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| The minimum stimulus engergy necessary fo an observer to dected a stimulus |
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| Motor activities such as moving the head or eyes and locomoting through the environment. One of the major outcomes of the perceptual process |
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| The stimulus that a person is attending to at a given point in time |
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| Processing in which a person constructs a perception by analyzing the information falling on the receptor. Also called data-based processing. |
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| Classic psychopysical methods |
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| The method of limits, adjustment, and constant stimuli, described by Fechner, that are used for measuring thresholds |
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| Cognitive Influences on Perception |
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| How the knowledgem memories, and expectation that a person brings to a situation influence his or her perception |
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| The minimal detectable difference between two stimuli |
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| All of the things in our environment that we can potentially percieve at a given point in time |
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| Any information that the perviever brings to a situation. |
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| A psychophysical method in whcih the subject assigns number to a stimulus that are proportional to the subjective magnitude of the stimulus |
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| A psychophysical method in which the experimentor or the observer adjust the stimulus intensity in a continuous manner until the observer detects the stimulus |
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| Method of Constant Stimulu |
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| A psychophysical mehtod in which a number of stimuli with different intensities are presented repeatedly in a random order |
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| A physcophysical methodfor measuring threshold in which the experimenter presents stimuli in alternating ascending and descending order. |
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| Operations that transform electrical signals within a network of neurons or that transform the response of individual neurons. |
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| Concious sensory experience |
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| A sequence of steps leading from the enviroment to perception of a stimulus, recognition of the stimulus, and action with regard to the stimulus |
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| Method of determining the relationship between stimuli and perception in which the observer describes what he or she perceives. |
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| Physiological approach to perception |
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| Analyzing perception by determinig how a person's perception is related to physiological processes that are occuring within the person. This approach focuses on determining the relationship between stimuli and physiological responding and between physiological responding and perception. |
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A mathematical function of the form P=KSn where
P is percieved magnitude
K is a cosntant
S is the stimulus intensity
n is an exponent
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| Psychophysical approach to perception |
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Definition
| Analyzing perception by by determining how a person's perception is relation to stimuli in the environment. Used to determine the realtionship between stimulue and perceptual responses. |
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| All the methods that are used to determine the relationship between stimuli and perception. |
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| The ability to place an object in a category that gives it meaning |
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| The result when doubling the physical intensity of a stimulus less than doubles the subjetive magnitude of the stimulus |
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| The result when doubling the physical intensity of a stimulus more than double the subjective magnitide of the stimulus. |
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| A theory stating that the detection of a stimulus deptend both on the participant's sensitivity to the stimulus and the participants response criterion |
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| Processing that starts witht he analysis of high-level information, such as the knowledge a person brings to a situation. Also called knowledge-based processing. Head to Sense. |
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| In the senses, the transformation of environmental energy into electrical engery. Example: Retinal receptiors transduce light energy into electrical energy. |
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The ration of the differences threshold to the balue of the standard stimulus in law.
A law stating that the ration of the difference threshold (DL) to the value of the stimulus (S) is constant. The doubling of the value of the stimulus will cause a doubling of the difference threshold DL/S is the ratio |
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| The inability to recognize objects |
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| rapid increase in positive charge in a nerve fiber that travels down the fiber; aka nerve impulse |
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| A hypothesized type of neuron that responds only to a very specific stimulus, such as a person's grandmother |
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| Hard Problem of Conciousness |
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| The problem of determining how physiological process, such as ion flwo across enrve membranes, cause different perceptual experiences. |
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| the part of teh neuron that onducts nerve impulse over distances; aka nerve fiber |
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| Area of a receptive field that is associated with inhibition. Stimulation of this area causes a decrease in the rate of nerve firing |
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| the part of a neuron that ontains the neuron's metabolic machinery and that receives stimulation from other neurons |
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| The response of a nerve fiber in which the firing rate decreases die to inhibition from another neuron |
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| Center-surrounded antagonism |
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Definition
| the competition between the center and surround regions of a regions of a center-surrounded reeptive field, caused by the fact that one is excitatiory and the other is inhibitory. stimulating enter and surround areas simultaneously decreases responding of the neuron, compared to stimulating the excitatory area alone |
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| Neurotransmitters taht cause the inside of a neuron to become negatively charged. These decreases the probibilty that an action potential will be generated and are also associated with decreases in the rate of nerve firing. |
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| Inhibitory-center-excitatory-surrounded receptive field |
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Definition
| A center surrounded receptive field in which stimulation of the center causes an inhibitory response and stimulation of the surround causes an excitatory response. |
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| center-surrounded receptive field |
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Definition
| a receptive field that consists of a roughly circular excitatory area surrounded by an inhibitory area, or a circular inibitory center surrounded bby an excitory area |
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| Charged molecules found floating in the liquid that surrounds nerve fibers |
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| A thin piece of wire that is small enough to record electrical signals from a single neuron |
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| the 2-mm thick layer that covers the surface of the brain and contains the machinery for creating perception, as well as for other functions, such as language, memory, and thinking |
