WHAT ARE SENSATION AND PERCEPTION? Define Sensation and Perception (Objective 1) 1. The passive process through which stimuli are received by the sense receptors and transformed into neural impulses that can be carried through the nervous system is sensation 2. The active process in which sensory information is carried through the nervous system to the brain and is organized and interpreted is perception 3. The process of paying attention to a limited number of environmental stimuli is called selective SENSORY PROCESSES 4. The tendency of the sense organs to adjust to continuous, unchanging stimulation by reducing their functioning is called sensory adaptation Differentiate between Absolute and Difference Thresholds (Objective 2) 5. The minimum amount of physical energy required by a sensory receptor to produce a sensation is called the absolute 6. The minimum amount of physical energy required to produce a difference in sensation is called the difference 7. To help overcome the problem of uncertainty and guessing in subjects, signal detection VISION List the Major Structures and Function of the Eye and Compare the Two Major Theories of Color Vision (Objective 3) 8. The stimuli that affect vision are light waves 9. Wave amplitude is the height of the wave. It primarily determines our experience of brightness 10. Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, the outer membrane that covers the eyeball. They then pass through the pupil 11. The light rays are focused by the lens 12. The focused images fall on the retina 13. In the retina, the rods 14. The cones 15. The axons of the ganglion cells come together at the eye's blind spot to form the optic 16. The ability to discriminate fine details when looking at something is called visual acuity 17. In myopia 18. In the visual disorder of hyperopia 19. The Young-Helmholtz or trichromatic 20. The opponent-process 21. Looking at a stimulus and then staring at a white space produces a stimulus with the reverse of the original colors, called a negative afterimage 22. If a person has normal color vision, she is a trichromat VISUAL PERCEPTION Define Perceptual Constancy and Identify Three Types (Objective 4) 23. The tendency to perceive objects in a consistent manner despite the changing sensations that are received by the senses is called perceptual constancy 24. Our ability to see objects as continuing to have the same brightness even though light or shadow may change their immediate sensory properties is brightness 25. The tendency to perceive familiar objects as the same color, regardless of the illumination, is called color 26. The tendency to perceive familiar objects as having a permanent shape, even if we look at the objects from different angles, is called shape 27. The tendency to perceive familiar objects as remaining the same size even though the image on the retina may vary in size is called size Describe Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization (Objective 5) 28. The perceptual organization rule that describes our tendency to separate a scene into a main figure and a background is the figure-ground 29. The Gestalt perceptual organization principle of filling in the gaps in a figure in order to perceive a complete form is called closure 30. The Gestalt perceptual organization principle of perceiving stimuli as continuing is called continuity 31. The Gestalt perceptual organization principle in which similar stimuli are perceived as a unit is similarity 32. The Gestalt perceptual organization principle in which stimuli close to one another are perceived as being together is proximity 33. The Gestalt perceptual organization principle in which groups of stimuli moving together are perceived as a unit is common fate Identify Monocular and Binocular Cues Used in Depth Perception (Objective 6) 34. A device that appears to have a solid support on one side (shallow) and a cliff drop-off on the other (deep) and is used to test depth perception in infants is a visual cliff 35. Six-month-old human infants who are tested on the visual cliff show depth 36. The ability to correctly judge the distance of an object is called depth perception. Visual cues used to detect distance that require only one eye are called monocular 37. The monocular depth cue in which one object partially blocks another and we assume the overlap is due to the first one being closer, is called interposition 38. The monocular depth cue in which we normally interpret distance by the relative size of an object is size 39. The monocular depth cue in which converging lines depict distance is called linear 40. The monocular depth cue in which small objects that are close to us show more detail than objects farther away is called texture 41. The monocular depth cue in which, as we move, objects close to us appear to move faster than objects farther away is called motion