Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

AP Psychology > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

1
Q

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

A

Sensation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

A

Perception

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.

A

Bottom-up processing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

A

Top-down processing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

A

Selective attention

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

A

Inattentional blindness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Failing to notice changes in our environment.

A

Change blindness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smell into neural impulses our brain can interpret.

A

Transduction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

The study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity and our psychological experience of them.

A

Psycho-physics

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

A

Absolute threshold

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise).

A

Signal Detection Theory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

A

Subliminal

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.

A

Priming

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next.

A

Wavelength

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth.

A

Hue

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

The amount of energy in a light our sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude.

A

Intensity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.

A

Pupil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening.

A

Iris

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

A

Lens

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information.

A

Retina

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

A

Accommodation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and grey; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond.

A

Rods

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or well-lit conditions.

A

Cones

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain.

A

Optic Nerve

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a ______ _____ because no receptor cells are located there.

A

Blind Spot

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster.

A

Fovea

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, movement.

A

Feature Detectors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision.

A

Parallel Processing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

The theory that the retina contains three color receptors-one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue-which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color.

A

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.

A

Opponent-process theory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Any organized whole. ______ psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

A

Gesalt

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings.

A

Figure-ground

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups, used to make sense of the chaos that the world is.

A

Grouping

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

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

A

Depth Perception

35
Q

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

A

Visual Cliff

36
Q

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes.

A

Binocular Cues

37
Q

A binocular cue for perceiving depth: By comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance-the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

A

Retinal Disparity

38
Q

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

A

Monocular Cues

39
Q

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

A

Phi Phenomenon

40
Q

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, brightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change.

A

Perceptual Constancy

41
Q

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object.

A

Color Constancy

42
Q

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

A

Perceptual Adaptation

43
Q

The sense or act of hearing.

A

Audition

44
Q

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time.

A

Frequency

45
Q

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends or frequency.

A

Pitch

46
Q

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

A

Middle Ear

47
Q

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves travelling through the _______ fluid trigger nerve impulses.

A

Cochlea

48
Q

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

A

Inner Ear

49
Q

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness.

A

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

50
Q

Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

A

Conduction hearing loss

51
Q

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea.

A

Cochlear Implant

52
Q

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated.

A

Place Theory

53
Q

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch.

A

Frequency Theory

54
Q

To “perceive together”, is a condition in which two senses are sensed at the same time, where one type of stimulation evokes another. (Ex.Hearing music and seeing colors in you mind)

A

Synesthesia

55
Q

Convert light energy to electrochemical neural impulses that are conducted to the brain.

A

Photoreceptors

56
Q

These people simply lack functioning red-or-green cones or sometimes both, missing cones that respond to a specific color.

A

Color-Deficient Vision

57
Q

The biological process by which our brain processes sound waves.

A

Audition

58
Q

Vibrations of molecules that travel through air.

A

Sound Waves

59
Q

Height of the sound wave (greater compression), the psychological quality of loudness.

A

Amplitude

60
Q

The outer ear, the visible part of the ear, opening into the head that protrude from our head, (designed to catch wound waves.)

A

Pinna/Auricle

61
Q

The eardrum, sound waves make the eardrum vibrate (conduction.)

A

Tympanic Membrane

62
Q

Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other. From this info; our nimble brain computes the sound’s location.

A

Locating Sound “Sound Localization”

63
Q

Interaction with hearing and vision-an illusion that when an auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound leading to a third sound. When hearing the word “da” while watching a face go “ga” will result in us hearing “ba.”

A

The McGurk Effect

64
Q

A two-phase chemical reaction that involves both our mouth and throat for taste, as well as our nose for smell. The four basic groupings are ____, _____, _____, _____.

A

Taste(Gustation), Sweet, Satly, Sour, and Bitter

65
Q

Chemical molecules breathed in through the nose. Small receptors lie in the top of the nasal passage, they send impulses along the olfactory nerve to the olfactory bulb. ____ is responsible for 80% of taste and all flavors come from smell.

A

Smell(Olfaction)

66
Q

The senses of the skin, allow us to feel light touch, pressure, pain, cold, and warmth.

A

Somesthetic Senses

67
Q

The body’s warning sign that something isn’t right (many varieties of intensities.) Combine both bottom-up and top-down processes.

A

Pain

68
Q

There is a “gate” in the spinal chord that switches pain on and off, the more neurons fire in response to pain the more intense the pain.

A

Gate-Control Theory

69
Q

Pain caused by the brain in nonexistent limbs, most common in amputees.

A

Phantom Limb Sensations

70
Q

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts.

A

Kinethesis

71
Q

The sense that monitors our head’s position and movement.

A

Vestibular Sense

72
Q

Our eyes move together to focus on an object that is close and that they would move farther apart for a distant object.

A

Convergence

73
Q

Depth cues that makes parallel lines appear to converge at a vanishing point on the horizon.

A

Linear Perspective

74
Q

When one object overlaps another, the object that is partially obscured is perceived as farther away.

A

Interposition

75
Q

If two objects are roughly the same size, the object that is further away will appear smaller, even though they are the same size.

A

Relative Size

76
Q

We perceive objects higher in our visual field as being further away and those that are close should appear lower. (Ex. you know Timpanogas is further away than the snow’s house because the snow’s house is further down.

A

Relative Height

77
Q

We percieve hazy objects as further away than sharp, clear objects. The farther something is from us the less detail it conveys.

A

Relative Clarity

78
Q

Objects that are darkened and obscured may appear farther off than those that are brightly lit.

A

Light and Shadow

79
Q

Method of determining depth by noting that distant objects have a smoother texture than nearby objects.

A

Texture Gradient

80
Q

As you’re moving, objects that are closer seem to zoom by faster than do objects in the distance. (Ex. fences on the side of the road tend to look like they’re moving a lot faster than mountains in the distance.)

A

Relative Motion

81
Q

Predisposition to perceive things a certain way. (Ex. if ten people were asked to describe the same object they’d all perceive and describe it differently.)

A

Perceptual Set

82
Q

The study of paranormal phenomenon, including ESP and Psychokenises.

A

Parapsychology

83
Q

The smallest amount by which two sensory stimuli can differ in order for an individual to perceive them as different.

A

Difference Threshold

84
Q

The law states that the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus. (Ex. a person is more likely to notice a commercial that doubles in volume than one that slightly increases.)

A

Weber’s Law

AP Psychology (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions