The Senses
the process by which sensory receptors receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment?
Sensation
the transparent layer forming the front of the eye
Cornea
The sense or act of hearing is called ________.
Audition
Processing that begins with sensory receptors and works up to higher-level processing is called ________.
Bottom-up processing
theory states that color vision depends on opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black)
Opponent-process theory
the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information
Perception
part of the eye regulates the size of the pupil
Iris
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time determines a sound’s ________.
Frequency
Processing guided by higher-level mental processes is called ________.
Top-down processing
theory explains how spinal “gates” control the transmission of pain signals to the brain
Gate-control theory
the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them?
Psychophysics
light-sensitive inner surface of the eye contains rods and cones
Retina
structure in the inner ear contains the receptors for hearing
Cochlea
The idea that senses influence each other (e.g., smell + taste) is known as ________.
Sensory interaction
The sense of body movement and position that enables balance is called ________.
Vestibular sense
theory explains how we detect faint stimuli amid background noise
Signal detection theory
area of the retina is the point of central focus
Fovea
Damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells causes this type of hearing loss
Sensorineural hearing loss
The tendency for sensory receptors to become less responsive to unchanging stimuli is ________.
Sensory adaptation
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts is ________.
Kinesthesis
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time is called the ________.
Absolute threshold
theory suggests the retina has three types of color receptors—red, green, and blue
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory
theory explains how the brain determines pitch based on where the basilar membrane is stimulated
Place theory
The smallest difference between two stimuli that a person can detect 50% of the time is the ________.
Difference threshold
The concept that bodily sensations, gestures, and other states can influence cognition is known as ________.
Embodied cognition