1.6/2.1

Sensation

Sensory receptors + NS receive and represent stimulus from environment

Perception

Organizing + interpreting sensory info to become aware of something

Transduction

Conversion of sensory stimuli into neural impulses to have brain understand them

Absolute Threshold

Minimum amount of stimulation required for a stimulus to be detect by sensory system

Just Noticeable Difference

Smallest change in a stimulus to be detected by sensory system

Weber’s Law

Perceived difference in a stimulus must be proportional to the original intensity

Sensory Adaption

Process by which sensory receptors become less responsive to constant stimuli over time

Synesthesia

Stimulation of one sensory pathways leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in other sensory pathway

Retina

Converts light into a neural signal

Rods

Photoreceptor cells in retina responsible for vision in low light

Ganglion Cells

Neurons in retina that receives visual info from bipolar cells that transmit to the brain via optic nerve

Lens

Transparent structure in eye that focuses light onto the retina

Accomodation

Eye lens changes its shape to focus on objects at different distances

Nearsighted

Close objects appear, distant object appear blurry (Myopia)

Farsighted

Distant objects appear clear, close objects are blurry

Trichromatic Theory

All seen colors are based on 3 types of cone receptors (red, green, blue)

Opponent Process Theory

Color vision is based on pairs of opposing color processes

Afterimages

Visual sensations that persist after a stimulus is removed

Dichromatism

Only two types of functioning cone cells instead of 3

Monochromatism

Only ONE or NO functioning cone cells (see world in shades of grey)

Blindsight

Individuals w/ damage to their visual cortex can respond to visual stimuli w/o consciously perceiving them

Prosopagnosia

The inability to recognize familiar faces, including one’s own face

Wavelength

Distance between sound wave peaks (long waves = low vol, high waves = high pitch)

Amplitude

Measurement of the intensity or loudness of a sound wave

Pitch Perception

Brain’s interpretation of the frequency of sound waves, determining whether a sound is low/high

Place Theory

Different parts of the inner ear detect different sound frequencies

Frequency Theory

Frequency of sound wave corresponds to the rate at which auditory nerve fibers fire

Volley Theory

Groups of auditory neurons fire in rapid sucession

Sound Localization

Determine location of sound

Conduction Deafness

Temporary situation of hearing impairment, problems w/ outer or middle ear

Sensorineural Deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to inner ear/auditory nerve. Difficulty hearing soft sounds/understanding speech

Sensory Interaction

One sense can influence another, such as when smell affects taste

Olfactory System

Special receptors in the nose detect smells + send signals to brain via olfactory nerve

Pheromones

Chemical substances that trigger social or behavioral responses in others of the same species

Gustation

The sense of taste involving receptors on the tongue

Warm/Cold Receptors

Sensory neurons in the skin that detect changes in temperature

Gate Control Theory

The experience of pain is modulated by a neural “gate” in spinal cord, the gate can open to allow pain signals to be transmitted to brain or close to block them

Phantom Limb

Sensation of pain or other feelings in a missing limb (brain continues to percept limb)

Vestibular Sense

The sense of body orientation and movement including balance and spatial awareness

Semicircular Canal

Fluid filled structures in inner ear that detect rotational movements of the head

Kinesthesis

Sense of body movement + position

Bottom-up Processing

Way brain makes sense of info by starting w/ small details to then build up completer perception

Top-down Processing

Interpret sensory info based on the larger context

Selective Attention

Process of focusing on a specific aspect of info while ignoring others

Cocktail Party Effect

Focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment

Inattentional Blindness

Individuals fail to notice an unexpected stimulus in their visual field when attention is focused on something else

Schemas

Mental frameworks that help us organize/interpret info

Perceptual Set

A tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data + ignore others

Gestalt Psychology

We perceive whole objects or figures rather than just collection of parts

Figure-Ground

Ability to distinguish an object from surroundings

Binocular Depth Cues

Visual info that require both eyes to perceive depth + distance

Retinal Disparity

When each eye sees a slightly different picture because of separate positions

Convergence

When eyes move inward toward each other to focus on a close object

Monocular Depth Cues

Visual indicators of distance and space that can be perceived using just one eye

Relative Clarity

A depth cue where objects that are clearer and more detailed

Relative Size

Visual where objects close appear large, further objects smaller

Texture Gradient

Texture becomes denser up lose, further away more smooth

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines appear to appear to converge as they recede distance

Interposition

When one object overlaps another, overlapping object is “closer”

Perceptual Constancies

Ability to see objects as unchanging, even when the image changes

Shape Constancy

Perceive object as the same shape