Sensation & Perception

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

• sensation
• perception
• psychophysics
• absolute threshold

The act of becoming aware through the senses

• perception
• psychophysics
• absolute threshold
• difference threshold

The study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience.

• psychophysics
• absolute threshold
• difference threshold
• Weber's law

the weakest amount of a stimulus that a person can detect half the time

• absolute threshold
• difference threshold
• Weber's law
• signal-detection theory

the smallest detectable difference between two stimuli

• difference threshold
• Weber's law
• signal-detection theory
• pupil

the larger or stronger a stimulus, the larger the change required for a person to notice that anything has happened to it

• Weber's law
• signal-detection theory
• pupil
• lens

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

• signal-detection theory
• pupil
• lens
• retina

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

• pupil
• lens
• retina
• optic nerve

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

• lens
• retina
• optic nerve
• Binocular Fusion

Light sensitive layer of the eye; contains rods and cones

• retina
• optic nerve
• Binocular Fusion
• retinal disparity