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PSY 101 Ch. 6
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment |
| sensory receptors | sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli |
| perception | the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful |
| bottom-up processing | information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information |
| top-down processing | information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
| transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another; (in sensation) the transforming of physical energy, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret |
| All our senses ____ sensory stimulation (often using specialized receptor cells), ____ that stimulation into neural impulses, and ____ the neural information to our brain. | receive, transform, deliver |
| absolute threshold | the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time |
| signal detection theory | a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). |
| what are the main assumptions of the signal detection theory? | that there is no single absolute threshold, and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness |
| subliminal | below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| priming | the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response |
| difference threshold | the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time |
| how do we experience the difference threshold? | as a "just noticeable difference" (jnd) |
| Weber's law | the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) |
| sensory adaptation | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation |
| perceptual set | a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
| wavelength | the distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next |
| electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short ____ to the long pulses of ____. | gamma waves, radio transmission |
| hue | the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth |
| intensity | the amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness |
| intensity is determined by | the wave's amplitude (height) |
| retina | the light-sensitive back inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information |
| accommodation | the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina |
| rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement |
| rods are necessary for ____ and ____, when cones don't respond | peripheral vision, twilight vision |
| cones | retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions |
| cones detect ____ and give rise to ____. | fine detail, color sensations |
| optic nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain |
| blind spot | the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating an obscuration of the visual field due to a lack of receptor cells in that area |
| fovea | the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster |
| Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory | the theory that the retina contains three different types of 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 |
| opponent process theory | the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision |
| an example of the opponent process theory is that some cells are stimulated by the color ____ and inhibited by the color ____; others are stimulated by the color ____ and inhibited by the color ____. | green, red, red, green |
| feature detectors | nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement |
| parallel processing | processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously |
| gestalt | an organized whole |
| gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to | integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes |
| figure-ground | the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground) |
| grouping | the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups |
| depth perception | the ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance |
| visual cliff | a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals |
| binocular cue | a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes |
| retinal disparity | a binocular cue for perceiving depth |
| how does retinal disparity work? | by comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object |
| monocular cue | a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone |
| 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 consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change |
| perceptual adaptation | the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field |
| audition | the sense or act of hearing |
| frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second) |
| pitch | a tone's experienced highness of lowness; depends on frequency |
| middle ear | the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window |
| cochlea | a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear |
| soundwaves travelling through the ____ trigger nerve impulses | cochlear fluid |
| inner ear | the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs |
| sensorineural hearing loss | the most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness |
| conduction hearing loss | a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound 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 | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated |
| place theory is also known as | place coding |
| frequency theory | in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch |
| frequency theory is also known as | temporal coding |
| the height or amplitude of sound waves determines their perceived | volume |
| the greater the amplitude, the ____ the sound | louder |
| the shorter the wavelength, the ____ the frequency and pitch | higher |
| the longer the wavelength, the ____ the frequency and pitch | lower |
| the smaller the amplitude, the ____ the sound | softer |
| the amplitude of a sound wave determines our perception | loudness |
| the longer the sound waves are, the ____ their frequency and the ____ their pitch | lower, lower |
| Which theory of pitch perception would best explain a symphony audience's enjoyment of a high-pitched piccolo? | place theory |
| Which theory of pitch perception would best explain a symphony audience's enjoyment of a low-pitched cello? | frequency theory combined with the volley principle |
| volley principle | by alternating their firing and firing in rapid succession, sound waves can achieve a combined frequency of above 1000 waves per second, which allows us to hear sounds with frequencies above 1000 waves per second |
| gate-control theory | the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain |
| according to the gate-control theory, the "gate" in the spinal cord is opened by | the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers |
| according to the gate-control theory, the "gate" in the spinal cord is closed by | activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain |
| hypnosis | a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur |
| dissociation | a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others |
| posthypnotic suggestion | a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors |
| gustation | our sense of taste |
| olfaction | our sense of smell |
| kinesthesia | our movement sense - our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
