Sensation and Perception Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive practice questions and answers based on terminology related to sensory systems, perception, and auditory/visual processes.

What is the absolute threshold?

The minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected $50\%$ of the time.

What is an afterimage?

The continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the stimulus.

How is amplitude defined in relation to a wave?

The height of a wave.

What is the function of the basilar membrane?

It is a thin strip of tissue within the cochlea that contains the hair cells which serve as the sensory receptors for the auditory system.

What is a binaural cue?

A two-eared cue used to localize sound.

What is a binocular cue?

A cue that relies on the use of both eyes.

What is binocular disparity?

The slightly different view of the world that each eye receives.

What is the blind spot?

The point where we cannot respond to visual information in that portion of the visual field.

How does bottom-up processing work?

It is a system in which perceptions are built from sensory input.

What is the Gestalt principle of closure?

Organizing our perceptions into complete objects rather than as a series of parts.

What is the cochlea?

A fluid-filled, snail-shaped structure that contains the sensory receptor cells of the auditory system.

What components make up a cochlear implant?

An electronic device consisting of a microphone, a speech processor, and an electrode array to directly stimulate the auditory nerve.

What causes conductive hearing loss?

A failure in the vibration of the eardrum and/or movement of the ossicles.

What is a cone?

A specialized photoreceptor that works best in bright light conditions and detects color.

What is congenital deafness?

Deafness that is present from birth.

What is congenital insensitivity to pain (congenital analgesia)?

A genetic disorder that results in the inability to experience pain.

What is the cornea?

The transparent covering over the eye.

How is deafness defined?

A partial or complete inability to hear.

What is a decibel ($dB$)?

A logarithmic unit of sound intensity.

What is depth perception?

The ability to perceive depth.

What does the electromagnetic spectrum include?

All the electromagnetic radiation that occurs in our environment.

What is the figure-ground relationship?

Segmenting our visual world into figure and ground.

What is the fovea?

A small indentation in the retina that contains cones.

How is frequency defined?

The number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period.

What is the core idea of Gestalt psychology?

The field of psychology based on the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

What is the principle of good continuation (also, continuity)?

The tendency to perceive continuous, smooth flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines.

What is a hair cell?

The auditory receptor cell of the inner ear.

What is a hertz ($Hz$)?

Cycles per second; a measure of frequency.

What is inattentional blindness?

The failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention.

What is the incus?

A middle ear ossicle also known as the anvil.

What does inflammatory pain signify?

A signal that some type of tissue damage has occurred.

What causes an interaural level difference?

Sound coming from one side of the body is more intense at the closest ear because of sound wave attenuation as it passes through the head.

What is an interaural timing difference?

The small difference in the time at which a given sound wave arrives at each ear.

What is the iris?

The colored portion of the eye.

What is the just noticeable difference?

The difference in stimuli required to detect a difference between the stimuli.

What is kinesthesia?

The perception of the body’s movement through space.

What is the lens?

A curved, transparent structure that provides additional focus for light entering the eye.

What is linear perspective?

A depth cue in an image where two parallel lines seem to converge.

What is the malleus?

A middle ear ossicle also known as the hammer.

What does a Meissner’s corpuscle respond to?

Pressure and lower frequency vibrations.

What are the common symptoms of Ménière's disease?

Hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, and an increase in pressure within the inner ear due to degeneration of inner ear structures.

What does a Merkel’s disk respond to?

Light touch.

What is a monaural cue?

A one-eared cue used to localize sound.

What is a monocular cue?

A cue that requires only one eye.

What causes neuropathic pain?

Damage to neurons of either the peripheral or central nervous system.

What is nociception?

A sensory signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain.

Where is the olfactory bulb located?

At the tip of the frontal lobe, where the olfactory nerves begin.

What is an olfactory receptor?

The sensory cell for the olfactory system.

According to the opponent-process theory of color perception, how is color coded?

Color is coded in opponent pairs: black-white, yellow-blue, and red-green.

What occurs at the optic chiasm?

The optic nerves from the two eyes merge and visual information separates to the opposite side of the brain.

What is the role of the optic nerve?

It carries visual information from the retina to the brain.

What are the three ossicles?

Malleus, incus, and stapes.

What does a Pacinian corpuscle detect?

Transient pressure and higher frequency vibrations.

What is pattern perception?

The ability to discriminate among different figures and shapes.

What is the peak (crest) of a wave?

The highest point of a wave.

What is perception?

The way that sensory information is interpreted and consciously experienced.

What is a perceptual hypothesis?

An educated guess used to interpret sensory information.

What is a pheromone?

A chemical message sent by another individual.

What is a photoreceptor?

A light-detecting cell.

What is the pinna?

The visible part of the ear that protrudes from the head.

What is pitch?

The perception of a sound’s frequency.

What does the place theory of pitch perception suggest?

Different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies.

What is proprioception?

The perception of body position.

What is the Gestalt principle of proximity?

The tendency for things that are close to one another to be grouped together.

What is the pupil?

The small opening in the eye through which light passes.

What is the retina?

The light-sensitive lining of the eye.

What is a rod?

A specialized photoreceptor that works well in low light conditions.

What does a Ruffini corpuscle detect?

Stretch.

What is sensation?

What happens when sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor.

What causes sensorineural hearing loss?

A failure to transmit neural signals from the cochlea to the brain.

What is sensory adaptation?

The process of not perceiving stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time.

What is signal detection theory?

A theory describing the change in stimulus detection as a function of the current mental state.

What is the Gestalt principle of similarity?

The tendency for things that are alike to be grouped together.

What is the stapes?

A middle ear ossicle also known as the stirrup.

What is a subliminal message?

A message presented below the threshold of conscious awareness.

What are taste buds?

Groupings of taste receptor cells with hair-like extensions that protrude into a central pore.

What does the temporal theory of pitch perception propose?

The sound’s frequency is coded by the activity level of a sensory neuron.

What is thermoception?

Temperature perception.

What does timbre refer to?

A sound’s quality, impacted by frequency, amplitude, and timing.

What is top-down processing?

Interpretation of sensations influenced by available knowledge, experiences, and thoughts.

How is transduction defined?

The conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential.

What is the trichromatic theory of color perception?

Color vision is mediated by activity across three groups of cones.

What is the trough of a wave?

The lowest point of a wave.

What is the tympanic membrane?

The eardrum.

What is umami?

The taste for monosodium glutamate.

What is vertigo?

A spinning sensation.

What is the vestibular sense?

The sense that contributes to our ability to maintain balance and body posture.

What is the visible spectrum?

The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see.

What is wavelength?

The length of a wave from one peak to the next peak.