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Sensation
The process of receiving and representing stimulus energies through the nervous system.
Perception
The process by which we select, organize, and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Transduction
The process by which our sensory systems convert stimulus energies into neural messages.
Absolute threshold
The minimum amount of stimulation a person needs to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time.
Difference threshold
The smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected 50 percent of the time.
Selective attention
The ability to focus on specific sensory inputs while ignoring others.
Change blindness
The failure to notice changes in the environment, especially when attention is focused elsewhere.
Inattentional blindness
The failure to perceive an unexpected stimulus when attention is focused on something else.
Subliminal stimulation
The presentation of stimuli below the absolute threshold of conscious awareness.
Weber's law
The principle that the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is proportional to the magnitude of the stimuli.
Electromagnetic waves
Waves of energy that include visible light and other forms of radiation.
Amplitude
The height or intensity of a wave, which determines the brightness of light.
Intensity
The brightness of light, which is related to the amplitude of the electromagnetic waves.
Wavelength
The distance between two consecutive peaks or troughs of a wave, which determines the color of light.
Pupil
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye that regulates the amount of light entering.
Retina
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye that contains the rods and cones.
Rods
Light-sensitive receptor cells in the retina that are responsible for vision in dim light and black-and-white vision.
Cones
Light-sensitive receptor cells in the retina that are responsible for color vision and visual acuity.
Blind spot
The area of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye, which lacks receptor cells and cannot detect images.
Fovea
The central area of the retina that contains a high concentration of cones and is responsible for sharp central vision.
Ganglion cells
Cells in the retina that receive visual information from the rods and cones and transmit it to the brain via the optic nerve.
Feature detectors
Specialized cells in the visual cortex of the brain that respond to specific aspects of visual stimuli.
Sensory adaptation
The process by which sensory receptors become less responsive to constant or repetitive stimuli.
Visual acuity
The sharpness or clarity of vision, which is affected by the health and function of the fovea.
Parallel processing
The ability of the brain to simultaneously process multiple aspects of a visual stimulus, such as color, motion, and form.
Blindsight
A condition in which individuals with damage to the visual cortex are able to respond to visual stimuli without consciously perceiving them.
Young-Helmholtz theory
The theory that the retina contains three types of color receptors, or cones, that are sensitive to red, green, and blue light.
Opponent-process theory
The theory that color vision is based on opposing pairs of color receptors, such as red-green and blue-yellow.
Afterimage
A visual sensation that occurs after staring at a brightly colored stimulus and then looking away, resulting in a complementary color appearing.
Gestalt
A German word meaning "form" or "shape," referring to the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts in perception.
Continuity
The principle of perceiving smooth, continuous patterns rather than disjointed ones.
Closure
The Gestalt principle of perceiving incomplete figures as complete.
Figure-ground
The ability to distinguish an object from its background.
Depth perception
The ability to perceive the distance and three-dimensional nature of objects.
Binocular cues
Depth cues that rely on the comparison of images from both eyes.
Monocular cues
Depth cues that can be perceived with one eye.
Interposition
A depth cue where closer objects obstruct the view of distant objects.
Retinal disparity
A binocular cue for depth perception based on the difference in images received by each eye.
Relative size
A monocular cue for depth perception where larger objects are perceived as closer.
Linear perspective
A monocular cue for depth perception where parallel lines appear to converge in the distance.
Light and shadow
A monocular cue for depth perception where the presence of shadows and variations in lighting indicate depth.