Introduction to Perception and Sensory Processing

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture on perception and sensory processing.

Distal Stimulus

Environmental stimuli or all objects in the environment that are available to the observer.

Proximal Stimulus

The representation of the distal stimulus on the receptors.

Principle of Transformation

Stimuli and the responses created by those stimuli are changed between the environmental stimulus and the final perception.

Transduction

The physiological process where sensory receptors convert physical or chemical stimuli into electrical energy.

Neural Processing

The brain's electrochemical signaling mechanisms that receive, interpret, transform, and transmit sensory information.

Absolute Threshold

Minimum intensity of a stimulus a person can detect 50% of the time.

Difference Threshold

The minimum amount of change in a stimulus that you can notice 50% of the time.

Top-down processing

Processing that is based on knowledge, experience, and expectations influencing perception.

Bottom-up processing

Processing based on stimuli reaching the receptors; starts from environmental energy stimulating the receptors.

Action Potentials

Rapid electrical impulses that travel down a neuron's axon to send messages.

Myelin Sheath

A fatty, insulating layer that wraps around the axons of many neurons to speed up transmission.

Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization

The mind organizes individual visual elements into organized, meaningful wholes.

Recognition By Components (RBC) Theory

Humans recognize 3D objects by breaking them down into basic geometric shapes called “geons.”

Fusiform Face Area (FFA)

A specialized region in the fusiform gyrus of the temporal lobe that helps with face recognition.