Psych Quiz 11 Flashcards
predicts when we will detect a faint stimulus (i.e., signal) amid background noise.
signal detection theory
– assumes no absolute threshold
– detection varies based on experience, expectations, motivation, alertness, & type / strength of stimulus
signal detection theory
What is this an example of?
e.g., fire & the smoke detector goes off
hit
What is this an example of?
e.g., no fire & smoke detector does not go off
correct rejection
Hit and correct rejection fall under _______ decisions.
right
What is this an example of?
e.g., fire & the smoke detector does not go off
miss
What is this an example of?
e.g., no fire & smoke detector goes off anyway
false alarm
Miss and false alarm fall under _______ decisions.
wrong
What is this an example of?
e.g., You think a person is sick, so you avoid them, and the person is actually sick.
hit
What is this an example of?
e.g., You think a person is sick, so you avoid them; however, the person actually is not sick.
false alarm
What is this an example of?
e.g., You do not think a person is sick and you do not avoid them, and they are actually sick.
miss
What is this an example of?
e.g., You do not think a person is sick and you do not avoid them, and they actually are not sick.
correction rejection
minimum difference between 2 stimuli detectable 50% of the time
difference threshold (just noticeable difference [JND])
The more costly error.
Miss/False negative
What is this an example of?
e.g., You are able to detect a difference in the brightness of lightbulbs.
difference threshold (just noticeable difference [JND])
to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (not a constant amount).
Weber’s law
As stimulus intensity increases, more change is needed to detect a difference.
Weber’s law
What is this an example of?
e.g., You can easily tell the difference between if someone is a 1 or a 2, rather than a 9 or a 10 on an attractiveness scale.
Weber’s law
What is this an example of?
e.g., You are able to tell the difference between a $1 sale on a $3 item, rather than a $1 sale on an $80 item.
Weber’s law
↓ sensitivity after constant stimulation
sensory adaptation
What is this an example of?
E.g., You wear the same cologne/perfume for a long time, so you apply more because you are unable to smell it on yourself.
sensory adaptation
repeated exposure to a stimulus creates an ↑
sensory / perceptual response
sensitization
What is this an example of?
E.g., The person next to you breaths loudly, so you develop an irritation to their breathing.
sensitization
mental predisposition to perceive one thing & not another
perceptual set
_______ is determined by:
* past experiences & expectations
* differences in sensation ability
perceptual set
What is this an example of?
E.g., A person in a grocery store may either think:
- That kid is throwing a temper tantrum
- Oh, that kid is throwing a temper tantrum because they are being kidnapped
perceptual set
surrounding context may change how we perceive a stimulus
context effects
What is this an example of?
e.g., You think a dot is bigger than the other because the surrounding dots are smaller, but they are the same size.
context effects
What is this an example of?
E.g., If you are a short man, you look tall next to kids; In a small town you are hot, but when you go to Hollywood you are not as hot.
context effects
Goals, motives, & emotions can _____ our interpretations of neutral stimuli
bias
What is this an example of?
e.g., misperception of sexual interest in speed dating studies
Goals, motives, & emotions biasing our interpretations of neutral stimuli
Humans can see a small piece of the __________.
electromagnetic spectrum
The rest of the electromagnetic spectrum is ______ to our sight.
“invisible”
What is this an example of?
e.g., x-rays, radio waves
electromagnetic spectrum
(distance between peaks) determines hue (color)
wavelength
(height of wave) determines intensity (brightness)
wave amplitude
changes shape (accommodates) to bring objects into focus on retina (light-sensitive inner surface of eye)
Lens
Light rays → Cornea → Pupil → _______
Lens
sensitive to detail & color
cones
- higher concentration near fovea (center of retina)
- precise, color “daytime” vision
cones
sensitive to faint light
rods
- located around periphery of retina
- black & white “night” vision
- peripheral vision
rods
No receptors where the optic
nerve ______ the eye
(blind spot)
leaves
cones are working but rods aren’t activated
When entering a dark room
cones need adequate ______ to work properly
light
rods require _______ but need some time to activate
less light
rods become “saturated” in bright light; stop working
When exiting a dark room
must wait for cones to take back over
When exiting a dark room
__________ crosses over & runs to the thalamus on
the opposite side of brain.
Optic nerve
____________ routes signal directly back to visual cortex to process.
Thalamus
different nerve cells process specific features (e.g., shape, angle, movement)
feature detectors
processes faces
Fusiform Cortex
face blindness
Prosopagnosia
different areas of the visual cortex processing motion, form, depth, & color do so at the same time
* brain later integrates these dimensions to form one big picture
parallel processing
What is this an example of?
e.g., Men thinking a woman is into them because they are nice & smile at them.
Goals, motives, & emotions biasing our interpretations of neutral stimuli
integrating sensory info. into meaningful wholes
* follow rules of grouping
Gestalt principles
Organizing stimuli into coherent groups
grouping
What is this an example of?
e.g., Necker cube
Gestalt principles
organization of visual field into objects (figures)
that stand out from surroundings (ground)
figure-ground
objects
figures
surroundings
ground
Figure-ground, proximity, continuity, and closure falls under __________.
Form perception
tendency to group nearby figures together
proximity
What is this an example of?
E.g., You and an opposite sex friend get mistaken as a couple because you are close together.
proximity
tendency to perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones
continuity
What is this an example of?
E.g., You are unable to tell where an electrical cord leads to due to other cords.
continuity
filling in gaps to create a complete, whole object
closure
ability to see in 3D
Depth Perception
Monocular cues, Retinal Disparity, and Binocular cues fall under __________.
Depth Perception
depend on 2 eyes
binocular cues
difference between 2 eyes helps us see depth
retinal disparity
What is this an example of?
E.g., You hold your left and right index fingers in front of your eyes and move them back forth affecting your vision.
retinal disparity
cues a single eye can use
to produce 3D
monocular cues
______ needs:
* light & shadow
* relative size / height / position (interposition)
* linear perspective
monocular cues
Something in front of another object affecting the way the size of it looks
interposition
What is this an example of?
E.g., Maxine’s new job is downwind from a dog food factory. At first, Maxine finds the smell horrendous. However, after a few days, Maxine no longer notices the smell.
Sensory Adaptation
Justin bought some extremely bright lights to put in his dorm. These bright lights are characterized by:
Great Amplitude
If Lily listens to T-Swift at 10 decibels & raises the volume 2 decibels, she can tell the music is louder. When T-Swift is playing at 40 decibels & Lily raises the volume 2 decibels, she can’t tell if it’s louder; to detect an increase in loudness, Lily has to raise the volume by 8 decibels, which best describes:
Weber’s law
As a pharmacist, Emily has to interpret doctors’ handwriting to figure out what medication is prescribed. Here, Emily uses her previous experiences, expectations, & the overall context of the surrounding words, which is a process best described as:
Top-down processing
Ian sees a person running at him in his peripheral visual field. Ian can see this person due to his:
Rods
If Bob looks at a vertical line, he is activating different _______ than when he looks at a horizontal line.
Feature detectors
The area of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye is known as the:
Blind spot
The retina contains three kinds of color receptors.
Young-Helmholtz theory
