psych 101 sensation and preception

Qualitative

type or quality of a stimulus

Quantitative

amount or intensity of a stimulus.

Sensory adaptation

receptors detect this stimulus

Bottom up processing

without any prior knowledge or experience

Top down processing

have prior knowledge in order to detect stimuli

Absolute threshold

Can you detect it at all?

Difference threshold

Can you detect a change between two stimuli?

Signal deception theory

detecting a stimulus amid background noise

Sensation

sensory receptors detecting  stimulus 

Transduction

convert  physical or chemical stimuli (light, sound, pressure, chemicals) into an electrical signal ( translating) 

Perception

organizing and interpreting incoming sensory information to recognize objects 

Just noticeable difference

amount of change required to produce a noticeable difference in experience

Webers law

size of the noticeable change depends on the original stimulus

Synesthesia

perceptual phenomenon where stimulation of one sensory pathway automatically triggers experiences in another sense

retina

thin layer of tissue at the back of the eye thats responsible for detecting light

Cones

responsible for color vision and fine detail 

Fovea

a small area in the retina with the highest concentration of cones for sharp central vision

Rods

sensitive to low light, motion, and peripheral vision

Cornea

the clear outer layer that helps focus light entering the eye ( front) 

Convergence

based on how much your eyes turn inward to focus on something close

Binocular disparity

based on the difference between the images each eye sees

Gustation

chemical sense (uses taste buds)

Haptic sense

physical sense (pressure, temperature, pain)

audition

the full sensory system for hearing