Download exam #2 | PSYC 1100 - General Psychology I and more Quizzes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 psychophysics DEFINITION 1 Psychophysics quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they affect. TERM 2 Weber's constant DEFINITION 2 The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant important in many areas of physics. TERM 3 signal detection theory DEFINITION 3 Detection theory, or signal detection theory, is a means to quantify the ability to discern between information-bearing patterns and random patterns that distract from the information (called noise, consisting of background stimuli and random activity of the detection machine and of the nervous system of the operator). TERM 4 Olfactory DEFINITION 4 Olfaction, also known as olfactics, is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, which can be considered analogous to sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates. TERM 5 Gustatory DEFINITION 5 Taste, gustatory perception, or gustation is the sensory impression of food or other substances on the tongue and is one of the five traditional senses. TERM 6 Kinesthetic sense DEFINITION 6 Proprioception, from Latin , meaning "one's own", "individual" and perception, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement. TERM 7 haptic sense DEFINITION 7 Haptic perception is the process of recognizing objects through touch. It involves a combination of somatosensory perception of patterns on the skin surface and proprioception of hand position and conformation. TERM 8 sound waves DEFINITION 8 In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as a typically audible mechanical wave of pressure and displacement, through a medium such as air, and water. TERM 9 decibel scale DEFINITION 9 {| class="infobox" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="padding:0; width:1px;;" TERM 10 cochlea DEFINITION 10 The cochlea is the auditory portion of the inner ear. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.5 turns around its axis, the modiolus. TERM 21 Depth perception DEFINITION 21 Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions (3D) and the distance of an object. TERM 22 figure ground DEFINITION 22 A figure-ground diagram is a two-dimensional map of an urban space that shows the relationship between built and unbuilt space. TERM 23 subjective contour DEFINITION 23 Illusory contours or subjective contours are visual illusions that evoke the perception of an edge without a luminance or color change across that edge. TERM 24 similarity DEFINITION 24 Different fields provide differing definitions of similarity: TERM 25 proximity DEFINITION 25 A proximity sensor is a sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. TERM 26 subliminal perception DEFINITION 26 Subliminal stimuli, contrary to supraliminal stimuli or "above threshold", are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception.