Psychology Core Concepts Chapter 7

Front 1

Sensation

Back 1

The process by which stimulation of a sensory receptor produces neural impulses that the brain interprets as a sound

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

A process that makes sensory patterns meaningful. It is perception that makes these words meaningful

Front 3

Transduction

Back 3

Transformation of one form of energy into another - especially the transformation of stimulus information into nerve signals by the sense organs. Without transduction

Front 4

Sensory adaptation

Back 4

Loss of responsiveness in receptor cells after stimulation has remained unchanged for a while

Front 5

Absolute threshold

Back 5

The amount of stimulation necessary for a stimulus to be detected. In practice

Front 6

Difference threshold

Back 6

The smallest amount by which a stimulus can be changed and the difference be detected half the time

Front 7

Just noticeable difference (JND)

Back 7

Same as the difference threshold
(The smallest amount by which a stimulus can be changed and the difference be detected half the time)

Front 8

Weber's law

Back 8

The concept says that the size of a JND is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus; the JND is large when the stimulus intensity is high and small when the stimulus intensity is low.

Front 9

Signal detection theory

Back 9

Explains how we detect "signals

Front 10

Retina

Back 10

The thin light-sensitive layer at the back of the eyeball. the retina contains millions of photoreceptors and other nerve cells.

Front 11

Photoreceptors

Back 11

Light-sensitive cells (neurons) in the retina that convert light energy to neural impulses. The photoreceptors are as far as light gets into the visual system

Front 12

Rods

Back 12

Photoreceptors in the retina that are especially senstive to dim light but not to colors. Strange as it may seem

Front 13

Cones

Back 13

Photoreceptors in the retina that are especially sensitive to colors but not to dim light. They are cone-shaped.

Front 14

Optic nerve

Back 14

The bundle of neurons that carries visual information from the retina to the brain

Front 15

Blind spot

Back 15

The point where the optic nerve exits the eye and where there are no photoreceptors. Any stimulus that falls on this area cannot be seen

Front 16

Brightness

Back 16

A psychological sensation caused by the intensity of light waves

Front 17

Color

Back 17

Also called hue; not a property of things in the external world. Rather

Front 18

Electromagnetic spectrum

Back 18

The entire range of electromagnetic energy

Front 19

Visible spectrum

Back 19

The tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum to which our eyes are sensitive. The visible spectrum of other creatures may be slightly different from our own

Front 20

Trichromatic theory

Back 20

The idea that colors are sensed by three different types of cones sensitive to light in the red

Front 21

Opponent-process theory

Back 21

The idea that cells in the visual system process colors in complementary pairs

Front 22

Afterimages

Back 22

sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed. Most visual afterimages are negative afterimages

Front 23

Color blindness

Back 23

Typically a genetic disorder (although sometimes the result of trauma) that prevents an individual from discriminating certain colors. The most common form is red-green color blindness.

Front 24

Frequency

Back 24

The number of cycles completed by a wave in a given amount of time

Front 25

Amplitude

Back 25

The physical strength of a wave. This is usually measured from peak (top) to valley (bottom) on a graph of the wave

Front 26

Tympanic membrane

Back 26

The eardrum

Front 27

Cochlea

Back 27

The primary organ of hearing

Front 28

Basilar membrane

Back 28

A thin strop of tissue sensitve to vibrations in the cochlea. The basilar membrane contains hair cells connected to neurons. When a sound wave causes the hair cells to vibrate

Front 29

Pitch

Back 29

A sensory characteristic of sound produced by the frequency of the sound wave

Front 30

Loudness

Back 30

A sensory characteristic of sound produced by the amplitude (intensity) of the sound wave

Front 31

Timbre

Back 31

the quality of a sound wave that derives from the wave's complexity (combination of pure tones). Timbre comes from the Greek word for "drum

Front 32

Vestibular sense

Back 32

The sense of body orientation with respect to gravity. The vestibular sense is closely associated with the inner ear and

Front 33

Kinesthetic sense

Back 33

the sense of body position and movement of body parts relative to each other (also called kinesthesis)

Front 34

Olfaction

Back 34

The sense of smell

Front 35

Pheromones

Back 35

Chemical signals released by organisms to communicated with other members of their species. Pheromones are often used by animals as sexual attractants. It is unclear whether or not humans employ pheromones

Front 36

Gustation

Back 36

The sense of taste-from the same word root as "gusto" also called the gustatory sense

Front 37

Skin senses

Back 37

Sensory systems for processing touch

Front 38

Gate-control theory

Back 38

An explanation for pain control that proposes we have a neural "gate" that can

Front 39

Placebo effect

Back 39

A response to a placebo (a fake drug)

Front 40

Percept

Back 40

The meaningful product of perception - often an image that has been associated with concepts

Front 41

Feature detectors

Back 41

Cells in the cortex that specialize in extracting certain features of a stimulus

Front 42

Illusion

Back 42

You have experienced an illusion when you have a demonstrably incorrect perception of a stimulus pattern

Front 43

Binocular cues

Back 43

information taken in by both eyes that aids in depth perception

Front 44

Monocular cues

Back 44

information about depth that relies on the input of just one eye - includes relative size