Unit 4: Part 2 Flashcards
(30 cards)
Gestalt
An organized whole
Figure-ground
The organization of the visual field into the objects (the figure) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)
Grouping
The perceptual tendency to organize stimulus into coherent groups
Depth perception
Ability to see objects in 3D although the images that strike the retina are 2D; allows us to judge distance
Visual cliff
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
Binocular cue
Depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes
Retinal disparity
A binocular cue for perceiving depth, by comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object
Monocular cue
A depth cue such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone
Stroboscopic movement
Perceives a rapid series of slightly varying images as continuous movement
Phi phenomenon
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
Perceptual constancy
Perceiving objects as unchanging (having constant color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change
Color constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelength reflected by the object
Perceptual adaption
The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field
Pitch
A tones experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency
Frequency
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
Middle ear
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochleas oval window
Audition
The sense or act of hearing
Cochlea
Coiled, bony, fluid-tube in inner ear. Sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses
Inner ear
The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
Sensorineural hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by the damage to the cochlea receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss. Also called nerve deafness
Conduction hearing loss
Damage to the mechanical system - the eardrum and middle ear bones - that conduct sounds waves to the cochlea
Cochlear implant
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
Place theory
The theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochleas membrane is stimulated
Frequency theory
The theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matched the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch
