The process by which you detect physical energy from your environment and encode it as neural signals
Sensation
100
A change in the environment that can be detected by sensory receptors
Stimulus
100
The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensations, enabling you to recognize meaningful objects and events
Perception
100
Small adjustable opening in the iris that is smaller in bright light and larger in darkness
Pupil
100
Name the three parts of the ear.
Outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear.
200
The weakest level of a stimulus that can be correctly detected at least half the time
Absolute threshold
200
The chemical sense of smell and receptors in a mucous membrane on the roof of the nasal cavity. Molecules must reach the membrane and dissolve to be sensed.
Olfaction
200
Perceptual constancy can be measured in terms of qualities like brightness, size, and color. What is perceptual constancy?
Perceiving an object as unchanging even when the immediate sensation of the object changes.
200
Colored muscle surrounding the pupil that regulates the size of the pupil opening
Iris
200
In what other sense is the inner ear involved?
Vestibular sense
300
The notion that suggests the minimum threshold varies with fatigue, attention, expectations, motivation, emotional distress, and from one person to another
Signal detection theory
300
Body sense that provides information about the position and movement of individual parts of your body with receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints
Kinesthesis
300
Define and exemplify retinal disparity.
Retinal disparity is the fact that each retina of each eye receives disparate (different) sensory information. This helps us to perceive depth. Retinal disparity can be sensed if a close object goes in and out of focus. When it is out of focus, two objects can be perceived because each retina of each eye sees the object in a different position.
300
Structure behind the pupil that changes shape, becoming more spherical or flatter to focus incoming rays into an image on the light-sensitive retina
Lens
300
The snail-shaped fluid-filled tube in the inner ear with hair cells on the basilar membrane that transduce mechanical energy of vibrating molecules to the electrochemical energy of neural impulses. Hair cell movement triggers impulses in adjacent nerve fibers
Cochlea
400
The chemical sense of taste with receptor cells in taste buds in fungiform papillae on the tongue, on the roof of the mouth, and in the throat. Molecules must dissolve to be sensed. The five basic taste sensations are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (or glutamate). Flavor is the interaction of sensations of taste and odor with contributions by temperature, etc.
Gustation
400
Explain the Ponzo Illusion.
Objects perceived to be more distant are attributed with greater size than an object of the same size perceived to be closer.
400
Name the light-sensitive surface in the back of the eye and the types of photoreceptors that allow it to transduce light energy. Name the purposes of both photoreceptors.
The retina; it has rods and cones. Rods detect black, white, and gray (necessary for dim-light conditions), and cones detect color (in the presence of more bright conditions).
400
Explain the difference between sound amplitude and pitch.
Amplitude of sound waves is determines how loud the sound will be, and the pitch of the sound is how high or low the sound is; it is determined by the frequency of the sound wave.
500
Define the vestibular sense
The body sense of equilibrium with hairlike receptors in semicircular canals and vestibular sac in the inner ear. This sense allows us to maintain balance and detect body position.
What do we mean by blind spot? Explain why it exists.
The blind spot is the region of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye so there are no receptor cells. This creates an area with no vision.
500
Explain the difference between conduction deafness and sensorineural deafness as well as how they can both be treated.
Conduction deafness is caused by damage to the middle ear and is treated with a hearing aid in order to amplify sound waves. Sensorineural deafness is caused by damage to the inner ear and can be treated with a cochlear implant.