AP®︎ Psychology: Topic 1.6 Flashcards

The detection of physical or chemical stimulation by sensory receptors and its conversion into neural or neurochemical signals

The conversion of stimulus energy into neural or neurochemical messages used by the nervous system

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli and the sensations they produce

The minimum stimulus intensity that can be detected at least 50 percent of the time

A stimulus presented below the absolute threshold for conscious detection

The minimum difference between two stimuli that can be detected at least 50 percent of the time

The just-noticeable difference is a constant proportion of the original stimulus intensity: ΔI/I = k

Diminished sensitivity to a constant, unchanging stimulus after continued exposure

The process through which sensory systems work together and influence one another

Automatic, consistent production of an additional sensory experience when another sensory or cognitive system is stimulated

Wavelength is the distance between wave peaks; visible-light wavelength is associated with experienced hue, or color

Light intensity is the amount or amplitude of light energy and contributes to experienced brightness

The transparent outer covering of the eye that begins focusing incoming light

The opening in the eye through which light passes and whose size is controlled by the iris

The colored muscular structure that controls the size of the pupil

The transparent eye structure that changes shape to focus light onto the retina

The process by which the lens changes shape to focus objects at different distances onto the retina

A refractive error in which distant images focus in front of the retina, making nearby objects clearer

A refractive error in which nearby images would focus behind the retina, making distant objects clearer

The photosensitive surface at the back of the eye containing photoreceptors that transduce light into neural signals

Retinal photoreceptors concentrated toward the periphery that detect dim light, shapes, and movement but not color

Retinal photoreceptors concentrated in the fovea that function best in bright light and provide color vision and fine detail

The central, cone-rich area of the retina associated with the sharpest vision

The bundle of ganglion-cell axons that carries visual information from the retina toward the brain

The retinal location where the optic nerve exits and no rods or cones are present

The gradual increase in visual sensitivity after moving from a bright environment into darkness

The reduction in visual sensitivity after moving from darkness into bright light

Color vision begins with three cone types most sensitive to short, medium, and long wavelengths

Color information is organized into opposing red–green, blue–yellow, and black–white channels

A lingering image in opponent colors produced when adaptation weakens one color process and its opponent responds more strongly

Reduced color discrimination caused by missing, damaged, or irregular cone systems or opponent-processing mechanisms

A color vision deficiency in which only two cone systems function normally

A rare color vision deficiency involving little or no functional color discrimination

The inability or severe difficulty in recognizing familiar faces despite seeing their visual features

The ability to respond to visual information without conscious visual experience after damage to visual cortex

Frequency is the number of sound-wave cycles per second; higher frequencies are generally experienced as higher pitches

Amplitude is the height or strength of a sound wave; greater amplitude is generally experienced as greater loudness

The external-ear structure that collects sound and directs it into the auditory canal

The passage that carries sound from the pinna to the eardrum

A membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves and transfers movement to the middle-ear bones

Three middle-ear bones that transmit and amplify vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear

A membrane through which the stirrup transfers vibration into the fluid of the cochlea

A coiled inner-ear structure whose fluid movement stimulates the basilar membrane and auditory hair cells

A membrane within the cochlea whose location of greatest vibration helps code sound frequency

Inner-ear receptor cells that transduce mechanical movement in the cochlea into neural signals

The nerve that carries transduced auditory information from the cochlea toward the brain

Pitch depends on the location along the basilar membrane where vibration is greatest, especially for high frequencies

Pitch is coded by a neural firing rate that corresponds to the sound-wave frequency, especially for low frequencies

Groups of auditory neurons alternate firing so their combined rate represents frequencies too high for one neuron to match

The ability to identify a sound’s direction by comparing its arrival time and intensity at the two ears

Hearing loss caused by impaired transmission of sound through the outer or middle ear to the cochlea

Hearing loss caused by damage to cochlear hair cells, the auditory nerve, or related neural structures

The sense of smell, in which airborne molecules activate nasal receptors whose signals reach cortex without first passing through the thalamus

The nerve that carries smell information from olfactory receptors toward the olfactory bulb and brain

A brain structure that receives and processes signals arriving from olfactory receptors

Chemical signals released by an organism that affect members of the same species through olfactory or related chemical systems

The sense of taste; its basic qualities are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, and oleogustus

Structures primarily on the tongue that contain receptor cells for transducing dissolved chemicals into taste signals

The savory basic taste associated with substances such as glutamate

The basic taste quality associated with fatty acids

A sensory and psychological experience shaped by damaging stimulation, neural processing, attention, emotion, expectations, and context

Sensory receptors that respond to potentially damaging stimulation and send signals toward the spinal cord and brain

Pain transmission is regulated by spinal-cord mechanisms that can increase or decrease the flow of pain signals to the brain

Touch, movement, pressure, itching, or pain experienced in a limb that has been amputated

The sense of balance, head movement, and orientation relative to gravity, detected mainly by inner-ear structures

Three fluid-filled inner-ear structures that detect rotational head movement when fluid bends receptor cells

The sense of the position and movement of body parts, using receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints

The skin sense in which receptors transduce pressure, warmth, cold, and related stimulation; simultaneous activation of warm and cold receptors can produce intense "hot."

A person with relatively high taste sensitivity who often experiences certain tastes, especially bitterness, as unusually intense

A person whose taste sensitivity falls between that of supertasters and nontasters

A person with relatively low sensitivity to some taste compounds, not a person with no sense of taste