Module 18

4. /below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
7. threshold/We experience this as a just noticeable difference.
9. detection theory /A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation.
11. processing/Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.
12. /studies relationships between physical energy and its effects on our psychological experiences.
13. adaptation/Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

1. set/a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
2. threshold /Minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.
3. /process of converting one form of energy into another.
5. /the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information.
6. /the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
8. law/The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.
10. processing /when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.