Psychology 101 Chapter 3

Front 1

Sense:

Back 1

System that translates data from outside the nervous system into neural activity.

Front 2

Sensations:

Back 2

Raw information form the senses.

Front 3

Perception:

Back 3

Process through which people take raw sensations from the environment and give them meaning, using knowledge, experience, and understanding of the world.

Front 4

Accessory Structures:

Back 4

Structures, such as the outer part of an ear, that modify a stimulus.

Front 5

Transduction:

Back 5

Process of converting incoming physical energy into neural activity.

Front 6

Neural Receptors:

Back 6

Cells that are specialized to detect certain types of energy and convert into neural activity.

Front 7

Sensory Adaptations:

Back 7

Decreasing responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus.

Front 8

Encoding:

Back 8

Translation of the physical properties of a stimulus into a specific pattern of neural activity.

Front 9

Absolute Threshold:

Back 9

Minimum amount of stimulus energy that can be detected 50% of the time.

Front 10

Response Bias (Response Criterion):

Back 10

Internal rule a person uses to decide whether or not to report a stimulus.

Front 11

Signal Detection Theory:

Back 11

A mathematical model of what determines a person's report of a near-threshold stimulus.

Front 12

Sensitivity:

Back 12

Ability to detect a stimulus.

Front 13

Weber's Law:

Back 13

Law stating that the smallest detectable difference in stimulus energy (just noticeable difference)is a constant fraction of the intensity of the stimulus.

Front 14

Just-Noticeable Difference (JND):

Back 14

Smallest detectable difference in the stimulus energy. Also called difference threshold.

Front 15

Wavelength:

Back 15

Distance between peaks in a wave of light or sound.

Front 16

Frequency:

Back 16

Number of complete waves,, or cycles, that pass a given point per unit of time.

Front 17

Amplitude:

Back 17

Distance between the peak and the baseline of a wave.

Front 18

Light Intensity:

Back 18

Physical dimension of light waves that refers to how much energy the light contains and that determines our experience of its brightness.

Front 19

Light Wavelength:

Back 19

A physical dimension of light waves that refers to their length and that produces sensations of different colors.

Front 20

Cornea:

Back 20

Curved, transparent, protective layer through which light rays enter the eye.

Front 21

Pupil:

Back 21

An opening in the eye just passes the cornea through which light passes.

Front 22

Iris:

Back 22

Part of the eye that gives it its color and adjusts the amount of light entering it.

Front 23

Lens:

Back 23

Part of the eye directly behind the pupil.

Front 24

Retina:

Back 24

Surface at the back of the eye onto which the lens focuses light rays.

Front 25

Ocular accommodation:

Back 25

Ability of the lens to change its shape and bend light rays so objects are in focus.

Front 26

Photoreceptors:

Back 26

Specialized cells in the retina that convert light energy into neural activity.

Front 27

Rods:

Back 27

Photorecptors in the retina that allow slight even in dim light but cannot distinguish colors.

Front 28

Cones:

Back 28

Photorecptors in the retina that are less light sensitive than rods but that can distinguish colors.

Front 29

Dark Adaptation:

Back 29

Increasing ability to see in the dark as time passes.

Front 30

Fovea:

Back 30

Region in the center of the retina.

Front 31

Optic Nerve:

Back 31

Bundle of fibers that carries visual information to the brain.

Front 32

Blind Spot:

Back 32

Point at which the optic nerve exits the eyeball.

Front 33

Feature Detectors:

Back 33

Cells in the cortex that respond to a specific feature of an object.

Front 34

Hue:

Back 34

Essential color determined by the dominant wavelength of a light.

Front 35

Color Saturation:

Back 35

Purity of a color.

Front 36

Brightness:

Back 36

Overall intensity of the wavelengths making up light.

Front 37

Trichromatic Theory:

Back 37

Theory of color vision stating that information from three types of visual elements combines to produce the sensation of color.

Front 38

Opponent-process Theory:

Back 38

Theory of color vision stating that the visual elements that are sensitive to color are grouped into red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white pairs.

Front 39

Sound:

Back 39

Repetitive fluctuation in the pressure of a medium such as air.

Front 40

Loudness:

Back 40

Psychological dimension of sound determined by the amplitude of a sound wave.

Front 41

Pitch:

Back 41

How high or low a tone sounds, pitch depends on the frequency of a sound wave.

Front 42

Timbre:

Back 42

Quality of a sound that identifies it.

Front 43

Pinna:

Back 43

Crumpled part of the outer ear that collects sound waves.

Front 44

Middle Ear:

Back 44

Part of the ear that contains the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, which transmit sound from the tympanic membrane to the oval window.

Front 45

Tympanic Membrane (eardrum):

Back 45

Tightly stretched membrane in the middle ear that generates vibrations tat match the sound waves striking it.

Front 46

Cochlea:

Back 46

Fluid-filled spiral structure in the inner ear in which auditory transduction occurs.

Front 47

Basilar Membrane:

Back 47

The floor of the fluid-filled duct that runs through the cochlea.

Front 48

Acoustic Nerve:

Back 48

Bundle of axons that carries messages from the hair cells of the cochlea to the brain.

Front 49

Place Theory:

Back 49

Theory of hearing that states that hair cells at a particular place on the basilar membrane respond most to a particular frequency of sound.

Front 50

Volley Theory:

Back 50

Theory of hearing that states that the firing rate of an acoustic nerve matches a sound waves frequency. Also called frequency-matching theory.

Front 51

Olfactory Perception (sense of smell):

Back 51

The sense that detects chemicals that are airborne. Also called olfaction.

Front 52

Taste Perception:

Back 52

Sense that detects chemicals in solution that come into contact with receptors inside the mouth. Also called the gustatory sense.

Front 53

Olfactory Bulb:

Back 53

Brain structure that receives messages regarding smell.

Front 54

Pheromones:

Back 54

Chemicals that are released by one creature and detected by another, shaping the second creatures behavior or physiology.

Front 55

Papillae:

Back 55

Structure in the mouth on which taste buds are grouped.

Front 56

Cutaneous Senses:

Back 56

Senses including touch, temperature, pain, and kinesthetic perception that are spread throughout the body rather than located in a specific organ. Also called somatosensory systems.

Front 57

Gate Control Theory of Pain:

Back 57

Theory suggesting the presence of a "gate" in the spinal cord that either permits or blocks the passage of pain impulses to the brain.

Front 58

Analgesia:

Back 58

Reduction in the sensation of pain in the presence of a normally painful stimulus.

Front 59

Proprioception:

Back 59

Sensory processes that tell us about the locations of our body parts and what each is doing.

Front 60

Kinesthetic Perception:

Back 60

Proprioceptive sense that tells us where the parts of the body are with respect to one another.