Psychology Chapter 5

The process of transforming physical energy into electrochemical energy.

The process of receiving stimulus energies from the environment

The brains process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning.

The detection of information below the level of conscious awareness.

The minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect.

The smallest difference in stimulation required to discriminate one stimulus from another 50 percent of the time. (Aka: Just noticeable difference)

A change in responsiveness of the sensory system based on the average level of surrounding stimulation

Specialized cells that detect stimulus information and transmit to sensory (afferent) nerves and the brain.

color

Distance from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next

The height of the wave and is linked with the brightness of a visual stimulus

A mixture of wavelengths in light that is related to the perceived saturation or richness of a visual stimulus.

Colored part of the eye

Clear membrane in front of the eye-bends light falling on the surface of the eye just enough to focus it at the back of the eye

Fine tunes focusing

Light sensitive surface that records what we see and converts it to neural impulses for processing in the brain (at the back of the eye)

a minute area in the center of the retina at which visual information is at its best. Contains many cones

Axons of ganglion cells which carry the visual information to the brain for further processing

States that color perception is produced by three types of receptors (cones in the retina) that are particularly sensitive to different, but overlapping, ranges of wavelengths

people with only two kinds of cones

people with three types of cones and normal color vision

Start with some sense of what is happening and apply that framework to information from the world

Taking information from the environment and trying to make sense of it

The ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally

School of psychology emphasizing that people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns

Anvil, stirrup, hammer, eardrum. They vibrate and transmit sound waves to the fluid-filled inner ear

Outer, visible part of the ear. Collects sounds and channels them to the interior of the ear

The brain can send signals downward to the spinal cord to close the gate and to suppress the sensation of pain

Bumps on tongue that contain taste buds, receptors for taste