 | Term | Definition |
| |
rods |
detect black, white or gray |
| |
cones |
detect well-lit light or daylight conditions |
| |
optic nerve |
carries information to the brain. Its made up of axons |
| |
blind spot |
the optic nerve leaves the eye and no receptor cells are present |
| |
fovea |
the retina's area of focus, where the cones cluster |
| |
sensation |
a process where we detect physical energy from the environment and encode it as neural signals |
| |
perception |
when we select, organize and interpret the sensations |
| |
bottom-up processing |
using the sensory receptors to detect the lines, angles, and colors that form an image |
| |
top-down processing |
to process information by constructing perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
| |
psychophysics |
the study of the relationship between physical energy and our psychological experience |
| |
absolute thresholds |
the minimum stimulation necessary to detect a particular light, sound, pressure, taste, or ordor 50% of the time |
| |
subliminal |
below absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| |
prime |
the activation of certain associations, predisposing one's perception, memory or response |
| |
difference threshold |
the minimum difference a person can detect between any two stimuli half the time |
| |
Weber's Law |
for something to be perceived as different, as two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion-not a constant amount |
| |
sensory adaptation |
our diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus |
| |
wavelength |
the distance from one peak to the next |
| |
hue |
the color we experience determined by the wavelengths |
| |
intensity |
the amount of energy in light waves |
| |
accommodation |
the process in which the lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina |
| |
feature detectors |
nerve cells that enter the brain responding to specific features of the stimulus such as shape, movement, or angle located in the occiptal lobe |
| |
parallel-processing |
the processing of many aspects simultaneously in the brain |
| |
Young-helmholtz trichromatic (three color) theory |
the retina has three types of color receptors, each especially sensitive to one of the three colors; red, green, and blue, and when these cones are combinationally stimulated, we see other colors |
| |
Opponent-Process Theory |
the opposing retinal processes enable color vision. (red-green; yellow-blue; white-black) |
| |
Gesalt |
an organized whole |
| |
Figure-ground |
the organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground) |
| |
Grouping |
organizing stimuli into coherent groups |
| |
proximity |
group nearby figures together |
| |
similarity |
we group similar figures together |
| |
continuity |
to perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones |
| |
connectedness |
perceiving two dots and a line as a single unit |
| |
closure |
fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object |
| |
Depth Perception |
estimating the distance between us and an object which we see in 3 dimensions |
| |
Visual Cliff |
a laboratory device used to test depth perception in infants and young animals |
| |
Binocular Cues |
depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes |
| |
Retinal Disparity |
difference computed with the use of the eyes between two things |
| |
Monocular Cues |
depth cues that are available to either eye |
| |
Relative Height |
perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away |
| |
Relative Motion |
as we move, objects that are stable appear to move |
| |
Relative Size |
if we assume objects are similar in size, the one that casts the smaller retinal image is farther away |
| |
Interposition |
if one object partially blocks our view of another we perceive it as closer. |
| |
Light and Shadow |
nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes |
| |
Perceptual Constancy |
perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change |
| |
color constancy |
perceiving familiar objects as having constant color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object |
| |
perceptual adaptation |
invision to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field |
| |
perceptual set |
mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
| |
Extrasensory Perception |
the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input |
| |
Telepathy |
mind-to-mind communication |
| |
Clairvoyance |
perceiving remote events |
| |
Precognition |
perceiving future events |
| |
Psychokinesis |
mind over matter {ex: levitating a table} |
| |
Parapsychology |
the study of ESP and psychokinesis |
| |
audition |
our hearing |
| |
frequency |
the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time |
| |
pitch |
a tone's experienced highness or lowness {depends on frequency} |
| |
middle ear |
the chamber between the ear drum and the cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window |
| |
cochlea |
a coiled, bony fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses |
| |
inner ear |
the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs |
| |
gate-control theory |
theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain; the spinal cord nerve fibers conduct most of the pain signals |
| |
sensory interaction |
the principle that one sense may influence another {the smell of food influences its taste} |
| |
kinesthesis |
the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
| |
vestibular sense |
the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance |
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