Unit 3 concepts

Transduction

The process of converting sensory stimuli into neural impulses the brain can interpret.

Absolute Threshold

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

Difference Threshold (Just Noticeable Difference)

The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli.

Weber’s Law

The principle that to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant proportion.

Sensory Adaptation

Reduced sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it.

Selective Attention

Focusing conscious awareness on a specific stimulus while ignoring others.

Signal Detection Theory

Predicts how and when we detect a faint stimulus amid background noise, depending on experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

Bottom-Up Processing

Perception that starts at the sensory input, the stimulus.

Top-Down Processing

Perception influenced by expectations, experiences, and prior knowledge.

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another, shaped by expectations and context.

Parallel Processing

The brain’s ability to simultaneously process multiple aspects of a stimulus (e.g., color, motion, form, depth).

Feature Detectors

Specialized neurons in the visual cortex that respond to specific features of a stimulus such as shape, angle, or movement.

Gestalt Principles

Rules describing how we organize bits of information into meaningful wholes (e.g., proximity, similarity, continuity, closure).

Depth Perception

The ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge distance.

Monocular Cues

Depth cues available to either eye alone (e.g., relative size, linear perspective, interposition).

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that require both eyes (e.g., retinal disparity, convergence).

Perceptual Constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shape, size, color) even as lighting and angles change.

Sensory Interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another (e.g., smell enhances taste).

Kinesthesia

The sense of the position and movement of body parts.

Vestibular Sense

The sense of balance and body position, based on fluid in the inner ear.