Sensation and Perception Flashcards
What is Synesthesia “perceive together”
This is a condition where two senses are sensed/used at the same time, one type of simulation evokes the sensation of another.
What is sensation “detection and encoding”
This is when our senses collect some kind of information from the environment and covert it to a signal that can travel to the brain
What are our Senses
Touch, taste, sound, sight, and smell (nervous system). Our senses depend on each other
What is Transduction
This is the transformation of stimulus energy to electrochemical energy of neural impulses (except smell)
What is Perception “interpretation”
This is the process which we select, organize, and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events
What is Bottom Up Processing “sensory analysis”
This begins with a stimulus and works upward till the object is formed, it requires no prior knowledge
What is Top Down Processing
This is when our background knowledge influences of perception, it is influenced prior knowledge.
What is Prosopagnosia
This is face blindness (deficiency in top-down processing)
What is Absolute Threshold
This is the smallest amount of stimulus that can be detected
What is the Signal Detection Theory
This predicts how and when we detect the presence of a weak stimulus(signal) amid background stimulation(noise)
What is Subliminal Sensation
This is when the stimuli are below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. Most of our information processing occurs naturally
What is the Difference Threshold “Just Noticeable Difference” (JND)
The amount that must be changed in order for a difference to be noticeable or detectable, at least half
What is Weber’s Law
What is Sensory Adaptation
This is a reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it
What is Selective Attention
This is when we center our attention on important elements of our environment while other things bleed into the background and goes unnoticed
