Psych Exam 2 Flashcards
perceptual constancy.
we percieve things to be constant and unchanging. think of a blue ball that moves into the shade.
weber’s law
just noticiable difference must be a percentage change
proactive interference
When you are trying to retreive soemthign but there are other things that are similar to that of which you want to retrieve. think of accidentally writing down your childhood address instead of current one
retroactive interference
harder to remember things of the past because the new things are closer and easier to remember
sleep disorders happen in which stage?
N3
Sensation
The process of sensory receptors and nervous system receiving information from the environment
Perception
Organizing and interpreting sensory info and allowing us to recognize meaningful things.
Bottom- up processing
Begins with sensory receptors and goes to the brain to be processed
Top down processing
How we interpret and our perception (specifically around sensory information)
Top down processing
How we interpret and our perception (specifically around sensory information)
Transduction: Visual
Stimulus input: light…Travels in waves
Wavelength (visual)
Distance from one wave peak to another
Influences hue
Amplitude (visual)
Height of the wave
Influences brightness (small= dull and large = bright)
Garcia Affect
the fact that we are more likely to associate illness with food, showing evolutionary tendencies to form certain associations effect
Transduction: auditory
Sound travels in waves
Wavelength= frequency
Frequency determines pitch
Transduction:pain
nociceptors. These don’t respond to one single stimulus, but everything that could cause damage
Transduction: Touch
Sense of touch is actually a mix of four distinct skin senses
Pressure
Warmth
Cold
Pressure
Other sensations are variations of the basic four. (for example, cold and pressure is the sensation of wet)
Transduction: taste
Each taste bud has 50-100 taste receptors
They respond to specific molecules to create flavors
Taste can be influenced by learning, expectations, cognitions, and perceptual bias (think of how kids like food that’s their fav color more. Or if you put a fancy label on cheap wine then people think it tastes better)
Transduction: smell
20 million olfactory receptors in the nose
Respond to different molecules
Signals go to the olfactory bulb in the brain
Bypass the thalamus
Just Noticeable Difference
The smallest (minimum) DIFFERENCE between two things that make you feel it 50% of the time.
Absolute threshold
The smallest (minimum) intensity of something that makes you feel it 50% of the time.
Do perceptual sets influence bottom-up or top-down processing?
Top-down
What are perceptual sets
Perceptual sets are the expectations or schemas that we already have that affect how we perceive something.
How can context influence how we interpret sensations?
Determines what you expect to happen. Our perceptions change based on the context of our situation or current environment. Think of someone who feels in danger- they might expect that someone reaching into their bag has a weapon.
How does amplitude play a role in auditory perception
Amplitude is the height of the wave. It influences volume.
How does amplitude play a role in visual perception
Brightness. (Small= dull; large = bright)
How does wavelength play a role in auditory perception
Pitch. Closer = higher pitch
How does wavelength play a role in visual perception
Influences hue (close=blue and far=red)
Rods
Location: outer region of retina (peripheral vision)
Responds to shapes/motion and light and dark sensitivity
Vague details
Cones
location: center of retina (fovea)
Individual connections to brain
Processes color and details
Binocular cues
Two eyes improve depth perception to about 10-12 feet. Brain calculates distance by comparing images from the two eyes. Used in 3D movies.
Monocular cues
Depth perception of each eye alone. Light and shadow, relative motion, relative size.
Monocular cues
Depth perception of each eye alone. Light and shadow, relative motion, relative size.
Make sure you understand perceptual constancy and could describe the role of both top-down and bottom-up processing as it relates to perceptual constancy.
We perceive things as consisten and unchanging. This uses top down processing to perceive it, but we use bottom up processing to take in the sensory information in the first place. We perceive things far away as the same size when they are closer, even though they LOOK different. We have taken bottom up processing and looked at the cues around something to make sense of it in the top down processing. Same goes for things when they change angles, or shadows and colors and stuff.
What determines the perceived loudness of auditory stimuli?
the bending of the hairs
What factors may influence how much pain we feel?
If we are thinking about the pain, it feels more intense. If we have memories of the pain, we are usually remembering the worst moments. We also tend to experience more pain when others seem to be experiencing it too.
What does the McGurk Effect demonstrate generally about how we perceive stimuli?
We perceive stimuli based on multiple senses at one. Think of the video saying ba vs va vs dah (top down processing)
What are the five tastes and how might they have been evolutionarily useful
Sweet: energy
Sour: toxic acid
Salty: sodium essential
Bitter: poison
Umami: proteins to help grow and repair
How can environmental exposure relate to the evolutionary context of taste?
Repeated exposure helps you learn to enjoy a taste or not think of it as dangerous. Its influenced by learning and expectations. (think of kids who like food that are their fav color better)
What is synesthesia
Belding sensory info. Caused by cross activation of brain areas. Runs in family.
System 1 processing
Unconscious. Automatic, implicit, fast, biased
System 2 processing
Conscious. Controlled. Explicit. Slow. objective
What is blindsight and how does it demonstrate system 1 and
The condition when a person can respond to a stimuli without conscious experience. (ex: someone who is blindsight can walk down cluttered hallways even though they cant consciously see the things in the way.
Priming:
to activate schemas
Using schemas as the independent variable. Use of subtle subliminal cues
Experimenter manipulated
Predictor measured
Creating accessibility
IAT:
The test using flowers and bugs vs good and bad. Quick reactions but conflicting info. Looks at the strengths of this correlation.
Inattentialional blindness
Failure to see visible objects when attention is directed elsewhere
Change blindness
Failure to notice changes in the environment, a form of inattentional blindness
What is the role of selective attention in these processes?
You are focusing consciou awareness on a particular stimulus but blocking out others.
What is the importance of the cocktail party effect when it comes to unconscious perceptions?
You are uncosnciously listening for important info (such as hearing your name)
Generally, what are some of the most important reasons for sleep?
Recuperation, rebuilding of memory, problem solving, growth.
What is our circadian rhythm?
Internal biological clock of 24 hour cyle of the day and night. Body temp rises as morning comes and lowers as night comes.
What is the relationship between our real world experiences and our dreams?
Incorporates days events. Usually processing and encoding into memory?
How are we affected by sleep deprivation?
Cognitive effects- Decreased focus and issues with attention
Fatigue and irritability. Impaired concentration, productivity, and memory consolidation
Can lead to depression, joint pain, a suppressed immune system, and slowed performance with a greater vulnerability to accidents
Driving performance- 24 straight hours awake = (roughly) BAC of .10 (this is illegal to drive with)
Recall
Retreiving information that is not currently in your conscious awareness but that was learned at an earlier time
Regogntition
Identifying items previously learned when they are presented to your conscious awareness
Explicit memory
Declarative memories of conscious facts and experiences encoded through conscious effortful processing. Eventually explicit memories can become automatically processed