unit 4 ap psych Flashcards
sensation
process by which sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
sensory receptors
sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli.
perception
process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enables us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
bottom-up processing
starts at sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing.
top-down processing
information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, constructions of perceptions draw from our experiences and expectations.
selective attention
focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimuli.
inattentional blindness
failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed somewhere else.
change blindness
failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness.
transduction
conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, ex. sights, sounds, smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret.
psychophysics
study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli, ex. intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
absolute threshold
minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.
signal detection theory
theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noises). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.
Subliminal
below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness.
difference threshold
minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference.
priming
activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response.
weber’s law
principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than constant amount).
sensory adaptation
diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
perceptual set―mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.
extrasensory perception (ESP)
controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.
parapsychology
study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis.
cones
retinal receptors concentrated near the center of retina and function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.
optic nerve
nerve that carries neural impulses from eye to brain.
blind spot
point where optic nerve leaves the eye, creating “blind” spot due to no receptor cells located there.
fovea
central focal point in retina, around which eye’s clones cluster.
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory
theory that retina contains 3 different types of color receptors; one most sensitive to red, one to gree, another to blue- when stimulated in combination, can produce any perception of any color.
opponent process theory
theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision. Ex. Some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others stimulated by red and inhibited by green.
feature detectors
nerve cells in brain’s visual cortex responding to specific features of stimulus, ex. shape, angle, or movement.
parallel processing
processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision.
gestalt
organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.
figure-grounding
organization of visual field into objects(figures) standing out from their surroundings(ground).
grouping
perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups.
depht perception
ability to see objects in 3 dimensions although images striking retina are 2 dimensions; allows us to judge distance.
visual cliff
laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.
binocular cue
depth cue, such as retinal disparity, depending on use of two eyes.
retinal disparity
binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from 2 eyes, brain computes distance-greater the disparity(difference) between two images, the closer the object.
monocular cue
depth cue, ex. interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone.
phi phenomenon
illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.
perceptual constancy
perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change.
color constancy
perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters wavelengths reflected by object.
perceptual adaptation
ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.
audition
sense or act of hearing.
frequency
number of complete wavelengths passing a point in a given time, ex. per second.
pitch
tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.
middle ear
chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.
cochlea
coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in inner ear; sound waves traveling through cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.
inner ear
innermost part of the ear, contains cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.
sensorineural hearing loss
hearing loss caused by damage to cochlea’s receptor cells or to auditory nerves; most common form of hearing loss and also called nerve deafness.
conduction hearing loss
less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to mechanical system that conducts sound waves to cochlea.
cochlear implant
device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into cochlea.
gate-control theory
theory that spinal cord contains neurological “gate” blocking pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. “Gate” opened by activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and closed by activity in large fibers or information coming from brain.
olfaction
sense of smell
kinesthetisia
our movement sense-our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body arts.
vestibular sense
our sense of body movements and position enabling our sense of balance.
sensory interaction
principle that one sense may influence one another, as when smell of food influences its taste.
embodied cognition
influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments.
rods
retinal receptors that detect black, white, gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond.
