Weeks 7-12 Flashcards
Sensation
the physical processing of environmental stimuli by the sense organs
Transduction
the conversion of one form of energy to another
Perception
the psychological process of interpreting sensory information
Absolute threshold
the smallest amount of stimulation needed for detection by a sense
Signal detection
- the method we use to measure absolute thresholds
- like someone will listen to increasingly louder tones starting from silence to determine when they begin to hear the sound (their absolute threshold)
Differential threshold
the smallest difference needed in order to differentiate two stimuli (same as just noticeable difference (JND))
Just noticeable difference (JND)
the smallest difference needed in order to differentiate two stimuli (same as differential threshold)
Weber’s Law
- bigger stimuli require larger differences to be notice (EX: it is harder to tell between 10 and 11 pounds than 1 and 2 pounds)
Bottom-up processing
- building up to perceptual experience from individual pieces
- happens with new experiences (like the first time you hear a certain band)
Top-down processing
experience influencing the perception of stimuli
Sensory adaptation
decrease in sensitivity of a receptor to a stimulus after constant stimulation
Retina
cell layer in the back of the eye containing photoreceptors
Binocular disparity
difference in images processed by the left and right eyes
Binocular vision
our ability to perceive 3D and depth b/c of the difference between the images on each of our retinas
Rods
photoreceptors of the retina sensitive to low levels of light. Located around the fovea
Cones
photoreceptors of the retina sensitive to colour. Located primarily in the fovea
Primary visual cortex
area of the cortex involved in processing visual stimuli
Agnosia
loss of the ability to perceive stimuli
Ventral pathway
pathway of visual processing. The ‘what’ pathway.
carries information from the primary visual cortex to the temporal lobe
Dorsal pathway
pathway of visual processing. The ‘where’ pathway.
stretches from the primary visual cortex to the parietal lobe
Dark adaptation
adjustment of eye to low levels of light
Light adaptation:
adjustment of eye to high levels of light
Trichromatic theory
theory proposing colour vision as influenced by three different cones responding preferentially to red, green, and blue
Opponent-process theory
theory proposing colour vision as influenced by cells responsive to pairs of colours
Audition
ability to process auditory stimuli — also called hearing
Sound waves
changes in air pressure. The physical stimulus for audition (hearing).
Pinna
outermost portion of the ear
Auditory canal
tube running from the outer ear to the middle ear
Tympanic membrane
thin, stretched membrane in the middle ear that vibrates in response to sound. Also called the eardrum
Ossicles
a collection of three small bones in the middle ear that vibrate against the tympanic membrane
Cochlea
spiral bone structure in the inner ear containing auditory hair cells – converts sound waves into electrical messages
Auditory hair cells
receptors in the cochlea that transduce sound into electrical potentials
Primary auditory cortex
area of the cortex involved in processing auditory stimuli
Vestibular system
parts of the inner ear involved in balance
Somatosensation
ability to sense touch, pain, and temperature
Mechanoreceptors
mechanical sensory receptors in the skin that respond to tactile stimulation
Primary somatosensory cortex
area of the cortex involved in processing somatosensory stimuli
Somatotopic map
organization of the primary somatosensory cortex maintaining a representation of the arrangement of the body
Nociception
our ability to sense pain
Phantom limb
the perception that a missing limb still exists
Phantom limb pain
pain in a limb that no longer exists
Chemical senses
our ability to process the environmental stimuli of smell and taste
Olfaction (smell)
ability to process olfactory stimuli. Also called smell.
