Psych Chapters 5, 6, 7, & 8

Perceptual Systems

Interconnected parts of the body that deliver sensory and perceptual information; humans have six perceptual systems

Visual System

The perceptual system detecting environmental information that reaches the body in the form of light

Auditory System

The perceptual system detecting environmental information that consists of sound waves

Gustatory System

The perceptual system that is sensitive to chemical substances and provides the sense of taste

Olfactory System

The perceptual system that detects airborne chemical substances and provides the sense of smell

Haptic System

The perceptual system through which people acquire information about objects by touching them

Kinesthetic System

The perceptual system that detects information about the location of body parts

Sensation

The biological process occurring when cells at the periphery of the body detect physical stimuli

Perception

The biological process occurring when systems in the brain process sensory signals and produce awareness of sensory inputs

Transduction

A biological process in which physical stimuli activate cells in the nervous system, which then send nerve impulses to the brain, where processing gives rise to perceptual and sensory experience

Receptor Cells

Nervous system cells that are sensitive to specific types of physical stimulation from the environment and send signals to the brain when stimulated

Photoreceptors

Receptor cells in the eye that are sensitive to stimulation by light

Visual System Information

distance and size, motion, shape, brightness and color

Depth Perception

The perception of distance

Cues to Depth

Sources of information that enable us to judge the distance between ourselves and the objects we perceive

Monocular Cues

Depth cues that are available even when we use only one eye

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that require two eyes

Converging Vertical Lines

A monocular depth cue consisting of vertically oriented lines that get closer to one another, creating the perception of depth

Texture

A monocular depth cue based on markings on the surface of objects in a visual scene

Occlusion

A monocular depth cue in which one object in the field of vision partly blocks another from view

Shading

A monocular depth cue based on the presence within a visual image of a relatively dark area that appears to have been created by blocking a source of light

Clarity

The degree of distinctness, as opposed to fuzziness, of a visual image; a monocular depth cue

Ames Room

An apparatus for studying the perception of size; the room is not cubic, contrary to the visual system’s assumption, and this creates perceptual illusion involving size

Stereopsis

The perception of three-dimensional space produced by the fact that images reaching your two eyes vary slightly because your eyes are a few inches apart; a binocular depth cue

Convergence

A binocular depth cue based on the effort eye muscles must exert to look at objects very close to the face

Environmental Context

a monocular depth cue consisting of the overall set of visual cues in the environment in which the object is placed

Phi Phenomenon

An illusory perception of visual motion that occurs when stationary objects flash in an alternating sequence and are perceived as a single object moving back and forth

Optical Flow

The continuous change in visual images that occurs when organisms move through the environment

Gestalt Principles

When you perceive a collection of objects, you spontaneously group some of them together, Gestalt principles describe basic ways in which this grouping occurs, how we perceive wholes

Figure Ground Perception

The visual system’s tendency to divide a scene into objects, or “figures,” that are the focus of attention and the background context

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The minimal variation in a physical stimulus such as light or sound that a person can detect

Psychophysics

A branch of psychology that studies relations between physical stimuli and psychological reactions

Color Constancy

The tendency for a given object to be perceived as having the same color, despite changes in illumination

Cornea

The transparent material at the very front of the eye; its curvature begins the process of focusing light

Iris

The colorful eye structure that surrounds the pupil and responds to low and high light levels by dilating or constricting the pupil

Pupil

The opening in the eye through which light passes

Retina

The rear wall of the eye containing nerve cells that respond to light and send signals to the brain

Lens

An adjustable, transparent mechanism in the eye that focuses incoming light

Cones

Photoreceptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that provide visual detail and color

Fovea

A region near the center of the retina that features a dense concentration of cones

Color Blindness

An insensitivity to one or more of the colors red, green, or blue

Rods

Photoreceptors that enable vision in low illumination

Visual Fixations

Periods when a person’s gaze is held in one location, when most visual information is picked up

Saccades

Rapid movements of the eyes from one position to another

Ganglion Cells

Cells that form the optic nerve and pass visual information from the retina to the brain

Optic Nerve

The biological pathway along which information leaves the eye and moves toward the brain, formed by the long fibers of ganglion cells

Blind Spot

The location in the visual field at which nothing is seen because light from that location projects to an area of the retina in which there are no photoreceptors; this is the retinal area where the optic nerve exits the eye

Optic Chiasm

The location in the brain where visual signals carried by the optic nerves cross, sending information from the left eye to the right side of the brain, and vice versa

Visual Cortex

A region in the rear of the brain devoted to processing visual information

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

Cells that receive visual signals and perform “computations” on them before transmitting the same signals to the visual cortex

