module 12
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- sensation
- the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
- perception
- the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
- bottom-up processing
- analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information (lines, angles, colors, etc)
- top-down processing
- information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
- absolute thresholds
- the minimum stimulus needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
- signal detection theory
- a theory predicting how and when we detect the prescence of a faint stimulus ("Signal") amid background stimulation ("noise"). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue
- difference threshold
- the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time
- weber's law
- the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) the exact proportion varies
- sensory adaptation
- diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation