AP TEST unit 3 sensation and perception Flashcards
sensation
process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environments
perception
process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
bottom up processing
beings with sensory receptors and works up to brain’s integration of sensory information (detect lines, angles, colors)
top down processing
guided by higher level mental processes; constructs perceptions from sensory input by drawing on experience andexpectatio (interpreting what our senses detect); if you’re nevus moving into a new apartment, you might mistake a coat rack for a person
selective attention
focusing of attention on selected aspects of environment and blocking out of others
cocktail party phenomenon
even with background noise, you will hear your name among it; weeding out background noise, filtering everything out
inattentional blindness
failing to see stimuli/visual objects because attention is directed elsewhere
change blindness
2/3 of direction giving individuals failed to notice a change in the individual asking for directions (rooted in memory, not focused on how something looked earlier)
sensory adaptation
stimulation that is repetitious or unchanged eventually disappears (not noticing a bandaid day after u put it on)
habituation
process of gradually adapting to stimuli that do not change
dishabituation
reappearance of one’s initial response to original stimulus once stimulus changes
sensory deprivation
absence of normal levels of sensory stimuli
psychophysics
study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
absolute threshold
smallest detectable level of stimulus; weakest amount of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time; (second u can start hearing volume when its turned up from 0)
subliminal threshold
when stimuli is below one’s absolute threshold (TOSTITOS has two people eating chips and salsa)
difference threshold
just noticeable difference; minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time; easier to tell if you cranked up radio from 10 to 20 vs 10 to 11; thinsfg that explain the reason why there’s a difference; you can tell if whether is between 60 and 90 better than 79 and 82
priming
activation of certain associations, predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response
sensory adaptation
when we are constantly exposed to a stimulus that doesn’t change, we become less aware of it became our nerve cells fire less frequency
signal detection theory
predicts when we will detect weak signals
transduction
transformation of stimuli into neural impulses that brain can understand
lens
changes shape to help focus images on retina
retina
light sensitive inner surface; rods and cones that process visual information
rods
detect black, white, gray; necessary for peripheral and night visions
cones
function in daylight or well lit conditions, detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
optic nerve
carries neural impulses from eye to brain (thalamus)
fovea
central focus point in retina, around whi8ch eye’s cones cluster; where we see the best
parallel processing
processing of several aspects of the stimulus simultaneously (brian divided into subdivisions, color, depth, movement)
trichromatic theory
retina contains three receptors sensitive to red, blue, and green
opponent process theory
as our receptor cells sense colors, cones fire opponent color
dark adaptation
prices by which rods and cones adjust to changes in levels of light; fovea blind to dim light, walking throng house in middle of night, adjustment
night blindness
insufficient adaptation to dark environment
color constancy
color of an object remains the same under different illuminations, but when context changes color of object may look different
frequency
detemines pitch (highness or lowness of a sound); longer wavelength/low frquenciy = lower pitched sounds
intensity
loudness
quality (timbre)
characteristics of sound allows ear to distinguish between two sources
place theory
sound frequencies stimulate basilar at specific places
frequency theory
the rate of nerve impulses during up auditory nerve matches rfreuqnecy of tone
conduction hearing loss
caused by disease, infections, can be corrected with surgery or hearing aids; damage to mechanical system conducting sound waves to cochlea
sensorineural hearing loss
damage to cochlea’s receptors cells or auditory nerve; permanent damage, can be inherited or caused by prenatal problems
gate control theory
spinal cord contains neurological gates that block pain or allow it to be sensed
to close gates- additional sensory information prevents passage of pain messages (rub area around injury and rubbing sensation reduces signals)
- sending signals down spinal cord (distractions, emotions) (see her ho ho while giving birth release endorphins)
smell and memory
conjure up memories associated with a smell because factory bulb lays close to limbic system
vestibular sense
sense of body movement and position, including sense of balance
vertigo
vision, vestibular system converge onto brain system, dizziness or motion sickness
extrasensory perception
perception without sensory input (not real: telepathy, clairvoyance)
figure ground
orgnaization of visual field into objects that stand out from their surrounding (separate main object from background)
perceptual set
predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
grouping
tendency to organization stimuli into coherent groupsp
proximity
we group nearby figures together; do not see six seperate lines, but three sets of two lines
continuity
perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones; alternating semicircles percievied as two continuous lines
depth perception
ability to see objects in 3D despite images being 2D; allows us to judge distance
phi phenomenon
illusion of movement when 2+ lights blink on and off
closure
we fill in caps to create a complete object
perceptual constancy
perceiving objects as unchanging.\m consistent shapes, size, brightness, color
perceptual adaptation
ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual fear (if u tried a dramatic pair of new glaSses, you could adapt)
schemas
concepts that organize and interpret unfamiliar information; expands as you gain more knowledge and info (if you’ve never eaten african food u dont know what it tastes like)
