appsy unit 3 CED

The the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Analysis that begins with the sense receptors & works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. You begin by examining small details & piece them together into a larger picture.

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes. As when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience & expectations.

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

an organised whole. These psychologists emphasised our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Objects close together will be viewed together visually

The brain is good at filling in gaps to create a whole.

Two items that share attributes will be visually grouped together.

A line will always appear to continue traveling in the same way.

Sometimes, the blank space is just as important as the filled space.

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. Example: If you can hear a firetruck before your brother, your absolute threshold is lower for sound than your brothers

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference.Example: being able to hear when the volume of a sound gets louder

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes that there is no absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. Example: you don’t notice the feeling of your underwear over time

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 brain can interpret

founder of psychophysics

study of the relationship between stimuli and our responses to them

To perceive as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.

received a Nobel Prize for their work on Feature Detectors.

Cells in the visual cortex of the brain that respond selectively to specific features of complex stimuli. Detects: Edges, Angles, Length, & Movement

Processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously (motion, depth, color, and form)

States that the context (environmental factors) that surrounds an event effects how an event is perceived and remembered. Is this a B or is this a 13? All depends on the context --- if you are perceiving it as a letter or a number

a tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others.  

Mental filters or maps that organise our information about the world are called - they can impact our perceptual sets

interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schema. Example: see tiger for the first time and call it a cat

adapting one’s current understanding to incorporate new information Example: see differences between tiger and cat and know difference

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli

our perception of sensations is particularly due to how focused we are on them

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Failing to notice change in the environment around us

Failing to notice a change in a previously selected item

Clear, curved bulge in front of eyeball.  It protects and COVERS the eye.

Muscle that expands and contracts to change the size of the opening (pupil) for light.

Transparent structure behind pupil in eye that changes shape to focus images on retina.

Contains sensory receptors that process visual information and sends it to the brain. (Transduction occurs here)

Located in the retina, contains a concentration of cones that provides the clearest vision of all.

Carries the impulses from the retina to the brain to interpret them as images.

process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

detect black, white & gray, peripheral retina, twilight or low light

detect fine detail & color vision, near center of retina (fovea), daylight or well-lit conditions 

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

transmit signals from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells

are neurons that relay information from the retina to the brain via the optic nerve.

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

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

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth

inability to perceive color differences

nearsightedness (good near vision)

farsightedness (good distance vision)

cornea is irregularly shaped (blurry vision)

damage to the optic nerve and destroyed vision

condition in which one sense (for example, hearing) is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses such as sight. Another form joins objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people's names with a sensory perception such as smell, color or flavor.

our ability and need to perceive objects as unchanging even as changes may occur in distance, point of view, and illumination

Perception that the color of an object remains the same even if lighting conditions change

Tendency for the brain to perceive objects as the same apparent size regardless of their distance from us

Our viewing angle changes or an object rotates and we still perceive the object as staying the same shape

Occurs when our perception of the whiteness, blackness, or grayness of objects remains constant no matter how much the illumination has changed

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object

When two eyes move inward (towards the nose) to see near objects and outward (away from the nose) to see faraway objects.  More convergence – closer the object

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

If two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image to be farther away.

Objects that occlude (block) other objects tend to be perceived as closer.

Because light from distant objects passes through more light than closer objects, we perceive hazy

We perceive objects that are higher in our field of vision to be farther away than those that are lower. Objects to be farther away than those objects that appear sharp and clear.

Objects closer to a fixation point move faster and in the opposing direction to those objects that are farther away from a fixation point, moving slower and in the same direction. 

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge in the distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Nearby objects reflect more light into our eyes than more distant objects. Given two identical objects, the dimmer one appears to be farther away.

Indistinct (fine) texture signals an increasing distance.  Less detail shows closeness, finer and denser is further away

the biological process by which our ears process sound waves

Dimension of frequency determined by wavelength of sound. 

Amount of energy in a wave determined by amplitude relates to perceived loudness. 

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

(SNAIL) a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses (Transduction occurs here)

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

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

sensations are transduced by taste cells located in bunches called taste buds. They are found throughout the entire mouth but are most highly concentrated on the tongue, the major sensory organ of the gustatory system.

is the sense of smell. Odors first interact with receptor proteins associated with hairs in the nose. The hairs convey information to the brain's olfactory bulbs, located on the underside of the brain. Certain smells can invoke memory

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

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

Creator of Weber’s law

a hidden visual or auditory message that the brain acknowledges or perceives but does not process. Because the message is so hidden or small, the brain does not process it, but the brain does perceive it.

explains how humans perceive and interpret the sensation of pitch. It refers to the subjective perception of the frequency of a sound, i.e., how high or low a sound is perceived to be.