| A | B |
|---|
| Reception | The process of detecting the presence of a stimulus or changes to a stimulus to which sensory receptors can respond. |
| Transduction | The conversion of a particular stimulus energy into impulses (electrochemical energy) for transmission. |
| Transmission | The sending and receiving of neural impulses via connecting neurons along a nerve pathway. |
| Selection | The detection and coding of particular features of a stimulus such as size, colour and movement. |
| Organisation | The reassembling of elements or features of incoming visual stimuli in an appropriate or meaningful way. |
| Interpretation | The process of assigning meaning to sensory information detected by visual receptors and transmitted to the brain. |
| Absolute threshold | The minimum amount of stimulation or energy that can be detected in order for a stimulus to be perceived. |
| Dark adaptation | The process by which our eyes adjust to a low level of illumination (light intensity) and become more sensitive to light. |
| Differential threshold (Just Noticeable Different - JND) | The smallest perceptible difference (change) that can be detected between two stimuli by a specific sensory receptor. |
| Figure-ground | Proposal that whenever we view a stimulus pattern, part of it is viewed as a well-defined figure, and the rest becomes the ground which surrounds the figure. |
| Closure | The perceptual tendency to 'close up', fill in or ignore gaps in sensory input and perceive incomplete objects as complete. |
| Similarity | Elements of a stimulus pattern which have similar features tend to be grouped together to form a meaningful whole. |
| Proximity | Elements that are close to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together. |
| Depth cue | A source of information from either the environment or our own body used in the perception of depth and/or distance. |
| Primary depth cue | A cue for depth of distance that relies on information from within the body, such as that transmitted to the brain from muscles and ligaments attached to parts of the eye which are involved in focusing on near/distant objects. |
| Secondary depth cue | A cue for depth or distance which provides information about the visual stimulus itself; that is, an external cue which might exist in either the real (3D) world, of which might be represented pictorially (2D). Often referred to as a pictorial depth cue. |
| Binocular depth cue | A depth or distance cue (source of information) that depends on the use of both eyes. |
| Retinal disparity (primary) | A cue for depth and distance perception based on the difference (disparity) in the images on the retinas of the eyes. |
| Convergence (primary) | A binocular depth cue involving the inward turning of both eyes to focus on an object that is nearby. |
| Monocular depth cue | A depth or distance cue requiring the use of only one eye (but it still available when both eyes are used). |
| Accommodation (primary) | Involves the automatic focusing mechanism of the lens in the eye to adjust to differing distances of view from the object. |
| Pictorial depth cues (secondary) | A depth and distance cue for visual perception that can be represented pictorially, in two dimensions. |
| Linear perspective | The apparent convergence (coming together) of parallel lines as they recede into the distance. |
| Interposition | An object which partially covers another will be perceived as closer than the object it covers, and the covered object is perceived as further away. |
| Texture gradients | The amount of perceptible detail decreases as the distance from the observer increases. |
| Relative size | The tendency to perceive the object that produces the largest retinal image as being closer to us, and the object with the smallest retinal image as being further away. |
| Height in the visual field | An object located closer to the horizon is perceived as being further away than an object located further away from the horizon. |
| Size constancy | The tendency to perceive a stimulus as maintaining its size despite changes to the size of the images it casts on the retina. |
| Shape constancy | The tendency to perceive the shape of an object as remaining the same (constant) despite any change in the shape of the retinal image. |
| Brightness constancy | The tendency to perceive an object as maintaining its level of brightness relative to its surroundings, despite changes in the amount of light reflected from it onto the retina. |
| Orientation constancy | The tendency to visually perceive the true orientation (position) of objects in the environment even though the retinal image of the object may be at different orientations. |
| Perceptual set | A perceptual bias, predisposition or readiness to perceive a stimulus in accordance with expectations. |
| Context | The setting in which a stimulus or event occurs. |
| Past experience | The personal experiences which have occurred throughout one's life. |
| Muller-Lyer illusion | A visual illusion in which one of two lines of equal length, each of which has opposite-shaped ends, is incorrectly perceived as being longer (or shorter) than the other. |
| Perceptual compromise theory | A cue-based theory which proposes that when two or more visual cues conflict with each other, the interpretation we make is not solely due to one cue or the other. Rather, our interpretation tends to be a compromise (or 'middle ground') resolution of the apparent conflict. |
| Ames room illusion | A visual illusion involving a trapezoid-shaped room in which there is a distortion in the sizes of objects within it when viewed with one eye (monocular) through a peephole at the front. |
