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Intro to Psych- Chapter 5
From Test 1
59
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
12/08/2010

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Term
Sensations
Definition
The elementary components, or building blocks, of an experience
Term
Perception
Definition
The collection of processes used to arrive at a meaningful interpretation of sensations
Term
Light
Definition
The small part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is processed by the visual system
Term
Hue
Definition
The dimension of light that produces color; hue is typically determined by the wavelength of light reflecting from an object
Term
Brightness
Definition
The aspect of the visual experience that changes with light intensity; in general, as the intensity of light increases, so does its perceived brightness
Term
Transduction
Definition
The process by which external messages are translated into the internal language of the brain
Term
Cornea
Definition
The transparent and protective outer covering of the eye
Term
Lens
Definition
The flexible piece of tissue that helps focus light toward the back of the eye
Term
Pupil
Definition
The hole in the center of the eye that allows light to enter
Term
Iris
Definition
The ring of colored tissue surrounding the pupil
Term
Accommodation
Definition
In vision, the process through which the lens changes its shape temporarily to help focus light on the retina
Term
Retina
Definition
The thin layer of tissue that covers the back of the eye and contains the light sensitive receptor cells for vision
Term
Rods
Definition
Receptor cells in the retina, located mainly around the sides, that transduce light energy into neural messages; these visual receptors are highly sensitive and are active in dim light.
Term
Cones
Definition
Receptor cells in the central portion of the retina that transduce light energy into neural messages; they operate best when light levels are high and they are primarily responsible for the ability to sense color
Term
Fovea
Definition
The central pit area in the retina where the cone receptors are located
Term
Visual Acuity
Definition
The ability to process fine detail in vision
Term
Receptive Field
Definition
In vision, the portion of the retina that, when stimulated, causes the activity of higher order neurons to change
Term
Blind Spot
Definition
The point where the optic nerve leaves the back of the eye- there is no room for visual receptor cells here and so we cannot see objects that are in that area of our sight
Term
Dark Adaption
Definition
The process through which the eyes adjust to dim light- after about 7 or 8 minutes of being in the dark the rods take over
Term
Feature Detectors
Definition
Cells in the visual cortex that respond to very specific visual events, such as bars of light at particular orientations
Term
Trichromatic Theory
Definition
A theory of color vision proposing that color information is extracted by comparing the relative activations of three different types of cone receptors
Term
Opponent-Process Theory
Definition
A theory of color vision proposing that cells in the visual pathway increase their activation levels to one color and decrease their activations levels to another color- for example, increasing red but decreasing green
Term
Bottom-up Processing
Definition
Processing that is controlled by the physical message delivered to the senses
Term
Top-down Processing
Definition
Processing that is controlled by one's beliefs and expectations about how the world is organized
Term
Gestalt Principles of Organization
Definition
The organizing principles of perception proposed by the Gestalt psychologists. These principles include the laws of proximity, similarity, closure, continuation, and common fate
Term
Recognition by Components
Definition
The idea proposed by Biederman that people recognize objects perceptually via smaller components called geons.
Term
Monocular Depth Cues
Definition
Cues for depth that require input from only one eye
Term
Binocular Depth Cues
Definition
Cues for depth that depend on comparisons between the two eyes
Term
Retinal Disparity
Definition
A binocular cue for depth that is based on location differences between the images in each eye
Term
Convergence
Definition
A binocular cue for depth that is based on the extent to which the two eyes move inward, or converge, when looking at an object
Term
Phi Phenomenon
Definition
An illusion of movement that occurs when stationary lights are flashed in succession
Term
Perceptual Constancy
Definition
Perceiving the properties of an object to remain the same even though the physical properties of the sensory message are changing
Term
Perceptual Illusions
Definition
Inappropriate interpretations of physical reality. perceptual illusions often occur as a result of the brain's using otherwise adaptive organizing principles
Term
Sound
Definition
The physical message delivered to the auditory system; a mechanical energy that requires a medium such as air or water in order to move
Term
Pinna
Definition
The external flap of tissue normally referred to as the ear; it helps capture sounds
Term
Tympanic Membrane
Definition
The eardrum, which responds to incoming sound waves by vibrating
Term
Middle Ear
Definition
The portion between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three small bones that help to intensify and prepare the sound vibrations for passage into the inner ear
Term
Cochlea
Definition
The bony, snail shaped sound processor in the inner ear where sound is translated into nerve impulses
Term
Basilar Membrane
Definition
A flexible membrane running through the cochlea that, through its movement, displaces the auditory receptor cells, or hair cells
Term
Place Theory
Definition
The idea that the location of auditory receptor cells activated by movement of the basilar membrane underlies the perception of pitch
Term
Frequency theory
Definition
the idea that pitch perception is determined partly by the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory pathway
Term
Cold Fibers
Definition
Neurons that respond to a cooling of the skin by increasing the production of neural impulses
Term
Warm Fibers
Definition
Neurons that respond vigorously when the temperature of the skin increases
Term
Pain
Definition
An adaptive response by the body to any stimulus that is intense enough to cause tissue damage
Term
Gate-control Theory
Definition
The idea that neural impulse generated by pain receptors can be blocked, or gated, in the spinal cord by signals produced in the brain
Term
Kinesthesia
Definition
In perception, the ability to sense the position and movement of ones body parts
Term
Semicircular Canals
Definition
A receptor system attached to the inner ear that responds to movement and acceleration and to changes in upright posture
Term
Vestibular Sacs
Definition
Organs of the inner ear that contain receptors thought to be primarily responsible for balance
Term
Chemoreceptors
Definition
Receptor cells that react to invisible molecules scattered about in the air or dissolved into liquids, leading to the senses of smell and taste
Term
Olfaction
Definition
The sense of smell
Term
Gustation
Definition
The sense of taste
Term
Flavor
Definition
Term used to describe the gustatory experience. Flavor is influenced by taste, smell, and the visual appearance of food, as well as expectations
Term
Taste Buds
Definition
The receptor cells on the tongue
Term
Psychophysics
Definition
A field of psychology in which researchers search for ways to describe the transition from the physical stimulus to the psychological experience of that stimulus
Term
Absolute Threshold
Definition
The level of intensity that lifts a stimulus over the threshold of conscious awareness; it's usually defined as the intensity level at which people can detect the presence of the stimulus 50% of the time
Term
Signal Detection
Definition
A technique used to determine the ability of someone to detect the presence of a stimulus
Term
Difference Threshold
Definition
The smallest detectible difference in the magnitude of two stimuli
Term
Weber's Law
Definition
The principle stating that if the magnitude of a stimulus is already high, it will take a large increase in that magnitude to notice any change (ex: hard to notice when two candles are lit in a bright room)
Term
Sensory Adaption
Definition
The tendency of sensory systems to reduce sensitivity to a stimulus source that remains constant
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