Basic Concepts of Sensation
Process by which we receive, transform, and process stimuli that impinge on our sensory organs into neural impulses or signals that the brain uses to create experiences of vision hearing taste smell touch
What is Sensastion
There are two types of these photoreceptors that lie along the retina
What are Rods & Cones
When a stimulus remains seared in the eyeball after it has been removed
What is an Afterimage
People with normal color vision
What are Trichromats
Sound is measured in these
What are decibels
Our sense of smell is transferred to the brain via this nerve
What is Olfactory
The process by which we attend to meaningful stimuli and filter out irrelevant or extraneous stimuli
What is Selective Attention
Perception that occurs without benefit of the known senses
What is ESP (extrasensory perception)
Smallest amount of of a given stimulus a person can sense
Process by which the lens changes its shape to focus images more clearly on the retina
What is Accomodation
By 2030 78 million Americans may have a hearing impairment due to these
What are listening devices (such as earbuds)
These receptors are located on the tongue and when they die only take 7-10 days to regenerate
What are Taste Cells
The outer ear funnels sound waves to the eardrum- the vibrations are then transmitted to the Hammer, Anvil and Stirrup which are otherwise known as these
What are the Ossicles
Your largest sensory organ
What is the skin
The tendency for perceptions to be influenced by expectations or preconceptions
What is a perceptual Set
When stimuli are presented below the threshold of conscious awareness it is known as this
What is Subliminal Perception
The process by which sensory receptors adapt to constant stimuli by becoming less sensitive to them
What is Sensory Adaptation
Specialized neurons in the visual cortex that respond only to particular features of visual stimuli, such as horizontal or vertical lines (think of the picture with the cat)
What are Feature Detectors
Total color blindness is very rare- affecting 1/40,000 people. These individuals are classified as this
what is Monochromats
The minimal difference in the magnitude of energy needed for people to detect a difference between 2 stimuli is the difference
what is Threshold
Sounds that come into the ear are transferred to the brain via this
What is the Auditory Nerve
many animals, insects, and possibly humans are able to send these secretions which may affect sexual attraction
What are Pheromones
Depth perception is dependent on both eyes that is why it is called this
Degree of tension you feel in your eyes when you are required to focus both eyes on the same object
What is Convergence
Belief that the detection of a stimulus depends on factors involving the intensity of the stimulus, level of background stimulation, and the biological and psychological characteristics of the perceiver
What is Signal Detection Theory
The eye has this many rods and this many cones
What is 120 million / 6 million
This part of the eyeball has NO photoreceptors and accounts for this
What is the Blind Spot
Idea that posits color depends on three types of color receptors in the eye
WHat is Trichromatic Theory
Sound waves are characterized by these two physical properties
What are amplitude and frequency
The sense that keeps us informed about movement of the parts of the body and their position in relation to each other
What is Kinesthesia
When the brain identifies patterns as meaningful wholes rather than as piecemeal constructions
What is Top Down Processing (ironically when you think you know someone who is approaching and you wave and then realize it is someone else that is an example of TDP) It was due to your tendency to perceive faces on their whole pattern rather than feature by feature
What is tell foretell the future
The principle that states the amount of change in a stimulus needed to detect a difference is given by a constant ratio (or fraction), called a constant of the original stimulus. (there is actually a different ratio that is applied to every category- for weights it was 2%)
What is Weber's Principle
The general acronym that Mr. O made up to measure the "basic" points of light as it enters and exits the eyeball
What is CIPLRO
Both sound AND light technically travel in these
What are Waves
One of the "sixth" senses it refers to the purported ability to project one's thoughts into other people's minds OR to read what is in their minds
What is Telepathy
While light travels at 186,000 miles per second, sound travels at about this many fee per second
What is 1,130
MR. O gave you this acronym to help you remember the 5 taste flavors
What is BUSSS
Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness are ALL examples of this
The ability to move objects by mentor effort alone- one of the ESP's
What is psychokinesis