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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Bottom-up Processing |
analysis that begins with the sensory receptors |
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Top-down Processing |
information processing guided by higher-level |
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Psychophysics |
the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. (p. 218) |
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Subliminal |
below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. (p. 219) |
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Priming |
the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response. (pp. 219, 316) |
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Weber's Law |
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant |
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Transduction |
conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret. (p. 218) |
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Wavelength |
the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission. (p. 227) |
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Hue |
the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth. (p. 227) |
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Accommodation |
the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. (p. 228) |
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Optic Nerve |
the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. (p. 229) |
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Feature Detectors |
nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. (p. 231) |
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Parallel Processing |
the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step |
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Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (three color) Theory |
the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in |
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Opponent-process Theory |
the theory that opposing retinal processes |
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Frequency |
the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). (p. 244) |
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Middle Ear |
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. (p. 244) |
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Inner Ear |
the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. (p. 244) |
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Place Theory |
in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated. (p. 247) |
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Frequency Theory |
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. (p. 247) |
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Cochlear Implant |
a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into |
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Sensory Interaction |
the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste. (p. 253) |
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Figure-ground |
the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground). (p. 235) |
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Grouping |
the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups. (p. 235) |
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Phi Phenomenon |
an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession. (p. 239) |
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Perceptual Adaption |
in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially |
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Perceptual Set |
A mental predisposition |
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Human Factors Psychology |
A branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and the physical environment can be made safe and easy to use |
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Extrasensory Perception |
the controversial claim that perception |
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Parapsychology |
the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis. (p. 259) |