Chapter 5

Question 0

Perception

Answer 0

Process of organizing & interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects& events

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

The process by which our sensory receptors & nervous system receive & represent stimulus energies from our environment

Question 2

Bottom-up processing

Answer 2

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors & works up to the brains integration of sensory info

Question 3

Top-down processing

Answer 3

Info processing guided by higher level mental processes through experience/expectations

Question 4

Prosopagnosia

Answer 4

Complete sensation but incomplete perception, can’t recognize faces, no top down process

Question 5

Psychophysics

Answer 5

Study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli (intensity) and psychological experience of them

Question 6

Absolute threshold

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Signal detection theory

Answer 7

Theory predicting how/when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus “signal” background stimulation “noise”

Question 8

Subliminal

Answer 8

Below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Influences our behavior but doesn’t change it

Question 9

Priming

Answer 9

The activation, of certain associations, predisposing ones perception, memory or responses

Question 10

Difference threshold

Answer 10

The minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

Question 11

Webers law

Answer 11

The principle that, to be perceived as difference, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Question 12

Sensory adaptation

Answer 12

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Question 13

Transduction

Answer 13

Conversion of one form of energy into another/ encode physical energy as neural signals

Question 14

Wavelength

Answer 14

Distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next

Question 15

Hue

Answer 15

Dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color name (blue,green)

Question 16

Intensity

Answer 16

Amount if energy in a light/sound wave, which we perceive as brightness/loudness as determined by the waves amplitude

Question 17

Pupil

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Iris

Answer 18

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil & controls the size of the pupil opening

Question 19

Lens

Answer 19

Transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Question 20

Accommodation

Answer 20

Process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

Question 21

Retina

Answer 21

Light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Question 22

Acuity

Answer 22

Sharpness of vision

Question 23

Nearsightedness

Answer 23

A condition which near objects are seen more clearly than faraway objects

Question 24

Farsightedness

Answer 24

Condition in which faraway objects are seen more clearly than near objects

Question 25

Rods

Answer 25

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight light vision

Question 26

Cones

Answer 26

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight conditions

Question 27

Optic nerve

Answer 27

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Question 28

Blind spot

Answer 28

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

Question 29

Fovea

Answer 29

Central focal point in the retina, around which the eyes come cluster

Question 30

Feature detectors

Answer 30

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement

Question 31

Blindsight

Answer 31

Experiencing blindness in part of their field of vision

Question 32

Young-helmholtz trichromatic (3 color) theory

Answer 32

Theory that the retina contains 3 different color receptors 1=red 1=green 1=blue

Question 33

Opponent-process theory

Answer 33

Theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision

Question 34

Color constancy

Answer 34

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Question 35

Audition

Answer 35

The sense or act of hearing

Question 36

Frequency

Answer 36

of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (per second)

Question 37

Pitch

Answer 37

A tones experienced high/lowness; depends I. Frequency

Question 38

Middle ear

Answer 38

Chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup)

Question 39

Cochlea

Answer 39

Coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

Question 40

Inter ear

Answer 40

Inner most part of a ear, containing cochlea, semicircular canals and vestibular sacs

Question 41

Place theory

Answer 41

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea membrane is stimulated

Question 42

Frequency theory

Answer 42

In Hearing the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, this enabling us to sense it's pitch

Question 43

Condition hearing loss

Answer 43

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Question 44

Sensorineural heading loss

Answer 44

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea receptor cells or to the auditory nerves, nerve deafness

Question 45

Cochlear implant

Answer 45

Device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

Question 46

Gate-control theory

Answer 46

Theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals/allows them to pass on to he brain

Question 47

Sensory interaction

Answer 47

The principle that 2 senses may influence another, as when the smell of food influences it's taste

Question 48

McGurk effect

Answer 48

The body's compensation of hearing and seeing 2 different things

Question 49

Olfaction

Answer 49

Sense of smell

Question 50

Synaethesia

Answer 50

One sort of sensation produces another

Question 51

Kinesthesis

Answer 51

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Question 52

Vestibular sense

Answer 52

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

Question 53

Parallel processing

Answer 53

Processing several aspects of a problem simultaneously