Ch.4 Sensation And Perception

Front 1

sensation

Back 1

detection of physical energy by sense organs, which then send information to the brain

Front 2

perception

Back 2

the brain's interpretation of raw sensory inputs

Front 3

transduction

Back 3

the process of converting an external energy or substance into neural activity

Front 4

sense receptor

Back 4

specialized cell responsible for converting external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system

Front 5

absolute threshold

Back 5

lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change 50 percent of the time

Front 6

just noticeable difference

Back 6

the smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect

Front 7

perceptual constancy

Back 7

the process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions

Front 8

selective attention

Back 8

process of selecting one sensory channel and ignoring or minimizing others

Front 9

extrasensory perception

Back 9

perception of events outside the known channels of sensation

Front 10

brightness

Back 10

intensity of reflected light that reaches our eyes

Front 11

hue

Back 11

color of light

Front 12

cornea

Back 12

part of the eye containing transparent cells that focus light on the retina

Front 13

lens

Back 13

part of the eye that changes curvature to keep images in focus

Front 14

accommodation

Back 14

changing the shape of the lens to focus on objects near or far

Front 15

retina

Back 15

membrane at the back of the eye responsible for converting light into neural activity

Front 16

fovea

Back 16

central portion of the retina

Front 17

acuity

Back 17

sharpness of vision

Front 18

rods

Back 18

receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in low levels of light

Front 19

cones

Back 19

receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in color

Front 20

blind spot

Back 20

part of the visual field we cant see because of an absence of rods and cones

Front 21

trichromatic theory

Back 21

idea that color vision is based on our sensitivity to three different colors

Front 22

color blindness

Back 22

inability to see some or all colors

Front 23

depth perception

Back 23

ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relations

Front 24

monocular depth cues

Back 24

stimuli that enable us to judge depth using only one eye

Front 25

binocular depth cues

Back 25

stimuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes

Front 26

audition

Back 26

sense of hearing

Front 27

timbre

Back 27

complexity or quality of sound that makes musical instruments, human voices, or other sources sound unique

Front 28

cochlea

Back 28

bony, spiral-shaped sense organ used for hearing

Front 29

organ of corti

Back 29

tissue containing the hair cells necessary for hearing

Front 30

basilar membrane

Back 30

membrane supporting the organ of corti and hair cells in the cochlea

Front 31

olfaction

Back 31

our sense of smell

Front 32

gustation

Back 32

our sense of taste

Front 33

taste buds

Back 33

sense receptors in the tongue that respond to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami and perhaps fat

Front 34

pheromones

Back 34

odorless chemicals that serve as social signals to members of one's species

Front 35

somatosensory

Back 35

our sense of touch, temperature, and pain

Front 36

proprioception

Back 36

our sense of bod position

Front 37

vestibular sense

Back 37

our sense of equilibrium or balance

Front 38

phantom pain

Back 38

pain or discomfort felt in an amputated limb

Front 39

semicircular canals

Back 39

three fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance