AP Psychology Unit 4: Sensation and Perception Flashcards
1
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Sensation
A
Thr process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
2
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Sensory Receptors
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Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli
3
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Perception
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The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
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Bottom-Up Processing
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Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration and sensory information
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Top-Down Processing
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Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing out experiences and expectations
6
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Selective Attention
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The focus of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus (cocktail party effect)
7
Q
Inattentional Blindness
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Failing to see visible objects when our attention is focused elsewhere
8
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Change Blindness
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Failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness
9
Q
Change Deafness
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Occurs when a physical change in an auditory stimulus goes unnoticed by the listener.
10
Q
Transduction
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Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret
11
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Psychophysics
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The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
12
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Absolute Threshold
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The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time
13
Q
Signal Detection Theory
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A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness
14
Q
Subliminal
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Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness
15
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Difference Threshold
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The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a “just noticeable difference” (jnp)
16
Q
Priming
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The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response
17
Q
Weber’s Law
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The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)
18
Q
Gestalt
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An organized whole. Gestalt emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
19
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Figure-Ground
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The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground)
20
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Grouping
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The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
21
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Proximity
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A Gestalt law of grouping that states we group nearby figures together.
22
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Types of Grouping
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- Proximity
- Continuity
- Closure
23
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Continuity
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A Gestalt law of grouping that states we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones.
24
Q
Closure
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A Gestalt law of grouping that states we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object.
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Depth Perception
The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance
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Visual Cliff
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals
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Binocular Cue
A depth cue, such as retinal disparity or convergence, that depends on the use of two eyes. As an object becomes closer or farther, both binocular depth cues operate to help us judge distance.
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Convergence
A binocular cue for perceiving depth. The inward angle of our eyes focusing on a near object
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Retinal Disparity
A binocular cue for perceiving depth. B comparing retinal images from two eyes, the brain computes distance-the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object
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Monocular Cue
A depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone
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Phi Phenomenon
An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lines blink on and off in quick succession
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Types of Monocular Cues
1. Relative height
2. Relative size
3. Interposition
4. Relative motion
5. Linear perspective
6. Light and shadow
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Relative height
A monocular cue making us perceive objects higher in our visual field as farther away
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Relative Size
A monocular cue making us believe that the object casting a smaller retinal image is further away (if the objects are assumed to be the same size)
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Interposition
A monocular cue making us assume that if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer
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Relative motion
A monocular cue making stable objects seem to move. Objects above a fixation point will move in your direction while objects below the fixation point will move in the opposite direction. The further an object is from a fixation point, the faster it will seem to move
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Linear Perspective
A monocular cue making us perceive parallel lines as meeting in the distance. The sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance
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Light and Shadow
A monocular cue that makes shading produce a sense of depth consistent with our assumption that light comes from above
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Perceptual Constancy
Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change
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Stroboscopic Movement
The apparent motion of a series of separate stimuli occurring in close consecutive order, as in motion pictures.
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Color Constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelength reflected by the object
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Brightness/Lightness Constancy
We perceive an object as having constant brightness even as illumination varies
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Relative Luminance
The amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings
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Shape Constancy
We perceive the form of a familiar object (like a door) as constant even when our retinas receive changing images of them
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Size Constancy
We perceive an object as having an unchanging size, even while our distance from it varies
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Critical Period
An optimal period when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences is required
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Perceptual Adaptation
The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field
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Perceptual Set
A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not the other
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Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognnition
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Parapsychology
The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP or psychokinesis
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Audition
The sense or act of hearing
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Amplitude
The height of the sound waves measured in decibels. Determines the loudness of the sound
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Frequency
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). Measured in hertz
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Pitch
A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. High frequency leads to a high pitch
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Middle Ear
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate on the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window
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Outer Ear
Made up of the pinna, the auditory canal, and the eardrum
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Ossicles
The three smallest bones in the body located in the inner ear. They are the malleus (hammer), the incus (anvil), and the stirrup (stapes). They transfer the sound wave vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the oval window of the cochlea.
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Pinna
Part of the outer ear. The visible part of the ear that collects sound waves and channels them into the ear canal
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Auditory Canal
Part of the outer ear. A channel that funnels sound waves from the pinna to the tympanic membrane/eardrum
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Tympanic Membrane
A thin layer of tissue that vibrates in response to sound. Also called the eardrum
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Oval Window
The membrane-covered opening of the cochlea. It
vibrates when it receives the sound waves and causes the fluid inside the cochlea to move.
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Cochlea
A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses. The site of transduction (sound waves are converted to neural messages)
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Basilar Membrane
A membrane lining the cochlea that contains hair cells/cilia on its surface. The membrane ripples and the cilia bend when sound waves are transferred through the oval window.
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Inner Ear
The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs
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Cilia
Hairs lining the basilar membrane in the cochlea. When sound waves travel to the cochlea via the oval window, the hairs bend and trigger impulses in adjacent nerve cells, causing nerve impulses to be sent
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Auditory Nerve
A cranial nerve that receives messages from the cilia and sends the information to the thalamus
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Auditory Cortex
A part of the brain located in the temporal lobe that receives messages from the auditory nerve and constructs the electrical impulses into coherent messages
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Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells (cilia) or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss, also called nerve deafness. People may hear sound but have trouble discerning what it is saying
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Conduction Hearing Loss
A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system (eardrum and middle ear bones) that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
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Cochlear Implant
A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
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Place Theory
In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated. Explains how we hear high-pitched sounds
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Frequency Theory
In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch (also called "temporal theory"). Explains how we hear low-pitched sounds.
