Unit 8 - Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sensation

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Perception

Answer 2

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information

Question 3

Bottom-up processing

Answer 3

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information

Question 4

Top-down processing

Answer 4

Information processing guided by higher level mental processes

Question 5

Absolute Threshold

Answer 5

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Question 6

Signal Detection Theory

Answer 6

A theory predicting how and when we can detect a certain stimulus amongst other background stimulation

Question 7

Subliminal

Answer 7

Below the absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 8

Priming

Answer 8

The activation of certain associations (unconsciously) that can alter someone’s perception, memory, or response

Question 9

Difference Threshold

Answer 9

Absolute Threshold but it is the difference between two stimuli

Question 10

Weber’s Law

Answer 10

To be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ proportionally, not just by an amount

Question 11

Sensory Adaptation

Answer 11

Having a diminished sensitivity to a stimulus after constant stimulation

Question 12

Transduction

Answer 12

Stimulus energies —-> neural impulses

Question 13

Hue

Answer 13

The color of a thing

Question 14

Intensity

Answer 14

How bright a thing is

Question 15

Cornea

Answer 15

Protective layer of the eye

Question 16

Pupil

Answer 16

The adjustable opening on the eye

Question 17

Iris

Answer 17

the colored muscle that controls the pupil

Question 18

Lens

Answer 18

The transparent part that focuses light on the Fovea

Question 19

Retina

Answer 19

The inner surface of the eye

Question 20

Accommodation

Answer 20

The process by which the lens changes shape to focus on far/near objects

Question 21

Rods

Answer 21

Detect black/white

Question 22

Cones

Answer 22

Detect colors

Question 23

Bipolar cells

Answer 23

Rods+Cones —-> Bipolar cells —-> Ganglion cells —-> Optic nerve

Question 24

Ganglion cells

Answer 24

Rods+Cones —-> Bipolar cells —-> Ganglion cells —-> Optic nerve

Question 25

Optic nerve

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Blind spot

Answer 26

The spot where the optic nerve leaves the eye and where no receptor cells are found

Question 27

Fovea

Answer 27

Point of central focus on the retina

Question 28

Feature Detectors

Answer 28

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of something, like shape, depth, movement

Question 29

Parallel processing

Answer 29

The processing of multiple aspects of a stimuli simultaneously

Question 30

Trichromatic Theory

Answer 30

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors that together can produce any color

Question 31

Opponent-Process Theory

Answer 31

The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision

Question 32

Afterimages

Answer 32

The image that results from seeing an opposing color after staring at an image for a super duper long time

Question 33

Audition

Answer 33

The sense/act of hearing

Question 34

Eardrum

Answer 34

A tight membrane that vibrates with noises

Question 35

Cochlea

Answer 35

A tube with a fluid that vibrates, bending small hairs that create a neural impulse

Question 36

Place Theory

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Frequency Theory

Answer 37

The theory that the rate of nerve impulses on the auditory nerve match the frequency of a tone, allowing us to sense pitch

Question 38

Volley Principle

Answer 38

Neural cells can alternate firing patterns, allowing us to hear very high frequencies

Question 39

Kinesthesia

Answer 39

The sense of the position and movement of your body parts

Question 40

Vestibular Sense

Answer 40

The sense of the position and movement of your body as a whole (basically kinesthesia but better)

Question 41

Gate-Control Theory

Answer 41

The theory that the spinal cord can block or allow pain signals to go to the brain with small and large nerve fibers

Question 42

Sensory interaction

Answer 42

The principle that one sense may influence another

Question 43

Gestalt

Answer 43

An organized whole formed from integration

Question 44

Figure-ground

Answer 44

The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

Question 45

Grouping

Answer 45

the tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups