CH 5 PSYCH 101 FINAL

Sensation

Raw data from the world, like the basic detection of a smell.

Perception

How your brain interprets sensory data, adding meaning and emotional depth.

Bottom-up processing

A method of understanding where your brain gathers data from scratch without prior knowledge.

Top-down processing

A method of understanding where your brain assumes things based on prior experiences.

Perceptual set

Your personal bias that influences what you expect to see.

Cornea

The clear front part of your eye that bends light to help focus.

Pupil

The opening in the eye that adjusts size to control the amount of light entering.

Iris

The colored part of the eye that controls how much light gets into the pupil.

Lens

The part of the eye that focuses light onto the retina.

Retina

The back of the eye where light is converted into neural signals.

Rods

Photoreceptors essential for night vision and black-and-white sight.

Cones

Photoreceptors that detect color and detail but require light.

Optic Nerve

The nerve that transmits visual information from the retina to the brain.

Trichromatic Theory

The theory stating that the eye has cones for three colors: red, green, and blue.

Opponent-Process Theory

The theory that explains how the brain pairs colors into opposites and accounts for after-images.

Sound waves

Vibrations that travel through the air, varying in amplitude and frequency.

Outer Ear

Catches sound waves.

Eardrum

Membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves.

Middle Ear

Contains tiny bones that amplify sound.

Inner Ear

Transforms vibrations into signals for the brain to interpret.

Place Theory

Different parts of the inner ear react to different pitches.

Frequency Theory

Tiny hair cells in the ear respond to the frequency of sound waves.

Gustation

The sense of taste, involving five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, closely linked to memory and emotion.

Gate-Control Theory

The theory that explains how pain signals are regulated by the spinal cord.

Vestibular Sense

The sense of balance controlled by the inner ear.

Kinesthesia

The sense of body awareness, knowing where your body parts are without looking.

Gestalt Principles

Psychological principles that explain how we perceive visual elements as a whole.

Figure-Ground

The principle that allows us to separate an object from its background.

Closure

The tendency of the brain to fill in missing parts of incomplete figures.

Continuity

The preference for smooth, flowing patterns over random arrangements.

Proximity

We group things that are close together

Similarity

We assume things that look alike belong together

Big soundwaves

Loud noise

Small soundwaves

Soft noise

Fast waves

High-pitched sounds

Slow waves

Deep/low sounds

Soundwaves vs. Wavelengths

Soundwaves are vibrations that travel through a medium, while wavelengths refer to the distance between successive peaks of a wave. Both concepts are essential in understanding the characteristics of sound.