Psych Chapter 5.1

Question 0

perception

Answer 0

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects/events

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

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

Question 2

bottom-up processing

Answer 2

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory info

Question 3

top-down processing

Answer 3

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

Question 4

psychophysics

Answer 4

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity and our psychological experience of them

Question 5

Weber’s law

Answer 5

the principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (as opposed to a constant amount)

Question 6

sensory adaptation

Answer 6

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Question 7

pupil

Answer 7

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Question 8

retina

Answer 8

the light sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layer of neurons that begin the processing of visual info

Question 9

fovea

Answer 9

the centra focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster