Unit 2: Sensation & Perception

Review

Absolute Threshold - minimal intensity of a stimulus needed to perceive 50% of time

Difference Threshold (Just Noticeable Difference [JND]) - minimum change/difference
in a stimulus required for perception 50% of time
Weber’s Law - for JND, the stimulus must differ at constant proportionality, not a set
amount
Subliminal Threshold - intensity level at which one has less than 50% chance of
perception of the stimulus
Distal Stimulus - reality, what is physically there
Proximal Stimulus - how one perceives the distal stimulus
Positive Sensory Adaptation - becoming more sensitive to low energy stimuli (high
energy are obviously sensed and perceived)
Negative Sensory Adaptation - becoming less sensitive to a constant stimulus
Bottom-Up Processing - analysis that begins with sense receptors and works up to
brain’s integration of sensory information
Top-Down Processing - information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes (ie construct perceptions from experience and expectations)
Signal Detection Theory - predicts how and when we detect the presence of a
stimulus amid background stimulation - no single absolute threshold, but depends on
individual
Transduction - conversion of one form of energy into another - stimulus energy to
neural impulses
Sensory Contrast - difference in intensity of contrast of stimuli
Sensory Interaction - one sense may influence another (ie smell influences taste)
Light Energy - electromagnetic radiation that travels as a wave
Dimensions of Color - visible spectrum => 400-700nm
Hue - what we perceive as color; stems from wavelength of light (length of spatial
“period”, before the sinusoidal wave repeats)
Brightness - what we perceive as luminous/radiating light; stems from amplitude of
lightwaves (height of wave, from bottom base to top peak)
Saturation - what we perceive as richness of color; stems from purity of lightwaves (less
distortion of waves)
The Eye - sensory organ responsible for vision/sight
Cornea - smooth, clear, outer tissue; bends (focuses) light waves and sends to pupil
Iris - colored muscles; control amount of light that enters the pupil and thus the eye by
contracting and dilating
Pupil - hole in colored part of eye; allows a certain amount of light to pass to the eye’s
interior
Lens - structure directly behind iris & muscles within eye control the shape of lens;
bend/focus light onto retina
Retina - thin film of photoreceptors at the back of the eyeball; site of transduction
Rods - detect black & white; operate best in low-light conditions; dispersed on either
side of fovea
Cones - detect color; operate best under normal-light conditions; packed in fovea and
dispersed in periphery
Fovea - area of retina where majority of cones are packed (no rods) and where color
vision is the clearest
Optic Nerve - nerve that transmits neural impulses from rods & cones in retina to the
brain
Blind Spot - area without rods or cones where optic nerve leaves the eye, no vision
Nearsightedness - condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly; because
distant objects focus in front of individual’s retina
Farsightedness - condition in which faraway objects are seen more clearly; because
near objects are focused behind individual’s retina
Parallel Processing - processing of several aspects of a stimulus simultaneously - ie
color, motion, form, and depth
Trichromatic Theory (Young-Hemholtz) - retina has 3 types of color receptors, each
contains one of three light sensitive chemicals (OPSINS): red, green, or blue (yellow
from red & green stimulation, and white from all 3 mixing - additive color mixing: process
adds wavelengths and increases light); explains some colorblindness
Opponent-Process Theory (Hering) - color receptors work by complementary
stimulation/inhibition - when excited, they respond to one color, when inhibited, they
respond to the other: red-green, yellow-blue, & white-black enable color vision; explains
after images
Amplitude - height of wave (from bottom base to top peak); responsible for loudness -
subjective experience of sound’s intensity; measured in decibels (threshold: 0-140)
Frequency - speed at which wave cycles/spatial periods occur; responsible for pitch -
subjective experience of how high or low; measured in hertz
The Ear - sensory organ responsible for audition/hearing
Ear Drum (Tympanic Membrane) - membrane separating outer and middle ear; when
sound waves strike it, it vibrates, in turn transmitting vibrations to hammer (malleus)
Hammer (Malleus), Anvil (Incus), and Stirrup (Stapes) - boney structures (ossicles)
in middle ear; transmit vibrations from tympanic membrane to oval window
Oval Window - membrane on cochlea separating middle and inner ear; receives
vibrations from stirrup/stapes and in turn vibrates the fluid of the cochlea
Cochlea - boney, coiled, fluid-filled tube of inner ear; contains/houses auditory
receptors/hair cells that extend from basilar membrane and vibrate with fluid and
movement is responsible for audition
Auditory Nerve - nerve that carries neural impulses from auditory receptor cells to
auditory cortex in brain for processing
Place Theory (Hemholtz) - perception of pitch by where the sound waves trigger activity
of hair cells on the cochlea’s basilar membrane
Frequency Theory - perception of pitch by rate of nerve impulses traveling thorough
auditory nerve, matches frequency
Conduction Deafness - hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that
transmits sound waves/vibrations to the cochlea
Nerve Deafness - hearing loss caused by damage of hair receptor cells or associated
nerves
The Skin - sensory organ responsible for tactile/touch stimulation
Pressure - detected by: Meissner’s Corpuscles - touch, very sensitive; Merkel Disks &
Ruffini Endings - steady pressure, how much needed to grasp and pick something up;
Pacinian Corpuscles - very light pressure
Warmth - when warm, nerves fire more rapidly
Cold - when cool, nerves fire more slowly
Pain - controversial on origin: some believe specialized pain receptors others believe it
to be overstimulation; A-Delta - fire fast (sharp pain), C-Delta - fire slow (throbbing pain);
influenced by mood, personality, expectation, & other higher level mental processes
Gate-Control Theory (Melzack & Wall) - spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that
allows or blocks pain signals from traveling to brain
The Tongue - sensory organ responsible for gustation/taste
Tastebuds - contain pores that catch food chemicals, which are sensed by receptor
cells and set to brain for processing (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, or umami/savory)
The Nose - sensory organ for olfaction/smell; recognize odors individually
Nasal Passages - conduct air full of chemicals (odors)
Olfactory Bulb - receive neural impulses from olfactory receptors and transmit to
olfactory nerve
Olfactory Nerve - transmit neural impulses from olfactory bulb directly to the brain
Pheromones - special chemicals that trigger reactions (ie in mating, alarm, etc.)
Kinesthesis - receptors in joints and muscles; monitor position and location of various
parts of our body
Vestibular System - receptors respond to gravity, keep body informed of location in
space, and equilibrium
Semicircular Canals - tubes connected to cochlea in inner ear; hair cells within detect
movement/shift in fluid within canals
Synesthesia - integration of sensations
Reintegration - using multiple senses at once to understand something
Selective Attention - focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Visual Capture - tendency of vision to dominate the other senses
Gestalt - organized whole - psychologists emphasize our tendency to integrate pieces
of info in meaningful WHOLES
Grouping - perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups - proximity,
similarity, continuity, connectedness, closure
Figure-Ground - tendency to see figure (foreground) before the background
Depth Perception - ability to experience depth in visual perception (images on retina
are only 2D)
Binocular Cues - cues on depth by movement of both eyes by muscles around eyes
Convergence - binocular depth cue based on signals sent from muscles around eye to
judge as near (more signals) or far (less)
Retinal Disparity - binocular depth cue based on distance between eyes and position
causes two slightly different perceptions of image (large disparity=close less=far)
Monocular Cues - cues on depth by signals from one eye
Linear Perspective - result when parallel lines come together in the distance
Interposition - when objects overlap (overlapping=closer, being overlapped=farther)
Visual Cliff - laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and animals
Perceptual Constancy - tendency to perceive sizes, shapes, brightness, and colors as
remaining the same despite changes
Perceptual Adaptation - ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual
field
Perceptual Set - learned expectations based on personal, cultural, and social
experiences; tendency to add info or feelings to our perception
ESP (Extrasensory Perception) - controversial claim that perception can occur apart
from sensory input (ie telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition)
Parapsychology - study of paranormal phenomena, like ESP and psychokinesis
Prototype Theory - mode of categorization or grouping in which a mental image or best
example that incorporates all central features is used
Feature Analysis Thoery - composing a perception by breaking down into parts
(breaking down visual stimuli into specific colors or shapes)