Chapter 4

Question 1

signal-detection theory

Answer 1

depends on intensity, confidence and noise in a system

Question 2

absolute threshhold

Answer 2

the minimum amount of stimulation that an organism can detect for a specific type of sensory input

Question 3

additive color mixing

Answer 3

formation of colors by superimposing lights, putting more light into the mixture than exists in any one light itself

Question 4

afterimage

Answer 4

image the persists after stimulus is removed, complementary color

Question 5

binocular depth cues

Answer 5

clues about distance based on differing views from two eyes

Question 6

bottom-up processing

Answer 6

in form perception, progression from individual elements to the whole

Question 7

cochlea

Answer 7

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

Question 8

complementary colors

Answer 8

pairs of colors that produce gray tones when added together

Question 9

cones

Answer 9

visual receptors involved in day and color vision

Question 10

farsightedness

Answer 10

close objects appear blury

Question 11

feature analysis

Answer 11

detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a complex form

Question 12

feature detectors

Answer 12

neurons that respond selectively to specific features of more complex stimuli

Question 13

fovea

Answer 13

tiny spot in the center of the retina that contains only cones, vision is best at this spot

Question 14

gustatory system

Answer 14

sensory system for taste, stimuli and soluble chemicals, 4 tastes are sweet sour bitter salty (unami?)

Question 15

inattentional blindness

Answer 15

failure to see visual objects because one’s attention is focused elsewhere

Question 16

JND

Answer 16

smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect

Question 17

lens

Answer 17

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

Question 18

monocular depth cues

Answer 18

clues about distance based on image from either eye alone

Question 19

nearsightedness

Answer 19

distant objects are blury

Question 20

olfactory system

Answer 20

sensory system for smell, stimuli is chemical substances in the air

Question 21

optic chiasm

Answer 21

point at which the optic nerves from the inside half of each eye cross over and then project to the opposite half of the brain

Question 22

optic disk

Answer 22

hole in the retina where optic nerves exit eye, blind spot

Question 23

perceptual constancy

Answer 23

tendency to experience a stable perception in the face of continually changing sensory input

Question 24

phi phenomenon

Answer 24

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

Question 25

pictorial depth cues

Answer 25

clues about distance can be given in a flat picture

Question 26

psychophysics

Answer 26

the study of how physical stimuli and translated into psychological experience

Question 27

pupil

Answer 27

opening in center of iris, controls amount of light, dilates in the dark

Question 28

retina

Answer 28

neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the eye, absorbs light, processes images and sends visual information to the back of brain

Question 29

retinal disparity

Answer 29

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

Question 30

rods

Answer 30

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

Question 31

subliminal perception

Answer 31

the registration of sensory input without conscious awareness

Question 32

subtractive color mixing

Answer 32

formation of colors by removing some wavelengths of light

Question 33

tactile system

Answer 33

sensory system for touch, receptors can register pressure warmth cold and pain

Question 34

top-down processing

Answer 34

in for perception, a progression from the whole to the elements

Question 35

visual agnosi

Answer 35

inability to recognize objects

Question 36

visual system

Answer 36

stimuli is light(electromagnetic wave), wavelength is color, amplitude is brightness, purity is saturation

Question 37

auditory system

Answer 37

sound waves, vibrations of molecules travel through medium, amplitude is loudness, wavelength is pitch, purity is timbre

Question 38

main visual pathway

Answer 38

color, form, contrast, motion

Question 39

second visual pathway

Answer 39

coordination of visual and other sensory input

Question 40

primary visual cortex

Answer 40

in occipital lobe, handles initial processing of visual input

Question 41

receptive fields

Answer 41

collections of rods and cones that funnel signals to specific visual cells in the retina and brain