Lesson 3: Sensation & Sensory Processing; Lesson 4: Perception & Perceptual Organization

What is the detection of physical energy by sensory receptors called?

Sensation

What is the higher-order process of interpreting sensory input?

Perception

What process converts physical stimulus energy into neural signals?

Transduction

What is the minimum stimulus energy needed for detection half the time?

Absolute threshold

What is the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection?

Difference threshold

What is another term for the difference threshold?

Just noticeable difference

Which principle states that stimuli must differ by a constant percentage to be perceived as different?

Weber’s law

Which theory predicts how we detect faint signals amid background noise?

Signal detection theory

What term describes stimuli that are below the absolute threshold for conscious awareness?

Subliminal

What is the diminished sensitivity resulting from constant stimulation?

Sensory adaptation

What is information processing guided by higher-level experience and expectations?

Top-down processing

What is information processing that begins at the sensory receptors?

Bottom-up processing

What set of mental tendencies and assumptions affects what we perceive?

Perceptual set

What specialized sensory receptors detect hurtful temperatures or chemicals?

Nociceptors

What is the central focal point in the retina?

The fovea

What colored muscle in the eye controls the pupil size?

The iris

What transparent eye structure changes its curvature to focus images?

The lens

What is the process of the lens changing thickness to focus on objects?

Accommodation

Which retinal receptors detect black white and gray in dim light?

Rods

Which retinal receptors detect fine detail and give rise to color?

Cones

Where do the axons of the ganglion cells twine together?

The optic nerve

What is the area of the retina with no receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves?

Blind spot

Which color theory involves red green and blue sensitive cones?

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

Which color theory involves opposing sets of retinal processes?

Opponent-process theory

What specialized nerve cells respond to specific edges lines and angles?

Feature detectors

What is the brain’s ability to process many aspects of a stimulus simultaneously?

Parallel processing

What is the name of the "what" visual track for recognizing objects?

Ventral stream

What is the name of the "how" visual track for guiding actions?

Dorsal stream

What neurological condition results in "face blindness"?

Prosopagnosia

What is the German term for an "organized whole" in perception?

Gestalt

What fundamental task involves separating an object from its background?

Figure-ground

Which grouping principle involves grouping nearby figures together?

Proximity

Which grouping principle involves perceiving smooth patterns?

Continuity

Which grouping principle involves filling in gaps to create a whole?

Closure

What is the ability to see objects in three dimensions?

Depth perception

What laboratory device tests depth perception in infants?

Visual cliff

What are depth cues that depend on the use of both eyes?

Binocular cues

Which binocular cue compares two retinal images to judge distance?

Retinal disparity

What are depth cues available to each eye separately?

Monocular cues

What is the illusion of movement created by blinking lights?

Phi phenomenon

What is perceiving objects as unchanging despite shifting retinal images?

Perceptual constancy

What is perceiving objects as having consistent color under changing light?

Color constancy

What is the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced visual field?

Perceptual adaptation

What tight membrane vibrates when sound waves strike it?

The eardrum

What are the three tiny bones of the middle ear?

Hammer anvil and stirrup

What snail-shaped inner ear tube contains hair cells?

The cochlea

What hearing loss results from damage to the hair cells?

Sensorineural hearing loss

What hearing loss results from damage to the ossicles?

Conduction hearing loss

Which pitch theory links pitch with the location of stimulation?

Place theory

Which pitch theory links pitch with the neural firing rate?

Frequency theory

Which principle allows neurons to fire in rapid succession for high pitches?

Volley principle

What are the basic skin senses?

Pressure warmth cold and pain

Which theory involves a neurological gate in the spinal cord?

Gate-control theory

What are the five basic tastes?

Sweet sour salty bitter and umami

What is the chemical sense of smell called?

Olfaction

Where are the olfactory receptor cells located?

Top of each nasal cavity

What is the system for sensing the position and movement of body parts?

Kinesthesia

What is the sense of body movement and position including balance?

Vestibular sense

Where are the receptors for the vestibular sense located?

Semicircular canals and vestibular sacs

What is the principle that one sense can influence another?

Sensory interaction

Which effect involves an illusion blending visual and auditory input?

McGurk effect

what is the influence of bodily sensations on cognitive judgments?

Embodied cognition

What condition involves the stimulation of one sense triggering another?

Synesthesia

What is the study of paranormal claims like telepathy?

Parapsychology

What wave characteristic determines perceived brightness or loudness?

Amplitude

What wave characteristic determines perceived pitch?

Frequency

What characteristic of light waves determines hue?

Wavelength

What are the visual sensory registers for vision and hearing?

Iconic and echoic

What term describes the brain's construction of a colored world?

Retinex theory

Where is the primary visual cortex located?

Occipital lobe

What structure acts as the brain's sensory control center?

The thalamus

What are the actual hair-like receptors for hearing?

Cilia

What unit is used to measure sound intensity?

Decibels

What is the name of the white part of the eye?

The sclera

What are the motion-sensitive crystals in the inner ear?

Otoliths

What is the grouping principle for similar-looking items?

Similarity

What is the tendency to group nearby items?

Proximity

What is the tendency to see smooth continuous patterns?

Continuity

What grouping principle involves filling in gaps?

Closure

Which binocular cue involves the eyes turning inward for near objects?

Convergence

Which monocular cue involves parallel lines converging in the distance?

Linear perspective

Which monocular cue involves closer objects moving faster?

Motion parallax

Which monocular cue involves the distinctness of surface patterns?

Texture gradient

What cue makes smaller objects appear farther away?

Relative size

What monocular cue involves one object partially blocking another?

Interposition

What is the stable perception of an object's size despite distance?

Size constancy

What is the stable perception of an object's shape despite angle?

Shape constancy

What term describes the ability to see fine detail?

Visual acuity

what is the stable perception of brightness despite illumination?

Brightness constancy

What is the failure to notice an unexpected object when attention is occupied?

Inattentional blindness

What is the failure to notice environmental changes after an interruption?

Change blindness

What is focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus?

Selective attention

What is the term for the visual track that enables us to recognize things?

Visual perception track

What is the visual track that guides our moment-to-moment movements?

Visual action track

what is responding to a visual stimulus without conscious experience?

Blindsight

What is the brain's ability to adjust to artificially inverted vision?

Perceptual adaptation

What nerve network plays an important role in controlling arousal?

Reticular formation

What "little brain" structure coordinates movement and balance?

Cerebellum

Which brain area registers and processes body touch?

Somatosensory cortex

Which lobe of the brain is responsible for auditory processing?

Temporal lobe