Unit 4: Sensation and Perception
Sensory adaption
Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. Example moving your watch up an inch on your wrist the sensation is normal after a while.
Perception
Enables us to recognize meaningful objects and events in the environment. Mnemonic device: perception the way you look at objects, being able to recognize them.
Change blindness
Failing to notice changes occurring in the environment. Mnemonic device: blindness not being able to see
Inattentional blindness
Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere. Mnemonic device: blindness not able to see something
Sensorineural loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or the auditory nerves. Mnemonic device: caused damage to the neural nerves.
Conducting hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. Mnemonic device: cant hear as good as you could before.
Top-up Processing
Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. Mnemonic device: top or the highest level mental process
Taper-down treatment
Less intense then the previous one before it. Mnemonic device: taper down means to bring down a notch
Subliminal detection
Meaning below the threshold. Mnemonic device: sub means to be under.
Super cell clusters
Respond to more complex patterns. Mnemonic device: super means out of the ordinary or complex
Serial clusters
Tendency to recall best the last and first items on a list. Example reading a list you will remember the first and last names of things on it.
Frequency theory
The brain reads pitch by monitoring the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve. Mnemonic device: monitors the frequency.
Plasticity
The brains ability to modify itself after damage. Mnemonic device: like plastic it is flexible and can modify its shape.
Young-Helmhotz Theory
The comes do their color magic in teams of three. Example the three colors are red, green, and blue not yellow.
Selective attention
The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. Mnemonic device: Attention has to do with focusing on something
Difference threshold
The minimum difference a person can detect between any two stimuli half the time. Mnemonic device: has to do with a difference.
Absolute threshold
The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. Mnemonic device: absolute means the least amount or minimum.
Sensory interaction
The principle that one sense may influence another.Mnemonic device: the senses interact with each other.
Accommodation
The process by which the eye lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. Mnemonic device: the lens changes shape to accommodate with the object.
Parallel processing
The process of many aspects of a problem simultaneously. The brains natural mode of information processing for many functions including vision. Mnemonic device: processing is happening in the brain.
Vestibular sense
The sense of body movement and position including the sense of balance. Mnemonic device: has to do with sensing something.
Gate control theory
The spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allow them to pass on to the brain. Mnemonic device: a gate blocks pain signals.
Kinesthetic sense
The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts. Mnemonic device: has to do with sensing something.
Place theory
The theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated. Mnemonic device: has to do with the place where the noise came from.
Signal Detection
Theory predicting how and when we notice or detect the presence of a faint stimulus making noise. Mnemonic device: Detection of sound.
Weber's law
Two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage rather than a constant amount. Example the difference between a high pitched sound and a low pitched sound.
Pop-out Stimuli
We don't chose to look at the stimuli, they draw our eyes and get our attention. Mnemonic device: the stimuli pops out to our eyes, eye poping
Sensation
When sensory receptors receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. Mnemonic device: Sensation has to do with sensory receptors
Phantom sense
When the brain misinterprets the spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of normal sensory inputs. Mnemonic device: phantom is like a not clear and the brain misinterpretation.
Feature detectors
Ability to respond to a scene's specific features. Mnemonic device: has to do with features
Bottom-up Processing
Analysis beginning with our sense receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information. Mnemonic device: works "up" to the brain.
Opponent process theory and after images
As visual information leaves the receptor cells we analyze it in terms of three sets of opponent colors. Mnemonic device: has to do with opponent or opposite colors.
Cocktail party effect
Being able to focus ones auditory attention on a certain stimulus while filtering out a range of stimuli. Mnemonic device: There are a lot of people at a party and they filter out a lot of stimuli.
Transduction
Conversion of one form of energy to another. Mnemonic device: transport means to convert or move.
