PSYCH Flashcards
What is Signal Detection Theory
A framework that measures how well someone can distinguish between information-bearing patterns and random patterns that can distract from that information.
Absolute vs Difference Threshold
The absolute threshold is the smallest amount of stimulation needed for a human to notice it 50% of the time. The difference threshold is the smallest amount of change in stimulation for a human to notice 50% of the time.
Sensory Adaptation
The process by which our brain cells become less sensitive to constant stimuli that are picked up by our senses.
(Transduction) Vision
The process in the eye whereby absorption of the light in the retina is translated into electrical signals that ultimately reach the brain.
(Transduction) Audition
The transduction of sound waves into a neural signal that is made possible by the structures of the ear.
(Transduction) Olfaction
The process by which odor molecules are converted into electrical signals that the brain interprets as smells.
(Transduction) Gustation
Initiated when taste stimuli interact with receptor sites on the exposed apical microvilli of receptor cells.
(Transduction) Tactile/Haptic sensation
The process of converting a physical force on the skin into an electrical signal that is then encoded.
Thresholds
Min amount of stimulation required to be able to:
Detect (sensory threshold)
Experience (perceptual threshold)
Subjective Perceptual Threshold (SPT)
Fully Aware - Could be Aware
Objective Perceptual Threshold (OPT)
Sensed/Not Aware (subliminal messages?)
Absolute Sensory Threshold (AST)
Neither Sensed nor Aware
Wavelength
(frequency) Pitch
Amplitude
Loudness
Bottom-up processing
psychological strategy that involves using sensory information to understand the world around us
Top-down processing
perceiving things based on your prior experiences and knowledge
Different types of touch
Temperature (Warm, Cold)
Pressure (Vibration, fast/slow/steady pressure)
Pain (sharp, Dull)
Cornea
A clear, curved layer at the front of your eye, allows light to enter your eye. The curvature allows it to bend this light inward which helps produce a sharp, focused image on the retina. Responsible for most of the bending of light in the eye.
Iris
While the iris is often noted upon because it is the colored portion of your eye, it is actually a muscle which can contract to dilate the pupil or relax to constrict the pupil.
Pupil
The pupil open (dilates) and closes(constricts) to control amount of light entering eye.
Lens
The shape of the eye’s lens can be changed by the ciliary muscles that surround it. Called accommodation works similar to that of the adjustable focus on a camera and allows the eye to change its point of focus.
Rods`
Receptor cells within the retina. initiate transduction of light cells into electrical neural impulses. approximately 120 million rods in each eye. Very sensitive to light so they work best in dark conditions. Can also notice movement in the perephery from them, and will be fuzzy.
Cones
Only stimulated by very bright lights. Able to detect the patterns in light that can be perceived as color and have very high visual acuity - they see things very clearly. approximately 6 million cones in each eye. most densely populated in the fovea which is the center of our field of vision.
retina
The retina is a photosensitive(i.e., responsive to light) layer at the back of the eye. It contains the sensory receptors (rods and cones) that transduce the light into neural signals for the brain.
Fovea
A small area in the center of the retina that contains only cones. As such it is the area of highest acuity on the retina.
Transduction
Process of translating sensory info into neural impulse
Photoreceptor cell
Fovea, and Peripheral
Peripheral
Not the fovea light is getting cast into your periphery
Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision
Wavelength - from the peaks to the valleys of light (Mostly from peak to peak or valley to valley)
Amplitude - The height of the color
Sensation is determined by sound’s
Wavelength(frequency) - High pitch = a lot of waves or small amounts of waves
Amplitude
Perceptual Sets
A predisposition or expectation to perceive (see, hear, etc). things a certain way based on previous experience.
Gestalt Psychology
The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts
Bottom-up(sensation)
Sensation of basic features that are integrated into knowledge
Top-Down (perception)
Use memory/expectations/knowledge to interpret/recognize/understand information
Binocular cues
Have to have both eyes open and functioning, the thing we are looking at must have depth
Monocular cues
when only one eye is open
Ponzo illusion results from size constancy due to:
Linear Perspective: There is depth in this image
Relative size: the bakc line must be longer
Encoding
Getting information into the “code” of memory, processing of info in multiple components
Sensory Memory
Brief and immense(but limited) storage,,,
has a limit, also does not last very long, only a fraction of a second
SensM
just another way of saying Sensory Memory
Working Memory
Filters info attended to from SensM->WM
Phonological loop(brocas area to arnecas area)
Retrieves from LTM
How limited is Working Memory?
