Psychology Absolute Threshold Quiz

Sensation and Perception Concepts

• Absolute threshold: Minimum energy required to elicit a sensation.
• Difference threshold: Smallest change in a stimulus perceived as different, detectable 50% of the time.
• Decibel: Measurement of sound intensity, correlating with loudness perception.

Auditory and Visual Systems

• Auditory nerve: Transmits sound impulses from the inner ear to the brain.
• Olfactory nerve: Carries smell signals from the nose to the brain.
• Binocular fusion: Merges images from both eyes into a unified perception.
• Retina: Inner layer of the eye containing light-sensitive cells (rods and cones).

Visual Processing and Color

• Cones: Color-sensitive retinal cells needing bright light, crucial for daytime vision.
• Rods: Light-sensitive cells working well in low light, important for night vision.
• Color blindness: Inability to differentiate colors due to cone dysfunction.

Perceptual Mechanisms

• Constancy: Perception of objects as consistent across various vantage points and conditions.
• Motion parallax: Apparent movement of stationary objects with observer's position changes; closer objects appear to move more than distant ones.
• Retinal disparity: Variations between images captured by each eye, aiding depth perception.
• Stereopsis: Uses retinal disparity for three-dimensional visual understanding.

Sensory Experience and Psychophysics

• Psychophysics: Examines relationships between physical stimuli and sensory experiences.
• Signal-detection theory: Analyzes how motivation and sensitivity affect the detection of stimuli.
• Weber's Law: Larger stimuli require proportionally larger changes for detection.

Pain and Perception

• Referred pain: Pain perceived in a different location than the actual source, often from internal organs.
• Illusion: Misinterpretation of physical stimuli leading to distorted perceptions.

Extra-Sensory and Unique Perceptions

• Extrasensory perception (ESP): Gathering information beyond standard sensory channels.
• Parapsychology: Researches ESP and other extraordinary perceptual phenomena.
• Subliminal advertising: Attempts to influence behavior with imperceptible messages.

Balance and Movement

• Kinesthesis: Awareness of body movement and position via receptors in muscles and joints.
• Vestibular system: Inner ear structure regulating balance through semicircular canals.

Test your knowledge of key terms related to the absolute threshold in psychology. This quiz covers definitions such as absolute threshold, auditory nerve, and binocular fusion, among others. Perfect for students looking to deepen their understanding of sensory perception.