Sensation & Perception

2. cognition The idea that the body influences the mind and cognitive processes.
3. adaptation Decreased sensitivity to a constant or unchanging stimulus.
5. detectors Specialized cells that respond to changes in stimuli, like motion or intensity.
11. The conversion of physical signals from the environment into neural signals.
12. processing Analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration.
13. The process by which sensory receptors receive stimulus energies from the environment.
15. processing theory Theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision (like red-green, blue-yellow).
17. interaction The principle that one sense may influence another, like taste and smell.
19. set A mental predisposition that influences what we perceive.

1. relationship The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings.
4. The brain’s interpretation of sensory information to form meaningful experiences.
6. The tendency to perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones.
7. A visual image that remains after a stimulus is removed, often in complementary colors.
8. noticeable difference The smallest difference in stimulation that can be detected between two stimuli.
9. processing Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes and prior knowledge.
10. Our tendency to fill in gaps to perceive a complete, whole object.
14. threshold The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
16. psychology A school of thought that emphasizes our tendency to integrate pieces into wholes.
17. detection theory Predicts how and when we detect a faint stimulus amid background noise.
18. The tendency to group nearby figures together in perception.