 | Term | Definition |
| |
sensation |
the process of detecting a physical stimulus, such as light, sound, heat, or pressure |
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preception |
the process of intergrating, organizing, and interpreting sensations |
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sensory receptors |
specialized cells unique to each sense organ that respond to a particular form of sensory stimulation |
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transduction |
the process by which a form of physical energy is converted into a coded neural signal that can be processed by the nervous system |
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absolute threshold |
the smallest possible strenght of a stimulus that can be detected half the time |
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difference threshold |
the smallest possible difference between two stimuli that can be detected ahlf the time; also called just noticable differnce |
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Weber's law |
a principle of sensation that holds that the size of the just noticeable differnce will vary depending on its relation to the strength of the original stimulus |
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subliminal preception |
the preception of stimuli that are below the threshold of conscious awareness |
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sensory adaptation |
the decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus |
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wavelength |
the distance from one wave to peak to another |
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cornea |
a clear membrane covering the visible part of the eye taht helps gather and direct incoming sunlight |
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pupil |
the opening in the middle of the iris that changes size to let in different amounts of light |
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iris |
the colored part of the eye, which is the muscle that controls the size of the pupil |
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lens |
a transparent structure located behind the pupil that actively focuses or bends, light as it centers the eye |
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accomodation |
the process by which the lens changes shape to focus incoming light so that it falls on the retina |
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retina |
a thin,light-sensitive membrane located at the back of the eye taht contains the sensory receptors for vision |
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rods |
the long, thin, blunt sensory receptors of the eye that are highly sensitive to light, but not to color, and that are primarily responsible for peripheral vision and night vision |
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cones |
the short, thick, pointed snesory receptors of the eye that detect color and are responsible for color vision and visual acuity |
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fovea |
a small area in the center of the retina, composed entirely of cones, where visual info is most sharply focused |
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optic disk |
area of the retina without rods or cones, where the optic nerve exits the back of the eye |
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blind spot |
they point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, producing a small gap in the field of vision |
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ganglion cells |
in the retina, the specialized neurons that connect to the bipolar cells; the bundled axons of the ganlion cells form the optic nerve. |
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bipolar cells |
in the retina, the specialized neurons that connect the rods and cones with the ganglion cells |
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optic nerve |
the thichk nerve that exits from the back of the eye and carries visual information to the visual cortex in the brain |
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optic chiasm |
point in the brain where the optic nerve fibers from each eye meet and partly cross over to the opposite side of the brain |
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color |
the preceptual experience of different wavelengths of light, involving hue, saturation, and brightness |
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hue |
the property of wavelengths of light known as color; different wavelengths correspond to our subjective experience of different colors |
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saturation |
the property of color that corresponds to the purity of the light wave |
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brightness |
the percieved intesity of a color, which corresponds to the amplitude of the light wave. |
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trichromatic theory of color vision |
the theory that the sensation of color results because cones in the retina are especially sensitve to red light(long wavelenghts), green light(medium wavelengths), or blue light (short wavelengths). |
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color blindness |
one of several inherited forms of color deficiency or weakness in which an individual cannot distinguish between certain colors |
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afterimage |
a visual experience that occurs after the original source of stimulation is no longer present |
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opponent-process theory of color vision |
the theory that color vision is the poduct of oposing pairs of color receptors, red-green,blue-yellow, and black-white; when one member of a color pair is timulated, the other member is inhibited |
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audition |
the technical term for the sense of hearing |
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loudness |
the intensity(or amplitude) of a sound wave, measured in decibels |
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amplitude |
the intensity or amount of energy of a wave, reflected in the height of the wave; the amplitude of a sound wave determines a sound's loudness |
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decibel |
the unit of measurement for loudness |
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pitch |
the relative highness or lowness of a sound, determined by the frequency of a sound wave |
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frequency |
the rate of vibration, or the number of sound waves per second |
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timbre |
the distinctive quality of a sound, determined by the complexity of the sound wave |
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outer ear |
the part of the ear that collects sound waves; consists of the pinna, the ear canal, and the eardrum |
