| Term | Definition |
|---|
| bottom-up processing | analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 197) |
| perception | the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 197) |
| sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 197) |
| top-down processing | information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 197) |
| absolute threshold | the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 199) |
| psychophysics | the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 199) |
| signal detection theory | a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise"). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 199) |
| priming | the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 200) |
| subliminal | below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 200) |
| 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. (Also called just noticeable difference or jnd.) (Myers Psychology 8e p. 201) |
| sensory adaptation | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 202) |
| 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). (Myers Psychology 8e p. 202) |
| transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 204) |
| wavelength | the distance from 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 transmission. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 204) |
| accommodation | the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| 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. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| intensity | the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| 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. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| lens | the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| pupil | the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| retina | the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 205) |
| acuity | the sharpness of vision. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 206) |
| cones | 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. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 206) |
| farsightedness | a condition also known as hyperopia in which faraway objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 206) |
| nearsightedness | a condition also known as myopia in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 206) |
| rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 206) |
| blind spot | the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 207) |
| fovea | the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 207) |
| optic nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 207) |
| feature detectors | nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 209) |
| parallel processing | the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 210) |
| Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory | the 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. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 212) |
| opponent-process theory | the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 213) |
| color constancy | perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 214) |
| audition | the sense or act of hearing. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 215) |
| frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). (Myers Psychology 8e p. 216) |
| pitch | a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 216) |
| cochlea [KOK-lee-uh] | a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 217) |
| inner ear | the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs (Myers Psychology 8e p. 217) |
| middle ear | the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 217) |
| 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. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 219) |
| place theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 219) |
| conduction hearing loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 220) |
| sensorineural hearing loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 220) |
| cochlear implant | a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 221) |
| 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. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 227) |
| sensory interaction | the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 230) |
| kinesthesis [kin-ehs-THEE-sehs] | the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts. This sense allows you to accurately touch your mouth, nose, and chin with your index finger with your eyes closed.(Myers Psychology 8e p. 233) |
| vestibular sense | the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance. This also lets you know if your body is in a horizontal or vertical positon. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 234) |
| psychophysics | the study of how physical energy relates to or translated into psychological experience including the study of how well humans detect differences in stimuli and thresholds for perception. |
| cornea | the curved protective layer through which light rays enters the eye. Light rays are bent here as well as in the lens. |
| dark adaptation | the process by which visual receptors become as sharp as they can in darkness. both rods and cones adjust but ultimately rods are more effective in darkness |
| light adaptation | the process by which eyes become less sensitive to light in high illumination |
| bipolar cells | specialized cells which connect rods and cones to the ganglion cells of the optic nerve |
| ganglion cells | the specialized cells which lie behind the bipolar cells whose axons form the optic nerve which takes the information to the brain |
| additive color mixing | when all colors of light are mixed the result is white which is what results from the combination of all visible wavelengths |
| subtractive color mixing | works when some wavelegths of light are removed leaving less light than was originally there. |
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