Exploring Psychology Chapter 5: Sensation And Perception

Front 1

sensation

Back 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Hint 1

p. 139

Front 2

bottom-up processing

Back 2

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Hint 2

p. 139

Front 3

perception

Back 3

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling usto recognize meaningful events and objects

Hint 3

p. 139

Front 4

top-down processing

Back 4

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Hint 4

p. 139

Front 5

psychophysics

Back 5

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

Hint 5

p. 140

Front 6

absolute threshold

Back 6

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

Hint 6

p. 140

Front 7

subliminal

Back 7

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Hint 7

p. 140

Front 8

priming

Back 8

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

Hint 8

p. 141

Front 9

difference threshold

Back 9

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

Hint 9

p. 142

Front 10

Weber's law

Back 10

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount

Hint 10

p. 142

Front 11

sensory adaptation

Back 11

diminsihed sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Hint 11

p. 142

Front 12

wavelength

Back 12

the distance from the peak of one light or sound waveto the peak of the next

Hint 12

p. 144

Front 13

hue

Back 13

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names "blue," "green," etc.

Hint 13

p. 144

Front 14

intensity

Back 14

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

Hint 14

p. 144

Front 15

retina

Back 15

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

Hint 15

p. 145

Front 16

accomodation

Back 16

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

Hint 16

p. 145

Front 17

rods

Back 17

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray;necessary for perihperal and twilight vision, when cones don't respond

Hint 17

p. 145

Front 18

cones

Back 18

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions;detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

Hint 18

p. 145

Front 19

optic nerve

Back 19

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

Hint 19

p. 146

Front 20

blind spot

Back 20

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

Hint 20

p. 146

Front 21

fovea

Back 21

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

Hint 21

p. 146

Front 22

feature detectors

Back 22

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, suchas as shape, angle, or movement

Hint 22

p. 147

Front 23

parallel processing

Back 23

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision

Hint 23

p. 148

Front 24

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Back 24

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 combination can produce the perception of any color

Hint 24

p. 150

Front 25

opponent-process theory

Back 25

the theory that opposing retinal processes(red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision

Hint 25

p. 150

Front 26

audition

Back 26

the sense or act of hearing

Hint 26

p. 151

Front 27

frequency

Back 27

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a in a given time

Hint 27

p. 152

Front 28

pitch

Back 28

a tone's experienced highness or lowness, depends on frequency.

Hint 28

p. 152

Front 29

middle ear

Back 29

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

Hint 29

p. 153

Front 30

cochlea

Back 30

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

Hint 30

p. 153

Front 31

inner ear

Back 31

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semiciruclar canals, and vestibular arcs

Hint 31

p. 153

Front 32

gate-control theory

Back 32

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in large fibers or by information coming from the brain

Hint 32

p. 157

Front 33

sensory interaction

Back 33

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

Hint 33

p. 159

Front 34

kinesthesis

Back 34

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

Hint 34

p. 161

Front 35

vestibular sense

Back 35

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

Hint 35

p. 162

Front 36

gestalt

Back 36

an organized whole

Hint 36

p. 163

Front 37

figure-ground

Back 37

the organization of the visual field in to objects that stand out from their surroundings

Hint 37

p. 163

Front 38

grouping

Back 38

the perceptual theory to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Hint 38

p. 163

Front 39

depth perception

Back 39

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Hint 39

p. 165

Front 40

visual cliff

Back 40

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

Hint 40

p. 165

Front 41

binocular cues

Back 41

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

Hint 41

p. 165

Front 42

monocular cues

Back 42

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

Hint 42

p. 166

Front 43

perceptual constancy

Back 43

perceiving objects as unchanging(having consistent lightness, color, shape, size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Hint 43

p. 167

Front 44

color constancy

Back 44

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Hint 44

p. 167

Front 45

perceptual adaptation

Back 45

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Hint 45

p. 172

Front 46

perceptual set

Back 46

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the other

Hint 46

p. 173

Front 47

extrasensory perception(ESP)

Back 47

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. Said to include telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

Hint 47

p. 176

Front 48

parapsychology

Back 48

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

Hint 48

p. 176

Front 49

retinal disparity

Back 49

a binocular cue for perceiving depth; By comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance-the greater the disparity(difference) between the two images, the closer the object

Hint 49

p. 165