The Five Senses
The part of the tongue that contains receptor neurons.
Taste Buds
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional.
Depth Perception
The awareness of environmental stimuli and our inner thoughts and emotions.
False sensory experiences which commonly occur in the NREM-1 sleep stage.
Hallucinations
Focusing on a peaceful, repetitive stimulus to produce feelings of relaxation.
Meditation
Nerve in the nose that carries info about odors to the brain.
Olfactory Nerve
The minimum amount of difference that can be detected between two stimuli.
Difference Threshold
Focusing on a particular stimulus over others.
Selective Attention
Our internal biological clock which has about a 24 hour cycle.
Circadian Rhythm
Type of drugs that increase activity in the nervous system and speed up heart and breathing rate.
Stimulants
The sharpness of vision, determined by the ability to see visual details.
Visual Acuity
The illusion of movement produced by showing a rapid progression of images or objects.
Stroboscopic Movement
Level of consciousness that is unavailable to awareness or “hidden” from the conscious mind.
Unconscious
A recurring sleep stage during which dreams most commonly occur.
REM Sleep
Theory that hypnosis occurs because people begin to feel and behave in ways appropriate for “good hypnotic subjects”.
Social Influence Theory
The bony tube inside the ear that contains fluids and neurons and move in response to vibrations.
Cochlea
Gestalt principle that the brain tends to perceive forms and figures in as complete even when one or more of their parts is missing.
Closure
Level of consciousness that includes all biological functions that we are not aware of.
Nonconscious
The deepest sleep stage where one may not be aware of sensory stimuli and may feel disoriented if awoken.
NREM-3
People can learn to control certain bodily functions by using this system that provides data about what's happening in the body.
Biofeedback
The sense that informs people about the position and motion of their bodies.
Kinesthesis
Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change.
Perceptual Constancy
Freud’s idea that we use defense mechanisms to push painful or unacceptable ideas out of consciousness.
Repression
Type of scan that shows the brain wave patterns that distinguish each sleep stage.
EEG
Psychoactive drug whose after-affects include depression, memory loss, organ damage, and impaired reactions.
Alcohol