Sensation And Perception

Front 1

sensation

Back 1

an objective process of taking in information

Front 2

perception

Back 2

the subjective process of interpreting sensations

Front 3

detection question

Back 3

how intense does a stimulus need to be so we can see/hear/taste it?

Front 4

absolute threshold

Back 4

minimum amount of energy in a sensory stimulus that is detected 50% of the time

Front 5

subliminal stimulus

Back 5

detected only up to 49%

Front 6

signal detection theory

Back 6

assumes that the detection of faint sensory stimuli depends upon person's physiological sensitivity to a stimulus and upon decisions criterion

-conservatism/liberalism

-hit, false alarm, miss, correct rejection

Front 7

Difference Question

Back 7

how big must the difference be for us to perceive a difference in light intensities, sound levels, or tactile bumps

Front 8

difference threshold

Back 8

just noticeable difference

-minimum difference between two stimuli that is detected 50% of the time

Front 9

Weber's Law

Back 9

difference threshold is a constant fraction of the standard stimulus value used to measure it

Front 10

Scaling Question

Back 10

what is the relationship between the actual physical intensities of stimulus and our psychological perceptions of these intensities

Front 11

Steven's Power Law

Back 11

perceived magnitude of a stimulus is equal to its actual physical intensity raised to a constant power for each type of judgement

Front 12

Sensory adaptation

Back 12

disappearance of repetitive or unchanging stimuli

-survival value

Front 13

wavelength

Back 13

distance between waves from one crest to the next

color and pitch

Front 14

amplitude

Back 14

amount of energy in a wave

intensity

volume and brightness

Front 15

frequency

Back 15

auditory stimuli

number of wave cycles in one second

pitch

Front 16

cornea

Back 16

covers the eye and is the clear covering through which light passes

-does 80% work

Front 17

pupil

Back 17

light rays are further filtered here through the lens before being passed to the retina at the back of the eye

Front 18

lens

Back 18

accommodates light waves from objects of different distances directly on the retina

depth perception

Front 19

retina

Back 19

light sensative layer of the eye that has ganglion, bipolar and receptor cells

Front 20

receptor cells

Back 20

rods and cones

Front 21

rod

Back 21

dim light

peripheral vision

Front 22

cones

Back 22

located in fovea

bright light

color

Front 23

optic nerve

Back 23

formed by bundles of patterns of neural impulses describing the visual images that are carried through bipolar cells through ganglion cells

Front 24

nearsighted

Back 24

light rays from close objects are focused behind retina

Front 25

farsighted

Back 25

light rays from close objects are focused behind retina

Front 26

trichromatic theory

Back 26

three types of cones

-each activated by certain wavelengths

- corresponds blue, green, and red

Front 27

opponent-process theory

Back 27

three types of cell systems that help us see color located at the post receptor level of processing

pairs constantly fighting

Front 28

composite theory

Back 28

both trichromatic and opponent-process have valid aspects

-color is processed by different cones

-processed after leaving the retina

Front 29

Waterfall illusion

Back 29

by staring at a waterfall, a stationary object will appear to move inthe opposite direction

Front 30

outer ear

Back 30

pinna

tympanic membrane

Front 31

pinna

Back 31

external part of ear

collects sounds and funnels them through the auditory canal

Front 32

tympanic membrane

Back 32

ear drum

marks the boundary between middle and outer ear

where air begins to become sound

Front 33

middle ear

Back 33

hammer, anvil, stirrup

movement creates vibration on the oval window, which covers the inner ear

Front 34

cochlea

Back 34

inner ear

snail shaped

contains basilar membrane hair cells and fluid

Front 35

hair cells

Back 35

fluid displaced by the cochlea caused hair cells to move, creating the sensation of hearing

Front 36

pitch

Back 36

quality of sound perceived as high or low

determined by sound wave

Front 37

place theory

Back 37

there is a specific place along the basilar membrane in the inner ear that will correspond to a particular frequency

good with high frequencies

Front 38

frequency theory

Back 38

sound wave is mimicked by the firing rate of the hair cells across the entire basilar membrane

Front 39

bottom-up processing

Back 39

sense receptors work up to the brain

Front 40

top-down processing

Back 40

brain's ise of existing knowledge, beliefs, and expectations to interpret the sensory stimulation it receives

-objective

Front 41

perceptual set

Back 41

when we interpret ambiguous stimulus in accordance with our past experiences

Front 42

Gestalt

Back 42

organized whole

Front 43

figure-and-ground theory

Back 43

center of attention and background

you will most likely see the thing that is most thing like

Front 44

subjective contour and closure

Back 44

the tendency to complete incomplete figures to form meaningful objects

Front 45

perceptual constancy

Back 45

the perceptual stability of size, shape, brightness, and color

Front 46

retinal disparity

Back 46

refers to the fact that as the disparity between two retinal images decreases, the distance from us increases

Front 47

linear perspective

Back 47

refers to the fact that are parallel lines recede away from us, they appear to converge

Ponzo illusion: railroad tracks

Front 48

Muller-Lyer

Back 48

two vertical line segments are equal in length ,but because of arrows at the end pointing either direction, one will appear longer