unit 2

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

data from eyes, ears, smell, touch, taste, etc.

Question 2

perception

Answer 2

brain sorts incoming data into meaningful and non-meaningful information, looking for patterns

Question 3

inattention blindness

Answer 3

failure to notice a fully-visible, but unexpected object

due to attention being engaged elsewhere

Question 4

change blindness

Answer 4

phenomenon where we miss changes in our environment

when not paying direct attention

Question 5

selective attention

Answer 5

process of focusing on certain sensory information while ignoring others

Question 6

top-down processing

Answer 6

processing based on higher-order information

guided by prior knowledge and context

Question 7

bottom-up processing

Answer 7

processing based on properties of the stimulus

starting from sensory receptors

Question 8

phototransduction

Answer 8

conversion of light energy into neural impulses that the brain can understand

Question 9

different wavelengths of light result in different _______

Answer 9

colors

Question 10

what determines the intensity (brightness) of light?

Answer 10

amount of energy in a wave determined by its amplitude

Question 11

cornea

Answer 11

transparent tissue where light enters the eye

Question 12

iris

Answer 12

muscle that expands and contracts to change the size of the pupil for light

Question 13

lens

Answer 13

focuses light rays on the retina

Question 14

retina

Answer 14

contains sensory receptors that process visual information and sends it to the brain

Question 15

nearsightedness

Answer 15

condition where nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects

Question 16

farsightedness

Answer 16

condition where faraway objects are seen more clearly than nearby objects

Question 17

optic nerve

Answer 17

carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Question 18

blind spot

Answer 18

point where the optic nerve leaves the eye, lacking receptor cells

Question 19

fovea

Answer 19

central point in the retina around which the eye’s cones cluster

Question 20

photoreceptors

Answer 20

specialized light-sensitive neurons in the retina that convert light into neural impulses

Question 21

rods

Answer 21

photoreceptors that process black, white, and gray light

clustered in the retina’s periphery

Question 22

cones

Answer 22

photoreceptors that distinguish colors and detect fine details in well-lit conditions

Question 23

trichromatic theory

Answer 23

theory that the human eye has 3 types of cone receptors sensitive to different wavelengths

Question 24

opponent process theory

Answer 24

theory proposing that we process four primary colors combined in pairs

Question 25

color blindness

Answer 25

genetic disorder where individuals are blind to green or red colors

Question 26

bipolar cells

Answer 26

cells that receive messages from photoreceptors and transmit them to ganglion cells

Question 27

feature detection

Answer 27

nerve cells in the visual cortex that respond to specific features like edges and movement

Question 28

parallel processing

Answer 28

processing of several aspects of a stimulus simultaneously

Question 29

sound waves

Answer 29

compressing and expanding air molecules that we detect as sound

Question 30

place theory

Answer 30

theory that pitch is determined by the point of maximal vibration on the basilar membrane

Question 31

frequency theory

Answer 31

theory that pitch is determined by the rate at which hair cells fire

Question 32

conduction hearing loss

Answer 32

hearing loss caused by damage to the eardrum or bones in the middle ear

Question 33

sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 33

hearing loss caused by damage to the structures of the inner ear

Question 34

tinnitus

Answer 34

perception of sound within the ear in the absence of external sound

Question 35

outer ear

Answer 35

collects and sends sounds from the auditory canal to the eardrum

Question 36

middle ear

Answer 36

contains 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that concentrate vibrations

Question 37

cochlea

Answer 37

major organ of hearing that transforms sound vibrations into auditory signals

Question 38

hair cells (cilia)

Answer 38

receptor cells for hearing located in the cochlea

Question 39

auditory nerve

Answer 39

nerve that carries sound information from the ears to the brain

Question 40

What do semicircular canals do?

Answer 40

Used in sensing body orientation and balance.

Question 41

sensory interaction

Answer 41

when one sense affects another, such as taste interacting with smell

Question 42

skin senses

Answer 42

only pressure has identifiable receptors other sensations are variations of pressure, warmth, cold, and pain.

Question 43

gate-control theory

Answer 43

proposal that the spinal cord contains neurological 'gates' that block or allow pain to be sensed

Question 44

kinesthesis

Answer 44

sense of our individual body parts' position and movement

Question 45

absolute threshold

Answer 45

weakest level of a stimulus that can be correctly detected at least 50% of the time

Question 46

difference threshold

Answer 46

minimum difference between any two stimuli that a person can detect 50% of the time

Question 47

weber's law

Answer 47

says difference threshold increase in proportion to the size of the stimulus

Question 48

gustation and olfaction

Answer 48

taste and smell chemical senses because the stimuli are molecules