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Sensation
The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
Perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Bottom-up Processing
Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.
Top-down Processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.
Selective Attention
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, while ignoring others.
Cocktail Party Effect
The ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy environment.
Inattentional Blindness
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.
Change Blindness
The inability to notice changes in the environment, often due to focused attention.
Transduction
The process of converting one form of energy into another, such as transforming sensory stimuli into neural impulses.
Psychophysics
The study of the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they affect.
Absolute Threshold
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
Signal Detection Theory
A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation.
Subliminal
Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.
Prime
The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.
Difference Threshold
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time
Weber’s Law
The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount.
Sensory Adaptation
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
Perceptual Set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
ESP
Extrasensory perception
Parapsychology
The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis.
Wavelength
The distance between successive peaks of a wave
Hue
The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light.
Intensity
The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness.
Cornea
The clear, curved outer layer of the eye that helps focus light.
Pupil
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.
Iris
The colored part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil.
Lens
The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.
Accommodation
The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.
Retina
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing receptor rods and cones.
Acuity
The sharpness of vision.
Nearsightedness
A condition in which nearby objects are seen clearly but distant objects appear blurry.
Farsightedness
A condition in which distant objects are seen clearly but nearby objects appear blurry.
Rods
Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray
Cones
Retinal receptors that function in daylight or well-lit conditions and detect fine detail and color.
Optic Nerve
The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.
Blind Spot
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because there are no receptor cells located there.
Fovea
The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster.
Dichromatism
A color vision deficiency in which only two colors can be perceived.
Monochromatism
A condition characterized by the inability to see any color
Blindsight
A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.
Prosopagnosia
A condition characterized by the inability to recognize familiar faces.
Trichromatic Theory
The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors (red, green, blue) which can produce the perception of any color.
Opponent Process Theory
The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.
Parallel Processing
The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously
Gestalt
An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts.
Figure Ground
The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).
Grouping
The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.
Proximity
The tendency to group nearby figures together.
Continuity
The perception of smooth, continuous patterns rather than disjointed ones.
Closure
The tendency to fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object.
Depth Perception
The ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and judge distance.
Visual Cliff
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.
Binocular Cues
Depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes.
Retinal Disparity
A binocular cue for perceiving depth
Convergence
A binocular cue for perceiving depth
Monocular Cues
Depth cues available to either eye alone.
Phi Phenomenon
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.
Perceptual Constancy
The perception of objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change.
Color Constancy
The perception of familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object.
Perceptual Adaptation
In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.
Audition
The sense or act of hearing.
Frequency
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second).
Pitch
A tone's experienced highness or lowness
Middle Ear
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea that contains three tiny bones (the ossicles).
Cochlea
A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger neural impulses.
Inner Ear
The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.
Place Theory
The theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.
Frequency Theory
The theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.
Conduction Hearing Loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves
Cochlear Implant
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.
Touch
The sense of pressure, temperature, and pain.
Gate-Control Theory
The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.
Phantom Limb Syndrome
The sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached and functioning.
Sensory Interaction
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.
Gustation
The sense of taste.
Oleogustus
The taste sensation associated with fatty substances.
Olfaction
The sense of smell.
Pheromones
Chemical signals released by an organism that influence the behavior of others of the same species.
Kinesthesis
The sense of the position and movement of body parts.
Vestibular Sense
The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance.
Embodied Cognition
The idea that the mind is not only connected to the body but that the body influences the mind.
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