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Psychology > Unit 3 > Flashcards

Unit 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

phonagnosia

A

an inability to recognize familiar voices

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2
Q

sensation

A

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

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3
Q

sensory receptors

A

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli.

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4
Q

perception

A

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

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5
Q

Bottom-up processing

A

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

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6
Q

Top-Down processing

A

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

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7
Q

selective attention

A

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

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8
Q

how many bits of information do our 5 senses take in one second?

A

11,000,000 buts

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9
Q

cocktail party effect

A

your ability to attend to one voice among a sea of other voices.

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10
Q

inattentional blindness

A

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

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11
Q

change blindness

A

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness.

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12
Q

All our senses

A

receive sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells.
transform that stimulation into neural impulses.
deliver the neural information to our brain.

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13
Q

Transduction

A

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

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14
Q

psychophysics

A

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

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15
Q

absolute thresholds

A

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. (p. 209)

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16
Q

Signal detection theory

A

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness. (p. 209)

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17
Q

subliminal

A

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. (p. 209)

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18
Q

difference threshold

A

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (or jnd). (p. 209)

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19
Q

Weber’s law

A

For an average person to perceive a difference, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (not a constant amount). The exact percentage varies, depending on the stimulus

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20
Q

sensory adaption

A

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. (p. 211)

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21
Q

a principle to remember!

A

We perceive the world not exactly as it is, but as it is useful for us to perceive it.

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22
Q

Priming

A

Priming shows that we can be affected by stimuli so weak that we don’t consciously notice them, and we can evaluate a stimulus even when we’re not consciously aware of it.

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23
Q

perceptual set

A

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

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24
Q

What determines our perceptual set?

A

Through experience, we form concepts, or schemas, that organize and interpret unfamiliar information.

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25
Q

perception is the product of

A

sensation, cognition and emotion

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26
Q

extrasensory perception [ESP]

A

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

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27
Q

Most relevant ESP claims

A
  • telepathy: mind-to-mind communication.
  • clairvoyance: perceiving remote events, such as a house on fire in another state.
  • precognition: perceiving future events, such as an unexpected death in the next month.
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28
Q

parapsychology

A

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis. (p. 218)

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29
Q

Skeptics argue that

A

(1) to believe in ESP, you must believe the brain is capable of perceiving without sensory input, and (2) researchers have been unable to replicate ESP phenomena under controlled conditions.

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30
Q

wavelength

A

the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long pulses of radio transmission. (p. 223)

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31
Q

intensity

A

the amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness. Intensity is determined by the wave’s amplitude (height). (p. 223)

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32
Q

hue

A

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth. (p. 223)

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33
Q

cornea

A

the eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris. (p. 223)

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34
Q

pupil

A

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. (p. 223)

35
Q

iris

A

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. (p. 223)

36
Q

lens

A

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. (p. 223)

37
Q

retina

A

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. (p. 223)

38
Q

accomodation

A

(1) in sensation and perception, the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. (2) in developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. (pp. 223, 454)

39
Q

nearsightedness [myopia]

A

can be remedied with glasses, contact lenses, or surgery

40
Q

rods

A

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond. (p. 224)

41
Q

cones

A

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. (p. 224)

42
Q

optic nerve

A

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. (p. 224)

43
Q

process

A

light energy - chemical reaction - bipolar cells - neighboring ganglion cells - info traveled to your brain!!!! yayyyy

44
Q

fovea

A

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster. (p. 225)

45
Q

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

A

the theory that the retina contains three different types of 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. (p. 227)

46
Q

opponent - process theory

A

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green. (p. 228)

47
Q

Color processing occurs in two stages.

A
  • The retina’s red, green, and blue cones respond in varying degrees to different color stimuli, as the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory suggested.
  • The cones’ responses are then processed by opponent-process cells, as Hering’s opponent-process theory proposed.
48
Q

feature detectors

A

nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. (p. 229)

49
Q

parallel processing

A

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions. (pp. 126, 229, 329)

50
Q

visual information processing

A

scene - retinal processing - feature detection - parallel processing - recognition

51
Q

gestalt

A

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. (p. 233)

52
Q

figure-ground

A

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground). (p. 233)

53
Q

grouping

A

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups. (p. 234)

54
Q

depth perception

A

the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance. (p. 235)

55
Q

binocular cues

A

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes. (p. 235)

56
Q

retinal disparity

A

a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object. (p. 235)

57
Q

monocular cues

A

a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone. (p. 236)

58
Q

Our brain also perceives a rapid series of slightly varying images as continuous movement

A

a phenomenon called stroboscopic movement

59
Q

phi phenomenon

A

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession. (p. 236)

60
Q

perceptual constancy

A

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change. (p. 237)

61
Q

color conastancy

A

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. (p. 238)

62
Q

relative luminance

A

the amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings

63
Q

a lesson

A

Context governs our perceptions.

64
Q

shape constancy,

A

we perceive the form of familiar objects,

65
Q

maybe this can be helpful

A

Perception is not merely a projection of the world onto our brain. Rather, our sensations are disassembled into information bits that our brain, using both bottom-up and top-down processing, then reassembles into its own functional model of the external world. During this reassembly process, our assumptions—such as the usual relationship between distance and size—can lead us astray. Our brain constructs our perceptions.

66
Q

perceptual adaptation

A

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field. (p. 241)

67
Q

audition

A

the sense or act of hearing. (p. 244)

68
Q

frequency

A

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). (p. 244)

69
Q

pitch

A

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. (p. 244)

70
Q

middle ear

A

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. (p. 245)

71
Q

cochlea

A

[KOHK-lee-uh] a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses. (p. 245)

72
Q

inner ear

A

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. (p. 245)

73
Q

sensorineural hearing loss

A

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss, also called nerve deafness. (p. 246)

74
Q

conduction hearing loss

A

a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. (p. 246)

75
Q

cochlear implant

A

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea. (p. 247)

76
Q

place theory

A

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated. (p. 248)

77
Q

frequency theory

A

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. (Also called temporal theory.) (p. 248)

78
Q

nociceptors

A

detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

79
Q

gate-control theory

A

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain. (p. 253)

80
Q

olfaction

A

the sense of smell. (p. 257)

81
Q

kinesthesia

A

[kin-ehs-THEE-zhuh] our movement sense—our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body arts. (p. 259)

82
Q

vestibular sense

A

our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance. (p. 259)

83
Q

sensory interaction

A

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste. (p. 260)

84
Q

embodied cognition

A

the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments. (p. 260)

Psychology (4 decks)

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