Sensation
The process of detecting, converting, and transmitting raw sensory information from the external and internal environments to the brain.
Perception
The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory information into meaningful patterns.
Absolute Threshold
The smallest amount of a stimulus you can reliably detect.
Difference threshold
Just noticeable difference; the minimum difference you can reliably detect.
Gate control theory
The theory that pain sensations are processed and altered by mechanisms within the spinal chord.
Lens
What we see out of in our eye.
Tympanic membrane
Ear drum
Cochlea
Looks like a snail, inside your ear.
Olfaction
Sense of smell
Types of taste
Bitter, sweet, salty, savory, and sour.
Skin senses
Reflect the fact that our skin is sensitive to touch. Such as pressure, temperature, and pain.
Vestibular sense
Responsible for balance.
Kinesthesis
The sense that provides the brain with information about bodily posture, orientation, and movement of individual body parts.
Selective attention
Filtering out and attending only to important sensory messages.
Gestalt's principles of organization
Several laws of organization that specify how people perceive form. (Figure-ground, proximity, continuity, closure, and similarity.)
Binocular cues
Perceiving depth using both eyes.
Monocular cues
Perceiving depth using each eye separately.
Size consistency
Knowing the size of things of a distance.
Color deficient with vision
Not being able to interpret colors correctly.
Consciousness
An organisms awareness of its own self and surroundings.
Circadian rhythm
The biological changes that occur on a 24 hour cycle.
Automatic processes
Use this for activities that require minimal attention such as walking while you talk on the phone.
Jet lag
Fatigue and irritability from lack of sleep.
Theories of sleep
1. Adaptation/protection theory - sleep may have evolved because animals needed to protect themselves from predators that are more active at night.
2. Repair/restoration theory- sleep helps us recuperate from depleting daily activities.
3. Growth/developm
Views of dreaming
1. Wish fulfillment view- unacceptable desires rise to the surface of consciousness during dreaming.
2. Activation-synthesis hypothesis - dreams are a by-product of random stimulation of brain cells during REM sleep.
3. Cognitive view of dreaming- dreams
Psychoactive drugs
Chemicals that change conscious awareness, mood, or perception.
Drug abuse
Drug taking that causes emotional or physical harm to oneself or others.
Addiction
Condition in which a person feels compelled to use a specific drug.
Tolerance
Adjusting to higher levels of a drug, producing a decreased sensitivity.
Withdrawals
Physical pain and intense cravings of a drug when not using them.
Psychologically dependent
Mental desire or craving to achieve a drug's affects.
Physical dependent
Changes in bodily processes that make a drug necessary for minimum daily functioning.
Opiates
Drugs that mimic the brain's natural endorphins.
Hypnosis
Trance-like stance of heightened suggestibility, deep relaxation, and intense focus.