Unit 7 Flashcards
Pupil
An opening in the eye
Sensation
The process of taking in information with the senses
Lens
A clear oval structure with a curved surface
Retina
The lining of the back of the eye
Optic nerve
The rods and cones send nerve impulses about the image to the brain through the optic nerve
Auditory nerve
Nerve impulses are sent by hair cells through the auditory nerve to the brain
Sensory adaptation
Most sensory receptors become less sensitive to a stimulus after it is been present for a while
Psychophysics
The psychological study of sensation
Gustav Fechner
The founder of psychophysics and experimental psychology
Ernst Weber
A German anatomist that made major contributions to our understanding of thresholds of sensation
Absolute threshold
The point where any stimulus is great enough for you to sense it
Difference threshold
The amount of change needed for you to recognize that a stimulus is greater or smaller than it was before
Weber’s law
Difference threshold varies depending on the strength of the original stimulus
Detection theory
The idea that perception depends on factors such as our past experiences, expectations, and motivations
Attention
Concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other aspects
