Chapter 4
Science A4 with Varnhagon at University of Alberta
About this deck
By: Alison Chisholm
Created: 2010-12-16
Size: 45 flashcards
Views: 7
Created: 2010-12-16
Size: 45 flashcards
Views: 7
About StudyBlue
STUDYBLUE makes things that make you better at school.
Things like online flashcards with photos and audio.
Things like personalized quizzes and friendly reminders about when (and what) to study next.
Think of it as a digital backpack™: access to all of your study materials online and on your phone.
STUDYBLUE exists to make studying efficient and effective for every student, for free. Join us.
“I have been getting MUCH better grades on all my tests for school. Flash cards, notes, and quizzes are great on here. Thanks!”
Kathy
Kathy
Sign up (free) to study this.
Synesthesia
The perceptual experence of one sense that is evoked by another sense
Sensation
Simple awareness due to the stimulation of a sense organ
Perception
The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation
Transduction
What takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals sent to the central mervous system
Psychophysics
Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer's sensitivity to that stimulus
Absolute Threshold
The minimal intensity needed to barely detect a stimulus
Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
The minimul change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected
Weber's Law
The just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity
Signal Detection Theory
An observation that the response to a stimulus depends both on a person's sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person's response criterion
Sensory Adaptation
Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
Visual Acuity
The ability to see fine detail
Retina
Light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball
Accommodation
The process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina
Cones
Photoreceptors that detect colour, operate under normal daylight conditions, and allow us to focus on fine detail
Rods
Photoreceptors that become active only under low-light conditions for night vision
Fovea
An area of the retina where vision is the clearlest and there are no rods at all
Blind Spot
An area of the retina that contains neither rods nor cones and therefore has no mechanism to sense light
Receptive Field
The region of the sensory surface that, when stimulated, causes a change in the firing rate of that neuron
Trichromatic Colour Prepresentation
The pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provides a unique code for each colour
Colour-Opponent System
Pairs of visual neurons that work in opposition
Area V1
The part of the occipital lobe that contains the promary visual cortex
Visual-Form Agnosia
The inability to recognize objects by sight
Perceptual Constansy
A perceptual principle stating that even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception ramains consistent
Template
A mental representation that csn be directly compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image
Monocular Depth Cue
Aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye
Binocular Disparity
The difference in the retinal images of the two eyes that provides information about depth
Motion Parallax
A depth cue based on the movement of the head ober time
Apparent Motion
The perception of movement as a result of alternation signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations
Pitch
How high or low a sound is
Loudness
A sound's intensity
Timbre
A listener's experience of sound quality or resonance
Cochlea
A fluid-filled tube that is the organ of auditory transduction
Basilar Membrane
A structure in the inner ear that undulates when vibrating from the ossicles reach the cochlear fluid
Hair Cells
Specialized auditory receptor neurons embedded in the basilar membrane
Area A1
A portion of the temporal lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex
Place Code
The cochlea encodes different frequencies at different locations along the basilar membrane
Temporal Code
The cochlea registers low frequencies viea the firing rate of action potentials entering the auditory nerve
Haptic Perception
The active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping onjects with our hands
Referred Pain
Feeling of pain when sensory information from internal and external areas converge an the same nerve cells in the spinal cord
Gate-Control Theory
A theory of pain perception based on the idea that signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from two directions
Vestibular System
The three fluid-filled semicircular canals and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in each inner ear
Olfactory Receptor Neurons (ORNS)
Receptor cells that initiate the sense of smell
Olfactory Bulb
A brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes
Pheremones
Biochemical odorants emitted by other members of their species that can affect an animal's behaviour or physiology
Taste Buds
The organ of taste transduction
About this deck
By: Alison Chisholm
Created: 2010-12-16
Size: 45 flashcards
Views: 7
Created: 2010-12-16
Size: 45 flashcards
Views: 7
About StudyBlue
STUDYBLUE makes things that make you better at school.
Things like online flashcards with photos and audio.
Things like personalized quizzes and friendly reminders about when (and what) to study next.
Think of it as a digital backpack™: access to all of your study materials online and on your phone.
STUDYBLUE exists to make studying efficient and effective for every student, for free. Join us.
“I have been getting MUCH better grades on all my tests for school. Flash cards, notes, and quizzes are great on here. Thanks!”
Kathy
Kathy