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eardrum |
a tightly stretched membrane at the end of the ear canal that vibrates when hit by sound waves |
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middle ear |
the part of the ear that amplifies sound waves; consists of three small bones: the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. |
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inner ear |
the part of the ear where sound is transduced into neural impulses; consists of the cochlea and semicircular canals |
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cochlea |
the coiled, fluid-filled inner ear structure that contains the basilar membrane and hair cells |
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basilar membrane |
the membrane within the cochlea of the ear that contains the hair cells |
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hair cells |
the hairlike sensory receptros for sound, which are embedded in the basilar membrane of the cochlea |
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frequency theory |
the view that the basilar membrane vibrates at the same frequency as teh sound wave |
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place theory |
the view that different frequencies cause larger vibrations at different locations along the basilar membrane |
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olfaction |
technical name for the sense of smell |
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gustation |
tech term for the sense of taste |
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pheromones |
chemical signals released by an animal that communicate info and affect behavior of other animals of the same species |
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olfactory bulb |
the enlarged ending of the olfactory cortex at the front of the brain where the sensation of smell is registered |
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taste buds |
the specialized sensory receptros for taste that are located on the tongue and inside the mouth and throat |
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pain |
the unpleasant sensation of physical discomfort or suffering that can occur in varying degrees of intensity |
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nociceptors |
specialized sensory receptros for pain that are found in the skin, muscles, and internal organs |
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substance p |
a neurotransmitter tht is involved in the transmission of pain messages to the brain |
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gate-control theory of pain |
the theory that pain is a product of both physiological and psychological factors that cause spinal gates to open and relay patterns of intense stimulation to the brain, whicfh preceives them as pain |
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kinesthetic sense |
the tech name for the sense of location and positions of body parts in relation to one another |
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proprioceptros |
sensory receptors, located in the muscles and joints, that provide info about body position and movement |
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vestibular sense |
the tech name for the sense of balance, or quilibrium |
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bottom-up processing |
info processing that emphasizes the importace of the senory receptors in detecting the basic features of a stimulus in the process of recognizing a whole pattern; the analysis that moves from the parts to the whole; also called data-driven processing |
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top-down processing |
info processing that emphasizes the importance of the observer's knowledge, expectations, and other cognitive processes in arriving at meaningful perceptions; analysis that moves from the whole to the partsl also called coneptually driven processing |
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Gestalt psychology |
a school of psychology founded in Germany in the early 1900s that maintained that our sensations are actively processed according to consistent preceptual rules that result in meaningful whole perceptions, or gestalts |
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esp(extransensory perception) |
perception of info by some means other than through the normal processes of sensation |
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parapsychology |
the scientific investigation of claims of paranormal phenomena and abilites |
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figure-ground relationship |
a Gestalt principle of perceptual organization that states that we automatically separate the elements of a perception onto the feature that clearly stands out(the figure)and its less distinct background (the ground) |
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depth perception |
the use of visual cues to perceive the distance or three-dimensional characteristics of objects |
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monocular cues |
distance or depth cues that can be processed by either eye alone |
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binocular cues |
distnce or depth cues that require the use of both eyes |
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perceptual constancy |
the tendency to perceive objects, especially familiar objects, as constant and unchanging despite changes in sensory input |
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size constancy |
the perception of an object as maintaining the same size despite changing images on the retina |
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shape constancy |
the perception of a familiar object as manitaining the same shape regardless of the image produced on the retina |
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perceptual illusion |
the misperception of the true characterstics of an object or an image |
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Muller-Lyer illusion |
a famous visual illusion involving the misperception of the identical length of two lines, one with arrows pointed inward, one with arrows pointed outward |
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moon illusion |
a visual illusion involving the misperception that the moon is larger when it is on the horizon that when it is directly overhead |
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perceptual set |
the influence of prior assumptions and expectations on perceptual interpretations |
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biofeedback |
technique that invoves using auditory or visual feedback to learn to exert voluntary control over involuntary body functionsm, such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow, and muscle tension |
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