- Shuffle
Toggle OnToggle Off
- Alphabetize
Toggle OnToggle Off
- Front First
Toggle OnToggle Off
- Both Sides
Toggle OnToggle Off
Front
How to study your flashcards.
Right/Left arrow keys: Navigate between flashcards.right arrow keyleft arrow key
Up/Down arrow keys: Flip the card between the front and back.down keyup key
H key: Show hint (3rd side).h key
PLAY BUTTON
PLAY BUTTON
61 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Sensation
|
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
|
|
Perception
|
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
|
|
Bottom-up Processing
|
Analysis that beings with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information
|
|
Top-down Processing
|
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
|
|
Psychophysics
|
The study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
|
|
Absolute Threshold
|
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
|
|
Signal Detection Theory
|
The theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise)
|
|
Subliminal
|
Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness
|
|
Priming
|
The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or respone
|
|
Difference Threshold
|
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time
|
|
Weber's Law
|
The principal that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
|
|
Sensory Adaptation
|
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
|
|
Transduction
|
Conversion of one form of energy into another
|
|
Wavelength
|
The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next
|
|
Hue
|
The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light
|
|
Intensity
|
The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness
|
|
Pupil
|
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
|
|
Iris
|
The ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
|
|
Lens
|
The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
|
|
Retina
|
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
|
|
Accommodation
|
The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
|
|
Rods
|
Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and grey; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision when cones don't respond
|
|
Cones
|
Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retinal and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; detect detail and give rise to color sensations
|
|
Optic Nerve
|
The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
|
|
Blind Spot
|
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there
|
|
Fovea
|
The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster
|
|
Feature Detectors
|
Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement
|
|
Parallel Processing
|
The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions
|
|
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (Three-Color) Theory
|
The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors (red, green, blue), and when stimulated, can produce any color
|
|
Opponent-Process Theory
|
The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision
|
|
Audition
|
The sense or act of 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 eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, 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
|
|
Place Theory
|
In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
|
|
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
|
|
Conduction Hearing Loss
|
Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound haves to the cochlea
|
|
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
|
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves
|
|
Cochlear Implant
|
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
|
|
Kineshesis
|
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
|
|
Gate-Control Theory
|
The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass through the brain
|
|
Sensory Interaction
|
The principal that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste
|
|
Gestalt
|
An organized whole
|
|
Figure-Ground
|
The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)
|
|
Grouping
|
The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
|
|
Depth Perception
|
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
|
|
Visual Cliff
|
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
|
|
Binocular Cues
|
Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes
|
|
Retinal Disparity
|
A binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object
|
|
Monocular Cues
|
Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone
|
|
Phi Phenomenon
|
An illusion of movement created who two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
|
|
Perceptual Constancy
|
Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shape, size, lightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change
|
|
Color Constancy
|
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object
|
|
Perceptual Adaptation
|
In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field
|
|
Perceptual Set
|
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
|
|
Human Factors Psychology
|
A branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use
|
|
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
|
The controversial clam that perceptional can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition
|
|
Parapsychology
|
The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis
|
