Sensation and perception

What is Sensation?

The process of detecting physical energy (stimuli) from the environment.

What is Perception?

How the brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

What is Transduction?

The conversion of sensory stimuli into neural signals.

What is Bottom-Up Processing?

Perception based only on sensory input (data-driven).

What is Top-Down Processing?

Perception guided by experience, expectations, or knowledge (concept-driven).

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation is the process of detecting physical energy from the environment, while perception is how the brain organizes and interprets that sensory information.

What is a Stimulus?

An event or object that is capable of eliciting a response from an organism, detected by sensory organs.

What is Absolute Threshold?

The smallest amount of stimulus a person can detect 50% of the time.

What are Subliminal Messages?

Stimuli below the absolute threshold; can influence behavior unconsciously.

What is Difference Threshold / Just Noticeable Difference (JND)?

The smallest difference between stimuli that can be detected.

What is Weber 's Law?

JND is proportional to the size of the original stimulus.

What is Sensory Adaptation?

Diminished sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time.

What is Signal Detection Theory?

A theory that predicts how and when we detect faint stimuli amid background noise.

What is a False Positive (Type I Error) in Signal Detection Theory?

Detecting something that isn there.

What is a False Negative (Type II Error) in Signal Detection Theory?

Failing to detect something that is there.

What are Response Criteria in Signal Detection Theory?

A personal threshold for saying "I detect it. "

What type of sense is Vision?

An energy sense that detects light waves.

What is Amplitude in the context of light waves?

The height of a light wave, which determines brightness.

What is Wavelength in the context of light waves?

The distance between light waves, which determines color.

What is the Cornea?

The eye structure that bends light to help focus it.

What is the Iris?

The eye structure that controls the size of the pupil.

What is the Pupil?

The opening in the eye that lets light in.

What is the Lens?

The eye structure that focuses light on the retina.

What is the Retina?

The layer in the eye with photoreceptors that detect light.

What are Rods?

Photoreceptors in the retina that detect black, white, and gray and work in dim light.

What are Cones?

Photoreceptors in the retina that detect color and fine detail and work in bright light.

What are Bipolar Cells?

Cells in the retina that pass signals from rods and cones to ganglion cells.

What are Ganglion Cells?

Cells in the retina whose axons form the optic nerve.

What is the Optic Nerve?

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

What is the Blind Spot?

The area where the optic nerve leaves the retina, containing no photoreceptors.

What is the Occipital Lobe?

The part of the brain that processes visual information.

What is Foveal Vision?

The sharpest central vision, where cones are concentrated.

What is the Trichromatic / Young-Helmholtz Theory?

A theory of color vision stating that there are three types of cones (red, green, blue).

What is the Opponent-Process Theory?

A theory of color vision stating that colors are processed in pairs (red/green, blue/yellow, black/white).

What is Color Blindness?

The inability to perceive certain colors, usually genetic.

What are Afterimages?

Visual illusions appearing after staring at a color, demonstrating opponent-process effects.

What type of sense is Hearing (Audition)?

An energy sense that detects sound waves.

What is Amplitude in the context of sound waves?

Determines loudness, measured in decibels.

What is Wavelength / Frequency in the context of sound waves?

Determines pitch, measured in hertz (Hz).

What is the Outer Ear / Pinna?

The part of the ear that collects sound waves.

What is the Auditory Canal?

The channel that directs sound waves to the eardrum.

What is the Eardrum?

A membrane that vibrates with sound waves.

What are the Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup (Ossicles)?

Tiny bones in the middle ear that amplify sound.

What is the Oval Window?

A membrane that transfers vibrations from the ossicles to the cochlea.

What is the Cochlea?

A fluid-filled tube in the inner ear where sound is converted to neural signals.

What are Hair Cells in the ear?

Receptors in the cochlea that detect vibrations.

What is the Auditory Nerve?

The nerve that sends auditory signals from the cochlea to the brain.

What is the Temporal Lobe?

The part of the brain that processes auditory information.

What is Place Theory?

A theory of pitch perception stating that pitch depends on where hair cells along the cochlea are stimulated.

