Sensation and Perception

Flashcards from Psychology 2e - Chapter 5.

Sensory receptors are __

Specialized neurons that respond to specific types of stimuli

__ is the process where sensory stimulus energy is converted to action potential.

The conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential.

The five senses are __

Vision, hearing (audition), smell (olfaction), taste (gustation), and touch (somatosensation)

Other sensory systems include __

Balance (the vestibular sense), body position and movement (proprioception and kinesthesia), pain (nociception), and temperature (thermoception)

__ refers to the minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time.

The minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time.

Absolute threshold refers to __

The minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time

Subliminal messages are __

Messages that are presented below the threshold for conscious awareness.

Just noticeable difference (jnd) or difference threshold refers to __

How much difference in stimuli is required to detect a difference between them.

Weber’s law states that __

The difference threshold is a constant fraction of the original stimulus.

Perception refers to __

The way sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced.

Bottom-up processing refers to __

Sensory information from a stimulus in the environment driving a process.

Top-down processing refers to __

Knowledge and expectancy driving a process.

Sensory adaptation refers to __

We often don’t perceive stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time.

Inattentional blindness refers to __

The failure to notice something that is completely visible because the person was actively attending to something else and did not pay attention to other things.

Signal detection theory refers to __

The ability to identify a stimulus when it is embedded in a distracting background.

Marshall Segall, Donald Campbell, and Melville Herskovits (1963) demonstrated that __

Individuals from Western cultures were more prone to experience certain types of visual illusions than individuals from non-Western cultures, and vice versa

The amplitude of a wave is __

The distance from the center line to the top point of the crest or the bottom point of the trough.

Wavelength refers to __

The length of a wave from one peak to the next.

Frequency refers to __

The number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period and is often expressed in terms of hertz (Hz), or cycles per second.

The electromagnetic spectrum encompasses __

Gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light, microwaves, and radio waves.

The visible spectrum is __

The portion of the larger electromagnetic spectrum that we can see

Brighter or intensity of color are associated with __

Larger amplitudes.

High-pitched sounds are perceived as __

High-frequency sound waves

Low-pitched sounds are perceived as __

Low-frequency sound waves

The audible range of sound frequencies is between __

20 and 20000 Hz

Louder sounds are associated with __

Higher amplitudes.

Decibels (dB), a logarithmic unit of sound intensity.

Loudness is measured in terms of __

Timbre refers to __

A sound’s purity, and it is affected by the complex interplay of frequency, amplitude, and timing of sound waves.

The cornea is __

The transparent covering over the eye; serves as a barrier between the inner eye and the outside world, and it is involved in focusing light waves that enter the eye.

The pupil is __

The small opening in the eye through which light passes, and the size of the pupil can change as a function of light levels as well as emotional arousal.

The iris is __

The colored portion of the eye.

The lens is __

A curved, transparent structure that serves to provide additional focus.

The retina is __

The light-sensitive lining of the eye.

The fovea is __

The small indentation in the back of the eye where the lens will focus images; part of the retina.

Cones are __

Light-detecting cells; specialized for bright light conditions; very sensitive to acute detail and provide tremendous spatial resolution; directly involved in our ability to perceive color.

Rods are __

Specialized photoreceptors that work well in low light conditions, and while they lack the spatial resolution and color function of the cones, they are involved in our vision in dimly lit environments as well as in our perception of movement on the periphery of our visual field.

The optic nerve carries __

Visual information from the retina to the brain.

The blind spot is __

A point in the visual field where, even when light from a small object is focused, we do not see it.

The optic chiasm is __

An X-shaped structure that sits just below the cerebral cortex at the front of the brain where the optic nerve from each eye merges.

The “what pathway” is involved in __

Object recognition and identification.

The “where/how pathway” is involved in __

Location in space and how one might interact with a particular visual stimulus.

The trichromatic theory of color vision states that __

All colors in the spectrum can be produced by combining red, green, and blue.

According to the opponent-process theory __

Color is coded in opponent pairs: black-white, yellow- blue, and green-red.

An afterimage describes __

The continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the stimulus.

Depth perception is __

Our ability to perceive spatial relationships in three-dimensional (3-D) space.

Binocular cues are __

They rely on the use of both eyes.

Binocular disparity is __

The slightly different view of the world that each of our eyes receives.

Monocular cues are __

Cues that require only one eye.

Linear perspective refers to __

We perceive depth when we see two parallel lines that seem to converge in an image.

Stereoblindness describes someone who is __

Unable to respond to binocular cues of depth.

The outer ear includes __

The visible part of the ear that protrudes from our heads, the auditory canal, and the tympanic membrane, or eardrum.

The middle ear contains __

Three tiny bones known as the ossicles, which are named the malleus (or hammer), incus (or anvil), and the stapes (or stirrup).

The inner ear contains __

The semi-circular canals and the cochlea.

The cochlea is __

A fluid-filled, snail-shaped structure that contains the sensory receptor cells (hair cells) of the auditory system.

The basilar membrane is __

A thin strip of tissue within the cochlea.

Hair cells are __

Auditory receptor cells of the inner ear embedded in the basilar membrane.

The temporal theory of pitch perception asserts that __

Frequency is coded by the activity level of a sensory neuron.

The place theory of pitch perception suggests that __

Different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies.

A monaural cue provides __

Each pinna interacts with incoming sound waves differently, depending on the sound’s source relative to our bodies.

Binaural cues provide __

Information on the location of a sound along a horizontal axis by relying on differences in patterns of vibration of the eardrum between our two ears.

Interaural level difference refers to __

A sound coming from the right side of your body is more intense at your right ear than at your left ear because of the attenuation of the sound wave as it passes through your head.

Interaural timing difference refers to __

The small difference in the time at which a given sound wave arrives at each ear.

Deafness is __

The partial or complete inability to hear

Congenital deafness is when __

Some people are born without hearing

Conductive hearing loss is __

Due to a problem delivering sound energy to the cochlea.

Sensorineural hearing loss is __

The most common form of hearing loss; can be caused by many factors, such as aging, head or acoustic trauma, infections and diseases (such as measles or mumps), medications, environmental effects such as noise exposure (noise-induced hearing loss), tumors, and toxins (such as those found in certain solvents and metals).

Cochlear implants are __

Electronic devices that consist of a microphone, a speech processor, and an electrode array; receives incoming sound information and directly stimulates the auditory nerve to transmit information to the brain.

The Chemical Senses are __

Taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction)

The four basic groupings of taste are __

Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter

Umami is __

Umami is actually a Japanese word that roughly translates to yummy, and it is associated with a taste for monosodium glutamate

Taste buds are __

Groupings of taste receptor cells with hair- like extensions that protrude into the central pore of the taste bud.

Olfactory receptor cells are __

Located in a mucous membrane at the top of the nose; small hair-like extensions from these receptors serve as the sites for odor molecules dissolved in the mucus to interact with chemical receptors located on these extensions.

The olfactory bulb is __

A bulb-like structure at the tip of the frontal lobe where the olfactory nerves begin.

Pheromones are __

Chemical messages, sent by another individual.

Meissner’s corpuscles __

Respond to various touch-related stimuli such as pressure and vibrations.

Pacinian corpuscles __

Detect transient pressure and higher frequency vibrations.

Merkel’s disks __

Respond to light pressure.

Ruffini corpuscles __

Detect stretch.

Pain is __

An unpleasant experience that involves both physical and psychological components.

Inflammatory pain __

Pain that signals some type of tissue damage.

Neuropathic pain __

Pain the results from damage to neurons of either the peripheral or central nervous system.

Congenital insensitivity to pain / congenital analgesia __

Means they cannot experience pain.

The vestibular sense __

Contributes to our ability to maintain balance and body posture; major sensory organs are located next to the cochlea in the inner ear.

Proprioception is __

Perception of body position.

Kinesthesia is __

Perception of the body’s movement through space.

Gestalt __

Means form or pattern, reflects the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

The figure is __

The object or person that is the focus of the visual field

The ground is __

The background.

Proximity is __

Things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together.

Similarity is __

Things that are alike tend to be grouped together

The law of continuity states that __

We are more likely to perceive continuous, smooth flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines.

The principle of closure states that __

We organize our perceptions into complete objects rather than as a series of parts.

Perceptual hypotheses are __

Educated guesses that we make while interpreting sensory information.