Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception

Kinesthesis

________: provides us with feedback about our muscles and joints positions and movements.

Critical Periods

________: during which certain kinds of experiences must occur if perceptual abilities and the brain mechanisms that underlie them are to develop normally.

Perception

________: making "sense "of what our senses tell us- is the active process of organizing this stimulus input and giving it meaning.

Amplitude

________: refers to the vertical size of the sound waves- that is, the amount of compression and expansion of the molecules in the conducting medium.

Dark Adaption

________: the progressive improvement in brightness sensitivity that occurs over time under conditions of low illumination.

Inattentional Blindness

________: refers to the failure of unattended stimuli to register in consciousness.

Transduction

________: is the process whereby the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses.

Absolute Threshold

________: the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50 percent of the time.

Retina

________: a multi- layered light- sensitive tissue at the rear of the fluid- filled eyeball.

Convergence

________: is produced by feedback from the muscles that turn your eyes inward to view a close object.

Photopigments

________: Rods and cones translate light waves into nerve impulses through the action of protein molecules.

Webers law

________: states that the difference threshold or jnd is directly proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus with which the comparison is being made.

Basilar Membrane

________: a sheet of tissue that runs its length.

Organ of Corti

________: contains about 16, 000 tiny hair cells that are the actual sound receptors.

Rods

________: which function best in dim light, are primarily black- and- white brightness receptors.

Taste buds

________: chemical receptors concentrated along the tip, edges, and back surface of the tongue.

Lens

________: an elastic structure that becomes thinner to focus on distant objects and thicker to focus on nearby objects.

Frequency

________: the number of sound waves, or cycles, per second.

Sensory adaptation

________: the diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus.

Decision Criterion

________: a standard of how certain they must be that a stimulus is present before they will say they detect it.

Pheromones

________: chemical signals found in natural body scents.

Fovea

________: a small area in the center of the retina that contains no rods but many densely packed cones.

Feature Detectors

________: fire selectively in response to visual stimuli that have specific characteristics.

Hertz

________ (Hz): the technical measure of cycles per second; 1 ________ equals 1 cycle per second.

Psychophysics

________: studies relations between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory capabilities.

Cochlea

________: a coiled, snail- shaped tube about 3.5 centimeters (1.4 inches) in length that is filled with fluid and contains the Basilar Membrane.

Visual Acuity

________: ability to see fine detail.

Olfaction

________: the sense of smell.

Gustation

________: the sense of taste.

individual elements

Bottom- up Processing: the system takes in ________ of the stimulus and then combines them into a unified perception.

Young Helmholtz trichromatic theory

________: there are three types of color receptors in the retina.

Olfactory Bulb

________: a forebrain structure immediately above the nasal cavity.

Perceptual Constancies

________: allow us to recognize familiar stimuli under varying conditions.

stimulus detection

Sensation: is the ________ process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain.

Monocular Depth Cues

________: which require only one eye.

Illusions

________: compelling but incorrect perceptions.

Stroboscopic movement

________: illusory movement produced when a light is briefly flashed in darkness, and then, a few milliseconds later, another light is flashed nearby.

Figure Ground relations

________: tendency to organize stimuli into a central or foreground figure and a background.

Vestibular sense

________: the sense of body orientation or equilibrium.

Binocular Disparity

________: where each eye sees a slightly different image.

Gate Control Theory

________: proposes that the experience of pain results from the opening and closing of gating mechanisms in the nervous systems.

Top Down Processing

________: sensory information is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, ideas, and expectations.

Cones

________: are color receptors, function best in bright illumination.

Signal Detection Theory

________: is concerned with the factors that influence sensory judgments.

Nerve Deafness

________: caused by damaged receptors within the inner ear or damage to the auditory nerve itself.

Perceptual Schema

________: a mental representation or image containing the critical and distinctive features of a person, object, event, or other perceptual phenomena.

