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| the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies form out environment. |
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| the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events |
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| analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information |
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| information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
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| the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity and our psychological experience of them |
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| the minimum stimulation neeed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time |
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| a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue. |
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| below one's absolute threshold for conscious awarenes |
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| the activation. often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response |
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| the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference |
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| the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage |
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| diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. |
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| diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. |
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| conversion of one form of energy to another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret |
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| the distance form the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmittion |
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| the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth |
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| the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude |
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| the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters |
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| a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening |
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| the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes the shape to help focus images on the retina |
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| the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. |
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| the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual neurons |
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| a condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina |
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| a condition in which far-away objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina |
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| retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond. |
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| retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations |
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| the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain |
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| the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there |
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| the central focal point in the retina around which the eye's cones cluster |
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| nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement |
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| the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously |
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| Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory |
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| he theory that the retina contains three different color receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue- which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color |
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| the theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision. |
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| perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object |
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| the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time |
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| a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency |
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| the chamber between the eardrum an cochlea containing three tiny bonesthat concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window |
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| a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses |
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| the innermost part of the ear, ontaining the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs |
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| in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated |
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| in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses raveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch. |
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| hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea |
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| sensorineural hearing loss |
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| hearing loss caused b damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness |
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| a deice for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea |
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| the thory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate is opened by the activity of pain sgnals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain |
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| the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste |
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| the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
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| the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance |
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| the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail effect |
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| failingg to see i visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere |
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| the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses |
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| an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information to meaningful wholes. |
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| the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings |
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| the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups |
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| the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance |
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| a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals |
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| depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence that depend on the use of two eyes |
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| a binocular cue for perceiving depth; by comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object |
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| a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object. The greater the inward strain, the closer the object |
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| depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone |
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| an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession |
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| perceving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change |
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| in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field |
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| a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
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| a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use |
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| extrasensory perception (ESP) |
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| the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory output. Includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition |
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| the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis |
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