Gustation (taste)
ability to process gustatory stimuli
Odorants
chemicals transduced by olfactory receptors
Olfactory epithelium
organ containing olfactory receptors
Shape theory of olfaction
theory proposing that odorants of different size and shape correspond to different/specialized receptors – not universally accepted
Anosmia
loss of the ability to smell (though it may not be permanent)
Taste receptor cells
receptors that transduce gustatory information
Tastants
chemicals transduced by taste receptors
Flavor
the combination of smell and taste
Multimodal perception
the effects that concurrent stimulation in more than one sensory modality has on the perception of events and objects in the world
Superadditive effect of multisensory integration
the finding that responses to multimodal stimuli are typically greater than the sum of the independent responses to each unimodal component if it were presented on its own
Principle of inverse effectiveness
the finding that, in general, for a multimodal stimulus, if the response to each unimodal component (on its own) is weak, then the opportunity for multisensory enhancement is very large. However, if one component (by itself) is sufficient to evoke a strong response, then the effect on the response gained by simultaneously processing the other components of the stimulus will be relatively small
Pitch
the perceptual correlate of waveform periodicity, or repetition rate (the frequency of the wave)
Timbre
the quality of a sound
Pinna
visible part of the outer ear
Tympanic membrane
ear drum, which separates the outer ear from the middle ear
Cochlea
snail-shell-shaped organ that transduces mechanical vibrations into neural signals; filled with fluid
Basilar membrane
lies along the length of the spiral of the cochlea; vibrates in response to the pressure differences produced by vibrations of the oval window
Organ of Corti
lies on the basilar membrane; runs the entire length of the basilar membrane from its base by the oval window to the apex (the top of the spiral) — includes 3 rows of outer hair cells and one row of inner hair cells — the hair cells sense vibrations through their tiny hairs (called stereocilia) — the outer hair cells mechanically amplify the sound-induced vibrations — the inner hair cells form synapses with the auditory nerve and transduce those vibrations into action potentials (or neural spikes) which are then transmitted along the auditory nerve to higher centers of the auditory pathways (like to the brain to be processed)
Frequency analysis
allows us to hear more than one sound at a time
Masking
the process by which the presence of one sound makes another sound more difficult to hear
Information masking
another form of masking that cannot be accounted for with explanations in terms of interactions with the cochlea — little is known about the causes of informational masking
Interaural time differences (ITD)
differences (usually in time or intensity) between the two ears
ex: we know a sound is coming from the left because the sound reaches the left ear quicker than the right ear
Interaural level differences (ILDs)
differences (usually in time or intensity) between the two ears
ex: if a sound is presented to the left ear, it will be slightly higher than in the right ear by a small amount
Pain
Defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage,” according to the International Association for the Study of Pain.
Interoception
the sense of the psychological state of the body. Hunger, thirst, temperature, pain, and other sensations relevant to homeostasis. Visceral input such as heart rate, blood pressure, and digestive activity give rise to an experience of the body’s internal states and physiological reactions to external stimulation. This experience has been described as a representation of “the material me,” and it is hypothesized to be the foundation of subjective feelings, emotion, and self-awareness
Exteroception
the sense of the external world, of all stimulation originating from outside our own bodies
Cutaneous senses
the senses of the skin: tactile, thermal, pruritic (itchy), painful, and pleasant
Nociception
the neural process of encoding noxious stimuli, the sensory input from nociceptors. Not necessarily painful, and crucially not necessary for the experience of pain
Transduction
The mechanisms that convert stimuli into electrical signals that can be transmitted and processed by the nervous system. Physical or chemical stimulation creates action potentials in a receptor cell in the peripheral nervous system, which is then conducted along the axon to the central nervous system.
Mechanoreceptors
responds to mechanical stimuli, like stroking, stretching, or vibration of the skin; one of the 3 main groups of receptors in our skin
Thermoreceptors
responds to hot or cold temps; one of the 3 main groups of receptors in our skin
Chemoreceptors
responds to certain types of chemicals either applied externally or released within the skin; one of the 3 main groups of receptors in our skin
Nociceptors
High-threshold sensory receptors of the peripheral somatosensory nervous system that are capable of transducing and encoding noxious stimuli. Nociceptors send information about actual or impending tissue damage to the brain. These signals can often lead to pain, but nociception and pain are not the same.
A-fibers
fast-conducting sensory nerves with myelinated axons. Larger diameter and thicker myelin sheaths increases conduction speed. Aβ-fibers conduct touch signals from low-threshold mechanoreceptors with a velocity of 80 m/s and a diameter of 10 nanometers; Aδ-fibers have a diameter of 2.5 nanometers and conduct cold, noxious, and thermal signals at 12 m/s. The third and fastest conducting A-fiber is the Aα, which conducts proprioceptive information with a velocity of 120 m/s and a diameter of 20 nanometers
Somatosensory cortex
Consists of primary sensory cortex (S1) in the postcentral gyrus in the parietal lobes and secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), which is defined functionally and found in the upper bank of the lateral sulcus, called the parietal operculum. Somatosensory cortex also includes parts of the insular cortex.
Somatotopically organized
When the parts of the body that are represented in a particular brain region are organized topographically according to their physical location in the body.
