Psych Sensation + Perception

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59 Terms

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Sensation

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment.

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Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to form a meaningful understanding of the world.

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Prosopagnosia

A top‐down processing deficiency where sensory input is normal, but the ability to organize and interpret faces is impaired.

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Top-down processing

A process where perceptions are constructed from existing knowledge, experiences, expectations, and context.

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Bottom-up processing

An analysis that begins at the sensory receptors, detecting basic features and building up a complete perception.

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Absolute threshold

The minimum amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

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Difference threshold/Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time.

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Weber’s Law

States that to detect a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant percentage.

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Sensory adaptation

A decrease in sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time.

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Transduction

The process by which one form of energy is converted into another; in sensory systems, the conversion of physical energy into neural impulses.

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Accommodation (in sight)

The process by which the eye's lens changes its optical power to maintain a clear image on the retina.

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Amplitude

Refers to the height of sound and light waves; in sound, it means louder sound, and in light, it means higher brightness.

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Wavelength

The distance from peak to peak of sound and light waves, determining hue in light and contributing to pitch in sound.

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Parallel processing

The brain's ability to process multiple aspects of a stimulus simultaneously.

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Opponent-processing theory

Theory explaining color perception controlled by pairs of opposing processes: red vs. green, blue vs. yellow, and black vs. white.

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Helmholtz trichromatic theory

Proposes that the retina contains three types of cones, sensitive to red, green, and blue.

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Audition

The sense that detects sound waves, involving the reception of sound by the ear and its conversion into neural signals.

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Cochlea

A spiral-shaped, fluid-filled structure in the inner ear responsible for transducing sound vibrations into neural impulses.

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Place theory

Theory stating different frequencies of sound are detected by different places along the basilar membrane.

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Frequency theory

Proposes that the rate of nerve impulses matches the frequency of a sound wave for pitch perception.

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Volley Principle

An extension of frequency theory suggesting groups of auditory neurons respond to sound by firing in rapid bursts.

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Sensory interaction

The way different senses influence each other, exemplified by the McGurk effect.

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Kinesthesis

Also known as proprioception, it is the sense that informs about the position and movement of body parts.

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Vestibular sense

The sensory system that provides information about balance and spatial orientation.

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Parts of the eye

Cornea, pupil, iris, lens, retina; structures involved in focusing light onto the retina.

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Rods

Photoreceptors responsible for vision in low light and detecting shades of gray.

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Cones

Photoreceptors responsible for color vision and high visual acuity.

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Fovea

The central area of the retina providing sharp vision.

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Blind Spot

The point where the optic nerve exits the eye; contains no photoreceptors.

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Transduction in the eye

Occurs in the photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) of the retina.

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Parts of the ear

Outer ear, eardrum, ossicles, oval window, cochlea; structures that transmit and transduce sound waves.

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Transduction in the ear

Occurs in the hair cells on the basilar membrane within the cochlea.

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Conductive hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by problems in the outer or middle ear preventing sound from reaching the inner ear.

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Sensorineural hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by damage to cochlear hair cells or the auditory nerve.

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Chemical senses

Taste and smell, which depend on chemical interactions with receptor cells.

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Olfactory receptor neurons

Receptor cells essential for detecting odorants.

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Selective attention

The process of focusing conscious awareness on one specific stimulus while filtering out others.

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Inattentional Blindness

The failure to notice an unexpected stimulus in the visual field when attention is focused on another task.

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Gate control theory

Pain signals can be modulated in the spinal cord by simultaneous non-painful stimuli.

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Cocktail party effect

The ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment and notice relevant information.

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Change blindness

The failure to detect large changes in a visual scene when they occur during a brief disruption.

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Dominant sense

Vision tends to dominate over other senses when competing.

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Proximity (Gestalt principle)

Elements that are close together are perceived as part of the same group.

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Similarity (Gestalt principle)

Objects similar in appearance are grouped together perceptually.

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Continuity (Gestalt principle)

Elements arranged in a line or smooth curve are perceived as more related.

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Connectedness (Gestalt principle)

Elements that are visually connected are perceived as belonging together.

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Closure (Gestalt principle)

The mind fills in missing information to create a complete object.

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Retinal disparity

The slight difference in images received by each eye, used by the brain to gauge depth.

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Binocular cues

Depth cues that require both eyes, including retinal disparity and convergence.

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Monocular cues

Depth cues that can be perceived with one eye alone.

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Depth perception

The ability to perceive depth, tested in infants using the visual cliff experiment.

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Relative Size, Clarity, and Height

Monocular cues for depth perception based on size, clarity, and height in the visual field.

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Linear perspective

A monocular cue where parallel lines converge as they recede into the distance.

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Stroboscopic movement

The illusion of continuous motion created by rapidly presented still images.

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Phi phenomenon

An optical illusion where sequentially illuminated lights appear as continuous movement.

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Size constancy

The perception that an object's size remains constant despite changes in distance.

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Interposition

A monocular cue where an object blocking another is perceived as closer.

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Color constancy

The tendency to perceive colors as constant under varying illumination.

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Context effects

The influence of surrounding stimuli on the perception of a stimulus.