOHK lee uh]

Back 33

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

Front 34

inner ear

Back 34

The inner most part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals in vestibular sacks.

Front 35

middle ear

Back 35

The chamber between the ear drum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the ear drum on the cochlea's oval window.

Front 36

pitch

Back 36

The tone's highness or lowness, depends on the frequency.

Front 37

frequency

Back 37

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

Front 38

audition

Back 38

The sense of hearing.

Front 39

color constancy

Back 39

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters wavelength reflected by the object.

Front 40

opponent-process theory

Back 40

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 41

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Back 41

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors- one most senstive to red, one to green, one to blue- which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color.

Front 42

parallel processing

Back 42

The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing of many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Front 43

feature detectors

Back 43

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

Front 44

fovea

Back 44

The central focus point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.

Front 45

blind spot

Back 45

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

Front 46

Optic nerve

Back 46

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

Front 47

cones

Back 47

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 details and give rise to color sensations.