Psych 1.6

Vocab

Wavelength

Distance between one wave peak to the next

Hue

Dimension of color determined by the wavelength of light

Intensity

Amount of energy in a light or sound wave, influences brightness / loudness

Cornea

Eye’s protective outer layer

Pupil

Eye’s adjustable opening which lets light enter

Iris

Controls size of pupil, colored part of eye

Lens

Changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Retina

Begins the processing of visual information, light sensitive inner back of the eye

Accommodation

Process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus between near and far images

Rods

Retinal receptors that detect gray, white, and black, and are sensitive to movement; peripheral / twilight vision

Cones

Retinal receptors that function in daylight / well lit areas. Detect fine detail / color sensations

Optic Nerve

Nerve that carries information from the eye to the brain

Blind Spot

Point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye

Fovea

Central focal point in the retina; where the cones cluster

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (Three Color) Theory

The theory that the retina only has three main receptors, one each sensitive to red, green, and blue, which together allow the perception of any color

Opponent-Process Theory

Theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision

Feature Detectors

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, shape, angle, movement

Parallel Processing

Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

Audition

Sense of hearing

Frequency

Amount of waves per an amount of time

Pitch

A tones highness / lowness

Middle ear

Chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea; concentrates vibrations

Cochlea

Sound waves travel through and create nerve impulses

Inner Ear

Innermost part of the ear

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

most common for of hearing loss, nerve deafness

Conduction Hearing Loss

damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Cochlear Implant

A device for converting sound into electrical waves

Place Theory

Links pitch with the place in the cochlea

Frequency Theory

The rate a nerve sends a message is the same as the tone

Gate-Control Theory

Theory that the spinal cord contains a gate that blocks pain

Gustation

Sense of taste

Olfaction

Sense of smell

Kinesthesis

Sense of movement

Vestibular Sense

Sense of balance

Sensory Interaction

Principle that one sense can affect another

Embodied Cognition

Influence of bodily sensations on judgments

Sensation

process by which our sensory receptors receive and represent stimulus energy

Sensory Receptors

Nerve ends that respond to stimuli

Perception

Process by which the brain processes and interprets sensory information

Bottom-up Processing

information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information

Top-down Processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes

Transduction

Conversion of one energy into another

Psychophysics

Study between the physical characteristics and our psychological experience of stimuli

Absolute Threshold

The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Signal Detection Theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation

Subliminal

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Priming

The activation of certain associations

Difference Threshold

Minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time.

Weber’s Law

To be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percent

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation