Sensation and Perception Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary review of sensation and perception terms, visual and auditory processes, sensory thresholds, and neurological conditions.

Sensory interaction

Our senses work together and influence one another to shape our perception of the environment.

Synesthesia

The stimulation of one sensory/cognitive pathway automatically/involuntarily triggers an experience in a different sense.

Retina

The light-sensitive inner surface at the back of the eye.

Blind spot

The point on the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye.

Lens

Located behind the pupil, changes its shape to focus incoming light rays onto the retina.

Accomodation

The process of altering existing mental frameworks or creating new ones to add in new info.

Rods

Photoreceptor cells that detect black, white and shades of gray.

Trichromatic theory

The retina contains $3$ types of cone photoreceptors—each sensitive to diff wavelengths of light.

Somnambulism

Sleepwalking.

Sensation

Our sensory receptors and nervous system detect and represent physical energy/chemical stimuli from the environment.

Transduction

Converting energy into electrical signals that the brain can read + interpret.

Absolute threshold

The minimum intensity of a physical stimulus that an individual can detect $50\%$ of the time.

Just noticeable difference

The smallest change in a stimulus required for a person to detect the difference at least $50\%$ of the time.

Signal detection theory

Predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid distractions.

Sensory adaptation

Diminished sensitivity to a constant, unchanging stimulus after constant exposure.

Weber's law

The JND between $2$ stimuli is always a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity, rather than a fixed amount.

Semicircular canals

$3$ fluid filled, loop-shaped tubes in the inner ear that detect head rotation, angular movement + dynamic balance.

Conduction deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conduct sound waves to the cochlea.

Sensorineural deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's hair cells in the inner ear.

Olfactory sense

Odorants enter the nasal cavity to stimulate $20\text{ mil}$ receptors to sense smell.

Pheromones

Chemical messengers released outside the body by an organism that influences the development of other members of the same species.

Gustation

Taste sensations, taste buds.

Gate control theory

Our spinal cord contains neurological "gates" that either block pain or allow it to be sensed.

Vestibular sense

Our sense of balance and monitors the heads position.

Kinesthesis

The sense of our body parts position and movement.

Opponent process theory

The model stating that sensory receptors + neural cells in the visual system process color in opposing pairs.

Feature detectors

Specialized nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that respond to specific, fundamental attributes of a visual stimulus.

Fovea

Central focal point in the retina where cone photoreceptors are densely clustered.

Cones

Specialized photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that are responsible for color vision + sharp vision.

Parallel processing

The brain's ability to simultaneously process several aspects of a problem or sensory stimulus at same time.

After images

A visual sensation that continues to appear in one's vision after the OG stimulus has been removed.

Ganglion cells

The $3\text{rd}$ layer of neurons in the retina of the eye that receive visual signals from bipolar cells & transmit them to the brain.

Color vision deficiencies

A genetic/physical condition where a person has a reduced ability to distinguish between colors.

Prosopagnosia

Neurological condition where you can't recognize familiar faces.

Blindsight

Neurological condition where a person w/ damage to their primary visual cortex is consciously blind in a part of their visual field.

Wavelengths

The distance from $1$ light or sound wave to the peak of the next.

Amplitude

The height of a wave, which measures the intensity/strength.

Place theory

Our perception of pitch depends on where the basilar membrane in the cochlea is stimulated by sound waves.

Volley theory

Neuron fire in groups rapid, alternating succession.

Frequency theory

The rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a sound wave.

Sound localization

Sounds that reach one ear faster than the other causes us to localize the sound.