Chapter4

Question 1

additive color mixing

Answer 1

A way to produce a given spectral pattern in which different wavelengths of lights are mixed. The percept is determined by the interaction of these wavelengths with receptors in the eye and is a psychological process.

Question 2

audition

Answer 2

The sense of sound perception.

Question 3

binocular depth cues

Answer 3

Cues of depth perception that arise from the fact that people have two eyes.

Question 4

binocular disparity (or retinal disparity)

Answer 4

A cue of depth perception that is caused by the distance between a person’s eyes, which provides each eye with a slightly different image.

Question 5

bottom-up processing

Answer 5

A hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which data are relayed from one processing level to the next, always moving to a higher level of processing.

Question 6

cones

Answer 6

Retinal cells that respond to higher levels of illumination and result in color perception.

Question 7

cornea

Answer 7

The clear outer covering of the eye.

Question 8

eardrum (tympanic membrane)

Answer 8

A thin membrane, which sound waves vibrate, that marks the beginning of the middle ear.

Question 9

fovea

Answer 9

The center of the retina, where cones are densely packed.

Question 10

gustation

Answer 10

The sense of taste.

Question 11

haptic sense

Answer 11

The sense of touch.

Question 12

iris

Answer 12

The colored muscular circle on the surface of the eye; it changes shape to let in more or less light.

Question 13

kinesthetic sense

Answer 13

Perception of our limbs in space.

Question 14

lateral inhibition

Answer 14

A visual process in which adjacent photoreceptors tend to inhibit one another.

Question 15

monocular depth cues

Answer 15

Cues of depth perception that are available to each eye alone.

Question 16

olfaction

Answer 16

The sense of smell, which occurs when receptors in the nose respond to chemicals.

Question 17

olfactory bulb

Answer 17

The brain center for smell, located below the frontal lobes.

Question 18

olfactory epithelium

Answer 18

The thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that is embedded with smell receptors.

Question 19

perception

Answer 19

The processing, organization, and interpretation of sensory signals; it results in an internal representation of the stimulus.

Question 20

perceptual constancy

Answer 20

People correctly perceive objects as constant in their shape, size, color, and lightness, despite raw sensory data that could mislead perception.

Question 21

pupil

Answer 21

The small opening in the eye; it lets in light waves.

Question 22

receptive field

Answer 22

The region of visual space to which neurons in the primary visual cortex are sensitive.

Question 23

retina

Answer 23

The thin inner surface of the back of the eyeball. The retina contains the photoreceptors that transduce light into neural signals.

Question 24

rods

Answer 24

Retinal cells that respond to low levels of illumination and result in black-and-white perception.

Question 25

sensation

Answer 25

The sense organs’ responses to external stimuli and the transmission of these responses to the brain.

Question 26

sensory adaptation

Answer 26

When an observer’s sensitivity to stimuli decreases over time.

Question 27

signal detection theory (SDT)

Answer 27

A theory of perception based on the idea that the detection of a faint stimulus requires a judgment-it is not an all-or-none process.

Question 28

sound wave

Answer 28

The pattern of the changes in air pressure through time that results in the percept of a sound.

Question 29

subtractive color mixing

Answer 29

A way to produce a given spectral pattern in which the mixture occurs within the stimulus itself and is actually a physical, not psychological, process.

Question 30

taste buds

Answer 30

Sensory receptors that transduce taste information.

Question 31

top-down processing

Answer 31

A hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which information at higher levels of processing can also influence lower, “earlier” levels in the processing hierarchy.

Question 32

transduction

Answer 32

A process by which sensory receptors produce neural impulses when they receive physical or chemical stimulation.

Question 33

vestibular sense

Answer 33

Perception of balance.