Sensation and Perception Vocabulary

Front

The process by which sensory receptors detect physical stimuli from the environment and send this information to the brain is called:

Back

Sensation

Front

The process of organizing, interpreting, and making sense of sensory information to understand the world around us is called:

Back

Perception

Front

The conversion of physical stimuli into neural signals that can be processed by the brain is called:

Back

Transduction

Front

What is the minimum level of stimulus intensity required for a person to detect a stimulus 50% of the time?

Back

Absolute threshold

Front

Minimum amount of change in a stimulus detectable 50% of the time

Back

Difference threshold

Front

The process by which sensory receptors become less responsive to an unchanging stimulus over time is known as:

Back

Sensory adaptation

Front

A mental predisposition to perceive something in a particular way, influenced by expectations, experiences, and context, is known as:

Back

Perceptual Set

Front

Perception guided by higher-level cognitive processes, such as prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations, rather than solely by incoming sensory data, is known as:

Back

Top-down processing

Front

Perception that begins with raw sensory input and builds up to higher-level cognitive interpretation without prior knowledge or expectations influencing it is known as:

Back

Bottom-up processing