Sensation

  is the stimulus detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain

Perception

making "sense" of what our senses tell us-is the active process of organizing this stimulus input and giving it meaning

Transduction

  is the process whereby the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses

Psychophysics

studies relations between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory capabilities

Absolute Threshold

the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50 percent of the time

Decision Criterion

a standard of how certain they must be that a stimulus is present before they will say they detect it

Signal-Detection Theory

is concerned with the factors that influence sensory judgments

Difference Threshold (just noticeable difference(jnd))

is defined as the smallest difference between two stimuli that people can perceive 50 percent of the time

Webers law

states that the difference threshold or jnd is directly proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus with which the comparison is being made

Sensory adaptation

the diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

Lens

an elastic structure that becomes thinner to focus on distant objects and thicker to focus on nearby objects

Retina

a multi-layered light-sensitive tissue at the rear of the fluid-filled eyeball

Rods

  which function best in dim light, are primarily black-and-white brightness receptors

Cones

are color receptors, function best in bright illumination

Fovea

a small area in the center of the retina that contains no rods but many densely packed cones

Visual Acuity

ability to see fine detail

Photopigments

Rods and cones translate light waves into nerve impulses through the action of protein molecules

Dark Adaption

the progressive improvement in brightness sensitivity that occurs over time under conditions of low illumination

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

there are three types of color receptors in the retina

Herings opponent-process Theory

proposed that each of the three cone types responds to two different wavelengths

Dual-Process Theory

combines the trichromatic and opponent-process theories to account for the color transduction process

Feature Detectors

fire selectively in response to visual stimuli that have specific characteristics

Frequency

the number of sound waves, or cycles, per second

Hertz(Hz)

the technical measure of cycles per second; 1 hertz equals 1 cycle per second

Amplitude

refers to the vertical size of the sound waves-that is, the amount of compression and expansion of the molecules in the conducting medium

Cochlea

a coiled, snail-shaped tube about 3.5 centimeters (1.4 inches) in length that is filled with fluid and contains the Basilar Membrane

Basilar Membrane

a sheet of tissue that runs its length

Organ of Corti

contains about 16,000 tiny hair cells that are the actual sound receptors

Frequency Theory of Pitch Perception

nerve impulses sent to the brain match the frequency of the sound wave

Place Theory of Pitch Perception

suggesting that the specific point in the cochlea where the fluid wave peaks and most strongly bends the hair cells serves as a frequency coding cue

Conduction Deafness

  involves problems with the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to the cochlea

Nerve Deafness

caused by damaged receptors within the inner ear or damage to the auditory nerve itself

Gustation

the sense of taste

Olfaction

the sense of smell

Taste buds

chemical receptors concentrated along the tip, edges, and back surface of the tongue

Olfactory Bulb

a forebrain structure immediately above the nasal cavity

Pheromones

chemical signals found in natural body scents

Gate Control Theory

proposes that the experience of pain results from the opening and closing of gating mechanisms in the nervous systems

Kinesthesis

provides us with feedback about our muscles and joints positions and movements

Vestibular sense

the sense of body orientation or equilibrium

Bottom-up Processing

the system takes in individual elements of the stimulus and then combines them into a unified perception

Top-Down Processing

  sensory information is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, ideas, and expectations

Inattentional Blindness

refers to the failure of unattended stimuli to register in consciousness

Figure-Ground relations

tendency to organize stimuli into a central or foreground figure and a background

Gestalt Theory of Perceptual Organization

similarity, proximity, closure, and continuity

Perceptual Schema

a mental representation or image containing the critical and distinctive features of a person, object, event, or other perceptual phenomena

Perceptual set

a readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way

Perceptual Constancies

allow us to recognize familiar stimuli under varying conditions

Monocular Depth Cues

which require only one eye

Binocular Depth Cues

requires both eyes

Binocular Disparity

where each eye sees a slightly different image

Convergence

is produced by feedback from the muscles that turn your eyes inward to view a close object

Stroboscopic movement

illusory movement produced when a light is briefly flashed in darkness, and then, a few milliseconds later, another light is flashed nearby

Illusions

compelling but incorrect perceptions