Chapter 2 Study Guide Terms: Sensation and Perception

Sensation

The process of receiving and encoding environmental stimuli via sensory receptors.

Perception

The interpretation and understanding of sensory information, drawing upon prior knowledge and experience.

Template Matching Theory

A model suggesting that object recognition involves comparing sensory input to stored templates in memory.

Feature Analysis Theory

A theory proposing that objects are recognized by analyzing their component features.

Recognition-by-Components (RBC) Theory

A theory stating that complex objects are recognized by identifying their constituent geons and their spatial arrangement.

Geons

Basic, three-dimensional geometric shapes proposed as the building blocks of object recognition.

Viewpoint Invariance

The ability to recognize an object regardless of the angle from which it is viewed.

Bottom-Up Processing

Data-driven processing that relies solely on incoming sensory information to construct perception.

Top-Down Processing

Conceptually-driven processing that uses prior knowledge, expectations, and context to guide perception.

Holistic Processing

Perceiving objects as complete units rather than a collection of individual features.

Prosopagnosia

The inability to recognize faces, often due to damage in the brain.

Fusiform Gyrus

A region in the temporal lobe associated with face recognition.