Intro to Psych- Chapter 4

sensation
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Terms in this set (33)
sensation
The sense organs' detection of external stimuli, their responses to the stimuli, and the transmission of these responses to the brain.
perception
The processing, organization, and interpretation of sensory signals, it results in an internal representation of the stimulus.
transduction
A process by which sensory receptors produce neural impulses when they receive physical or chemical stimulation.
signal detection theory (SDT)
A theory of perception based on the idea that the detection of a faint stimulus requires a judgement-- it is not an all-or-none process.
sensory adaptation
A decrease in sensitivity to a constant level of stimulation.
gustation
The sense of taste.
taste buds
Sensory organs in the oral cavity that contain the receptors of taste.
olfaction
The sense of smell.
olfactory epithelium
A thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that contains the receptors for smell.
olfactory bulb
The brain center for smell, located below the frontal lobes.
haptic senseThe sense of touch.auditionHearing; the sense of sound and perception.Sound waveA pattern of changes in air pressure during a period of time; it produces the percept of a sound.eardrumA thin membrane that marks the beginning of the middle ear; sound waves cause it to vibrate.corneaThe clear outer covering of the eye.retinaThe thin inner surface of the back of the eyeball; it contains the photoreceptors that transduce light into neural signals.pupilThe small opening in the eye; it lets in light waves.irisThe colored muscular circle on the surface of the eye; it changes shape to let in more or less light.rodsRetinal cells that respond to low levels of illumination and result in black-and-white perception.conesRetinal cells that respond to higher levels of illumination and result in color perception.foveaThe center of the retina, where cones are densely packed.subtractive color mixingA process of color mixing that occurs within the stimulus itself; a physical, not psychological, process.additive color mixingA process of color mixing that occurs when different wavelengths of light interact within the eye's receptors; a psychological process.kinesthetic sensePerception of the positions in space and movements of our bodies and our limbs.vestibular sensePerception of balance.blindsightA condition in which people who are blind have some spared visual capacities in the absence of any visual awareness.bottom-up processingA hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which data are relayed from one level of mental processing to the next, always moving to a higher levels of processing.top-down processingA hierarchical model of pattern recognition in which information at higher levels of mental processing can also influence lower, "earlier" levels in the processing hierarchy.binocular depth cuesCues of depth perception that arise from the fact that people have two eyes.monocular depth cuesCues of depth perception that are available to each eye alone.binocular depth cuesA depth cue; because of a distance between a person's eyes, each eye receives a slightly different retinal image.convergenceA cue of binocular depth perception; when a person views a nearby object, the eye muscles turn the eyes inward.perceptual constancyCorrectly perceiving objects as contant in their shape, size, color, and lightness, despite raw sensory data that could mislead perception.