chapter 5

Question 1

minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time

Answer 1

absolute threshold

Question 2

continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the stimulus

Answer 2

afterimage

Question 3

height of a wave

Answer 3

amplitude

Question 4

thin strip of tissue within the cochlea that contains the hair cells which serve as the sensory receptors for the auditory system

Answer 4

basilar membrane

Question 5

two-eared cue to localize sound

Answer 5

binaural cue

Question 6

cue that relies on the use of both eyes

Answer 6

binocular cue

Question 7

slightly different view of the world that each eye receives

Answer 7

binocular disparity

Question 8

point where we cannot respond to visual information in that portion of the visual field

Answer 8

blind spot

Question 9

system in which perceptions are built from sensory input

Answer 9

bottom-up processing

Question 10

organizing our perceptions into complete objects rather than as a series of parts

Answer 10

closure

Question 11

fluid-filled, snail-shaped structure that contains the sensory receptor cells of the auditory system

Answer 11

cochlea

Question 12

electronic device that consists of a microphone, a speech processor, and an electrode array to directly stimulate the auditory nerve to transmit information to the brain

Answer 12

cochlear implant

Question 13

failure in the vibration of the eardrum and/or movement of the ossicles

Answer 13

conductive hearing loss

Question 14

specialized photoreceptor that works best in bright light conditions and detects color

Answer 14

cone

Question 15

deafness from birth

Answer 15

congenital deafness

Question 16

genetic disorder that results in the inability to experience pain

Answer 16

congenital insensitivity to pain (congenital analgesia)

Question 17

transparent covering over the eye

Answer 17

cornea

Question 18

partial or complete inability to hear

Answer 18

deafness

Question 19

logarithmic unit of sound intensity

Answer 19

decibel (dB)

Question 20

ability to perceive depth

Answer 20

depth perception

Question 21

all the electromagnetic radiation that occurs in our environment

Answer 21

electromagnetic spectrum

Question 22

segmenting our visual world into figure and ground

Answer 22

figure-ground relationship

Question 23

small indentation in the retina that contains cones

Answer 23

fovea

Question 24

number of waves that pass a given point in a given time period

Answer 24

frequency

Question 25

field of psychology based on the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts

Answer 25

Gestalt

Question 26

(also, continuity) we are more likely to perceive continuous, smooth flowing lines rather than jagged, broken lines

Answer 26

good continuation

Question 27

auditory receptor cell of the inner ear

Answer 27

hair cell

Question 28

cycles per second; measure of frequency

Answer 28

hertz (HZ)

Question 29

failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention

Answer 29

inattentional blindness

Question 30

middle ear ossicle; also known as the anvil

Answer 30

incus

Question 31

signal that some type of tissue damage has occurred

Answer 31

inflammatory pain

Question 32

sound coming from one side of the body is more intense at the closest ear because of the attenuation of the sound wave as it passes through the head

Answer 32

interaural level difference

Question 33

small difference in the time at which a given sound wave arrives at each ear

Answer 33

interaural timing difference

Question 34

colored portion of the eye

Answer 34

iris

Question 35

difference in stimuli required to detect a difference between the stimuli

Answer 35

just noticeable difference

Question 36

perception of the body’s movement through space

Answer 36

kinaesthesia

Question 37

curved, transparent structure that provides additional focus for light entering the eye

Answer 37

lens

Question 38

perceive depth in an image when two parallel lines seem to converge

Answer 38

linear perspective

Question 39

middle ear ossicle; also known as the hammer

Answer 39

malleus

Question 40

touch receptor that responds to pressure and lower frequency vibrations

Answer 40

Meissner’s corpuscle

Question 41

results in a degeneration of inner ear structures that can lead to hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, and an increase in pressure within the inner ear

Answer 41

Ménière's disease

Question 42

touch receptor that responds to light touch

Answer 42

Merkel's disk

Question 43

one-eared cue to localize sound

Answer 43

monaural cue

Question 44

cue that requires only one eye

Answer 44

monocular cue

Question 45

pain from damage to neurons of either the peripheral or central nervous system

Answer 45

neuropathic pain

Question 46

sensory signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain

Answer 46

nociception

Question 47

bulb-like structure at the tip of the frontal lobe, where the olfactory nerves begin

