Energy that produces a response in a sense organ

specialized forms of neurons.

the 5 sense organs are?

the smallest
difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50 percent of the time.

A basic law of psychophysics stating that a just noticeable difference
is a constant proportion to the intensity of an initial stimulus (rather than a
constant amount).

the smallest amount of energy needed for a person to
consciously detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time it is present.

a model for predicting how and when a person will detect weak stimuli, partly based on context

stimuli that are below the level of conscious awareness.
• Just strong enough to activate the sensory receptors but not strong enough for people to
be consciously aware of them.

also known as “threshold"

it is the “below the threshold.”

process by why subliminal stimuli act upon the
unconscious mind, influencing behavior.

tendency of the brain to stop attending to constant, unchanging
information.

to become less responsive to a stimulus that is
unchanging.

the type of sensory adaptation in which we become more sensitive to
stimuli that are low in magnitude (Positive adaptation)

the process by which organism become more sensitive to stimuli that are low in
magnitude and less sensitive to stimuli that are constant or ongoing in
magnitude

the type of sensory adaptation in which we become less sensitive to
constant stimuli (Negative adaptation)

process by which information from the outside world enters the brain. also related to the activation of receptors in the various sense organs and also related to changes in physical stimuli

detected by sensory receptors and sometimes "ignored" through sensory adaptation or cognitive habituation

determined by the amplitude of the wave—how high or how low the
wave actually is. The higher the wave, the brighter the light will be. Low waves are
dimmer.

or hue, is determined by the length of the wave.

Long wavelengths are found at the red end of the ________ (the portion of the whole
spectrum of light that is visible to the human eye), whereas shorter wavelengths are found at the blue end

refers to the purity of the color people see; mixing in black or gray would
also lessen

differentiate the color of great amplitude and small amplitude

differentiate the short wavelengths and long wavelengths

clear membrane that covers the surface of the eye; protects the eye and is
the structure that focuses most of the light coming into the eye. Also bends light waves so the image can be focused on the retina

vision-improving technique that uses this fact by making small
incisions in the cornea to change the focus in the eye

hole through which light from the visual image enters the interior of the eye. Iris opening that changes size depending on the amount of light in the environment

round muscle (the colored part of the eye) in which the pupil is located; can
change the size of the pupil, letting more or less light into the eye; helps focus the
image. Its muscles control the size of the pupil

another clear structure behind the iris, suspended by muscles; finishes the
focusing process begun by the cornea. Also changes shape to bring objects into focus

the change in the thickness of the lens as the eye focuses on
objects that are far away or close.

final stop for light in the eye, also contains photoreceptor cells

3 layes of retina

visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina,
responsible for noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light

visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina,
responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision.

area in the retina where the axons of the three layers of retinal cells
exit the eye to form the optic nerve, insensitive to light.

the central area of retina; greatest density of photoreceptors

differentiate the Aqueous humos and Vitreous humor

impaired ability to focus on nearby objects because of decreased flexibility of the lens

nearsightedness- impaired ability to focus on distant objects

farsightedness-impared ability to focus on close objects

differentiate the Glaucoma and Cataract

theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and
green. (Hermann von Helmholtz 1852) the three types of combine to form different colors much as these three colored lights combine. Also processing by cones

there are four primary colors: red, green, blue, and yellow. The colors are arranged in pairs, with each member of the pair as opponents. Red is paired with its opponent green, and blue is paired with its opponent yellow. If one member of a pair is strongly stimulated, the other member is inhibited and cannot be working—so there are no reddish-greens or bluish-yellows. (Edwald Hering in 1874) also processing beyond cones (bipolar or ganglion cells to LGN of thalamus)

images that occur when a visual sensation persists for a brief time even after the
original stimulus is removed.

either have no cones or have cones that are not
working at all

one cone that does not work properly. So instead of
experiencing the world with normal vision based on combination of three cones
or colors, trichromatic vision, individuals with _____ experience the
world with essentially combinations of two cones or colors. Red-green color
deficiency is due to the lack of functioning red or green cones.

either the red or the green cones are not working.

