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PSYCH unit 1 part 2
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Embodied Cognition | The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments. |
| Sensory Interaction | The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste. |
| Vestibular Sense | Our balance sense; our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance. |
| Kinesthesis | Our movement sense — our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts. |
| Olfaction | Our sense of smell. |
| Gustation | Our sense of taste. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Place Theory | In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated. |
| Cochlear Implant | A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea. |
| Conduction Hearing Loss | A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. |
| 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. |
| Inner Ear | The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. |
| Cochlea | A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses. |
| 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. |
| Pitch | A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. |
| Frequency | The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). |
| Audition | The sense or act of hearing. |
| Parallel Processing | Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously. |
| Feature Detectors | Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. |
| Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (3 color 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. |
| Fovea | The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster. |
| Blind Spot | The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there. |
| Optic Nerve | The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. |
| Cones | Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. |
| Rods | Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond. |
| Accommodation | In sensation and perception, the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina. (2) in developmental psychology, adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information. |
| 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. |
| Lens | The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. |
| Iris | A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. |
| Pupil | The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. |
| Cornea | The eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris. |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| Wavelength | The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short gamma waves to the long pulses of radio transmission. |
| Sensory Adaptation | Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. |
| Webers Law | The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount). |
| Difference Threshold | The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. |
| Subliminal | Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. |
| Signal Detection Theory | A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). |
| Absolute Threshold | The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. |
| Psychophysics | The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. |
| 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 the brain can interpret. |
| Top-Down Processing | Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. |
| Bottom-Up Processing | Information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. |
| Perception | The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful. |
| Sensory Receptors | Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli. |
| Sensation | |
| REM Rebound | The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation. |
| Dreams | A sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind. |
| REM Sleep Behavior Disorder | A sleep disorder in which normal REM paralysis does not occur; instead, twitching, talking, or even kicking or punching may occur, often acting out one’s dream. |
| Sleep Apnea | A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings. |
| Narcolepsy | A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The affected person may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. |
| Insomnia | Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. |
| Supra Chiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) | A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls circadian rhythm. In response to light, the SCN adjusts melatonin production, thus modifying our feelings of sleepiness. |
| Delta Waves | The large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. |
| Hypnagogic Sensations | Bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of falling or floating weightlessly, while transitioning to sleep. |
| Hallucinations | False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus. |
| NREM Sleep | Non-rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep. |
| Alpha Waves | The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. |
| REM Sleep | Rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. |
| Circadian Rhythm | Our biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle. |
| Sleep | A periodic, natural loss of consciousness — as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation. |
| Sequential Processing | Processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems. |
| Blindsight | A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it. |
| Dual Processing | The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks. |
| Cognitive Neuroscience | The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition. |
| Consciousness | Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment. |
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