| absolute threshold | The smallest magnitude of a stimulus that can be detected half the time.
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| audition | The sense of hearing.
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| basilar membrane | One of the membranes that separate the two tubes of the cochlea and on which the organ of Corti rests.
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| basket cells | Sensory receptor cells at the base of hairs that detect pressure.
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| binocular cues | Two visual cues that require both eyes to allow us to perceive depth.
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| blind spot | The spot where the optic nerve attaches to the retina, which contains no rods or cones.
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| bone conduction hearing | Hearing accomplished through sounds transmitted through the bones of the head directly to the cochlear fluid.
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| ciliary muscle | The muscle in the eye that controls the shape of the lens.
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| cochlea | A curved structure of the inner ear that is filled with fluid.
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| cones | The 6 million receptor cells located mostly in the center of the retina that transduce light waves into neural impulses, thereby coding information about light, dark, and color.
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| cornea | The protective coating on the surface of the eye through which light passes.
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| cupula | A gelatin-like structure containing a tuft of hairlike sensory receptor cells in the semicircular canals.
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| dark adaptation | Increased sensitivity of the eye in semidarkness following an abrupt reduction in overall illumination.
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| decibel (db) | (des´i-bel) Measurement of the intensity of perceived sound.
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| difference threshold | The smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected half the time.
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| eardrum | A thin membrane that sound waves cause to vibrate; a structure of the middle ear.
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| electromagnetic radiation | (e-lek´´tro¯-mag-net´ik) A form of energy including electricity, radio waves, and X rays, of which visible light is a part.
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| external auditory canal | The tube connecting the pinna to the middle ear.
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| fovea | The central spot of the retina, which contains the greatest concentration of cones.
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| free nerve endings | Sensory receptor cells in the skin that detect pressure, temperature, and pain.
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| gustation | The sense of taste.
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| hammer, anvil, stirrup | Three linked bones of the middle ear, which pass sound waves to the inner ear.
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| hertz (Hz) | The measurement of the frequency of sound waves in cycles per second.
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| intensity | The density of vibrating air molecules, which determines the loudness of sound.
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| iris | The colored part of the eye behind the cornea that regulates the amount of light that enters.
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| kinesthetic receptors | Receptors in the muscles, joints, and skin that provide information about movement, posture, and orientation.
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| lens | The transparent portion of the eye that focuses light on the retina.
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| light adaptation | Regaining sensitivity of the eye to bright light following an abrupt increase in overall illumination.
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| monocular cues | Eight visual cues that can be seen with one eye and that allow us to perceive depth.
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| nocioceptors | Receptors for stimuli that are experienced as painful.
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| olfaction | The sense of smell.
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| olfactory epithelium | The sheet of receptor cells at the top of the nasal cavity.
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| opponent-process theory | The theory of color vision contending that the visual system has two kinds of color processors, which respond to light in either the red-green or yellow-blue ranges of wavelength.
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| optic chiasm | The area in the brain where the optic nerves cross.
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| optic nerve | The nerve that carries neural messages about vision to the brain.
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| organ of Corti | A sensory receptor in the cochlea that transduces sound waves into coded neural impulses.
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| oval window | The membrane of the inner ear that vibrates, creating sound waves in the fluid of the cochlea.
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| papillae | Clusters of taste buds on the tongue.
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| perception | The process of organizing and interpreting information received from the outside world.
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| perceptual constancy | The tendency for perceptions of objects to remain relatively unchanged, in spite of changes in raw sensations.
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| pinna | The external part of the ear.
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| pitch | The experience of sound vibrations sensed as high or low.
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| psychophysics | A specialty area of psychology that studies sensory limits, sensory adaptation, and related topics.
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| pupil | The opening of the iris.
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| retina | The area at the back of the eye on which images are formed and that contains the rods and cones.
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| rods | The 125 million cells located outside the center of the retina that transduce light waves into neural impulses, thereby coding information about light and dark.
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| round window | The membrane that relieves pressure from the vibrating waves in the cochlear fluid.
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| saccule, utricle | Fluid-filled sacs of the vestibular organ that inform the brain about the body's orientation.
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| semicircular canals | Three nearly circular tubes in the vestibular organ that inform the brain about tilts of the head and body.
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| sensation | The process of receiving, translating, and transmitting messages from the outside world to the brain.
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| sense organs | Organs that receive stimuli.
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| sensory adaptation | Weakened magnitude of a sensation resulting from prolonged presentation of the stimulus.
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| sensory receptor cells | Cells in sense organs that translate messages into neural impulses that are sent to the brain.
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| sound waves | Vibratory changes in the air that carry sound.frequency of cycles*The rate of vibration of sound waves; determines pitch.
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| specialized end bulbs | Sensory receptor cells that detect pressure and skin pleasure.
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| stereochemical theory | The theory that different odor receptors can be stimulated only by molecules of a specific size and shape that fit them like a "key" in a lock.
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| stimulus | Any aspect of the outside world that directly influences our behavior or conscious experience.
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| tactile discs | Sensory receptor cells that detect pressure.
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| taste cells | The sensory receptor cells for gustation located in the taste buds.
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| timbre | The characteristic quality of a sound as determined by the complexity of the sound wave.
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| transduction | The translation of energy from one form to another.
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| trichromatic theory | The theory of color vision contending that the eye has three different kinds of cones, each of which responds to light of one range of wavelength.
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| vestibular organ | The sensory structures in the inner ear that provide the brain with information about orientation and *movement.
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| visual acuity | Clearness and sharpness of vision.
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| wavelength | The frequency of light waves, which determines the color we see.
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| Weber's law | A law stating that the amount of change in a stimulus needed to detect a difference is in direct proportion to the intensity of the original stimulus.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education