psych chapter 6

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters is called the

pupil

The amplitude of sound wave determines what aspect of hearing?

loudness

Hermann von Helmholtz speculated that people hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea's basilar membrane. His theory is called:

place theory.

Which of the following statements is true of a blind spot?

A blind spot is created when there are no receptor cells

Visual information is processed by ganglion cells:

AFTER it is processed by rods and cones and AFTER it is processed by bipolar cells

refers to the process by which people detect stimulus energy in the environment and encode that energy as neural signals.

Sensation

occurs when there is damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves.

Sensorineural hearing loss

refers to the conversion of one form of energy into another.

Transduction

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount is called:

Weber's law.

According to the _____, the retina has three types of color receptors. Each of these types is sensitive to one of three colors: red, green, or blue.

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular sensory stimulus (e.g., light, sound, pressure, and taste) 50 percent of the time

absolute threshold

The difference threshold is best described as the minimum difference that a person can detect:

between two stimuli 50 percent of the time.

Ricardo has been suffering from a lengthy battle with the flu. His ears are painfully plugged with fluid. One morning his right ear "pops" from all of the pressure and fluid comes out. He screams in pain because the eardrum has punctured. This will result in:

conduction hearing loss.

For humans, the placement of two ears allows them to:

enjoy stereophonic hearing.

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time is known as:

frequency.

MOST hearing losses are results of damage to the:

hair cells

are retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, whereas _____ detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

rods; cones

If Tom moves his watchband up his wrist an inch, he will feel it for only a few moments. This BEST illustrates:

sensory adaptation.

When Sheila arrived at the gym on Tuesday morning, she noticed the musty odor of the showers in the locker room. As she finished changing, she did not notice the smell. This is probably the result of:

sensory adaptation.

Which activity MOST clearly takes place in the rods and cones?

sensory transduction