Chapter 4, Sensation & Perception

Front 1

sensation

Back 1

o A physical process: the stimulation of our sense organs by features of the world

Front 2

perception

Back 2

o A psychological process: the act of organizing and interpreting sensory experience

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sensory adaptation

Back 3

o The process by which our sensitivity diminishes when an object constantly stimulates our senses

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transduction

Back 4

o The conversion of physical into neural information

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absolute threshold

Back 5

o The lowest intensity level of a stimulus a person can detect half the time

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psychophysics

Back 6

o The study of how people psychologically perceive physical stimuli, such as light, sound waves, and touch

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signal detection theory

Back 7

o The viewpoint that both stimulus intensity and decision making processes are involved in the detection of a stimulus

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difference threshold

Back 8

o The smallest amount of change between two stimuli that a person can detect half the time

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weber's law

Back 9

o The finding that the size of a just noticeable difference is a constant fraction of the intensity of the stimulus

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Perceptual set

Back 10

o The effect of frame of mind on perception; a tendency to perceive stimuli in a certain manner

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Pupil

Back 11

o The opening in the iris through which light enters the eye

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iris

Back 12

o The muscle that forms the colored part of the eye; it adjusts the pupil to regulate the amount of light that enters the eye

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accommodation

Back 13

o The process by which the muscles control the shape of the lens to adjust to viewing objects at different distances

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retina

Back 14

o The thin layer of nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye

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photoreceptors

Back 15

o Cells in the retina (called rods and cones)

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rods

Back 16

• Photoreceptors that function in low illumination and play a key role in night vision; responsive to dark and light contrast

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cones

Back 17

• Photoreceptors that are responsible for color vision and are most functional in conditions of bright light

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visual acuity

Back 18

the ability to see clearly

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dark adaptation

Back 19

process of adjusting to eeing in the dark

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fovea

Back 20

spot on the back of the retina that contains the highest concentrations of cones in the retina, place of clearest vision

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Optic nerve

Back 21

• Structure composted of the axons of ganglion cells from the retina that carry visual information from the eye to the brain

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optic chiasm

Back 22

• The point at which strands of the optic nerve from half of each eye cross over to the opposite side of the brain

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feature detectors

Back 23

• Neurons in the visual cortex that analyze the retinal image and respond to specific aspects of shapes, such as angles and movements

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depth perception

Back 24

• The ability to see things in three dimensions and to discriminate what is near from what is far

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binocular depth cues

Back 25

• Aids to depth perception that rely on input from both eyes

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Convergence

Back 26

• A binocular depth cue: the way in which the eyes move inward as an object moves closer to you

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monocular depth cues

Back 27

• Aids to depth perception that do not require two eyes

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perceptual constancy

Back 28

• The ability of the brain to preserve perception of objects in spite of changes in retinal image when an object changes in position or distance from the viewer

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similarity

Back 29

• The gestalt tendency to group like objects together in visual perception

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continuity

Back 30

• The Gestalt tendency to see points or lines in such a way that they follow a continuous path

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proximity

Back 31

• The Gestalt tendency to group objects together that are near one another.

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closure

Back 32

• The Gestalt tendency to see a whole object even when complete information isn’t available

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bottom up processing

Back 33

• Assembling a perceptual experience

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top down processing

Back 34

o Perception of the whole based on our experience and expectations, which guide our perception of smaller elemental features of the stimulus

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trichromatic color theory

Back 35

o The theory that all color we experience results from a mixing of three colors of light (red, blue, and green)

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trichromatic color theory

Back 36

o The theory that all color we experience results from a mixing of three colors of light (red, blue, and green)

Front 37

afterimages

Back 37

o Visual images that remain after removal of or looking away from the stimulus

Front 38

opponent-process theory

Back 38

o The theory that color vision results from cones linked together in three opposing pairs of colors so that activation of one member of the pair inhibits activity in the other

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cochlea

Back 39

o A bony tube of the inner ear, which is curled like a snail’s shell and filled with fluid

Front 40

basilar membrane

Back 40

o A membrane that runs through the cochlea; contains the hair cells

Front 41

hair cells

Back 41

o Inner ear sensory receptors that transduce sound vibrations into neural impulses

Front 42

auditory nerve

Back 42

o The nerve that receives action potentials from the hair cells and transmits auditory information to the brain

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bodily senses

Back 43

o The senses based in the skin, body, or any membrane surfaces

Front 44

mechanoreceptors

Back 44

o Receptor cels in the skin that are sensitive to different tactile qualities, such as shape, grooves, or vibrations

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pain

Back 45

o A complex emotional and sensory experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage

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Gate control theory of pain

Back 46

o Idea that the spinal cord regulates the experience of pain by either opening or closing neural channels, called gates, that transmit pain sensations to the brain

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olfactory sensory neurons

Back 47

o The sensory receptors for smell that reside high up inside the nose

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olfactory bulb

Back 48

o A forebrain structure that sends information either directly to the smell processing areas in the cortex or indirectly to the cortex by way of the thalamus

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papillae

Back 49

o Textured surfaces on the surface of the tongue that contain thousands of taste buds

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taste buds

Back 50

o Structures inside the papillae of the tongue that contain the taste receptor cells

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taste receptor cells

Back 51

o Sensory receptors for taste that reside in the taste buds

Front 52

synesthesia

Back 52

o An unusual sensory experience in which person experiences sensation in one sense when a different sense is stimulated