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sensation

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The result of neural responses that occur after physical energy stimulates a receptor cell but before the stimulus is organized and interpreted by the brain

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perception

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The result of neural processes that organize and interpret information conveyed by sensory signals

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psychophysics

answer

Study of the relationship between physical events and the corresponding experience of those events

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threshold

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the boundary between energy levels that are or are not strong enough to stimulate your sense organs

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absolute threshold

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The smallest amount of stimulus energy needed to notice that the stimulus is present half of the time it is presented

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just noticeable difference (JND)

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The minimal difference in the strength of a stimulus needed for an observer to notice it

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Weber's Law

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the rule that the same percentage of a magnitude must be present in order to detect a difference between the two stimuli or a change in a single stimulus

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signal detection theory

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A theory that explains why some people experience certain signals and why others don't; the theory is based on the idea that signals are always embedded in noise, and thus the challenge is to distinguish signal from noise

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sensitivity

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it corresponds to the amount of information required to detect a signal, with greater sensitivity indicating that less information is required

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bias

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a person's willingness to decide that he or she has detected a stimulus

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sensory adaption

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adaptation to current conditions over time

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amplitude

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wave height, creates brightness

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frequency

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the number of light or sound waves that move past a given point per second

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wavelength

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the distance between the peaks of a light or sound wave

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the wave height (amplitude) creates brightness and the distance between the two waves of light (wavelength) represent the color we can see

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How do amplitude and wavelength of electromagnetic radiation relate to lightness/brightness and hue/color in visual perception?

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cornea

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the transparent covering over the eye, which focuses light onto the back of the eye

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pupil

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the opening in the eye through which light passes

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iris

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the circular muscle that adjusts the size of the pupil

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lens

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fine tunes the focus, like organic flexible glass

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accommodation

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the automatic adjustment of the eye for seeing at particular distances, which occurs when muscles adjust the shape of the lens so that it focuses incoming light toward the back of the eye

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retina

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a sheet of tissue at the back of the eye containing cells that convert light to neural signals

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transduction

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the process whereby physical energy is converted by a sensory receptor cell into neural signals

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cones

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retinal receptor cells that respond most strongly to one of three wavelengths of light; produce color vision

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rods

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retinal receptor cells that are very sensitive to light but register only shades of gray

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dark adaption

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the process that leads to increased sensitivity to light after being in the dark

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trichromatic theory of color vision

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the theory that color vision arises from the combinations of signals from three different kids of sensors, each of which responds to a different range of wavelengths

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opponent process theory of color vision

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the theory that for some pairs of colors, if one of the colors is present, it causes cells to inhibit sensing the complementary color (such as red vs. green) in that location

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afterimages

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the image left behind by a previous perception; when someone flashes a camera in your face and you can't see afterwards

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opponent cells

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cells that respond to one color from a pair (blue/yellow, red/green, or black/white) and inhibit sensing the other color from the pair

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color blindness

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an acquired or inherited inability to distinguish two or more hues from each other or to sense hues at all

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figure

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a set of perceptual objects (such as shape, color, texture) that typically corresponds to an object

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ground

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in perception, the background

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perceptual constancy

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the perception that characteristics of objects (such as their shapes and colors) remain the same even when the sensory information striking the eye changes

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size constancy

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the perception that the actual size of an object remains the same even when it is viewed at different distances

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shape constancy

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the perception that the actual shape of an object remains the same, even when it is seen from different points of view and so the image on the retina changes shape

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color constancy

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the perception that the color of an object remains the same even when it is seen in different lighting conditions

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binocular cues

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cues to the distance of an object that arise form both eyes working together

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convergence

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the degree to which the eyes swivel toward the center (are crossed) when a person focuses attention on an object

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retinal disparity

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the difference between the images striking the retinas of the two eyes

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monocular cues

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info that specifies the distance of an object that can be picked up with one eye without movement of the object or eye

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texture gradient

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an increase in the density of the texture of an object with increasing distance

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motion cues

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info that specifies the distance of an object on the basis of its movement

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motion parallax

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phenomenon that occurs when objects move past you, or you move past objects; When you are moving objects closer to you seem to flow right by, whereas objects far away seem motionless

