Psych quiz 1 unit 1b

Perception

The psychological process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to recognize meaningful objects and events

bottom-up processing

sensory analysis starting at the raw physical entry level and working up to brain integration

Top-down processing

information processing guided by higher level mental processes, past experiences, and expectations

Absolute threshold

The minimum intensity of a stimulus needed for detection 50% of the time

signal detection theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect a fain stimuli, depending on background noise and a person’s experience, expectations, and alertness

difference threshold

The minimum difference between two stimuli required to detect a change 50% of the time

Weber’s law

The principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a fixed amount) to be perceived as different

Transduction

The conversion of one form of physical sensory energy (like light or sound waves) into neural signals the brain can read

rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and function well in low light or peripheral vision

cones

retinal receptors concentrated near the center of the retina that detect fine detail and color in well-lit conditions

accommodation

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

The theory that the retina contains three distinct color receptors (red, green, blue) that combine to produce all perceived colors

opponent process theory

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

Parellel processing

the brain’s ability to analyze multiple features of a sensory scene (color, motion shape and depth) all at once

frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time, which determines sound pitch

pitch

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness, directly dependent on wave frequency

place theory

links perceived pitch to the specific spot along the cochlea’s basilar membrane that is stimulated (explains high pitches best)

frequency theory

links perceived pitch to the rate at which neural impulses travel up the auditory nerve (explains low pitch the best)

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to hair cell receptors or the auditory nerve

conduction hearing loss

hearing loss caused by physical damage to mechanical structure of outer or middle ear that conducts sound waves