Module 16: Basic Principles of Sensation & Perception

What is sensation?

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

What is perception?

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

What is bottom-up processing?

Analysis that starts at the sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing

What is top-down processing?

Constructing perceptions from sensory input by drawing on our experiences and expectations

What is selective attention?

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

What is the cocktail party effect?

The ability to attend to only one voice among many

What is inattentional blindness?

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

What is change blindness?

Failing to notice changes in the environment

What is choice blindness?

Failing to notice discrepancies between our actual choices and the outcomes we are presented with

What is a pop-out?

A strikingly distinct stimulus that demands our attention

What is transduction?

Conversion of one form of energy into another

How does transduction work in sensation?

It transforms sensory stimuli into neural impulses our brains can interpret

What is psychophysics?

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them

What is the absolute threshold?

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

What is signal detection theory?

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation

What is a subliminal?

A stimulus below one’s absolute threshold

What is priming?

The unconscious activation of certain associations that predisposes one’s perception, memory, or response

What is the difference threshold?

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

What is Weber’s law?

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

What is sensory adaptation?

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation