1. Sensation and Perception Chapter 3

2. Sensation

3. The process of detecting a physical stimulus, such as light, sound, heat, or pressure.

4. Perception

5. The process of integrating, organizing, and interpreting sensation.

6. Sensory Receptors

7. Specialized cells unique to each sense organ that respond to a particular form of sensory stimulation

8. Transduction

9. The process by which a form of physical energy is converted into a coded neural signal that can be processed by the nervous system

10. Absolute Threshold

11. The smallest possible strength of a stimulus that can be detected half the time.

12. Difference Threshold

13. The smallest possible difference between two stimuli that can be detected half the time; also called just noticeable difference.

14. Weber’s Law

15. A principle of sensation that holds the size of the just noticeable difference will vary depending on its relation to the strength of the original stimulus

16. Sensory Adaption

17. The decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus

18. Subliminal perception

19. The perception of stimuli that are below the threshold of conscious awareness

20. Wavelength

21. The distance from on wave peak to another

22. Cornea

23. A clear membrane covering the visible part of the eye that helps gather and direct incoming light

24. Pupil

25. The opening in the iris that change size to let in different amounts of light

26. Iris

27. The colored part of the eye, which is the muscle that controls the size of the pupil

28. Iridology

29. A pseudoscience based on the unproven notion that the physical and psychological functioning of an individual is represented in marking of the iris

30. Lens

31. A transparent structure located behind the pupil that actively focuses, or bends, light as it enters the eye

32. Accommodation

33. The process by which the lens changes shape to focus incoming light so that it falls on the retina

34. Retina

35. A thin, light-sensitive membrane located at the back of the eye that contains the sensory receptors for vision.

36. Rods

37. The long, thin light-sensitive membrane located at the back of the eye that contains the sensory receptors for vision and night vision

38. Cones

39. The short, thick, pointed sensory receptors of the eye that detect color and are responsible for color vision and visual acuity

40. Fovea

41. A small area in the center of the retina, composed entirely of cones, where visual information is most sharply focused.

42. Optic Disk

43. Area of the retina without rods or cones where the optic nerve exits the back of the eye

44. Blind spot

45. The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye; producing a small gap in the field of vision

46. Ganglion cells

47. In the retina, the specialized neurons that connect to the bipolar cells, the bundled axons of the ganglion cells form the optic nerve

48. Bipolar cells

49. In the retina, the specialized neuron that connects the rods and cones with the ganglion cells.

50. Optic nerve

51. The thick nerve that exits from the back of the eye and carries visual information to the visual information to the visual cortex in the brain

52. Optic Chiasm

53. Point in the brain where the optic nerve fibers from each eye meet and partly cross over to the opposite side of the brain

54. Trichormatic theory of color vision

55. The theory that the sensation of color results because of the cones in the retina are especially sensitive to either red light, green light,or blue light

56. Color blindness

57. One of several inherited forms of color deficiency or weakness in which an individual cannot distinguish between certain colors

58. Afterimage

59. A visual experience that occurs after the original source of stimulation is no longer present

60. Opponent-process theory of color vision

61. The theory that color vision is the product of opposing pairs of color receptors, red/green, blue/yellow, and black/white; when one member of color pair is stimulated the other is not

62. Audition

63. The technical term for hearing

64. Loudness

65. The intensity (or amplitude) of a sound wave, measured in decibels

66. Amplitude

67. The intensity or amount of energy of a wave, reflected In the height of the wave; the amplitude of a sound determines loudness

68. Decibel

69. The unit of measurement for loudness

70. Pitch

71. The relative highness or lowness of a sound, determined by the frequency of a sound wave.

72. Frequency

73. The rate of vibration, or the number of sound waves per second

74. Timbre

75. The distinctive quality of a sound, determined by the complexity of a sound wave

76. Outer Ear

77. The part of the ear that collects sound waves; consists of the pinna, the ear canal, and the eardrum

78. Eardrum

79. A tightly stretched membrane at the end of the ear canal that vibrates when hit by sound wave

80. Middle ear

81. The part of the ear that amplifies sound waves, consist of three small bones, the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup

82. Inner Ear

83. The part of the ear where sound is transduced into neural impulses; consist of the cochlea and semicircular canals

84. Cochlea

85. The coiled, fluid-filled inner-ear structure that contains the sensory receptors for sound

86. Basilar Membrane

87. The membrane within the cochlea of the ear that contains the hair cells

88. Hair cells

89. The hair like sensory receptors for sound, found in the basilar membrane of the cochlea

90. Frequency theory

91. The view that the basilar membrane vibrates at the same frequency as the sound wave

92. Place theory

93. The view that different frequencies cause larger vibrations at different locations along the basilar membrane

94. Olfaction

95. Technical name for the sense smell

96. Gustation

97. Technical name for the sense of taste.

98. Olfactory bulb

99. The enlarged ending of the olfactory cortex at the front of the brain where the sensation of smell is registered

100. Pheromones

101. Chemical signals released by an animal that communicates information and affect the behavior of other animals of the same species

102. Taste buds

103. The specialized sensory receptors for taste that are located on the tongue and inside the mouth and throat

104. Pain

105. The unpleasant sensation of physical discomfort or suffering that can occur in varying degrees of intensity

106. Gate-control theory

107. The theory that pain is a product of both physiological and psychological factors that cause spinal gates to open and relay patterns of intense stimulation to the brain, which perceives them as pain.

108. Substance P

109. A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of pain messages to the brain

110. Kinesthetic sense

111. The technical name for the sense of location and position of body parts in relation to one another

112. Proprioceptros

113. Sensory receptors, located in the muscles and joints, that provide information about body position and movement.

114. Vestibular sense

115. The technical name for the sense of balance, or equilibrium.

116. ESP (extrasensory perception)

117. Perception of information by some means other than through the normal process of sensation

118. Parapsychology

119. The scientific investigation of claims of paranormal phenomena and abilities

120. Bottom-up processing

121. Information processing that emphasizes the importance of the sensory receptors in detecting the basic features of a stimulus in the process of recognizing a whole pattern; also called data-driven processing

122. Top-down processing

123. Information processing that emphasizes the importance of the observer’s knowledge, exceptions, and other cognitive processes, in arriving at meaningful perception; analysis that moves from the whole parts; also called conceptually driven processing

124. Gestalt psychology

125. a school of psychology founded in Germany in the early 1900s that maintained that our sensations are actively processed according to consistent perceptual rules that result in meaningful whole perceptions

126. Figure-ground relationship

127. A Gestalt principle of perceptual organization that states that we automatically separate the elements of a perception into the feature that clearly stands out and its less distinct in the background

128. Depth perception

129. The use of visual cues to perceive the distance or three-dimensional characteristics of objects

130. Monocular cues

131. Distance or depth cues that can be processed by either eye alone

132. Binocular cues

133. distances or depth cues that require the use of both eyes

134. Perceptual cues

135. The tendency to perceive objects, especially familiar objects, as constant and unchanging despite changes in sensory input

136. Size constancy

137. The perception of an object as maintaining the same shape regardless of the image produced on the retina

138. Shape constancy

139. The perception of an object as maintaining the same shape regardless of the image produced on the retina

140. Brightness constancy

141. The perception that the brightness of an object remains the same even though the lighting conditions change

142. Perceptual illusion

143. The misperceptions of the true characteristics of an object or an image

144. Muller-Lyer Illusion

145. A famous visual illusion involving the misperception of the identical length of two lines, one with an arrow pointed inward, one with an arrow pointed outwards

146. Moon illusion

147. A visual involving the misperception that the moon is larger when it is on the horizon than when is directly overhead

148. Perceptual set

149. the influence of prior assumptions and exceptions on perceptual interpretations.

150. KEY PEOPLE

151. Karl Duncker

152. German Gestalt psychologist who is best known for his studies on the perception of motion; also studies the perception of pain and the effect of past experience on perception.

153. Max Wertheimer

154. German psychologist who founded Gestalt psychology in the early 1900s, immigrated to the United States in 1933, studied the optical illusion of apparent movement, and described principles of perception