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Sensation

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The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receives information from our environment

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Perception

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The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, allowing us to recognize and interpret.

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Bottom- up processing

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Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors, and works up to the brain's integration system

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Top- down processing

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Information processing guided by higher level mental processes which draws on expectations and experience

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Selective attention

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The focusing of conscious awareness on a selective stimulus

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Inattentional blindness

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Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

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Change blindness

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Failing to notice changes in the environment

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Psychophysics

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The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.

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Absolute threshold

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The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

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Signal detection theory

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A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

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Subliminal

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Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

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Priming

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The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.

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Difference threshold

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The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. (just noticeable difference)

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Weber's law

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The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage.

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Sensory adaptation

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Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

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Transduction

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The transformation of stimulus energies, such as sights or sounds, into neural impulses our brains can interpret

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Wavelength

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The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next, if this changes, then color of an object or pitch of sound changes.

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Hue

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The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color of an object

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Intensity

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The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, determined by the wave's amplitude

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Pupil

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The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

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Iris

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A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

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Lens

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The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images of the retina.

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Retina

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The light- sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

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Accommodation

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The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

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Rods

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Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond.

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Cones

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Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well- lit conditions

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Optic Nerve

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The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

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Blind spot

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The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a blind spot because no receptor cells are located there

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Fovea

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The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster

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Feature detection

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nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. Faces are easily recognized using this.

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parallel processing

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The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously, such as the many aspects of vision (color, motion, form, and depth)

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Young- Helmholtz trichromatic theory

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The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue- the combination of which produces color.

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Opponent- process theory

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The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, Yellow- blue, White-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

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Frequency

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The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time, thus giving the pitch of sound

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Middle ear

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The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window.

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Cochlea

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A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

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Inner ear

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The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

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Place theory

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In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated (higher sounds in one location, lower sounds in another)

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Frequency Theory

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In hearing , the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.

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Volley principle

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The theory that couples with the Frequency theory, saying that nerves can fire in succession, thus explaining how clusters of nerves need to fire over 100 waves/second.

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Conduction hearing loss

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hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

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Sensorineural Hearing loss

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Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or the auditory nerves (nerve deafness)

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Cochlear implant

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A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

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Kinesthesis

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The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

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Vestibular sense

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the sense of body movement and position, uncluding the sense of balance

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Gate control theory

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The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto the brain.

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The five basic tastes, and what they indicate

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Sweet- indicates an energy source Salty- sodium present, which helps physiological processes Sour- Potentially toxic acid Bitter- Potential Poison Umami- Proteins to grow and repair tissue

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Sensory interaction

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The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.

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Gestalt psychologists

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Psychologists who emphasize our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

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Figure- ground organization

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The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

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Grouping

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The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

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Depth perception

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The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two- dimensional (to judge distance)

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Visual Cliff

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A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

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Binocular cues

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Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

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Retinal disparity

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A binocular cues for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in two eyes, the brain computes distance= the greater disparity between the two images, the closer the object.

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Monocular cues

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Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

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Relative height

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The perception that taller objects are farther away

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Relative size

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If two objects are similar in size, the one that is visually smaller is farther away.

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Interposition

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If one object partially blocks another, we perceive it as closer

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Linear perspective

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Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance- the closer they are, the farther away they are.

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Light and shadow

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Nearby objects reflect more light, so lighter objects are closer

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Relative Motion

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While you are moving, the less an object moves in relation to you, the farther away it is.

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Phi phenomenon

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An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

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Perceptual constancy

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Perceiving objects as unchanging, even as illumination and retinal images change.

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Color constancy

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perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wave-lengths reflected by the object.

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Perceptual adaptation

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In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted field.

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Perceptual set

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A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

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Extrasensory perception

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The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

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Parapsychology

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The study of ESP and psychokinesis

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