Sensory and Perceptual Processes
the means by which the nervous system recieved, selects, modifies, and organizes stimulation from the world
Motor Skills
coordinated movements of the muscles and limbs
Habituation
becoming unresponsive to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly
Auditory Threshold
the quietest sound that a person can hear
Visual Acuity
the smallest pattern that one can distinguish reliably
Cones
specialized neurons in the back of the eye that detect wavelength of light and colour
Amodal
info like duration, rate, or intensity that is not restricted to a single mode of presentation and can be presented in different senses
Intersensory Redundancy Theory
a situation in which information is presented simultaneously to different sensory modes, such as rhythm
Size Constancy
realization that an objects actual size remains the same despite changes in the size of its retinal image
Kinetic Cues
visual cues in which motion is used to estimate depth
Visual Cliff
a glass-covered platform that appears to have a shallow side and a deep side used to study depth perception
Visual Expansion
a visual cue that provides info about the distance of an object. an object fills an ever greater proportion of the retina as it moves closer
Motion Parallax
a visual cue wherein the fact that nearby objects move across our visual feildfaster than those at a distance
Retinal Disparity
a perceptual cue to depth based on the fact that when a person views an object, the retinal images in the left and right eyes differ
Pictorial Cues
cues for depth that depend on on the arrangement of objects in the environment, so called bc these same cues are used by artists to convey depth in drawings and paintings
Texture Gradient
a perceptual cue to depth based on the fact that the texture of objects changes for coarse but distinct for nearby objects to finer and less distinct for distant objects
Interposition
a depth cue based on the fact that nearby objects partially obscure more distant objects
Linear Perspective
a depth cue based on the fact that parallel lines come together at a single point in the distance
Attention
processes that determine which info will be processed further by an individual
Relative Size
a depth cue based on the fact that nearby objects look substantially larger than objects in the distance
Locomotion
the ability to move around in the world
Fine Motor Skills
motor skills assc with grasping, holding, and manipulating objects
Toddlers
young children who have just learned to walk
Dynamic Systems Theory
a theory that views development as involving many distinct skills that are organized and reorganized over time to meet demands of specific tasks
