Sensation and Perception

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to sensation and perception, helping students to review essential definitions and theories.

Sensation

The stimulation of sensory organs.

Transduction

The translation of physical energy from the environment to neural signals.

Perception

The processing, organization, and interpretation of sensory input.

Psychophysics

The study of the relationship between physical stimuli and psychological experience.

Absolute Threshold

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

Difference Threshold

The smallest difference between stimuli that can be reliably detected 50% of the time.

Weber's Law

The principle that in order to notice a difference, two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion.

Bottom-up processing

Processing that begins with sensory input, building up to perception.

Top-down processing

Processing that is influenced by prior knowledge and expectations.

McGurk Effect

An effect where visual information alters auditory perception.

Photoreceptors

Cells in the retina that convert light into neural impulses.

Rods

Photoreceptors that are highly sensitive to light but do not detect color.

Cones

Photoreceptors responsible for color vision and high acuity.

Trichromatic Theory

The theory that there are three types of cones sensitive to different wavelengths of light.

Opponent Process Theory

The theory that color perception is controlled by the activity of cells that respond in opposing ways to three pairs of colors.

Dorsal Visual Stream

The neural pathways that help locate objects and perform actions.

Ventral Visual Stream

The neural pathways involved in object recognition and conscious perception.

Visual Agnosia

An impairment in the recognition of visually presented objects.

Depth Perception

The ability to perceive objects in three dimensions and judge distance.

Monocular Cues

Depth cues that can be perceived with one eye.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that require both eyes to perceive depth.