Sound Waves

Variations in pressure that reach the ears and are converted by the auditory system into signals

Loudness

The subjective experience of the intensity, or strength, of an auditory experience

Pitch

The sound experience that we usually describe with the words “low” or “high” (such as a musical note or voice)

Frequency

The physical property of sound waves that produces variations in pitch, based on the number of vibrations that occur during any fixed period of time

Timbre

The distinctive “signature” of a sound, based on variations in the complexity of sound waves

Timing

In the study of auditory perception, a cue to the location of a sound source that is based on the difference in time it takes a sound coming from your side to reach each ear

Pressure

In the study of auditory perception, a cue to the location of a sound source that is based on the difference in pressure on left and right ears produced by a sound wave coming from one side

Ear

A biological mechanism for hearing with three overall parts: an outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear

Eardrum

A thin membrane within the ear that vibrates when struck by sound waves

Hair Cells

Auditory receptor cells in the inner ear that are responsible for transduction of sound waves

Auditory Nerve

A bundle of nerve cells that carries auditory information from the inner ear to the brain

Odorant

Anything that smells; odorants include a variety of substances such as foods, pheromones, and chemical signals of cell damage and disease

Phermones

Chemical signals produced and secreted by one organism and detected by another organism of the same species, triggering a distinctive reaction

Olfactory Bulbs

Collections of cells near the front of the brain that receive signals from olfactory receptor cells and begin the process of identifying odors

Olfactory Cortex

A neural system that completes the biological processing needed to recognize smells

Umami

A taste sensation that is “savory,” triggered by high protein levels in food

Supertasters

People who have greater sensitivity to tastes than others

Taste Receptors

Cells that are stimulated by chemical substances in food, whose activation begins the process of transmitting gustatory information to the brain

Taste Buds

Bundles of taste receptors, found primarily on the tongue but also on the roof of the mouth and throat

Gustatory Cortex

The brain region in the parietal lobe that completes the processing of perceptual signals of taste

Two Point Procedure

A method to measure haptic system acuity that assesses the smallest distance at the skin at which people can perceive two separate stimuli rather than one

Cutaneous Receptors

Receptor cells under the skin that convert physical stimulation into nervous-system impulses

Nociceptors

Specialized pain receptors that are activated by harmful stimuli such as a cut or burn

Gate Control Theory of Pain

The theory that the spinal cord contains a biological mechanism that acts like a gate; when closed, pain signals do not reach the brain, resulting in no experience of pain even though there is pain receptor activity

Attention

The process of bringing an idea or an external stimulus into conscious awareness

Selective Attention

The capacity to choose the flow of information that enters conscious awareness

Memory

the capacity to retain knowledge

Three Stage Memory Model

A conceptual depiction of the memory system in which information is said to be stored in any of three storage systems: sensory memory, short-term memory, or long-term memory.

Sensory Memory

Memory that is based on the workings of sensory systems

Iconic Memory

Sensory memory of visual images

Echoic Memory

sensory memory for sounds

Short Term Memory

A memory system that enables people to keep a limited amount of information actively in mind for brief periods of time

Encoding

The process through which information is transferred from sensory memory to short-term memory and, in the transfer, converted from physical stimulation to conceptual information (i.e., ideas).

Attentional Effort

Focusing attention on a stimulus in the environment; concentration

Decay

The fading of information from short-term memory

Interference

Failure to retain information in short-term memory that occurs when material learned earlier or later prevents its retention.

Proactive Interference

A short-term memory impairment that occurs when material learned earlier impairs memory for material learned later

Retroactive Interference

A short-term memory impairment that occurs when material learned later impairs memory for material learned earlier

Serial Position Effect

The tendency to display superior recall for items positioned at the beginning or end of a list rather than in the middle

Rehearsal

The strategy of repeating information to retain it in short-term memory

Depth of Processing

The degree to which people think about meaningful rather than superficial aspects of presented information

Working Memory

A set of interrelated systems that both store and manipulate information; its three components are the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and central executive

Long Term Memory

The mental system that stores knowledge for extended periods of time

Semantic Memory

memory for factual information

Episodic Memory

Memory for events you have experienced

Procedural Memory

memory for how to perform behaviors

Explicit Memory

Conscious recall of previously encountered information or experience

Implicit Memory

Task performance that is affected by previous information or experience, even if the prior material is not explicitly remembered

Consolidation

A transformation of information in long-term memory from a fragile state, in which information can be lost, to a more fixed state in which it is available relatively permanently

Retrieval

The access of information that has been stored in long-term memory