What is Frequency Theory?

A theory of pitch perception stating that pitch depends on the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve.

What is Conduction Deafness?

Hearing loss caused by problems in the ear canal, eardrum, or ossicles.

What is Sensorineural Deafness?

Hearing loss caused by damage to hair cells or the auditory nerve.

What is Selective Attention in the context of hearing?

The ability to focus on specific sounds, such as hearing your name in a noisy crowd.

What are the stimuli for Touch?

Pressure, temperature, and pain.

Which body parts have the highest concentration of nerve endings for touch?

Hands and lips are most sensitive.

What is Gate Control Theory?

A theory stating that the spinal cord has a "gate " that blocks or allows pain signals to pass to the brain.

What type of sense is Taste?

A chemical sense that detects molecules in food.

What are Taste Buds?

Structures on the tongue that contain taste receptors.

What are Papillae?

Bumps on the tongue that hold taste buds.

What is the Sweet taste?

One of the basic tastes, typically associated with sugars and carbohydrates.

What is the Salty taste?

One of the basic tastes, detected in the presence of sodium ions.

What is the Bitter taste?

One of the basic tastes, often associated with potentially toxic substances.

What is the Sour taste?

One of the basic tastes, detected in the presence of acids.

How does smell influence taste?

Smell accentuates taste.

What are Receptor Cells in the context of smell?

Cells in the nasal cavity that detect odor molecules.

What is the Olfactory Bulb?

The brain structure that processes smell information.

What is the connection between smell and the Limbic System/Hippocampus?

It explains the strong link between smell and memory/emotion.

How do animals ' olfactory receptors differ?

Animals often have specialized olfactory receptors.

What is the Kinesthetic sense?

The sense of body position and movement.

What is the Vestibular sense?

The sense of balance and head position.

What is Selective Attention?

Focusing on one specific stimulus while ignoring others.

What is Inattentional Blindness?

Failing to notice visible stimuli when one's attention is directed elsewhere.

What is Change Blindness?

Failing to notice changes in the environment.

What is the Cocktail Party Effect?

The ability to detect personally relevant information (like your name) in a noisy environment.

What is Parallel Processing?

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

What is Figure-Ground Relationship?

A Gestalt principle describing how we perceive objects as distinct from their background.

What is the Phi Phenomenon?

A Gestalt principle describing the perception of motion from a rapid succession of blinking lights.

What is the core idea of Gestalt Psychologists?

The whole is different from the sum of its parts.

What are Gestalt 's Grouping Principles?

Perceptual rules by which the brain automatically organizes sensory information into meaningful wholes, including proximity, similarity, closure, and continuity.

What is Proximity as a Gestalt Grouping Principle?

Objects close together are perceived as belonging to a group.

What is Similarity as a Gestalt Grouping Principle?

Similar items are grouped together.

What is Closure as a Gestalt Grouping Principle?

The tendency to fill in gaps to see complete figures and objects.

What is Continuity as a Gestalt Grouping Principle?

The tendency to perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones.

What are Monocular Cues?

Depth cues that rely on one eye alone to perceive distance, including linear perspective, relative size, interposition, texture gradient, and shadowing.

What is Linear Perspective?

A monocular depth cue where parallel lines appear to converge in the distance.

What is Relative Size?

A monocular depth cue where smaller objects are perceived as being farther away when objects are presumed to be the same size.

What is Interposition?

A monocular depth cue where an object blocking another object is perceived as being closer.

What is Texture Gradient?

A monocular depth cue where fine or detailed textures indicate closeness, while coarse or less detailed textures indicate farness.

What is Shadowing as a depth cue?

A monocular depth cue where the patterns of light and shadow give an impression of depth or dimension.

What are Binocular Cues?

Depth cues that require the use of both eyes to perceive distance, primarily retinal disparity and convergence.

What is Retinal Disparity?

A binocular depth cue referring to the slight difference between the images seen by each eye, which the brain uses to compute distance.

What is Convergence?

A binocular depth cue referring to the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at a close object, indicating its closeness.