Chapter 3

absolute threshold
The minimum amount of stimulus energy that can be detected 50 percent of the time.
accessory structures
Structures, such as the outer part of the ear, that modify a stimulus.
acoustic nerve
The bundle of axons that carries messages from the hair cells of the cochlea to the brain.
amplitude
The distance between the peak and the baseline of a wave.
analgesia
Reduction in the sensation of pain in the presence of a normally painful stimulus.
attention
The process of directing and focusing certain psychological resources to enhance perception, performance, and
mental experience.
basilar membrane
The floor of the fluid-filled duct that runs through the cochlea.
blind spot
The point at which the optic nerve exits the eyeball.
bottom-up processing
Aspects of recognition that depend first on information about stimuli that come up to the brain from the sensory
systems.
brightness
The overall intensity of the wavelengths making up light.
cochlea
A fluid-filled spiral structure in the inner ear in which auditory transduction occurs.
color saturation
The purity of a color.
cones
Photoreceptors in the retina that are less light sensitive than rods but that can distinguish colors.
cornea
The curved, transparent, protective layer through which light rays enter the eye.
cutaneous senses
Senses including touch, temperature, pain, and kinesthetic perception that are spread throughout the body. Also
called somatosensory systems.
dark adaptation
The increasing ability to see in the dark as time passes.
depth perception
Perception of distance, allowing us to experience the world in three dimensions.
encoding
Translation of the physical properties of a stimulus into a specific pattern of neural activity.
eye convergence
A depth cue that results when the eyes rotate to project the image of an object on each retina.
feature detectors
Cells in the cerebral cortex that respond to a specific feature of an object.
figure

The part of the visual field that has meaning.

figure ground discrimination
The ability to organize a visual scene so that it contains meaningful figures set against a less relevant ground.
fovea
A region in the center of the retina.
frequency
The number of complete waves, or cycles, that pass a given point per unit of time.
gate control theory of pain
A theory suggesting the presence of a gate in the spinal cord that either permits or blocks the passage of pain
impulses to the brain.
ground
The contourless part of the visual field; the background.
hue
The essential color determined by the dominant wavelength of light.
iris
The part of the eye that gives it its color and adjusts the amount of light entering it.
just-noticeable difference (JND)
The smallest detectable difference in stimulus energy. Also called difference threshold.
kinesthetic perception
The proprioceptive sense that tells us where the parts of the body are with respect to one another.
lens
The part of the eye directly behind the pupil.
light intensity
A physical dimension of light waves that refers to how much energy the light contains and that determines our
experience of its brightness.
light wavelength
A physical dimension of light waves that refers to their length and that produces sensations of different colors.
looming
A motion cue whereby rapid expansion in the size of an image fills the available space on the retina.
loudness
A psychological dimension of sound determined by the amplitude of a sound wave.
middle ear
The part of the ear that contains the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, which transmit sound from the tympanic
membrane to the oval window.
neural receptors
Cells that are specialized to detect certain types of energy and convert it into neural activity.
noise
The spontaneous random firing of nerve cells that occurs because the nervous system is always active.
ocular accommodation
The ability of the lens to change its shape and bend light rays so objects are in focus.
olfactory bulb
A brain structure that receives messages regarding smell.
olfactory perception (sense of smell)

The sense that detects chemicals that are airborne. Also called olfaction.
opponent-process theory
A theory of color vision stating that the visual elements that are sensitive to color are grouped into red-green,
blue-yellow, and black-white pairs.
optic nerve
A bundle of fibers that carries visual information to the brain.
papillae
Structures in the mouth on which taste buds are grouped.
perception
The process through which people take raw sensations from the environment and give them meaning using
knowledge, experience, and understanding of the world.
perceptual constancy
The perception that objects retain the same size, shape, color, and other properties despite changes in their
retinal image.
pheromones
Chemicals that are released by one creature and detected by another, shaping the second creatures behavior
or physiology.
photoreceptors
Specialized cells in the retina that convert light energy into neural activity.
pinna
The crumpled part of the outer ear that collects sound waves.
pitch
How high or low a tone sounds; pitch depends on the frequency of a sound wave.
place theory
A theory of hearing that states that hair cells at a particular place on the basilar membrane respond most to a
particular frequency of sound.
proprioception
The sensory processes that tell us about the location of our body parts and what each is doing.
proprioceptors
Neural receptors that provide information about movement and body position.
pupil
An opening in the eye just behind the cornea through which light passes.
response bias (response criterion)
The internal rule a person uses to decide whether or not to report a stimulus.
retina
The surface at the back of the eye onto which the lens focuses light rays.
retinal disparity
A depth cue based on the difference between the retinal images received by each eye.
rods
Photoreceptors in the retina that allow sight even in dim light but that cannot distinguish colors.
schemas
Generalizations about categories of objects, places, events, and people, or mental representations of what we
know and expect about the world.
sensations
Raw information from the senses.

sense
A system that translates data B85rom outside the nervous system into neural activity.
sense of equilibrium (vestibular sense)
The proprioceptive sense that provides information about the position of the head and its movements.
sensitivity
The ability to detect a stimulus.
sensory adaptation
Decreasing responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus.
signal detection theory
A mathematical model of what determines a persons report of a near-threshold stimulus.
sound
A repetitive fluctuation in the pressure of a medium such as air.
stroboscopic illusion
An illusion of motion that is created when we see slightly different images or slightly displaced lights flashed in
rapid succession.
taste perception
The sense that detects chemicals in solution that come into contact with receptors inside the mouth. Also called
gustatory perception.
timbre
The quality of a sound that identifies it.
top-down processing
Aspects of recognition guided by higherlevel cognitive processes and by psychological factors such as
expectations.
transduction
The process of converting incoming physical energy into neural activity.
trichromatic theory
A theory of color vision stating that information from three types of visual elements combines to produce the
sensation of color.
tympanic membrane (eardrum)
A tightly stretched membrane in the middle ear that generates vibrations that match the sound waves striking
it.
volley theory
A theory of hearing that states that the firing rate of an acoustic nerve matches a sound waves frequency. Also
called frequencymatching theory.
wavelength
The distance between peaks in a wave of light or sound.
Webers law
A law stating that the smallest detectable difference in stimulus energy (just-noticeable difference) is a constant
fraction of the intensity of the stimulus.