Sensation and Perception Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms related to sensation and perception.

Cones

Photoreceptor cells in the retina responsible for color vision and function best in bright light.

Rods

Photoreceptor cells in the retina that are more sensitive to light but do not detect color, important in low-light conditions.

Gate-Control Theory

A theory that proposes that pain is perceived when the 'gate' in the spinal cord is open, allowing pain signals to travel to the brain.

Gestalt

A psychological principle that emphasizes the human ability to perceive entire forms or configurations, rather than just the individual components.

Sensory adaptation

The process by which our sensitivity to prolonged stimulation diminishes over time.

Vestibular

Refers to the sense of balance and spatial orientation, primarily located in the inner ear.

Binocular depth cues

Visual information taken in by two eyes that enable the perception of depth, examples include retinal disparity and convergence.

Transduction

The process of converting physical energy (such as light or sound) into neural signals.

Kinesthetic

The sense that informs us about the position and movement of our body parts.

Weber’s Law

A principle stating that the size of the just noticeable difference (JND) is a constant proportion of the original stimulus.

Cochlea

A spiral-shaped organ in the inner ear responsible for converting sound vibrations into neural signals.

Phi phenomenon

An optical illusion where two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession, creating the perception of motion.

Pitch

The perceived frequency of a sound, which can be influenced by physical properties of sound waves.

Top-down processing

Cognitive processing that begins with the brain's expectations and concepts, influencing perception.

Retina

The light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptors.

Conduction deafness

Hearing loss resulting from damage to the mechanical structures in the ear that transmit sound.

Sensorineural deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve.

Absolute threshold

The minimum level of stimulus intensity needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

Opponent-process theory

A theory of color vision that proposes the existence of opposing pairs of colors: red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, which involves the detection of odor molecules.

Cocktail-party phenomenon

The ability to focus one's attention on a particular stimulus, like a conversation, while filtering out other stimuli.

Semicircular canals

Structures in the inner ear involved in maintaining balance and spatial orientation.

Accommodation

The process by which the eye changes its focus from distant to near objects by altering the shape of the lens.

Monocular depth cues

Visual cues that can be perceived with one eye alone, examples include relative size and linear perspective.