A
A type of processing, analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
Bottom-up processing
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere
Inattentional blindness
A type of processing, information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.
Top-down processing
Failure to notice changes in the environment, a form of inattentional blindness
Change blindness
Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energy such as sights, sounds and smells into neural impulses our brain can interpret
Transduction
The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
Absolute Threshold
Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Subliminal
The principle that to be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum %
Weber's Law
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
Sensory Adaptation
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Perceptual set
Eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris
Cornea
Light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layer of neurons that begin the processing of visual information
Retina
The theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory
Theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision
Opponent-process theory
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Gestalt
The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)
Figure-ground
Laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
Visual Cliff
A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance
Retinal disparity
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
Phi Phenomenon
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves
Sensorineural hearing loss
In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated
Place Theory
In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone
Frequency Theory
The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological ‘gate’ that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.
Gate-Control Theory
Our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance
Vestibular sense
Stimulation of one sense triggers an experience of another (hearing music leads to color sensitive cortex)
Synesthesia