WEEK 3- PSYCH-105 (Sensation & Perceptions, Color Theory)

Absolute Threshold

Minimum stimulation needed to register a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

Signal Detection Theory

Model for predicting how and when a person will detect a weak stimulus partly based on context.

Weber’s Law

We perceive differences on a logarithmic rather than linear scale.

Transduction

The process of converting one form of energy or information into another.

Amplitude

The amount of energy in a given lightwave.

Cones

A type of photoreceptor cell in the retina that gives us color vision.

Edge Detection

An image processing technique for finding the boundaries of objects within images.

Parallel Processing

The ability to process & analyze many aspects of a situation at once.

Depth Perception

Allows us to estimate distances between objects and ourselves.

Occlusion

An object that blocks the view of another object must be in front of it.

Texture Gradient

The gradual change in the visual texture of an object or surface as it recedes in depth.

Relative Height

Objects that appear higher in our visual field are farther away than objects that appear lower.

Familiar Size

Knowledge of the normal size of certain objects provides cues to depth.

Linear Perspective

A type of depth prompt perceived when viewing two parallel lines that appear to meet at a distance.

Aerial Perspective

Distant objects tend to appear blurry and bluish.

Relative Brightness

How individuals interpret and compare the brightness levels of different stimuli.

Proximity

The closer figures are to each other, the more we tend to group them together.

Good Continuation

A preference for organizing form in a way where contours continue smoothly along their original course.

Closure

The sense of resolution or completion of a life event, problem, or situation.

Perceptual Closure

A process whereby an incomplete stimulus is perceived to be complete.

Ambiguous Figure

A picture that can be interpreted in more than one way.

Bottom up Processing

When the brain processes sensory information and uses clues to understand stimuli.

Hue

The aspect of color usually referred to as the basic color; different hues can affect behaviors, thoughts, and emotions.

Monochromatic

Color schemes that consist of one hue with different saturation and brightness.

Analogous

Colors that are side by side on the color wheel.

Complementary

Two colors that are opposite on the color wheel.

Split-Complementary Color Scheme

Uses two colors across the color wheel with those colors on either side of the complementary color.

Triadic

Any three colors that are of equal distance on the color wheel.

Tetradic

A color scheme that combines two complementary colors, one pair as the main colors and the other as accents.