It can store up to a few minutes
The magic number for storage is 7 +/-2 units
these are units: Letters, Numbers, Words, Concepts, Chunks(wtf, omg)
Chunks
A unit of smaller units connected by meaning
Serial Position effect
A cognitive phenomenon where people tend to remember the first and last items in a series better than the middle items
(Primacy effect, Recency effect)
Primacy Effect
Working memory in a serial position, goes all the way up to 7 units of information being able to be recalled
Recency effect
Immediate recall gives higher recall points for the last few, delayed recall gets a ton less points because its not coming from sensory memory.(also magic number)
Automatic encoding
Fast & efficient, minimal awareness
poor for complex info
stuff like movie lines and song lyrics would get this
Effortful encoding
Slower & inefficient, Requires awareness
Better for complex info
Long term Memory
stores “everything”
stores “forever”
Schema
Way of organizing things in your head or something like that
Why is elaboration rehearsal better than maintenance rehearsal?
because of how memory is stored -> Representational storage
Two main types of retrieval
Recall - recover without assistance
Recognition - identifying answer from pool of possible answers
Explicit memory(Declaration)
Consciously retrieved into awareness
Episodic, Semantic
Episodic (Explicit Memory)
Telling a story of what happened (basically)
Semantic (Explicit Memory)
Memories for facts and details (who was the 16th president of the US?)
Implicit Memory(NonDeclarative)
Automatically retrieve w/out awareness
Procedural, Classical Conditioning
Procedural (Implicit Memory)
remembering how to do something, like riding a bike, tying shoes.
Classical Conditioning (Implicit Memory)
Learning assocation, Pavlov’s dog’s
Pavlov’s dog’s
Rang the bell and it would make the dogs salivate due to them associating the bell with food or treats
Shallow Processing
Something like repeating a word over and over
More conscious retieval/more errors
Schematic storage: one connection
Deep processing
Remember stuff by asking questions, like is it a noun? or how many letters are in it? and such.
More automatic retieval/fewer errors
Schematic storage: lots of connections
Social Development
(attachment in infants)
Desire for physical contact, anxiety when separated
Temperament
Personality during childhood
Secure (infant stuff)
In presence of Caregiver (Plays and Explores)
When Caregiver Leaves (Moderate distress)
When Caregiver returns ( Seeks contact and easily calmed)
Insecure: Avoidant 20% (infant stuff)
In presence of Caregiver (Stays close less free Exploration)
When Caregiver Leaves (Almost no distress)
When Caregiver returns ( Avoids attachment figure)
Avoidant Attachment
avoid closeness & less invested relationships
Anxious/Ambivalent
Possessive & jealous
Secure attachment
Easy to get close to others, not too dependent & satisfying relationships
Assimilation
Interpreting new information in terms of existing schemas
Accommodation
Adjusting current schemas to make sense of new information
Four stages of development
Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
Preoperational stage (2-7 years)
Concrete stage (7-12 years)
Formal Operational stage (12-adult)
Palmar grasp
Anything that comes into a newborns palm, they will hold it extremely tight
Rooting and suckling
Touches the mouth the newborn will try to suckle (something like this will happen), although this will happen within the next 72 hours of being born.
Moro reflex
Baby startle reflex, Spreads the arms and such
Babinski
Similar to the palmar, it’s the soul of the foot. Two forms, rub the souls of an adult foot, their toes will curl under and they will laugh. For a baby it will spread the toes
Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
Thinking tends to be one-dimensional, inability to take another’s POV
Theory of mind
First step into developing empathy, and understanding people have different POV from you. Also ability to lie
Concrete Operational stage (7-12 years)
Can grasp logical rules grounded in experience and reality, can understand basic mathematical rules
Formal Operational stage (12-adult)
Can reason abstractly and evaluate logical propositions independent of personal experience.