parallax 42. Distance cues that depend on both eyes are called binocular 43. The binocular depth cue in which we detect distance by interpreting the slightly different images from each eye is called retinal disparity 44. The binocular depth cue in which we detect distance by interpreting the kinesthetic sensations produced by the muscles of the eyeballs is called convergence Identify Three Different Types of Apparent Movement (Objective 7) 45. The situation in which we attribute movement to an object that is not actually moving is called induced 46. Perception of movement when a series of still pictures are seen rapidly, with each successive one being slightly different from the earlier one, is called stroboscopic 47. Perception of movement between two lights which are alternately going on and off, is called the phi 48. Perception of movement of a stationary spot of light in a darkened room is called the autokinetic Define Visual Illusion and List Six Examples (Objective 8) 49. An incorrect perception that occurs when sensation is distorted is an illusion 50. Figures that logically cannot exist and which we see as illusions are called impossible 51. A well-known illusion in which two horizontal lines have end lines either pointing in or out is called the Müller-Lyer 52. An illusion in which linear perspective makes us believe a line that looks larger is actually closer is called the Ponzo 53. An illusion in which a straight line looks distorted is the Poggendorff HEARING Outline the Functioning of the Ear (Objective 9) 54. The frequency 55. The amplitude 56. The sound waves hit the eardrum, whose vibrations are carried by the three bones of the middle ear to the cochlea 57. The organ of Corti Compare the Two Major Theories of Hearing and Outline the Process of Sound Localization (Objective 10) 58. The frequency 59. The volley 60. The place 61. A structure in the outer or middle ear not functioning properly causes conduction 62. Damage to the inner or auditory nerve causes nerve 63. Sound delivered only to one ear is called monaural, whereas sound delivered to both ears is called binaural 64. Binaural cues allow us to judge sound location THE CHEMICAL SENSES Describe the Senses of Smell and Taste (Objective 11) 65. The senses of smell and taste are called the chemical senses. The sense receptors for smell, or olfaction 66. The stereochemical 67. The taste 68. The receptors for taste are clustered together in taste buds THE SKIN AND BODY SENSES Describe the Skin Senses of Pressure, Pain, and Temperature (Objective 12) 69. The four skin 70. Touch, or pressure 71. The receptors for pain 72. Melzack and Wall's (1965) gate-control 73. When neural impulses in the large, fast nerve fibers reach the substantia gelatinosa gate, they close 74. Peptides produced in the brain that have a morphine-like effect on the reduction of pain are called endorphins 75. Practitioners of acupuncture 76. The skin senses include two types of temperature 77. Sometimes when a stimulus has a temperature of about 45 degrees it feels cold, a phenomenon called paradoxical Describe Kinesthesis and the Vestibular Sense (Objective 13) 78. The sense of bodily movement is called kinesthesis 79. The vestibular WEB SITE *Exploring Psychology: Signal Detection Theory 1. Signal detection theory approaches a person's behavior in detecting a threshold as a form of decision making 2. If a stimulus is presented and a person says yes *Exploring Psychology: Visual Acuity 3. The ability to discriminate fine details when looking at something is called visual acuity 4. In the visual impairment of nearsightedness, or myopia *Exploring Psychology: Color Blindness 5. If you have normal vision, you are a trichromat 6. Color blindness is determined genetically, is sex-linked, and occurs mostly in males *Exploring Psychology: Brightness Constancy 7. Our ability to see objects as continuing to have the same brightness even though light may change their immediate sensory properties is called brightness constancy *Exploring Psychology: The Ames Room
8. Although constructed to look normal, the Ames *Biography: Max Wertheimer 9. Max Wertheimer taught at New School for Social Research *Biography: Wolfgang K”hler 10. While at the Canary Islands, K”hler applied the Gestalt principles to study insight learning by chimpanzees *Biography: Kurt Koffka 11. Koffka was especially interested in studying the laws that govern our perceptions *Exploring Psychology: Camouflage 12. Camouflage works primarily because of the Gestalt *Exploring Psychology: The Moon Illusion 13. Kaufman and Rock argued that the moon illusion works because when it is on the horizon
*Exploring Psychology: Hearing Impairment 14. When a structure in the outer or middle ear is not functioning properly, conduction 15. When the auditory nerve is damaged, nerve *Exploring Psychology: Acupuncture 16. In acupuncture
