Unit 1 & Unit 2 Sensation and Perception Vocab

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

• Sensation
• Interpretation
• Cognition
• Perception

a point above which a stimulus is perceived and below which it is not perceived

• Sensory

• Perceptual limit
• Cognitive

• threshold

conversion of physical energy received by the sense receptors into neural energy/impulses the brain can interpret (perception starts when transduction occurs)

• Transduction
• Reception
• Interpretation
• Transmission

anything that can trigger a physical or behavioral change. In Sensation, the stimuli is the source of the sensation

• Response
• Reaction
• Impulse
• Stimuli

the amount of a stimulus that is needed to sense a stimulus 50% of the time

• Difference threshold
• Absolute threshold
• Sensory adaptation
• Perceptual set

the smallest amount of a stimulus change needed in order to notice the difference a stimulus change 50% of the time. (eg.- the amount of decibel change needed to notice the volume has changed); the difference thresh

• perceptual threshold
• sensory adaptation
• just noticeable difference (JND)
• absolute threshold

the minimum required difference between two stimuli for a person to notice change 50% of the time

• Sensory Adaptation
• difference threshold

• Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
• Absolute Threshold

an unconscious reduction in sensitivity to a stimulus after constant exposure to it

• Adaptation
• Sensitization
• Desensitization
• Habituation

States that the size of the JND is directly proportional to the strength of the original stimulus. (eg.- carrying 1 book to 2 books will be noticed (100% increase) but 10 books to 11 books probably will not)

• Threshold Theory
• Law of Diminishing Returns
• Fechner's Law
• Weber-Fechner Law

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

• Flavor enhancement
• Olfactory response
• Sensory interaction
• Taste perception