A.P. Psychology Unit 3: Sensation and Perception Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts in Unit 3 (Sensation and Perception), including visual and auditory systems, chemical senses, touch, kinesthesis, vestibular sense, and perceptual processes.

Sensation

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

Absolute Threshold

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

Difference threshold (Weber's Law)

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time, governed by Weber's Law which states that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount.

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant, unchanging stimulation.

Synesthesia

A phenomenon where one sensation produces another, causing a sensory experience to be felt through multiple senses simultaneously.

Sensory Interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another, such as when the smell of food influences its taste.

Transduction

The process of converting physical or environmental sensory energies into neural signals that the brain can interpret.

Retina

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye containing receptor rods and cones along with layers of neurons that process visual information.

Blind Spot

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a spot where no receptor cells (rods or cones) are located.

Lens (Accommodation)

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape through accommodation to focus light images on the retina.

Rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, necessary for peripheral and twilight vision when cones do not respond.

Cones

Retinal receptor cells concentrated near the center of the retina that function in daylight or well-lit conditions to detect fine detail and color.

Fovea

The central focal point in the retina around which the eye's cones cluster.

Ganglion Cells

Neurons in the retina whose axons converge to form the optic nerve that carries visual signals to the brain.

Trichromatic Theory

The theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors (sensitive to red, green, and blue) which can produce the perception of any color when stimulated in combination.

Opponent-Process Theory

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

Afterimage Effect

A visual sensory sensation that remains after the original stimulus has been removed, explained by opponent-process theory.

Prosopagnosia

A neurological condition characterized by the inability to recognize faces despite intact basic visual processing.

Blindsight

A condition in which a person can respond to visual stimuli without consciously experiencing sight.

Place Theory

In hearing, the theory that pitch perception depends on the specific place along the basilar membrane of the cochlea that is stimulated.

Frequency Theory

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, enabling pitch perception.

Volley Theory

An extension of frequency theory stating that groups of auditory nerve fibers fire neural impulses in rapid, alternating succession (volleys) to perceive high-frequency sounds.

Conduction Hearing Loss

Hearing loss caused by physical damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves through the outer or middle ear to the cochlea.

Sensorineural Deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the hair cell receptors of the cochlea or to the auditory nerves.

Olfaction

The chemical sense of smell.

Pheromones

Chemical signals released by an organism that influence the behavior or physiology of others of the same species.

Six Tastes

The basic taste sensations detected by gustatory receptors: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Umami, and Olegustus.

Hot Sensation

The sensation of heat produced by the simultaneous stimulation and activation of warm and cold skin receptors.

Gate Control Theory

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.

Phantom Limb Sensations

The sensory experience or feeling of pain and sensation coming from a limb that has been amputated.

Vestibular Sense

The sensory system that monitors the head's position and movement, providing balance through the semicircular canals in the inner ear.

Kinesthesis

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.

Perception

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

Bottom-Up Processing

Information processing that begins at the sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing in the brain.

Top-Down Processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience, context, and expectations.

Perceptual Sets

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another, shaped by schemas, context, experience, and culture.

Gestalt Principles

Principles of visual organization describing how the brain groups sensory elements into meaningful wholes, including Closure, Figure and Ground, Proximity, and Similarity.

Cocktail Party Effect

The ability to selectively focus attention on a single voice or stimulus among a loud, multi-talker environment.

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere.

Change Blindness

Failing to notice significant changes in the environment or visual scene.

Binocular Cues

Depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes, including Retinal Disparity and Convergence.

Monocular Cues

Depth cues available to either eye alone, including Relative Clarity, Relative Size, Texture Gradient, Linear Perspective, and Interposition.

Perceptual Constancies

Perceiving objects as unchanging in aspects such as Shape and Size, even as illumination and retinal images change.