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AP Psychology > Unit 3: Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Unit 3: Sensation and Perception Flashcards

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1
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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2
Q

Sensory receptors

A

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

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3
Q

Perception

A

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

** recognizing specific people in a crowd by their traits

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4
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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5
Q

Top-down processing

A

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes; we construct perceptions by drawing on our experiences and expectations

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6
Q

Selective attention

A

The conscious focusing on one particular stimulus at a time

** hearing one voice amidst a sea of voices; cocktail party effect

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7
Q

Inattentional blindness

A

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

** think basketball player experiment with gorilla suit

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8
Q

Change blindness

A
  • A form of inattentional blindness
  • Failing to notice changes in one’s environment

** if someone is looking at a table and are interrupted by another brief visual, they will not notice a bottle of coke has been moved/taken away

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9
Q

Transduction

A

Conversion of one form of energy into another; in sensation, the transforming of stimulus energy (sights, sounds, etc.) into neural impulses the brain can interpret

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10
Q

Three steps of transduction

A
  1. RECEIVE: receiving sensory information, often using specialized receptor cells
  2. TRANSFORM: transforming that stimulus into neural impulses
  3. DELIVER: delivering that neural information to the brain

** light energy –> images/vision

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11
Q

Psychophysics

A

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli (e.g. intensity) and our psychological experience of them

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12
Q

Absolute threshold

A

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

**think tones experiment

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13
Q

Signal detection theory

A
  • Relies on the idea that there is no one set absolute threshold/absolute threshold is dependant
  • Theory that predict how/when we detect the presence of faint stimuli amid background stimuli, influenced by motivation, experience, expectations, alertness etc.
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14
Q

Subliminal

A

A stimulus below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness (cannot be detected 50% of the time)

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15
Q

Difference threshold

A

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

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16
Q

Priming

A

Predisposing one’s memory/perception/response with the activation of certain associations (often happens unconsciously)

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17
Q

Weber’s Law

A

states that for an average person to perceive a difference in stimuli, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount

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18
Q

Sensory adaptation

A

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

** someone’s perfume smells strong upon first meeting them, but you won’t notice a few minutes into the conversation

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19
Q

Perceptual set

A
  • An influence on perception
  • A mental predisposition to see one thing over another

** art that can be seen one of two ways, e.g. a dog or a family

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20
Q

Three influences on perception

A
  1. CONTEXT EFFECTS
    The situation at hand dictates how we perceive our environment/similar environments in future
  2. MOTIVATION
    Motivation gives us energy to work towards our goals; things may look better, closer, or more appealing if we are motivated
  3. EMOTION
    How we feel during/about a situation can affect the appeal of any given situation
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21
Q

ESP

A

The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input

** clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition

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22
Q

Parapsychology

A

The study of paranormal psychological phenomena including ESP and psychokinesis

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23
Q

Pupil

A

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

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24
Q

Iris

A

Controls the size of the pupil; a colored muscle that dilates or constricts in response to light intensity

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25
Q

Cornea

A

The eye’s clear and protective outermost layer covering the pupil and iris

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26
Q

Lens

A

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

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27
Q

Optic Nerve

A

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

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28
Q

Foeva

A

The focal point of the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster

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29
Q

Retina

A

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye containing receptors (rods and cones) plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

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30
Q

Blind spot

A

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye creating a “blind spot” where no receptor cells are present (the brain completes the missing part of the image)

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31
Q

Accommodation

A

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far images onto the retina

32
Q

Process of how we see

A
  1. Light enters the eye through the cornea and passes through the pupil; the iris dilates or restricts in response to light intensity
  2. The light hits the transparent lens, which focuses the image onto your retina using accommodation
  3. Millions of receptors (rods and cones) on the retina convert particles of light energy into neural impulses through transduction
  4. ^ Sparks neural signals in nearby bipolar cells, which activate nearby ganglion cells; the two twine together to form the optic nerve
  5. The optic nerve transmits information to the thalamus via the visual cortex, routing to detectors in the occipital lobe that organize neural firings into a conscious visual perception of the object
33
Q

Rods

A
  • Retinal receptors that detect greyscale (black/white/grey)
  • Sensitive to movement
  • Necessary for peripheral vision and twilight vision
  • Humans have more rods than cones
34
Q

Cones

A
  • Retinal receptors that function in daylight/well-lit conditions
  • Detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations
  • Humans have less cones than rods
35
Q

Young Helmholz Trichromatic Theory

A
  • the retina contains three different types of color receptors; one sensitive to red, one to blue, and one to green
  • when stimulated in combination, they can produce the perception any color
36
Q

Opponent Process Theory

A
  • Opposing retinal processes enable our vision
  • e.g. red-green, black-white, blue-yellow
37
Q

Feature detectors

A

Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of a stimulus, e.g. shape, angle or movement

