Unit 3 Flashcards
Sensation
our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent
stimulus energies from our environment.
Perception
organizing and interpreting
sensory information, enabling us
to recognize meaningful objects and events.
Bottom Up
Starting with the sensory input, the brain attempts to understand/make sense.
You see a long, slim, slithering creature on the ground… you process… ah! A snake!
Top Down
Guided by experience and higher-level processes, we see what we expect to see.
An experienced hiker, you expect to see snakes on your hike so windy stick, lizards, etc. all seem like snakes.
Selective attention
Our tendency to focus on just a particular stimulus among the many that are being received.
Selective inattention
At the level of conscious awareness, we are in only one place at a time and so we miss salient objects that are available to be sensed.
Transduction
conversion of one form of energy, such as light waves, into another form, like neural impulses that our brain can interpret
receive, transform, deliver
PsychoPhysics
relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli,
such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
Absolute threshold
The minimum stimulation
needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.
Difference threshold
The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time.
This is termed the just noticeable difference or JND.
Weber’s law
To be able to tell the difference between degrees of stimulation, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.
Signal detection theory
A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation
Strength of the signal, and our psychological state
Subliminal Stimuli
Subliminal stimuli are not detectable 50% of the time. They are below your absolute threshold.
Priming
Priming is the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.
Even if YOU don’t think YOU notice a stimuli, your brain might, and that can impact you.
Sensory adaptation
Sensory adaptation is diminished sensitivity to stimuli as a consequence of constant stimulation
