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AP Psych > Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Sensation and Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Bottom up processing

A

The process of looking at small pieces first then the big picture

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2
Q

Top down processing

A

The process of looking at the big picture first then the small pieces

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3
Q

Difference Threshold

A

The smallest amount of stimulus needed to notice a change

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4
Q

Signal detection theory

A

The minimum amount of a stimulus needed to know it exists. Depends on motivation, focus, and previous experience

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5
Q

Weber’s Law

A

The change in stimulus to meet the difference threshold must increase or decrease by a consistent percentage

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6
Q

Selective attention

A

Conscious awareness that our brain is focused on at a given point in time

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7
Q

Absolute threshold

A

Minimum amount of a stimulus needed to know it exists

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8
Q

Sensory adaptation

A

When our brain stops alerting us to sensory information it has already processed

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9
Q

Pupil

A

Open space in the middle of the eye

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10
Q

Retina

A

Reflective coloring in the back of your eye that contains all of the rods and cones

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11
Q

Cones

A

Help us see color better during the day, at the center of our vision (Fovea)

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12
Q

Blind spot

A

Where the optic nerve connects to the retina and there are no receptors there

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13
Q

Iris

A

Colored part of our eye, the muscle opens and closes to let light in

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14
Q

Optic nerve

A

The nerve that connects your eye to to your brain

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15
Q

Fovea

A

Where most of your cones are located

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16
Q

Young-Helmhotz (Trichromatic Theory)

A

We have three types of color cones (Red, Blue, Green) and combinations of them help us see color

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17
Q

Intensity

A

How big the wavelengths are

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18
Q

Lens

A

A disk that changes shape to reflect light on the correct part of the retina

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19
Q

Rods

A

The receptor cells on your retina that allow us to see black and white and better at night

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20
Q

Cornea

A

Protective covering over the eye

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21
Q

Feature detectors

A

Specialized cells in your occipital lobe that identify angles, shapes, and movement

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22
Q

Opponent process theory

A

Opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) when one fires the other has to fire back

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23
Q

Middle ear

A

Three small bones in the ear, the hammer, anvil, and stirrup and they vibrate to amplify sound

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24
Q

Pinna

A

Collects sound waves

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25
Auditory nerve
Connects the your ear to the brain
26
Sensorineural hearing loss
Damage to the inner ear (cochlea, auditory nerve) can be treated with cochlear implants
27
Frequency
Frequency of sound waves determines pitch
28
Cochlea
A snail shaped coil who transducers sound into a neural message for your brain
29
Eardrum
Thin membrane that vibrates to amplify sound
30
Place theory
The pitch we head is determined by the location that the sound waves strike the cochlea. Doesn't explain lower pitched sounds
31
Conduction hearing loss
Damage to the outer or middle ear, also attributes to the deafness you get as you age, it can be treated with a hearing aid
32
Pitch
The speed at which sound waves travel
33
Inner ear
Made up of the cochlea and auditory nerve
34
Hammer/Anvil/Stirrup
Make up the middle ear, vibrate to amplify sound
35
Frequency theory
The pitch we hear is determined by the speed the sound waves travel down the auditory nerve. Can't explain very high pitched sounds
36
Cochlear implant
An implant near your cochlea that can cure deafness or at least help hearing
37
Kinesthetic sense
Our sense of where our body parts are in relation to each other
38
Vestibular sense
Your sense of overall body position
39
Gustatory sense
``` Your ability to taste Sour-poisoness Sweet-energy Bitter-poison/spoiled food Salty-sodium (for muscles to work properly) Unami-meaty taste (provides protein) ```
40
Umami
Meaty taste (provides protein)
41
Olfactory sense
Smell
42
Gate-control theory
When enough touch receptors are active it will open a large fiber gate in the spinal cord
43
Sensory interaction
Smell and taste are both dependent on each other
44
Synesthesia
Mix up of the senses Ex: tasting sounds
45
Gestalt
Our brain likes to see things as "wholes"
46
Proximity
Our brain groups things together that are close together
47
Visual cliff
A test to see wether babies have depth perception (they do)
48
Monocular cues
Depth perception question that we are able to perceive with one eye open
49
Perceptual set
Expectations and prior experiences affect our perceptions
50
Continuity
The ability to keep things the same
51
Binocular cues
Depth perception question you need both eyes open to see
52
Visual texture
We know that objects have more texture detail when viewing them from a close distance
53
Similarity
Our brain groups things together that look the same
54
Depth perception
The ability to see how close or far away something is and judge it based on your vision
55
Retinal disparity
Each eye has a slightly different image and when put together these images help us perceive depth
56
Interposition
When we judge depth based on which objects are in front of each other in a space
57
Color constancy
We know that items do not change color based on their location and the light surrounding them
58
Ernest Weber
Created Weber's law- the change in stimulus to meet the difference threshold must increase or decrease by a consistent percentage
59
Herman Von Helmholtz
The trichromatic theory- we have three types of colors (Red,Blue,Green) and combinations of them help us see color
60
Elantra Gibson and Richard Walk
Visual cliff experiment- a test to see wether babies had depth perception (they do)
61
Inattentional blindness
A psychological lack of attention that is not associated with any vision defects or deficits
62
Transduction
The transportation of stimuli to the central nervous system
63
Wavelength
How sounds and light waves are measured
64
Parallel processing
The ability of the brain to simultaneously process incoming stimuli of differing quality
65
Hue
The degree at which a stimuli can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow
66
Accommodation
What occurs when new information or experiences cause you to modify your existing Schemas (a plan or theory)
67
Audition
Hearing
68
Cutaneous sense
Touch
69
Phi phenomenon
The optical illusion of perceiving a series of still images, when viewed in rapid succession, as continuous motion
70
Figure ground
Relating to or denoting the perception of images by the distinction of objects from a background from which they appear to stand out
71
Perceptual constancy
Perceiving objects as having constant shape, size, and color regardless of changes in perspective, distance, and lighting
72
Extrasensory perception
The faculty of perceiving things by means other than the known senses Ex: telepathy
73
Parapsychology
The study of phenomenas or psychic experiences into a broader study of psychology and the open mind.

AP Psych (8 decks)

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