AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

Sensation and Perception

Terms : Hide Images
the process by which we receive information from the environment and encode it as neural signals
process of selecting and interpreting information from the environment
the study of the relationship between physical energy and psychological experience
the sensory analysis that starts at the entry level (starts with the sensory receptors and work up to a higher level)
constructing perceptions drawing both on sensations coming Bottom-IUp and on our Experiences and expectations
the first person to study the relationship between stimulus intensity and sensation intensity and realize a relative increase in mental intensity might be measured in terms of a relative increase in physical energy required to bring it about
the point at which a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time & the minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a stimulus
states that there is no actual absolute threshold because the threshold changes with a variety of factors such as attention, fatigue, expectations, motivation, and alertness
a person detects a tone that is presented to them
a person does not detect a tone that is presented to them
a person claims to have detected a tone when none was presented
when a tone is detected and a person reports there was no tone
the receipt of messages that are below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness
a change between two stimuli that can be detected 50% of the time
"just noticeable difference" or JND
two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) to be perceived as different
experimented with JND and discovered Werber's Law
a weakened sensitivity due to prolonged stimulation
a decline in the sensory sensitivity at the neural level due to repeated stimulation
different from sensory adaptation in that responsiveness can reappear if stimulation level is increased or decreased
what you choose to attend to out of all the visual, auditory, and olfactory stimulation reaching you
you can pay attention to multiple sensory inputs
you hear or see two different things and are told to pay attention to both
Air Vibrations, gases, chemicals
what the body receives environmental information from; they act as transducers converting one form of energy to another

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!