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"what" pathway

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pathway that goes from the occipital lobes down to bottom parts of the temporal lobes; is concerned with properties of objects (shape and color)

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"where" pathway

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pathway that goes from the occipital lobes up to the back parts of the parietal lobes; is concerned with spatial properties (an object's location)

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top-down processing

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processing that is guided by knowledge, expectation, of belief

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bottom-up processing

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processing that is triggered by physical energy striking receptor cells

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attention

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the act on focusing on particular information, which allows it to be processed more fully than what is not attended to

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selective attention

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the process of picking out and maintaining focus on a particular quality, object, or event, and ignoring other stimuli or characteristics of the stimuli

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pop-out

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the phenomenon that occurs when the perceptual characteristics of a stimulus are sufficiently different from the ones around it that it immediately comes to our attention (bottom up)

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vigilance

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the ability to maintain attention as you anticipate an event (top-down)

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change blindness

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the inability to see large alterations of features in a visual scene

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repetition blindness

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the inability to see the second instance of a stimulus when it appears soon after the first instance

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The stimulus energy for hearing is a sound wave

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What is the stimulus energy for the sense of hearing?

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pitch

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how high or low a sound seems; higher frequencies of pressure waves produce the experience of higher pitches

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loudness

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the strength of a sound; pressure waves with greater amplitude produce the experience of louder sound

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cochlea

answer

just like the retina of the eye, fluid filled tube that contains specialized neurons that transduce sound waves into electrochemical signals

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hair cells

answer

the receptor cells with stiff hairs along the basilar membrane of the inner ear; when hairs are moved, they produce neural signals that are sent to the brain and underlie auditory sensation; like the rods and cones of the eye

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frequency theory

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in hearing, the theory that higher frequencies produce higher rates of neural firing; based on the speed of the vibration of the entire cochlea

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place theory

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in hearing, the theory that different pitches activate different places along the basilar membrane

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nerve deafness

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a type of deafness that typically occurs when the hair cells are destroyed over time by loud sounds

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conduction deafness

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a type of deafness caused by a physical impairment of the outer or middle ear, specifically by damaging your eardrum

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speech-segmentation problem

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the problem of organizing a continuous stream of speech into separate parts that corresponds to individual words (top-down processing)

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categorical perception

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allows people to recognize words that are presented in different pitches or different levels of loudness

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sound localization

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same as depth perception for vision; we are able to use our ears to locate sounds in 3 dimensional space

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differences in loudness and differences in timing

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what two cues are critical to sound localization's proper functioning?

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if a sound is localized directly in front of us or behind us

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under what condition is sound localization not accurate?

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chemical senses

answer

smell and taste, which rely on sensing the presence of specific chemicals

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olfaction

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sense of smell

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gustation

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sense of taste

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...

answer

what is the stimulus energy for gustation and olfaction?

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pheromones

answer

chemicals that function like hormones for communication but are released outside the body (in urine and sweat); aren't quite as powerful for human beings

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taste buds

answer

the receptor cells for taste, which are microscopic structures on the bumps on the tongue surface, at the back of the throat, and inside the cheeks

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the stimulus energy for olfaction and gustation are the same, so if you are tasting something you are also smelling it at the same time

answer

how are olfaction and gustation related?

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You learn to prefer the taste of things that you were exposed to when you were growing up

answer

describe the cultural influences on taste preference

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somasthetic senses

answer

sense that produce the perception of the body and its position in space- specifically, kinesthetic sense, vestibular sense, touch, temperature sensitivity, pain, and possibly magnetic sense

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kinesthetic sense

answer

the sense that registers the movement and position of the body in relation to other objects; allows us to play catch and not bump into things (being athletic)

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vestibular sense

answer

the sense that provides information about the body's orientation relative to gravity; sense of balance; controlled by the semicircular canals

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double pain

answer

the sensation that occurs when an injury first causes a sharp pain and later a dull pain; the two kinds of pain arise form different neural pathways sending their messages at different speeds

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endorphins

answer

painkilling chemicals produced naturally in the brain

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pinna

answer

outer part of the ear that collects and directs sound

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eardrum

answer

transfers sound energy and turns it into vibrations

General Psychology- Chapter 3 – Flashcards

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