Psychology: Ch.3

Front 1

the activation of receptors in the various sense organs

Back 1

sensation

Front 2

specialized form of neurons

Back 2

sensory receptors

Front 3

the smallest difference between two stimuli (detected 50% of the time)

Back 3

just noticeable difference (JND/ difference threshold)

Front 4

the smallest amount of energy needed to consciously detect a stimulus (50% of the time it is present)

Back 4

absolute threshold

Front 5

stimuli that are below the level of conscious awareness; just strong enough to activate the sensory receptors, but not strong enough for people to be consciously aware of them

Back 5

subliminal stimuli

Front 6

claims that subliminal stimuli act upon the unconscious mind, influencing behavior

Back 6

subliminal perception

Front 7

tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant, unchanging info

Back 7

habituation

Front 8

tendency of sensory receptor cells to become less responsive to a stimulus that is unchanging

Back 8

sensory adaptation

Front 9

contains photoreceptors that respond to various light waves

Back 9

retina

Front 10

visual sensory receptors responsible for noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light

Back 10

rods

Front 11

visual sensory receptors responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision

Back 11

cones

Front 12

short tunnel that runs from the pinna to the eardrum (tympatic membrane)

Back 12

auditory canal

Front 13

thin section of skin that tightly covers the opening into the middle part of the ear, just like a drum skin covers the opening in a drum

Back 13

eardrum

Front 14

when sound waves hit the eardrum, it vibrates and causes three tiny bones in the middle ear to vibrate: ______

Back 14

hammer
anvil
stirrup

Front 15

snail-shape structure of the inner ear that is filled with fluid

Back 15

cochlea

Front 16

rests in the basilar membrane; contains receptor cells for sense of hearing

Back 16

organ of corti

Front 17

bundle of axons from the hair cells in the inner ear; receives neural message from the organ of Corti

Back 17

auditory nerve

Front 18

taste receptor cells in the mouth; responsible for sense of taste

Back 18

taste buds

Front 19

the sense of taste

Back 19

gustation

Front 20

5 basic tastes

Back 20

sweet
sour
salty
bitter
"brothy"

Front 21

sense of smell

Back 21

olfaction

Front 22

areas of the brain located just above the sinus cavity and just below the frontal lobes that receive info from the olfactory receptor cells

Back 22

olfactory bulbs

Front 23

the body senses consisting of the skin senses, the kinesthetic sense, and the vestibular senses

Back 23

somesthetic senses

Front 24

"soma"

Back 24

body

Front 25

"esthetic"

Back 25

feeling

Front 26

the sensation of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain

Back 26

skin senses

Front 27

sense of the location of body parts in relation to the ground and each other

Back 27

kinesthetic sense

Front 28

the sense of movement, balance, and body position sensory conflict theory an explanation of motion sickness in which gthe information from the eyes conflicts with the info from the vestibular senses, resulting dizziness, nausea, and other physical discomforts

Back 28

vestibular senses

Front 29

interpreting and organizing sensory information in some meaningful fashion

Back 29

perception

Front 30

the tendency to interpret an object as always being the same actual size, regardless of its distance

Back 30

size constancy

Front 31

interpreting the shape of an object as being constant, even when its shape changes on the retina

Back 31

shape constancy

Front 32

perceiving the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when the light conditions change

Back 32

brightness constancy

Front 33

the tendency to perceive objects, or figures, as existing on a background

Back 33

figure-ground

Front 34

the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group

Back 34

similarity

Front 35

the tendency to perceive objects that are close to each other as aprt of the same grouping

Back 35

proximity

Front 36

the tendency to complete figures that are incomplete

Back 36

closure

Front 37

the tendency to perceive things as simply as possible with a continuous pattern rather than with a complex, broken up pattern.

Back 37

continuity

Front 38

the ability to perceive the world in three dimensions

Back 38

depth perception

Front 39

cues for perceiving depth based on one eye only

Back 39

monocular cues (pictorial depth cues)

Front 40

the tendency for parallel lines to appear to converge on each other

Back 40

linear perspective

Front 41

close objects project a larger retinal image than distant objects

Back 41

relative size

Front 42

closer objects block objects in the distance

Back 42

interposition (overlap)

Front 43

objects in the distance looked blurred and fuzzy compared to near objects

Back 43

aerial perspcetive

Front 44

close objects have more texture than objects in the distance

Back 44

texture gradient

Front 45

cues for perceiving depth based on two eyes

Back 45

binocular cues

Front 46

the rotation of the two eyes in their sockets to focus on a single object

Back 46

convergence

Front 47

the difference in images between the two eyes

Back 47

binocular disparity

Front 48

the tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions

Back 48

perceptual set (perceptual expectancy)

Front 49

the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

Back 49

top-down processing

Front 50

the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception

Back 50

bottom-up processing

Front 51

claim of perception that occurs without the use of normal sensory channels such as sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell

Back 51

extrasensory perception (ESP)

Front 52

claimed ability to read another persons thoughts, or mind reading

Back 52

telepathy

Front 53

supposed ability to "see" things that are not actually present

Back 53

clairvoyance

Front 54

supposed ability to know something in advance of its occurance or to predict a future event

Back 54

precognition

Front 55

the study of ESP, ghosts, and other subjects that do not normally fall into the realm of ordinary psychology

Back 55

parapsychology