Studied by 58 PeopleTags & Description
Sensation
the process where sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment
Perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information
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
Selective Attention
the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Inattentional Blindness
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
Change Blindness
failing to notice changes in the environment
Psychophysics
the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them
Absolute Threshold
the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent 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
Priming
the activation of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response
Difference Threshold
the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time
Weber's Law
the principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
Sensory Adaptation
diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
Transduction
conversion of one form of energy into another
Sensory Interaction
the principle that one sense may influence another
Sensory Habituation
a decrease in perceptual response to a repeated stimulus
Perceptual Hypothesis
an initial guess regarding how to perceive a stimulus pattern
Perceptual Habits
ingrained patterns of organization and attention that affect our daily experience
Divided Attention
devoting mental space or effort to various tasks or parts of a task