interpreted as frequency or pitch (high, medium, or low)

interpreted as volume (how soft or loud a sound is)

interpreted as timbre (a richness in the tone of the sound).

hertz (Hz) - cycles or waves per second, a measurement of frequency.

a unit expressing the loudness of a sound.

snail-shaped structure of the inner ear that is filled with fluid.

rests in the basilar membrane; contains receptor cells for sense
of hearing.

bundle of axons from the hair cells in the inner ear; receives
neural message from the organ of Corti.

psychological experience of sound that corresponds to the frequency of
the sound waves; higher frequencies are perceived as higher pitches.

theory of pitch that states that different pitches are experienced
by the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of Corti.

theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed
of vibrations in the basilar membrane

theory of pitch that states that frequencies above 100 Hz cause
the hair cells (auditory neurons) to fire in a volley pattern, or take turns in firing.

can result from either:
• damaged eardrum (which would prevent sound waves from being carried into the middle
ear properly), or
• damage to the bones of the middle ear (sounds cannot be conducted from the eardrum to
the cochlea)

can result from either:
• damage in the inner ear, or
• damage in the auditory pathways and cortical areas of the brain.

a microphone implanted just behind the ear picks up sound from the
surrounding environment

taste receptor cells in mouth; responsible for sense of taste

the sensation of a taste.

Five Basic Tastes are

sense of smell.

areas of the brain located just above the sinus cavity and just
below the frontal lobes that receive information from the olfactory receptor
cells. • At least 1,000 olfactory receptors.

A cross section of the nose and mouth

the body senses consisting of the skin senses, the
kinesthetic sense, and the vestibular senses

differentiate the soma and esthetic

the sensations of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.
• Sensory receptors in the skin

pain signals must pass through a “gate” located in the spinal cord.

sense of the location of body parts in relation to the ground and each other.
• Proprioceptive receptors (proprioceptors)

the sensations of movement, balance, and body position sensory conflict
theory an explanation of motion sickness in which the information from the eyes conflicts
with the information from the vestibular senses, resulting in dizziness, nausea, and other
physical discomforts.

the method by which the sensations experienced at any given
moment are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion

the tendency to interpret an object as always being the same
actual size, regardless of its distance

the tendency to interpret the shape of an object as being
constant, even when its shape changes on the retina.

the tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an
object as the same even when the light conditions change.

A series of principles that describe how we organize
bits and pieces of information into meaningful wholes

the tendency to perceive objects, or figures, as existing on a background

visual illusions in which the figure and ground can be
reversed.

differentiate the gestalt principles in similarity and proximity

Differentiate the gestalt principles in closure, continuity and contiguity

the ability to perceive the world in three dimensions.
• Studies of depth perception
• Visual cliff experiment

cues for perceiving depth based on one eye only

differentiate the linear perspective , relative size and nterposition (overlap)

the haziness that surrounds objects that are farther away
from the viewer, causing the distance to be perceived as greater

the tendency for textured surfaces to appear to become
smaller and finer as distance from the viewer increases

the perception of motion of objects in which close objects
appear to move more quickly than objects that are farther away.

as a monocular clue, the brain’s use of information about the
changing thickness of the lens of the eye in response to looking at objects that
are close or far away.

the cues for perceiving depth based on both eyes.

differentiate the convergence and binocular disparity

illusion of line length that is distorted by inward-turning or outward-
turning corners on the ends of the lines, causing lines of equal length to appear to be different

the moon on the horizon appears to be larger than the moon in the sky. Apparent distance hypothesis

a small, stationary light in a darkened room will appear to move or drift because there
are no surrounding cues to indicate that the light is not moving.

differentiate the stroboscopic motion and phi phenomenon

the tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions.

the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception.

claim of perception that occurs without the use
of normal sensory channels such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell

claimed ability to read another person’s thoughts, or mind reading.

supposed ability to “see” things that are not actually present

supposed ability to know something in advance of its occurrence or to predict a future event.

the study of ESP, ghosts, and other subjects that do not
normally fall into the realm of ordinary psychology.