C-pain or Aδ-fibers
C-pain fibers convey noxious, thermal, and heat signals
C-fibers
slow-conducting unmyelinated thin sensory afferents with a diameter of 1 nanometer and a conduction velocity of approx. 1 m/s. C-pain fibers convey noxious, thermal, and heat signals
C-tactile fibers
C-tactile fibers convey gentle touch, light stroking
Social touch hypothesis
which proposes that C-tactile fibers form a system for touch perception that supports social bonding. OR: Proposes that social touch is a distinct domain of touch. C-tactile afferents form a special pathway that distinguishes social touch from other types of touch by selectively firing in response to touch of social-affective relevance; thus sending affective information parallel to the discriminatory information from the Aβ-fibers. In this way, the socially relevant touch stands out from the rest as having special positive emotional value and is processed further in affect-related brain areas such as the insula.
Spinothalamic tract
Runs through the spinal cord’s lateral column up to the thalamus. C-fibers enter the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and form a synapse with a neuron that then crosses over to the lateral column and becomes part of the spinothalamic tract.
Descending pain modulatory system:
a top-down pain-modulating system able to inhibit or facilitate pain. uses ON- and OFF-cells to inhibit or facilitate nociceptive signals at the spinal dorsal horn.
can regulate how much pain/nociceptive signal reaches the brain
analgesics (pain relievers) like morphine relieve pain via this circuit
Analgesics/Analgesia
pain relief
Placebo effect
Effects from a treatment that are not caused by the physical properties of a treatment but by the meaning ascribed to it. These effects reflect the brain’s own activation of modulatory systems, which is triggered by positive expectation or desire for a successful treatment. Placebo analgesia is the most well-studied placebo effect and has been shown to depend, to a large degree, on opioid mechanisms. Placebo analgesia can be reversed by the pharmacological blocking of opioid receptors. The word “placebo” is probably derived from the Latin word “placebit” (“it will please”).
Endorphin
an endogenous morphine-like peptide that binds to the opioid receptors in the brain and body; synthesized in the body’s nervous system – relieve stress and pain
Allodynia
pain due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain, ex: when a light, stroking touch feels painful
Noxious stimuli
A stimulus that is damaging or threatens damage to normal tissues.
Chronic pain
persistent or recurrent pain, beyond usual course of acute illness or injury; sometimes present without observable tissue damage or clear cause
Sensitization
Increased responsiveness of nociceptive neurons to their normal input and/or recruitment of a response to normally subthreshold inputs. Clinically, sensitization may only be inferred indirectly from phenomena such as hyperalgesia or allodynia. Sensitization can occur in the central nervous system (central sensitization) or in the periphery (peripheral sensitization).
Phantom pain
Pain that appears to originate in an amputated limb.
Electromagnetic energy
pulses of energy that can carry information from place to place
Wavelength
the distance between one wave peak and the next
Visible spectrum
the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that our eyes detect (only the range from about 400 to 70 billionths of a meter)
Cornea
a clear covering that protects the eye and begins to focus the incoming light
Pupil
a small opening in the center of the eye
Iris
the coloured part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil by constricting or dilating in response to light intensity
Lens
a structure that focuses the incoming light on the retina
Retina
the layer of tissue at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptor cells
Visual accommodation
the process of changing the curvature of the lens to keep the light entering the eye focused on the retina – occurs as our eyes move from near objects to distant ones
Nearsighted
when the focus is in front of the retina
Farsighted
when the focus is behind the retina
Optic nerve
a collection of millions of ganglion neurons that sends vast amounts of visual information, via the thalamus, to the brain
Rods
visual neurons that specialize in detecting black, white, and grey colours
Cones
visual neurons that are specialized in detecting fine detail and colours
Fovea
the central point of the retina
Blind spot
a hole in our vision because there are no photoreceptor cells at the place where the optic nerve leaves the retina
Feature detector neurons
specialized neurons, located in the visual cortex, that respond to the strength, angles, shapes, edges, and movements of a visual stimulus
Hue
the shade of a colour
Trichromatic colour theory
the colours we see depends on the mix of the signals from the three types of cones
Colour blindness
the inability to detect green and/or red colours
Opponent-process colour theory
proposes that we analyze sensory information not in terms of three colours but rather in three sets of “opponent colours”: red-green, yellow-blue, and white-black
Gestalt
a meaningfully organized whole
Visual cliff
a mechanism that gives the perception of a dangerous drop-off, in which infants can be safely tested for their perception of depth
Depth cues
messages from our bodies and the external environment that supply us with information about space and distance
Binocular depth cues
depth cues that are created by retinal image disparity — that is, the space between our eyes — and which thus require the coordination of both eyes
Convergence
the inward turning of our eyes that is required to focus on an objects that are less than 50 feet away from us
Accommodation
helps determine depth by changing the curvature of the lens – same as visual accommodation
Monocular depth cues
depth cues that help us perceive depth using only one eye
Beta effect
the perception of motion that occurs when different images are presented next to each other in succession
Phi phenomenon
we perceive a sensation of motion caused by the appearance and disappearance of objects that are near each other
Sensory modalities
a type of sense; for example, vision or audition
Unimodal
of or pertaining to a single sensory modality
Multimodal
of or pertaining to multiple sensory modalities
Multimodal perception
the effects that concurrent stimulation in more than one sensory modality has on the perception of events and objects in the world
Integrated