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Volley Theory
Explains how we can hear frequencies above 1000 waves per second. Although individual neural cells can not fire at that rate, if they fire in rapid succession they can achieve a combined frequency of 1000 waves per second.
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Basic Skin Senses
Warmth, cold, pressure, and pain
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Nociceptors
Sensory receptors in the skin, muscles, and organs that detect hurtful temperatures
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Pain Circuit
Sensory receptors (nociceptors) respond to potentially damaging stimuli by sending an impulse to the spinal cord, which passes the message to the brain, which interprets the signal
as pain.
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Gate-Control Theory
The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers coming from the brain
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Gustation
Our sense of taste
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Basic Taste Sensations
Sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami
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Sweet
Indicates an energy source
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Salty
Indicates the presence of sodium essential to physiological processes
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Sour
Potentially toxic acid
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Bitter
Potential poisons
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Umami
Proteins to grow and repair tissue
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Olfaction
The sense of smell
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Kinesthesia
Our movement sense - our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
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Vestibular Sense
Our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance
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Semicircular Canals
Three tiny, fluid-filled tubes in your inner ear that help you keep your balance. Part of the vestibular system
89
Vestibular Sacs
A pair of calcium crystal-filled structures in the inner ear that respond to gravity to help maintain balance. Part of the vestibular system
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Sensory Interaction
The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste
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McGurk Effect
An illusion whereby speech sounds are often miscategorized when the auditory cues in the stimulus conflict with the visual cues from the speaker's face.
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Embodied Cognition
The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments
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Wavelength
The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long pulses of radio transmission
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Hue
The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names "blue," "green," and so forth
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Intensity
The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness. Intensity is determined by the wave's amplitude (height)
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Cornea
The eye's clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris. Light enters the eye first through the cornea
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Pupil
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. Casts an upside-down image on the retina that the brain flips right-side-up
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Iris
A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
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Lens
The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
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Retina
The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information
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Accommodation
The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
102
Myopia
Nearsightedness. It occurs when the lens focuses the image on a point in front of the retina. You see near objects clearly but not distant objects. This can be remedied with glasses, contact lenses, or surgery
103
Photoreceptors
Rods and cones. Located in the retina and process light
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Rods
Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond. They are located on the periphery of the retina and do not have a direct connection to a bipolar cell
105
Cones
Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. Each has an individual connection to a bipolar cell and are clustered around the fovea
106
Bipolar Cells
Located in the retina. Cells in the visual system that connect rods and cones to the ganglion cells
107
Ganglion Cells
Located in the retina. They receive messages from bipolar cells and transport them to the optic nerve.
108
Optic Nerve
The nerve made of the axons of ganglion cells that carry neural impulses from the eye to the brain
109
Blind Spot
The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye with no receptor cells, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there
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Fovea
The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster
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Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (Three-Color) Theory
The theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors-one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color
112
Color-Blindness
The result of a lack of functioning photoreceptors for color. Color blind people cannot distinguish excitatory from inhibitory signals or may have damaged cones. The most common form of color blindness is red-green (dichromatic) and it is. most common in males.
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Monochromat
Can only see black, white, and gray. Results when no cones are functional
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Dichromat
Red-green color blindness or blue-yellow color blindness. Results when only one cone in a pair is functional
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Trichromat
Normal color vision. Can see all colors on the visual light spectrum
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Tritanopia
A condition where a person cannot distinguish between blue and yellow colors (malfunctioning blue cone)
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Deuteranomaly
A condition where a person cannot distinguish between red and green colors (malfunctioning green cone).
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Protanopia
A condition where a person cannot distinguish between red and green (malfunctioning red cone)
119
Afterimages
Visual illusion in which retinal impressions persist after the removal of a stimulus. The opponent color will appear
120
Opponent-Process Theory
The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green
121
Stages of Color Processing
1. The retina's red, green, and blue cones respond in varying degrees to different color stimuli, as the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory suggested
2. The cones' responses are then processed by opponent-process cells, as Hering's opponent-process theory proposed
122
Feature Detectors
Nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as edges, lines, angles, and movement. They receive information from individual ganglion cells in the retina and pass it to other cortical areas, where supercell clusters respond to more complex patterns.
123
Fusiform Face Area
An area located in bottom of the temporal lobe that recognizes faces
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Parallel Processing
Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; The brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. The brain delegates the work of processing motion, form, depth, and color to different areas. After taking a scene apart, the brain integrates these subdimensions into the perceived image.
125
Grandmother Cells
Supercells located in the Fusiform Face Area that respond selectively to 1 or 2 familiar faces
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Gustav Fechner
A German scientist and philosopher who studied the edge of our awareness of faint stimuli, or absolute threshold
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Ernst Weber
Established Weber's Law, which states that for an average person to perceive a difference, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage
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David Hubel
Nobel Prize winner who discovered that our minds deconstruct visual images and reassemble them via feature detectors
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Torsten Wiesel
Same as Hubel (see above)