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| One of the most famous problems in the science: How do physical processes such as nerce impluses or sodium and potassium molecules flowing across membranes (the body part) become transformed into the richness of perceptual experience (the mind part) |
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| when many neurons synapse onto a single neuron |
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| The organization of specific functions into specific brain structures |
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| nerve processes on the cell body that receive stimulaiton from other neurons |
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| A lobe at the back of the cortex that is the site of the cortical receiving area for vision |
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| when the inside of a neuron becomes more positive, as occurs during the initial phases of the action potential. depolarization is often associated with the action of exitatory neurotransmitters |
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Definition
| When instide of a neuron becomes more negative. It is often associated with the action of inhibitory neurotransmitters. |
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Definition
type of neural code in which different perceptions are signaled by the pattern of activity that is distributed across many neurons
*see specificity coding |
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| A lobe at the top of the cortex that is the site of the cortical receiving area for touch and is the termination point of the dorsal stream for visual processing |
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| A group of nerve fibers travelling together |
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| Doctirne of specific nerve energies |
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| a priniple proposed bby Mueler, which states that our perceptions depend on "nerve energies" reaching the brain and that the specific quality we experiene depends on which nerves are stimulated. for example, activating the opti nerve results in seeing, and activating the auditory nerve results in hearing |
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Definition
| In most sensory neurons, the long part of the neuron that transmits electrical impulses from one point to another. Also called the axon. |
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| A number of neurons that are connected by synapses |
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| A property of a membrane that refers to the ability of molecules to pass through it. If the permeability to a molecule is high, the molecule can easily pass through the membrane |
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| Nueral Correlate fo Conciousness (NCC) |
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| Connections between the firing of neurons and perceptual experience. |
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| Easy problem of consciousness |
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Definition
the problem of determining the relationship between physiological processes like nerve firing and perceptual experience. note that this involves determining a relationship, not a cause
*see hard problem of consciousness |
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| The idea that the nervous system consists of distinct elements or cells |
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| Gland at the base of the brain that Rene Descartes identified as being the seat of the soul |
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| A chemical stored in synaptic vesicles that is released in response to a nerve impulse and has an excitatory or inhibitory effect on another neuron. |
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| area of a receptive field that is associated with excitation. stimulation of this area causes an increase in the rate of nerve firing |
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| Areas of the cerebral cortex that first receive most of the signals initiated by a sense's receptors. For example, the occipital cortex is the site of the primary receiving area for vision, and the temporal lobe is the site of the primary receiving area for hearing |
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Definition
| the response of a nerve fiber in which the firing rate increases |
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| Cavities located at the center of the brain that were identified by Galen as the source of "spirits" that determined human health, thoughts, and emotions |
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Definition
| neurotransmitters that cause the inside of a neuron to become more positively charged. excitatory neurotransmitters increase the probability that an action potential will be generated and are also associated with increases in the rate of nerver firing |
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Definition
| A lobe on the side of the cortex that is the site of the cortical receiving area for hearing and the termination point for the ventral, or what, stream for visual prcoessing. A number of areas in the temporal lobe such as the fusiform face area and the extrastriate body area, serve functions related to perceiving and recognizing objects. |
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Term
| excitatory-center-inhibitory -surround receptive field |
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Definition
| a center-surround receptive field in which stimulation of the center area causes an excitatory response, and the stimulation of the surround causes an inhibitory response |
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Definition
| A response, such as a nerve impulse, that travels all the way down the nerve fiber without decreasing in amplitude |
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| receiving signals from all of the senses the frontal lobe plays an important role in perceptions that involve the coordination of information received through two or more senses. it also serves functions such as language, thought, memory, and motor functioning |
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Definition
| A neuron's receptive field is the area on the receptor surface (retina for vision, skin for touch) that, when stimulated, affects the firing of that neuron |
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| A small space between the end of one neuron (the presynaptic neuron) and the cell body of another neuron (the postsynaptic neuron) |
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| occurs when a cell membrane is highlly permeable to one specifi type of molecule, but not to others |
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| The time period of about 1/1000th of a second that a nerve fiber needs to recover from conducting a nerve impulse. No new nerve impulses cna be generated in the fiber until this period is over. |
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| Small area on the postsynaptic neuron that is sensitive to specific neurotransmitters |
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| the idea that a particular object is represented by the firing of a relatively small number of neurons |
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| The difference in charge between the inside and the outside of the nerve fiber when the fiber is not conducting electrical signals. Most nerve fibers have one of about -70 mV, which means that inside of the fiber is negative relative to the outside. |
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Definition
type of neural code in which different perceptions are signaled by activity in specitfic neurons
*see distributed coding |
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| A sensory receptor is a neuron sensitive to environmental energy that changes this energy into electrical signals in the nervous system |
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| nerve firing that occurs in the absense of environmental stimulation |
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| An early alternative to neuron theory that held that the nervous system consisted of a large network of fused nerve cells. |
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| a technique in which neurons take up a dye that makes their structure visible |
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| a small space between the end of one neuron (the presynaptic neuron) and the cell body of another neuron (the postsynaptic neuron) |
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