part 4

Question 1

What are hypnagogic sensations?

Answer 1

Bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly, while transitioning to sleep.

Also called hypnic sensations.

Question 2

What are delta waves?

Answer 2

The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.

Question 3

What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?

Answer 3

A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm.

Question 4

What is insomnia?

Answer 4

Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

Question 5

What is narcolepsy?

Answer 5

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks.

Question 6

What is sleep apnea?

Answer 6

A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.

Question 7

What is REM sleep behavior disorder?

Answer 7

A sleep disorder in which normal REM paralysis does not occur; instead, twitching, talking, or even kicking or punching may occur.

Question 8

What is a dream?

Answer 8

A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind.

Question 9

What is REM rebound?

Answer 9

The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation.

Question 10

What is sensation?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What are sensory receptors?

Answer 11

Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli.

Question 12

What is perception?

Answer 12

The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

Question 13

What is bottom-up processing?

Answer 13

Information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.

Question 14

What is top-down processing?

Answer 14

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes.

Question 15

What is transduction?

Answer 15

Conversion of one form of energy into another.

Question 16

What is psychophysics?

Answer 16

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them.

Question 17

What is absolute threshold?

Answer 17

The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Question 18

What is signal detection theory?

Answer 18

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation.

Question 19

What does subliminal mean?

Answer 19

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Question 20

What is priming?

Answer 20

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations.

Question 21

What is difference threshold?

Answer 21

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time.

Question 22

What is Weber’s law?

Answer 22

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.

Question 23

What is sensory adaptation?

Answer 23

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Question 24

What is wavelength?

Answer 24

The distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next.

Question 25

What is hue?

Answer 25

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light.

Question 26

What is intensity?

Answer 26

The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave.

Question 27

What is the cornea?

Answer 27

The eye’s clear, protective outer layer.

Question 28

What is the pupil?

Answer 28

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

Question 29

What is the iris?

Answer 29

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye.

Question 30

What is the lens?

Answer 30

The transparent structure behind the pupil that helps focus images on the retina.

Question 31

What is the retina?

Answer 31

The light-sensitive back inner surface of the eye.

Question 32

What is accommodation?

Answer 32

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images.

Question 33

What are rods?

Answer 33

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray.

Question 34

What are cones?

Answer 34

Retinal receptors that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions.

Question 35

What is the optic nerve?

Answer 35

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

Question 36

What is the blind spot?

Answer 36

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye.

Question 37

What is the fovea?

Answer 37

The central focal point in the retina.

Question 38

What is Young–Helmholtz trichromatic theory?

Answer 38

The theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors.

Question 39

What is opponent-process theory?

Answer 39

The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision.

Question 40

What are feature detectors?

Answer 40

Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus.

Question 41

What is audition?

Answer 41

The sense or act of hearing.

Question 42

What is frequency?

Answer 42

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time.

Question 43

What is pitch?

Answer 43

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness.

Question 44

What is the middle ear?

Answer 44

The chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea.

Question 45

What is the cochlea?

Answer 45

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear.

Question 46

What is the inner ear?

Answer 46

The innermost part of the ear.

Question 47

What is sensorineural hearing loss?

Answer 47

The most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells.

Question 48

What is conduction hearing loss?

Answer 48

A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves.

Question 49

What is a cochlear implant?

Answer 49

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals.

Question 50

What is place theory?

Answer 50

The theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated.

Question 51

What is frequency theory?

Answer 51

The theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone.

Question 52

What is gate-control theory?

Answer 52

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological 'gate' that blocks pain signals.

Question 53

What is gustation?

Answer 53

Our sense of taste.

Question 54

What is olfaction?

Answer 54

Our sense of smell.

Question 55

What is kinesthesis?

Answer 55

Our movement sense; our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.

Question 56

What is vestibular sense?

Answer 56

Our balance sense; our sense of body movement and position.

Question 57

What is sensory interaction?

Answer 57

The principle that one sense can influence another.

Question 58

What is embodied cognition?

Answer 58

The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments.