Chapter 6 Key Terms

Question 1

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect

Answer 1

selective attention

Question 2

ability to attend to only one voice among many

Answer 2

cocktail party effect

Question 3

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Answer 3

inattentional blindness

Question 4

lack of awareness of happenings in their visual environment

Answer 4

change blindness

Question 5

focusing on words being said, failing to notice a change in the speaker

Answer 5

change deafness

Question 6

people pick more attractive photo, photo is switched and shown to the person, person explains why they chose the photo; seldom noticed deception. This is an example of

Answer 6

choice blindness

Question 7

when a strikingly distinct stimulus draws our eye; stimuli demands our attention

Answer 7

pop-out

Question 8

the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses

Answer 8

vision capture

Question 9

an organized whole (or form); these psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Answer 9

gestalt

Question 10

the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

Answer 10

figure-ground

Question 11

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Answer 11

grouping

Question 12

group nearby figures together

Answer 12

proximity

Question 13

group together figures that are similar to each other

Answer 13

similarity

Question 14

perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

Answer 14

continuity

Question 15

uniform and linked, seen as a single unit

Answer 15

connectedness

Question 16

fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

Answer 16

closure

Question 17

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Answer 17

depth perception

Question 18

laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Answer 18

visual cliff

Question 19

depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes

Answer 19

binocular cues

Question 20

binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the 2 eyeballs, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

Answer 20

retinal disparity

Question 21

binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes turn inward when looking at an object; the greater the inward strain, the closer the object

Answer 21

convergence

Question 22

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

Answer 22

monocular cues

Question 23

if we assume that two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

Answer 23

relative size

Question 24

if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

Answer 24

interposition

Question 25

because light from distant objects passes through more atmosphere, we perceive hazy objects as farther away than sharp, clear objects

Answer 25

relative clarity

Question 26

a gradual change from a coarse, distinct texture to a fine, indistinct texture signals increasing distance

Answer 26

texture gradient

Question 27

we perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away; lower objects seem closer and are usually perceived as figure

Answer 27

relative height

Question 28

as we move, objects that are stable may appear to move

Answer 28

relative motion (motion parallax)

Question 29

parallel lines appear to converge with distance; the more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance

Answer 29

linear perspective

Question 30

nearby object reflect more light to eyes; dimmer objects seem farther away

Answer 30

light and shadow

Question 31

brain will perceive continuous movement in a rapid series of slightly varying images

Answer 31

stroboscopic movement

Question 32

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

Answer 32

phi phenomenon

Question 33

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Answer 33

perceptual constancy

Question 34

we perceive the form of familiar objects as constant even when our retinal images of them change

Answer 34

shape constancy

Question 35

we perceive objects as having constant size, even when our distance from them varies

Answer 35

size constancy

Question 36

moon looks 50% larger near the horizon than when high in the sky

Answer 36

moon illusion

Question 37

we perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its illumination varies

Answer 37

lightness (brightness) constancy

Question 38

the amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings

Answer 38

relative luminance

Question 39

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Answer 39

perceptual adaptation

Question 40

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Answer 40

perceptual set

Question 41

a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

Answer 41

human factors psychology

Question 42

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; said to include telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

Answer 42

extrasensory perception (ESP)

Question 43

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

Answer 43

parapsychology

Question 44

mind-to-mind communication; one person sending thoughts to another or perceiving another’s thoughts

Answer 44

telepathy

Question 45

perceiving remote events; such as sensing a friend’s house is on fire

Answer 45

clairvoyance

Question 46

perceiving future events; such as a president’s death or sporting event outcome

Answer 46

precognition

Question 47

mind over matter; such as levitating a table or influencing the roll of a die

Answer 47

psychokinesis