the process by which the perceptual system combines information arising from more than one modality
Superadditive effect of multisensory integration
the finding that responses to multimodal stimuli are typically greater than the sum of the independent responses to each unimodal component if it were presented on its own
Multisensory enhancement
see “superadditive effect of multisensory integration”
Unimodal components
the parts of a stimulus relevant to one sensory modality at a time
Principle of Inverse Effectiveness
the finding that, in general, for a multimodal stimulus, if the response to each unimodal component (on its own) is weak, then the opportunity for multisensory enhancement is very large. However, if one component — by itself — is sufficient to evoke a strong response, then the effect on the response gained by simultaneously processing the other components of the stimulus will be relatively small
Multisensory convergence zones
regions in the brain that receives input from multiple unimodal areas processing different sensory modalities
Receptive field
the portion of the world to which a neuron will respond if an appropriate stimulus is present there
Crossmodal receptive field
a receptive field that can be stimulated by a stimulus from more than one sensory modality
Crossmodal stimulus
a stimulus with components in multiple sensory modalities that interact with each other
Spatial principle of multisensory integration
the finding that the superadditive effects of multisensory integration are observed when the sources of stimulation are spatially related to one another
if a sound a a visual cue happen in the same place spatially, your brain will connect them mas one event. ex: the car crash you saw caused the loud noise you heard
Unimodal cortex:
a region of the brain devoted the the processing of information from a single sensory modality
Primary visual cortex
a region of the cortex devoted to the processing of simple visual information
Primary auditory cortex
a region of the cortex devoted to the processing of simple visual information
Multimodal phenomena
effects that concern the binding of inputs from multiple sensory modalities
Crossmodal phenomena
effects that concern the influence of the perception of one sensory modality on the perception of another
McGurk Effect
an effect in which conflicting visual and auditory components of a speech stimulus result in an illusory percept
Rubber hand illusion
the false perception of a fake hand as belonging to a perceiver, due to multimodal sensory information
Double flash illusion
the false perception of two visual flashes when a single flash is accompanied by two auditory beeps
The perception of collision between two circles (called “balls”)/ bouncing balls illusion
the tendency to perceive two circles as bouncing off each other if the moment of their contact is accompanied by an auditory stimulus
Conscious experience
the first person perspective of a mental event, such as feeling some sensory input, a memory, an idea, an emotion, a mood, or a continuous temporal sequence of happenings
Awareness
a conscious experience or the capability of having conscious experiences, which is distinct from self-awareness
Self-awareness
the conscious understanding of one’s own existence and individuality
First-person perspective
observations made by individuals about their own conscious experiences, also known as introspection or a subjective point of view.
Phenomenology
refers to the description and investigation of first-person perspective observations
Contemplative science
a research area concerned with understanding how contemplative practices such as meditation can affect individuals, including changes in their behaviour, their emotional reactivity, their cognitive abilities, and their brains. Contemplative science also seeks insights into conscious experience that can be gained from first-person observations by individuals who have gained extraordinary expertise in introspection
Dualism
the opinion on conscious experiences that mental and physical are, in essence, different substances
Reductionism views
the opinion on conscious experience that mental phenomena can be explained via descriptions of physical phenomena
Cortical blindness
a type of blindness associated with brain damage limited to the primary visual cortex
Global Neuronal Workspace Theory of Consciousness
in which sharing of information among prefrontal, inferior parietal, and occipital regions of the cerebral cortex is postulated to be especially important for generating awareness
Information Integration Theory of Consciousness
shared information itself constitutes consciousness (an organism would have minimal consciousness if the structure of shared information is simple, and consciousness would be rich if the structure of shared information is complex)
A Social neuroscience Theory of Consciousness
ascribes an important role to our ability to localize our own sense of self; The main premise of the theory: you fare better in a social environment to the extent that you can predict what people are going to do
Third-person perspective
observations made by individuals in a way that can be independently confirmed by other individuals so as to lead to general, objective understanding. With respect to consciousness, third-person perspectives make use of behavioral and neural measures related to conscious experiences
Consciousness
the awareness or deliberate perception of stimulus
Cues
a stimulus that has a particular significance to the perceiver (EX: a sight or sound that has special relevance to the person who saw or heard it)
Low Awareness
We are constantly receiving and evaluating sensory information — even if we are not aware of the information we are processing, our brain still does it! Think of the cocktail effect — when you hear your name across the room even though you were not previously attuned to the conversation — your brain still picked it up and alerted you
Priming
the activation of certain thoughts or feelings that make them easier to think of and act upon
Implicit associations test (IAT)
a computer reaction time test that measures a person’s automatic associations with concepts. For instance, the IAT could be used to measure how quickly a person makes positive or negative evaluations of members of various ethnic groups
High Awareness
includes effortful attention and careful decision making
Mindfulness
a state of heightened focus on the thoughts passing through one’s head, as well as a more controlled evaluation of those thoughts (EX: do you reject or support the thoughts you’re having?)