| vestibular sense | our balance sense - our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance |
| sensory interaction | the principle that one sense can influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste |
| embodied cognition | the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements |
| extrasensory perception (ESP) | the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition |
| parapsychology | the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis (also called telekinesis) |
| Which of the following has been proven to reduce pain: distraction, hypnosis, phantom limb sensations, or endorphins? | distraction, hypnosis, and endorphins |
| What are the three psychological methods for controlling pain? | placebos, distraction, and hypnosis |
| social influence theory | contends that hypnotized people, like actors caught up in a role, begin to feel and behave in ways appropriate for "good hypnotic subjects" due to normal social and mental processes |
| dissociation theory | contends that hypnosis is a special dual-processing state resulting from a split between different levels of conscious, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others |
| Which theory explains why previously hypnotized people may later carry out posthypnotic suggestions? | dissociation theory |
| Which theory explains why people hypnotized for pain relief may show brain activity in areas that receive sensory information, but not in areas that normally process pain-related information? | dissociation theory |
| How might selective attention play a role in hypnotic pain relief? | brain scans show that hypnosis increases activity in frontal lobe attention systems which implies that, while it does not block sensory input itself, hypnosis may redirect our attention to other stimuli |
| What are the kinesthetic receptors called? | proprioceptors |
| Where are the kinesthetic receptors located? | joints, tendons, and muscles |
| Where are the vestibular sense receptors located? | in the ears' semicircular canals and vestibular sacs |
| What are the vestibular receptors? | cilia (hair-like) |
| If an ESP event did occur under controlled conditions, what would be the next step to confirm that ESP really exists? | replication of the study |
| Sensation is to ____ as perception is to ____. | bottom-up processing, top-down processing |
| The process by which we organize and interpret sensory information is called | perception |
| Subliminal stimuli are | below our absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| Another term for difference threshold is the ____ | just noticeable difference |
| Weber's law states that for a difference to be perceived, two stimuli must differ by | a constant minimum percentage |
| Sensory adaptation helps us focus on | important changes in the environment |
| Our perceptual set influences what we perceive. This mental tendency reflects our | experiences, assumptions, and expectations |
| The characteristic of light that determines the color we experience, such as blue or green, is its | wavelength |
| The amplitude of a light wave determines our perception of | brightness |
| The blind spot in your retina is located where | the optic nerve leaves the eye |
| Cones are the eye's receptor cells that are especially sensitive to ____ light and are responsible for our ____ vision | bright, color |
| Two theories together account for color vision. The Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory shows that the eye contains ____, and Hering's theory accounts for the nervous system's having ____. | three types of color receptors, opponent-process cells |
| The cells in the visual cortex that respond to certain lines, edges, and angles are called ____ | feature detectors |
| The brain's ability to process many aspects of an object or problem simultaneously is called ____ | parallel processing |
| In listening to a concert, you attend to the solo instrument and perceive the orchestra as accompaniment. This illustrates the organizing principle of | figure-ground |
| Our tendencies to fill in the gaps and to perceive a pattern as continuous are two different examples of the organizing principle called | grouping |
| The visual cliff experiments suggest that | crawling human infants and very young animals perceive depth |
| Depth perception underlies our ability to | judge distances |
| Two examples of ____ depth cues are interposition and linear perspective | monocular |
| Perceiving a tomato as consistently red, despite lighting shifts, is an example of | perceptual constancy |
| After surgery to restore vision, adults who had been blind from birth had difficulty | recognizing objects by sight |
| In experiments, people have worn glasses that turned their visual fields upside down. After a period of adjustment, they learned to function quite well. This ability is called ____ | perceptual adaptation |
| The snail-shaped tube in the inner ear, where soundwaves are converted into neural activity, is called the | cochlea |
| ____ theory explains how we hear high-pitched sounds, and ____ theory, extended by the volley principle, explains how we hear low-pitched sounds | place, frequency |
| The sensory receptors that are found mostly in the skin and that detect painful temperatures, pressures, or chemicals are called | nociceptors |
| The gate-control theory of pain proposes that | small spinal cord nerve fibers conduct most pain signals, but large-fiber activity can close access to those pain signals |
| We have specialized nerve receptors for detecting which five tastes? | sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami |
| ____ is you sense of body position and movement. Your ____ specifically monitors your head's movement, with sensors in the inner ear. | kinesthesia, vestibular sense |
| Why do you feel a little dizzy immediately after a roller-coaster ride? | Because the abrupt halt did not give your kinesthetic and vestibular senses enough time to adjust to the stopping of movement |
| A food's aroma can greatly enhance its taste. This is an example of | sensory interaction |
| Which of the following ESP phenomena is supported by solid, replicable scientific evidence? Telepathy, clairvoyance, or precognition? | none of the above |
| Sound waves are collected by the | outer ear |
| Sound waves are translated into mechanical waves by the | middle ear |
| Sound waves are turned into fluid waves in the | inner ear |
| The ____ translates this energy (fluid waves) into electrical waves and sends them to the brain, which interprets sound | auditory nerve |
| What are some examples of biological factors that influence our experience of pain? | genetic differences in endorphin production, activity in the spinal cord's large and small fibers, and the brain's interpretation of CNS activity |
| What are some examples of psychological factors that influence our experience of pain? | attention to pain, learning based on experience, and expectations |
| What are some examples of socio-cultural factors that influence our experience of pain? | presence of others, empathy for others' pain, and cultural expectations |
| Being able to detect pleasurable tastes (such as sweet, salty, or umami) | enabled our ancestors to seek out energy- or protein-rich foods |
| Being able to detect aversive tastes (such as sour or bitter) | deterred our ancestors from eating toxic substances, which increased their chances of survival |
Created by:
ccons