transduction

n. the process by which one form of energy is converted into another. The term denotes sensory transduction in particular, the transformation of the energy of a stimulus into a change in the electric potential across the membrane of a receptor cell. See olfactory transduction; taste transduction; visual transduction.

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Psychology term of the day

February 23rd 2025

perceptual organizational deficit

a phenomenon in which a subset of people with schizophrenia have particular difficulty visually integrating the parts of an object and seeing them as an ensemble. For example, if looking at a watch, they will perceive the hands, the dial, and the numbers as separate forms but will have difficulty processing the watch face as a whole. [coined by U.S. psychologist Steven M. Silverstein (1962– )]