38
Q

Parallel processing

A

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing

39
Q

Gestalt

A
  • a “gestalt” is an organized whole
  • developed from a belief held by Gestalt Psychologists emphasizing our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes
40
Q

Figure ground

A

the organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground/background)

41
Q

Grouping

A

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

  • proximity: grouping nearby figures together
  • continuity: perceiving continuous patterns rather than segmented ones
  • closure: filling in gaps to create a whole, complete object
42
Q

Depth perception

A

the ability to see objects in three dimensions, although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional

43
Q

Visual cliff

A

a lab device for testing the depth perception of young animals and infants
- suggests an innate depth perception

44
Q

Binocular cues

A

A depth cue that depends on the use of two eyes

45
Q

Retinal disparity

A

The brain computes distance by comparing the retinal images from the two eyes. The greater the disparity/difference between the two images, the closer the objects

46
Q

Monocular cues

A

A depth cue available to either eye alone

** interposition, linear perspective

47
Q

Motion perception

A

computing motion based on the assumption that shrinking objects are retreating and enlarging objects are approaching

48
Q

Phi phenomenon

A

An illusion created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in rapid succession
- our brain perceives a rapid series of slightly varying images as continuous movement

49
Q

Perceptual constancy

A

Perceiving an object as unchanging even when illumination and retinal images change

** you know that a door is still a door/is the same door even when light/color change upon opening and closing it

50
Q

Color constancy

A

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

51
Q

Size constancy

A

Perceiving an object as having an unchanging size, even as our distance from it varies

52
Q

Perceptual adaptation

A

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including artificially displaced/inverted visual fields

** inverted lens: humans would initially throw a ball in the opposite direction of the net, but quickly adjust to throw more accurately despite the inversion

53
Q

Audition

A

The sense or act of hearing

54
Q

Pitch

A

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness – dependant on frequency

55
Q

Frequency

A

The number of complete wavelengths to pass a point during a given time

Long wavelengths = low pitch, Short wavelengths = high pitch

56
Q

Amplitude

A

The height from the peak to the trough of a wave

Tall amplitude = loud sounds, short amplitude = quiet sounds

57
Q

How do we hear?

A
  1. The outer ear funnels sound waves to the eardrum
  2. The bones of the middle ear (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) amplify and relay the vibrations of the eardrum through the oval window of the fluid-filled cochlea
  3. Resulting pressure changes in the cochlear fluid cause the basilar membrane to ripple, bending the hair cells on its surface
  4. This triggers impulses at the base of the nerve cells, whose fibers converge to form the auditory nerve, which sends neural messages to the auditory cortex via the thamalus
58
Q

Sensorineural hearing loss

A
  • the most common form of hearing loss
  • sometimes called “nerve deafness”
  • damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve
59
Q

Conduction hearing loss

A
  • less common form of hearing loss
  • damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
60
Q

Cochlear implant

A
  • a solution to “nerve deafness”/sensorineural hearing loss
  • a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
61
Q

Place theory

A

The theory that we hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea’s basilar membrane

62
Q

Frequency theory

A
  • sometimes called the temporal theory

The theory that the brain reads pitch by monitoring the frequency of neural impulses moving up the auditory nerve: the rate matches the frequency of a tone, thus we can sense its pitch

63
Q

How do we locate sounds?

A

Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other. We compute sound’s location with that information.

64
Q

Four basic skin senses

A

Warm, cool, pressure, pain

65
Q

Gate-control theory (pain)

A

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 activity from the brain.

66
Q

How can we control pain?

A

Endorphins - natural painkillers

Placebo - mimicking painkilling medication to dampen the central nervous system’s attention/response

67
Q

Gustation

A

Our sense of taste

68
Q

Five taste sensations

A

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami

69
Q

Taste buds/taste bud regeneration

A
  • 200 or more tastebuds containing 50-100 receptor cells each
  • reproduce in a week or two (this decreases with age)
70
Q

Why are children more sensitive to food?

A

Taste sensitivity decreases as you age as a result of slower/decreasing taste bud regeneration

71
Q

Similarity/difference between taste and smell

A
  • Both a chemical sense
  • Smell bypasses the thalamus (straight to the olfactory bulb), and taste does not
72
Q

How do we smell?

A

Olfaction happens when an external stimulus comes in contact with the receptor cells at the top of the nose, which transduce that information and pass it to the olfactory bulb

73
Q

How are smell/taste and memory associated?

A

Taste/smell triggers memory because they are registered in parts of our brain not far from where the brain stores memories

74
Q

Kinesthesia

A

Our movement sense - our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

75
Q

Vestibular sense

A

Our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

76
Q

Sensory interaction

A

The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences it’s taste

77
Q

Embodied cognition

A

The influence of gestures, bodily sensations and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

AP Psychology (8 decks)

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