Bottom-Up Processing
sensation
Top-Down Processing
sensory adaptation
perception
transduction
Absolute Threshold
Weber's Law
Parallel Processing
analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information
the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrast with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving
conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses
the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time
diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information; enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)
information processing guided by higher-level mental process, as when we construct perceptions drawing out our experience and expectation
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