Answer 47

olfactory bulb

Question 48

sensory cell for the olfactory system

Answer 48

olfactory receptor

Question 49

color is coded in opponent pairs: black-white, yellow-blue, and red-green

Answer 49

opponent-process theory of color perception

Question 50

X-shaped structure that sits just below the brain’s ventral surface; represents the merging of the optic nerves from the two eyes and the separation of information from the two sides of the visual field to the opposite side of the brain

Answer 50

optic chiasm

Question 51

carries visual information from the retina to the brain

Answer 51

optic nerve

Question 52

touch receptor that detects transient pressure and higher frequency vibrations

Answer 52

Pacinian corpuscle

Question 53

ability to discriminate among different figures and shapes

Answer 53

pattern perception

Question 54

(also, crest) highest point of a wave

Answer 54

peak

Question 55

way that sensory information is interpreted and consciously experienced

Answer 55

perception

Question 56

educated guess used to interpret sensory information

Answer 56

perceptual hypothesis

Question 57

chemical message sent by another individual

Answer 57

pheromone

Question 58

light-detecting cell

Answer 58

photoreceptor

Question 59

visible part of the ear that protrudes from the head

Answer 59

pinna

Question 60

perception of a sound’s frequency

Answer 60

pitch

Question 61

different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies

Answer 61

place theory of pitch perception

Question 62

organize perceptions into complete objects rather than as a series of parts

Answer 62

principle of closure

Question 63

perception of body position

Answer 63

proprioception

Question 64

things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together

Answer 64

proximity

Question 65

branch of psychology that studies the effects of physical stimuli on sensory perceptions and mental states

Answer 65

psychophysics

Question 66

small opening in the eye through which light passes

Answer 66

pupil

Question 67

behavioral tendency to respond “yes”

Answer 67

response bias

Question 68

light-sensitive lining of the eye

Answer 68

retina

Question 69

specialized photoreceptor that works well in low light conditions

Answer 69

rod

Question 70

touch receptor that detects stretch

Answer 70

Ruffini corpuscle

Question 71

what happens when sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor

Answer 71

sensation

Question 72

the true ability of the individual to detect the presence or absence of signals

Answer 72

sensitivity

Question 73

failure to transmit neural signals from the cochlea to the brain

Answer 73

sensorineural hearing loss

Question 74

not perceiving stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time

Answer 74

sensory adaptation

Question 75

technique used to determine the ability of the perceiver to separate true signals from background noise

Answer 75

signal detection analysis

Question 76

things that are alike tend to be grouped together

Answer 76

similarity

Question 77

middle ear ossicle; also known as the stirrup

Answer 77

stapes

Question 78

events that occur below the absolute threshold and of which we are not conscious

Answer 78

subliminal stimuli

Question 79

grouping of taste receptor cells with hair-like extensions that protrude into the central pore of the taste bud

Answer 79

taste bud

Question 80

sound’s frequency is coded by the activity level of a sensory neuron

Answer 80

temporal theory of pitch perception

Question 81

temperature perception

Answer 81

thermoception

Question 82

sound’s purity

Answer 82

timbre

Question 83

interpretation of sensations is influenced by available knowledge, experiences, and thoughts

Answer 83

top-down processing

Question 84

conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential

Answer 84

transduction

Question 85

color vision is mediated by the activity across the three groups of cones

Answer 85

trichromatic theory of color perception

Question 86

lowest point of a wave

Answer 86

trough

Question 87

eardrum

Answer 87

tympanic membrane

Question 88

taste for monosodium glutamate

Answer 88

umami

Question 89

spinning sensation

Answer 89

vertigo

Question 90

contributes to our ability to maintain balance and body posture

Answer 90

vestibular sense

Question 91

portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see

Answer 91

visible spectrum

Question 92

length of a wave from one peak to the next peak

Answer 92

wavelength