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Sensation
Process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimuli from the environment.
Perception
Organizing, identifying, and interpreting sensory information.
Psychophysics
Study of physical characteristics of stimuli and how we perceive them.
Absolute threshold
Minimum needed to detect a stimulus on 50% of trials.
Just-noticeable-difference (JND)
Minimal change that can be detected 50% of the time.
Weber’s law
JND of a stimulus is a constant proportion regardless of intensity.
Signal detection theory
Idea that the intensity of stimuli and the psychological state of the person contribute to detection.
Adaptation
Stop noticing a stimulus that remains constant over time.
Wavelength
Color and distance between any two consecutive crests or troughs of a wave.
Amplitude
Brightness, the height of the crests of a wave.
Retina
Back of the eye, contains rods and cones that convert visual information into neural information.
Rods
Photoreceptors that respond to shades of gray and support nighttime vision.
Cones
Photoreceptors that respond to color and are responsible for high resolution color vision.
Fovea
Area in the retina that only contains cones for high acuity vision.
Photopigments
Substances sensitive to different wavelengths of the visible spectrum.
Optic nerve
Transmits visual information from the retina to the brain, causing a blind spot.
Opponent-process theory
Theory stating cone photoreceptors are linked to form three opposing color pairs.
Trichromatic theory
Theory stating three cone photopigments work together to produce color perception.
Monocular cues
Depth information from a scene viewed with one eye.
Binocular cues
Depth information from binocular disparity, the difference in retinal images of two eyes.
Visual association cortex
Regions of the brain where visual objects are reconstructed from feature detectors.
What vs. where pathway
What pathway refers to object identification (ventral stream), and where pathway refers to object location (dorsal stream).
Frequency (hearing)
The pitch of sound, measured in Hertz (Hz).
Amplitude (hearing)
The loudness of sound, measured in decibels (dB).
Timbre
The quality or resonance of sound that distinguishes different types of sound production.
Outer ear
Includes the visible part of the ear and the eardrum.
Inner ear
Includes the cochlea and auditory processing structures.
Frequency theory
Pitch is indicated by the frequency of auditory nerve firing.
Place theory
Different pitches arise from stimulation at different places along the basilar membrane.
Tonotopic organization
Arrangement of the auditory cortex where nearby frequencies are processed together.
Sound localization
Using two ears to determine the direction of sound.
Conductive hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the eardrum or ossicles.
Sensorineural hearing loss
Hearing loss due to problems with the cochlea or inner ear.
Epithelium
Mucous membrane in the nasal cavity with olfactory receptor neurons.
Glomeruli
Spherical clusters of neurons in the olfactory bulb.
Olfactory bulb
Structure above the nasal cavity communicating information to the primary olfactory cortex.
Vestibular sense
The sense of balance and spatial orientation.
Consciousness
Moment by moment awareness of internal and external worlds.
Mind/body problem
The relationship between brain activity and conscious decision-making.
Introspection
Examining one's own internal thoughts and feelings.
Focused awareness
Concentration on a single object while ignoring distractions.
Selective attention
Focusing awareness onto a particular aspect of experience.
Inattentional blindness
Failure to perceive objects that are not the focus of attention.
Change blindness
Failure to detect changes in a visual stimulus.
Automaticity
Performing a task without conscious awareness or attention.
Cognitive unconscious
Mental processes supporting everyday functioning without conscious awareness.
Subliminal perception
Perception occurring without conscious awareness.
Default mode network
Network of brain regions active when not focused on a task.
Arousal
A person's level of wakefulness or alertness.
Circadian rhythm
Biological process displaying a 24-hour oscillation of bodily arousal.
SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus)
Internal clock regulating sleep and alertness.
REM sleep
Stage of sleep associated with dreaming and rapid eye movement.
Insomnia
Difficulty falling or staying asleep.
Somnambulism
Sleepwalking, occurring during deep sleep stages.
Narcolepsy
Sudden sleep attacks occurring during waking activities.
Narcotics
Highly addictive pain-relieving substances.
Hallucinogens
Substances that alter perception and sensation.
Cognitive psychology
Study of mental activities and their operation.
Mental representation
Internal mental symbol that represents external reality.
Heuristics
Mental shortcuts for efficiently solving problems.
Representativeness heuristic
Judging likelihood based on similarity to prototypes.
Framing
The way an issue or decision is described influences perception.
Language development
Process of infants learning language, beginning with speech sounds.
General intelligence (g)
Spearman's theory of a general cognitive ability.
