the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

• perception
• stimulation
• reaction
• sensation

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

• Cognition
• Sensation
• Consciousness
• Perception

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

• bottom-up processing
• lateral processing
• top-down processing
• parallel processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

• bottom-up processing
• lateral processing
• top-down processing
• parallel processing

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

• distraction
• selective attention

• concentration
• ignorance

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

• cognitive blindness
• perceptual blindness
• inattentional blindness
• selective attention

failing to notice changes in the environment

• cognitive overload
• perceptual blindness
• selective attention
• change blindness

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

• stimulus transformation
• neural interpretation
• transduction

• energy conversion

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

• psychophysics
• physiology
• psychology
• psychoanalysis

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

• physiology
• psychology
• absolute threshold

• psychoanalysis