unit 1b unit test

Gustation

The sense of taste

olfaction

the sense of smell

Sensory interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another

gate-control theory

the theory that the spinal chord contains a neurological gate that either blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

Kinesthesis

The system for sensing position and movement of individual body parts

vestibular sense

the sense of body movement and position, including balance governed by the inner ear

Selective attention

focusing conscious awareness on a specific stimulus while filtering out others

inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when out attention is directed elsewhere (car crash and GPS)

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment or a visual scene (gorilla suit)

priming

exposure to one stimulus (the "prime") subconsciously influences how you respond to a later stimulus

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another, shaped by expectations and past experiences

visual perceptual processes

the brain’s methods of organizing, interpreting, and making sense of incoming visual information

gestalt

an organized whole— the idea that the brain tends to integrate pieces of information into meaningful complete forms

figure-ground

the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

grouping

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent, meaningful groups based on rules like proximity and similarity

depth perception

the ability to see objects in 3D despite imaged striking the retina in 2D, allowing us to judge distance

visual cliff

a lab device used to test depth perception in infants and young animals

binocular cue

a depth cue that depends on the simultaneous use of both eyes

convergence

a binocular depth cue involving the neuromuscular angle of the eyes turning inward when looking at near objects

retinal disparity

a binocular depth cue where the brain compares the slightly different imaged received by each eye to calculate the distance

monocular cue

a depth cue available to either eye alone

stroboscopic movement

the perceptual illusion of motion created when a rapid series of slightly varying still images is presented

phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off

autokinetic effect

the illusion that a stationary small point of light in an otherwise dark room is moving

perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

color constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

sensory adaptation

Diminished sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus as a result of constant exposure at the receptor level.

Perceptual Adaptation

The brain's ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field (such as wearing distorting goggles).

Perception

The psychological process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to recognize meaningful objects and events

bottom-up processing

sensory analysis starting at the raw physical entry level and working up to brain integration

Top-down processing

information processing guided by higher level mental processes, past experiences, and expectations

Absolute threshold

The minimum intensity of a stimulus needed for detection 50% of the time

signal detection theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect a fain stimuli, depending on background noise and a person’s experience, expectations, and alertness

difference threshold

The minimum difference between two stimuli required to detect a change 50% of the time

Weber’s law

The principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a fixed amount) to be perceived as different

Transduction

The conversion of one form of physical sensory energy (like light or sound waves) into neural signals the brain can read

rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and function well in low light or peripheral vision

cones

retinal receptors concentrated near the center of the retina that detect fine detail and color in well-lit conditions

accommodation

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

The theory that the retina contains three distinct color receptors (red, green, blue) that combine to produce all perceived colors

opponent process theory

The theory that color vision relies on opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black)

Parellel processing

the brain’s ability to analyze multiple features of a sensory scene (color, motion shape and depth) all at once

frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time, which determines sound pitch

pitch

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness, directly dependent on wave frequency

place theory

links perceived pitch to the specific spot along the cochlea’s basilar membrane that is stimulated (explains high pitches best)

frequency theory

links perceived pitch to the rate at which neural impulses travel up the auditory nerve (explains low pitch the best)

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to hair cell receptors or the auditory nerve

conduction hearing loss

hearing loss caused by physical damage to mechanical structure of outer or middle ear that conducts sound waves