Chapter Four - Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Absolute Threshold

Answer 1

Lowest level of a stimulus needed for the nervous system ti detect a change 50% of the time.

Question 2

Accommodation

Answer 2

Changing the shape of the lens to focus on objects near or far.

Question 3

Acuity

Answer 3

Sharpness of vision.

Question 4

Audition

Answer 4

Our sense of hearing.

Question 5

Basilar Membrane

Answer 5

Membrane supporting the organ of corti and hair cells in the cochlea.

Question 6

Binocular Depth Cues

Answer 6

Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes.

Question 7

Blind Spot

Answer 7

Region of the retina containing no rods and completely devoid of sense receptors.

Question 8

Bottom-Up Processing

Answer 8

Processing in which a whole is constructed from parts.

Question 9

Cochlea

Answer 9

Bony, spiral-shaped sense organ used for hearing.

Question 10

Colour Blindness

Answer 10

Inability to see some or all colours.

Question 11

Cones

Answer 11

Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in colour.

Question 12

Cornea

Answer 12

Part of the eye containing transparent cells that focus light on the retina.

Question 13

Dark Adaptation

Answer 13

Time in dark before rods regain maximum light sensitivity.

Question 14

Depth Perception

Answer 14

Ability to judge distance and 3D relations.

Question 15

Feature Detector Cell

Answer 15

Cell that detects lines and edges.

Question 16

Fovea

Answer 16

Central portion of the retina.

Question 17

Frequency Theory

Answer 17

Rate at which neurons fire the action potentials reproduces the pitch.

Question 18

Gate Control Model

Answer 18

Idea that pain is blocked or gated from consciousness by neural mechanisms in the spinal cord.

Question 19

Gustation

Answer 19

Our sense of tatse.

Question 20

Hue

Answer 20

Colour of light.

Question 21

Illusion

Answer 21

Perception in which the way we perceive a stimulus doesn’t match its physical reality.

Question 22

Inattentional Blindness

Answer 22

Failure to detect stimuli that are in plain sight when our attention is focused elsewhere.

Question 23

Just Noticeable Difference

Answer 23

The smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect.

Question 24

Lens

Answer 24

Part of the eye that changes curvature to keep images in focus.

Question 25

Monocular Depth Cues

Answer 25

Stimuli that enable us to judge depth using only one eye.

Question 26

Olfaction

Answer 26

Our sense of smell.

Question 27

Opponent Process Theory

Answer 27

Theory that we perceive colours in terms of three pairs of opponent colours. Either red or green, blue or yellow, and black or white.

Question 28

Optic Nerve

Answer 28

Nerve that travels from the retina to the brain.

Question 29

Organ of Corti

Answer 29

Tissue containing the hair cells necessary for hearing.

Question 30

Parallel Processing

Answer 30

Ability to attend many sense modalities simultaneously.

Question 31

Perception

Answer 31

The brain's interpretation of raw sensory inputs.

Question 32

Perceptual Constancy

Answer 32

The process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varies conditions.

Question 33

Perceptual Set

Answer 33

Set formed when expectations influence perceptions.

Question 34

Phantom Pain

Answer 34

Pain or discomfort felt in an amputated limb.

Question 35

Pheromone

Answer 35

Odourless chemical that serves as a social signal to members of one's species.

Question 36

Place Theory

Answer 36

A specific place along the basilar membrane matches a tone with a specific pitch.

Question 37

Proprioception

Answer 37

Our sense of body position.

Question 38

Psychophysics

Answer 38

The study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics.

Question 39

Pupil

Answer 39

Circular hole through which light enters the eye.

Question 40

Retina

Answer 40

Membrane at the back of the eye responsible for converting light into neural activity.

Question 41

Rods

Answer 41

Receptor cells in the retina allowing us to see in low levels of light.

Question 42

Selective Attention

Answer 42

Process of selecting one sensory channel and ignoring or minimizing others.

Question 43

Semicircular Canals

Answer 43

Three fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance.

Question 44

Sensation

Answer 44

Detection of physical energy by sense organs, which then send information to the brain.

Question 45

Sense Receptor

Answer 45

Specialized cell responsible for converting external stimuli into neural activity for a specific sensory system.

Question 46

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 46

Process in which activation is greatest when a stimulus is first detected.

Question 47

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 47

Theory regarding how stimuli are detected under different conditions.

Question 48

Somatosensory

Answer 48

Our sense of touch, temperature, and pain.

Question 49

Subliminal Perception

Answer 49

Perception below the limen, or threshold of conscious awareness.

Question 50

Synesthesia

Answer 50

A condition in which people experience cross-modal sensations.

Question 51

Taste Bud

Answer 51

Sense receptor in the tongue that responds to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, and perhaps fat.

Question 52

Timbre

Answer 52

Complexity or quality of sound that makes musical instruments, human voices, or other sources sound unique.

Question 53

Top-Down Processing

Answer 53

Conceptually driven processing influenced by beliefs and expectancies.

Question 54

Transduction

Answer 54

Process of converting an external energy or substance into electrical activity within neurons.

Question 55

Trichromatic Theory

Answer 55

Idea that colour vision is based on our sensitivity to three primary colours.

Question 56

Vestibular Sense

Answer 56

Our sense of equilibrium or balance.

Question 57

Weber's Law

Answer 57

Principle stating there is a constant proportional relationship between the JND and original stimulus intensity.