Biological Psychology - Sensation and Perception (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Sense organs

Body organs that enable the five classic senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch) plus balance and body awareness.

Sensory receptor cells

Specialized neurons that respond to specific energy (light, sound, chemicals) and transduce stimuli into neural signals.

Sensation

Process of receiving external information, converting it into neural signals, and transmitting it to the brain.

Stimulus

Any external factor that directly influences behavior or conscious experience.

Transduction

Conversion of physical stimuli into electrochemical codes that neurons and the brain can interpret.

Absolute threshold

Smallest detectable magnitude of a stimulus.

Difference threshold

Smallest detectable difference between two stimuli (just noticeable difference).

Sensory adaptation

Diminished sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time.

Eye

Receptor organ for vision; contains photoreceptors (rods and cones).

Rods

Photoreceptors in the retina that are highly sensitive in dim light; do not detect color.

Cones

Photoreceptors in the retina that detect color and fine detail.

Cornea

Transparent front of the eye that focuses light entering the eye.

Sclera

White, opaque outer layer of the eye.

Aqueous humor

Clear fluid in the front chamber of the eye.

Pupil

Opening in the iris through which light passes into the eye.

Iris

Colored part of the eye; controls pupil size and light entry.

Retina

Light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye that converts light to neural signals.

Optic nerve

Nerve that carries visual signals from the retina to the brain.

Accommodation

Lens’ adjustment (thickening or thinning) to focus on near or far objects.

Photoreceptors

Retinal cells (rods and cones) that respond to light.

Dark adaptation

Increased sensitivity of rods and cones in low light after dark adaptation.

Light adaptation

Decreased sensitivity of rods and cones in bright light.

Myopia

Nearsightedness; distant objects are blurry.

Hyperopia

Farsightedness; near objects are blurry.

Nyctalopia

Night blindness; poor vision in low light.

Presbyopia

Age-related farsightedness due to lens changes.

Glaucoma

Increased intraocular pressure that can damage the optic nerve.

Cataract

Clouding of the lens reducing vision.

Colour blindness

Color vision deficiency due to cones not functioning; often misnamed as colour blindness; range includes monochrome vision.

Protanopia

Lack of functioning red cones.

Deuteranopia

Lack of functioning green cones.

Monochrome color blindness

Absence of functioning cones; vision in shades of gray.

Dichromatic vision

Having two functioning cone types, affecting color discrimination.

Pinna

External part of the ear that funnels sound into the canal.

Auditory canal

Short tunnel to the tympanic membrane (eardrum).

Tympanic membrane

Eardrum; vibrates in response to sound.

Ossicles

Three tiny bones—malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), stapes (stirrup)—that transmit vibrations from eardrum to the inner ear.

Oval window

Membrane separating middle ear from inner ear; vibrated by the ossicles to transfer energy to the cochlea.

Cochlea

Fluid-filled inner ear structure containing the basilar membrane and organ of Corti; where transduction occurs.

Basilar membrane

Membrane inside the cochlea containing hair cells that transduce sound.

Organ of Corti

Hair-cell organ within the cochlea essential for hearing.

Hair cells

Auditory receptors in the cochlea that convert mechanical vibrations into neural impulses.

Auditory nerve

Nerve carrying auditory information from the cochlea to the brain.

Sound waves

Vibrations of air or another medium that vary in frequency and amplitude.

Pitch

Perceived highness or lowness of a tone; determined by frequency.

Loudness (intensity)

Perceived strength of a sound; related to amplitude.

Timbre

Quality of sound determined by the harmonic content and sound source.

Decibel

Unit measuring the intensity of sound.

Conduction deafness

Temporary deafness due to fluid buildup blocking vibration transmission.

Nerve deafness

Hearing loss from damage to hair cells or auditory nerve.

Meissner’s corpuscle

Touch receptor in skin for light touch and texture.

Merkel’s discs

Touch receptors for steady pressure and texture.

Free nerve endings

Nerve endings sensing pain and temperature.

Krause’s end bulb

Touch receptor in skin (specifics noted in lecture).

Pacinian corpuscle

Touch receptor for deep pressure and vibration.

Ruffini endings

Touch receptor for skin stretch.

Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscle

Touch receptor involved in pressure sensation.

Proprioception

Sense of body position; includes kinesthetic and vestibular senses.

Kinesthetic

Sense of body movement; receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints.

Vestibular

Sense of balance; inner-ear labyrinthine sense.

Olfaction

Sense of smell; detection of odor molecules by olfactory receptors.

Olfactory epithelium

Mucus-coated nasal membrane housing olfactory receptor cells.

Olfactory receptors

Receptors in the nose that detect odor molecules.

Anosmia

Loss of the sense of smell.

Adaptation (olfactory)

Decreased sensitivity to odors with exposure.

Gustation

Sense of taste; receptors on the tongue.

Tongue

Receptor organ for taste.

Taste cells

Receptors within taste buds.

Papillae

Small bumps on the tongue containing taste buds.

Taste buds

Flask-like structures containing taste cells.

Sweet

Basic taste detected by taste receptors.

Sour

Basic taste linked to acidity levels.

Salty

Basic taste related to salt ions.

Bitter

Basic taste often indicating toxicity; detected by bitter receptors.

Ageusia

Loss of the sense of taste.

Perception

Process of organizing and interpreting sensory information; making sense of stimuli.

Attention

Focusing on certain stimuli while ignoring others; can be voluntary, involuntary, or habitual.

Gestalt (Law of Pragnanz)

The whole is perceived as the simplest, most concise form; organization of perception.

Figure-ground

Perceptual separation of object (figure) from its background (ground).

Continuity

Preference for continuous figures and lines in perception.

Proximity

Grouping of objects that are near each other.

Similarity

Grouping by shared visual characteristics (shape, color, size).

Closure

Perceiving complete figures even when parts are missing.

Perceptual constancy

Perceiving objects as stable despite changes in sensory input.

Brightness constancy

Brightness of an object perceived as constant under varying illumination.

Colour constancy

Perceiving colors as relatively stable under different lighting.

Size constancy

Perceiving objects as having constant size despite changes in retinal image size.

Shape constancy

Perceiving objects as constant in shape despite viewing angle changes.