AP PSYCH UNIT 4 FLAHSH CARDS Flashcards
What is sensation
- The process that occurs when special receptors on sensory organs are activated - becomes neural signals in the brain.
Top down vs bottom up processing
Bottom up - is the analysis of the more minor features to build up to a complete perception.
Top-down processing- the use of pre-existing knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole using our experience knowledge and memory to make meaning out of sensory input
absolute threshold
The absolute minimum we can see or hear
difference threshold
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection is 50% of the time, Aka a noticeable difference
How might these thresholds vary from person to person
Our ability is influenced by experiences, expectations, and psychological state.
What is signal detection theory? How does the theory explain the differing perceptions of pain
The theory seeks to predict when we will successfully detect a weak stimulus. reacting no stimulus.
There is a threshold we have to pass to detect pain
Explain the just noticeable difference and webers law
Webers, law the stimuli must differ by a constant apportion not an amount for the difference to be noticed
What is sensory adaptation? What occurs to ouyr ability to detect sensory stimuli after prolonged exposure, examples for senses
Sensory adaption-Our sensitivity to stimulus diminishes as a sequence of constant stimulation
Sight is different because eyes are constantly moveing
What is transduction
the process by which one form of energy is converted into another.
Perception
the method by which the sensations experienced at any given moment is - interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion,( he way you think about or understand someone or something)
What is selective attention? what is the benefit of this characterisic of our sensory abilities?
Focusing of conscious on a particular stimulus excluding other sensory information allows people to have more focus on task relevant information
What is change blindness
The concept that we don’t notice changes after interruption’s to the visual field
What is a perceptual set understand how our knowledge experiences, expectation’s influence the way in which we interpret sensory stimuli
A mental predisposition to see things in a certain way, Prevents us from accurately perceiving the truth
Influenced by your experiences, assumptions, and expectations.
What is a schema? How does it help us interpret vague sensory information?
Schemas can describe how specific knowledge is organized and stored in memory so that it can be accessed and used when it is needed., allows us to take shortcuts in interpreting the vast amount of information
What is the context effect? Why does the same stimulus produce different percetion in different situations. - relate to top-down processing
The context of a stimulus influence the way we interpret information, therefore the same stimulus can evoke different perceptions in different situations.(motivation nd emotion affects the way we interpret a stimulus.
The context or circumstance in which an event or object being perceived can influence what we expect to find in the situation.
What is ESP, why is it not respected in the scientific world
ESP- extrasensory perception(sixth sense).
Parapsychology - paranormal studies.
Not respected because psychics predictions are seldom true, and many are vague and general
What kinds of energy do eyes detect? what do the frequency and amplitude of waves determine?
Visible lightwaves,
Amplitude- describes the power of the wave, which is representing by the height of sound wave
Frequency- the speed of the wave.(distance between start and end of each wave)
What are the photoreceptors that detect light in the retina and what do they ach detect specifically?
Cones- Provide the detail and color (doesn’t work in low light)
rods- Detect black white and gray(works in low light conditions)
Explain bipolar and ganglion cells function.- What order do the cells come in
bipolar- collects light photoreceptor signals to the outer retinal and signals to the inner retina
Ganglion- provides info important for detecting shape and movement for objects.
Young helmholtz trichromatic theory
-The retina contains different cones each sensitive to a different color, receptive to a different wave length->combined produces a wide array of colors
Opponent process theory- which complementary colors compete against each other - how does the theory relate the seeing afterimages
Made to answer lingering questions about color vision. proposes that one member of the color pair suppresses the other color
When looking at a color for a long period, it causes receptor cells to be tired. Causes weak signals, thus the perception of opposing colors
What is parallel processing?
Processing different visual stimuli simultaneously, depth, movement, and front
What is color blindness?
occurs when there is a problem with pigmentation in certain nerves that sense color
Who are Hubel and Weasel? What did their work focus on? Understand their discovery
Feature detector neurons in the occipital lobe primary visual cortex are specialized to respond to specific features of visual stimuli such as shape orientation or movement
( some neurons were only responsive to information that came from a single eye).