Psych: Sensation and Perception

Process of detecting, converting, and transmitting new sensory info from the external and internal environments to the brain

Process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information into meaningful patterns

Information processing beginning at the bottom with raw sensory data sent up to the brain for higher-level analysis

Information processing starting at the top with higher-level processes and then working down

Eyes, ears, other sense organs contain receptor cells that detect and process sensory info

Converts receptor's energy into neural impulses that are sent on to the brain

Converting sensory inputs into different sensations

Filtering and analyzing incoming sensations before sending neural messages on to the cortex

Studies the link between physical characteristics of stimuli and our sensory experience

Smallest amount of a stimulus we can reliably detect

Minimal difference needed to detect a stimulus change

Decreased sensitivity due to repeated or constant stimulation

A form of electromagnetic energy that moves in waves

Distance between the crests of waves

How often a light or sound wave cycles

Height of a light or sound wave

What are the receptors for vision & where are they located?

Pit in the eye filled with cones, responsible for sharpest vision

Detect white, black, gray, dim light, peripheral vision

Detects color, sharp vision, detailed vision, and is maximally sensitive to red, green, and blue

Thoery where color perception results from 3 types of cones in the retina, each most sensitive to either red, green, or blue

Theory where color perception results from three systems of color opposites (blue-yellow, red-green, & black-white)

Results from movement of air molecules in a particular wave pattern

Determines pitch of sound

Determines loudness of sound

Pinna, auditory canal, and ear drum

Hammer, anvil, and stirrup

Cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Where are receptors for smell embedded in?

What are the receptors for taste & where are they located?

Sense of balance

Provides our brains with information about posture, orientation, and movement

Where are kinesthetic receptros located?

False or misleading perception that helps scientists study the processes of perception

Filtering out & attending only to important sensory messages

Specialized neurons that respond only to certain sensory information

Brain's tendency to ignore environmental factors that remain constant

Assembling information into patterns that help us understand the world

The perception process that involves choosing where to direct attention

Perceiving the environment as remaining the same even with changes in sensory input

Ability to perceive three dimensional space and accurately judge distance

Depth perception demonstrated by infants hesitating to crawl over the glass

Separation of the eye causes different images to fall on each retina

The closer the object the more the eyes converge, or turn inward

Perception process involving how the brain explains sensations

Readiness to perceive in a particular manner, based on expectations

Based on the context of the situation

Supposed "psychic" abilities that go beyond the known senses (e.g. telepathy or clairvoyance)