ATEST BANK FOR PSYCHOLOGICA L SCIENCE, 6TH
EDITION, MICHAEL GAZZANIGA
bsolute threshold - The minimum intensity of a stimulation that must occur before you experience a
sensation. To be recorded as the absolute threshold, the respondent must perceive the stimulus at this
level 50 percent of the time.
audition - hearing; the sense of sound perception
binocular depth cues - cues of depth perception that arise from the fact that people have two eyes
binocular disparity - a depth cue; because of the distance between the two eyes, each eye receives a
slightly different retinal image
Bottom-up Processing - Perception based on the physical features of the stimulus
CHART: The Stimuli, Receptors, and Pathway for Each Sense - See Table 5.1, pp. 166
Color is organized along three dimensions: ___, ___ and ___. - Hue, saturation, and lightness.
Cones - Retinal cells that respond to higher levels of light and result in color perception
convergence - a cue of binocular depth perception; when a person views a nearby object, the eye
muscles turn the eyes inward
Difference threshold - The minimum amount of change required for a person to detect a difference
between two stimuli.
Examples of physical stimuli - —Light or sound waves
—Molecules of food or odor
—Temperature and pressure changes
, Fovea - The center of the retina, where cones are densely packed
Gestalt principles of perceptual organization - proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, illusory contours
Gustation - The sense of taste
Haptic sense - The sense of touch
How touch works - 1. STIMULI: When you touch something, your skin registers the temperature and
pressure
2. RECEPTORS: Temperature and pressure receptors in your skin transmit that signal
3. PATHWAY TO THE BRAIN Along the 5th cranial nerve (for touch above the neck) or spinal nerves (for
touch on or below the neck), through the thalamus, to the area of the somatosensory cortex that
processes the body parts that were touched
Kinesthetic sense - Perception of the positions in space and movements of our bodies and limbs
monocular depth cues - cues of depth perception that are available to each eye alone
object constancy - correctly perceiving objects as constant in their shape, size, color, and lightness,
despite raw sensory data that could mislead perception
olfactory bulb - The brain center for smell, located below the frontal lobes
olfactory epithelium - a thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that contains the receptors for smell
opponent-process theory - the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-
black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others
are stimulated by red and inhibited by green
EDITION, MICHAEL GAZZANIGA
bsolute threshold - The minimum intensity of a stimulation that must occur before you experience a
sensation. To be recorded as the absolute threshold, the respondent must perceive the stimulus at this
level 50 percent of the time.
audition - hearing; the sense of sound perception
binocular depth cues - cues of depth perception that arise from the fact that people have two eyes
binocular disparity - a depth cue; because of the distance between the two eyes, each eye receives a
slightly different retinal image
Bottom-up Processing - Perception based on the physical features of the stimulus
CHART: The Stimuli, Receptors, and Pathway for Each Sense - See Table 5.1, pp. 166
Color is organized along three dimensions: ___, ___ and ___. - Hue, saturation, and lightness.
Cones - Retinal cells that respond to higher levels of light and result in color perception
convergence - a cue of binocular depth perception; when a person views a nearby object, the eye
muscles turn the eyes inward
Difference threshold - The minimum amount of change required for a person to detect a difference
between two stimuli.
Examples of physical stimuli - —Light or sound waves
—Molecules of food or odor
—Temperature and pressure changes
, Fovea - The center of the retina, where cones are densely packed
Gestalt principles of perceptual organization - proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, illusory contours
Gustation - The sense of taste
Haptic sense - The sense of touch
How touch works - 1. STIMULI: When you touch something, your skin registers the temperature and
pressure
2. RECEPTORS: Temperature and pressure receptors in your skin transmit that signal
3. PATHWAY TO THE BRAIN Along the 5th cranial nerve (for touch above the neck) or spinal nerves (for
touch on or below the neck), through the thalamus, to the area of the somatosensory cortex that
processes the body parts that were touched
Kinesthetic sense - Perception of the positions in space and movements of our bodies and limbs
monocular depth cues - cues of depth perception that are available to each eye alone
object constancy - correctly perceiving objects as constant in their shape, size, color, and lightness,
despite raw sensory data that could mislead perception
olfactory bulb - The brain center for smell, located below the frontal lobes
olfactory epithelium - a thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that contains the receptors for smell
opponent-process theory - the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-
black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others
are stimulated by red and inhibited by green
