Psych lec 5 Senses and perception

Sensation

The process of detecting stimuli and translating it into nerve impulses

Perception

The active process of organizing stimulus input and giving it meaning

Absolute threshold

The lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected at least 50% of the time

Weber's Law

A light bulb must be increased by a larger amount to notice a brightness change

Sensory adaptation

The process of neurons decreasing activity in response to a constant stimulus

Normal stimulus for vision

Electromagnetic energy or light waves

Pupil

The part of the eye that controls the amount of light that enters

Cones

The type of photoreceptor responsible for color vision

Fovea

The part of the retina that has the clearest vision

Trichromatic theory of color vision

The retina has three types of color receptors sensitive to red, blue, and green

Opponent-process theory of color vision

A theory that suggests color perception is controlled by the activity of two opponent systems: a blue-yellow mechanism and a red-green mechanism.

Types of cones

The retina contains three types of cones that detect red, blue, and green.

Color perception

Color perception is based on pairs of opposing colors (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white).

Optic nerve function

Color perception occurs only in the optic nerve.

Color vision

Color vision is determined by the movement of rods and cones.

Amplification of sound waves

The part of the ear that amplifies sound waves is the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.

Cochlea function

The cochlea processes sound through tiny hair cells that trigger neural signals.

Frequency theory

The theory that states the frequency of sound waves matches the rate of nerve impulses is called frequency theory.

Basic tastes

The five basic tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.

Olfactory receptors location

Olfactory receptors are located in the upper portion of the nasal passage.

Kinesthetics

Kinesthetics is the body's way of giving feedback about muscle and joint position.

Balance and equilibrium

The sense that helps maintain balance and equilibrium is the vestibular system.

Synesthesia

Synesthesia is the physical experience of cross-modal associations (e.g., associating colors with sounds).

Retinal disparity

Retinal disparity is the slight difference in images between the right and left eyes that allows for depth perception.

Visual cliff experiment

The visual cliff experiment is designed to study depth perception in infants.

Change blindness

Change blindness is the failure to notice large changes in a scene.