ch4 vocab*

Question 1

Lens

Answer 1

the transparent eye structure that focuses the light rays falling on the retina

Question 2

Pupil

Answer 2

the opening in the center of the iris that helps regulate the amount of light

Question 3

Retina

Answer 3

neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the eye

Question 4

Cones

Answer 4

specialized visual receptors that play a key role in daylight vision and color vision

Question 5

Fovea

Answer 5

the retina’s area of central focus

Question 6

Rods

Answer 6

visual receptors that play a key role in night vision and peripheral vision

Question 7

Iris

Answer 7

a colored muscle that adjusts light intake

Question 8

Opponent processing theory

Answer 8

color perception depends on receptors that make antagonistic responses to three pairs of colors

Question 9

Feature detectors

Answer 9

neurons that respond selectively to very specific features of more complex stimuli

Question 10

Trichromatic theory

Answer 10

human eye has 3 types of receptors with differing sensitivities to different light wavelengths

Question 11

Perceptual set

Answer 11

a readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way

Question 12

Inattentional blindness

Answer 12

failure to see fully visible objects in a visual display because one’s attention is focused elsewhere

Question 13

Bottom-up processing

Answer 13

sensory analysis that starts at the entry level

Question 14

Binocular depth cues

Answer 14

clues about distance based on the differing views of the two eyes

Question 15

Phi phenomenon

Answer 15

the illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession

Question 15

Monocular depth cues

Answer 15

clues about distance based on the image from either eye alone

Question 16

Depth perception

Answer 16

interpretation of visual cues that indicate how near or far away objects are

Question 17

Top-down processing

Answer 17

in form perception, a progress from the whole to the elements

Question 18

Retinal disparity

Answer 18

cue used in depth perception based on the fact that objects within 25 feet project images to slightly different locations on the left and right retinas

Question 18

Parallel processing

Answer 18

processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Question 19

Visual illusion

Answer 19

an apparently inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and its physical reality

Question 20

Cochlea

Answer 20

the fluid-filled, coiled tunnel in the inner ear that contains the receptors for hearing

Question 21

Basilar membrane

Answer 21

runs the length of the cochlea in the inner ear and holds the auditory receptors, called hair cells

Question 22

Place theory

Answer 22

perception of pitch corresponds to the vibration of different portions along the basilar membrane

Question 23

Audition

Answer 23

the sensor or act of hearing

Question 24

Middle ear

Answer 24

transmits the eardrum’s vibrations through a piston made of three tiny bones to the cochlea

Question 25

Frequency theory

Answer 25

perception of pitch corresponds to the rate at which the entire basilar membrane vibrates

Question 26

Perception

Answer 26

the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input

Question 26

Signal detection theory

Answer 26

predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation

Question 26

Sensation

Answer 26

the stimulation of sense organs

Question 27

Priming

Answer 27

the activation of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

Question 28

absolute threshold

Answer 28

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Question 29

Weber’s Law

Answer 29

for their difference to be perceptible, two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion (percentage) - not a constant amount

Question 30

Subliminal

Answer 30

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 30

difference threshold

Answer 30

the minimum difference a person can detect between any two stimuli half the time

Question 30

Transduction

Answer 30

conversion of one form of energy into another

Question 31

Cocktail party effect

Answer 31

your ability to attend to only one voice among many

Question 31

Change blindness

Answer 31

failing to notice changes in the environment

Question 32

selective attention

Answer 32

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Question 33

Blind spot

Answer 33

where the optic nerve leaves the eye there are no receptor cells

Question 34

Gustatory system

Answer 34

sensory system for taste

Question 35

Sensory adaptation

Answer 35

a gradual decline in sensitivity to prolonged stimulation

Question 36

Olfactory system

Answer 36

sensory system for smell

Question 37

Gestalt

Answer 37

individual elements of the figure come together to form a picture

Question 38

Gate-control theory

Answer 38

spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

Question 38

Vestibular sense

Answer 38

monitors your head’s (and thus your body’s position and movement

Question 38

Kinesthesis

Answer 38

your sensor of the position and movement of your body parts

Question 39

Psychophysics

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Accommodation

Answer 40

process where the lens focuses the rays by changing its curvature

Question 41

Perceptual constancy

Answer 41

perceiving objects as unchanging