Flexible Correction Model
the ability for people to correct or change their beliefs and evaluations if they believe these judgements have been biased (EX: if someone realizes they only thought their day was great because it was sunny, they may revise their evaluation of the day to account for this “biasing” influence of the weather)
Hypnosis
a state of consciousness whereby a person is highly responsive to the suggestions of another; this state usually involved a dissociation with one’s environment and an intense focus on a single stimulus, which is usually accompanied by a sense of relaxation
Dissociation
the heightened focus on one stimulus or thought such that many other things around you are ignored; a disconnect between one’s awareness of their environment and the one object the person is focusing on
Hypnotherapy
the use of hypnotic techniques such as relaxation and suggestion to help engineer desirable change such as lower pain or quitting smoking
Trance states
a state of consciousness characterized by the experience of “out-of-body possession,” or an acute dissociation between one’s self and the current, physical environment surrounding them
Melatonin
a hormone associated with increased drowsiness and sleep
Circadian Rhythm
the physiological sleep-wake cycle. It is influenced by exposure to sunlight as well as daily schedule and activity. Biologically, it includes changes in body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar
Jet lag
the state of being fatigued and/or having difficulty adjusting to a new time zone after traveling a long distance (across multiple time zones)
Beta waves
brain activity is marked by beta waves when you are awake and alert
Alpha waves
brain activity is marked by alpha waves as you begin to relax
NREM1 or N1
the “falling asleep” stage and is marked by theta waves
NREM2 or N2
considered a light sleep. Here, there are occasional “sleep spindles,” or very high intensity brain waves which are thought to be associated with the processing of memories — NREM makes up 55% of all sleep!
NREM3 or N3
marked by greater muscle relaxation and the appearance of delta waves — makes up 20-25% of all sleep
REM sleep
marked by rapid eye movement (which is what REM stands for) — this stage, in terms of brain activity, is similar to wakefulness — the brain waves occur less intensely than in other stages of sleep — REM sleep accounts for 20% of all sleep and is associated with dreaming
Hallucinogens
substances that, when ingested, alter a person’s perceptions, often by creating hallucinations that are not real or distorting their perceptions of time
Euphoria
an intense feeling of pleasure, excitement, or happiness
Depressants
a class of drugs that slow down the body’s physiological and mental processes
Blood alcohol content (BAC)
a measure of the percentage of alcohol found in a person’s blood. This measure is typically the standard used to determine the extent to which a person is intoxicated, as in the case of being too impaired to drive a vehicle.
Stimulants
a class of drugs that that speed up the body’s physiological and mental processes
Sensory interaction
the working together of different senses to create experience
McGurk Effect
an effect in which conflicting visual and auditory components of a speech stimulus result in an illusory percept
Synesthesia
an experience in which one sensation (ex: hearing a sound) creates experiences in another (ex: vision)
Selective attention
the ability to select certain stimuli in the environment to process, while ignoring distracting information
Cocktail party phenomenon
the experience of being at a party and talking to someone in one part of the room, when suddenly you hear your name being mentioned by someone in another part of the room
Sensory adaptation
decrease in sensitivity of a receptor to a stimulus after constant stimulation
Saccades
quick, simultaneous movements of the eyes
Perceptual constancy
the ability to perceive a stimulus as constant despite changes in sensation
Illusions
occur when the perceptual processes that normally help us correctly perceive the world around us are fooled by a particular situation so that we see something that does not exists or that is incorrect
Mueller-Lyer illusion
the line segment in the bottom arrow looks longer to us than the one on the top, even though they are actually the same length
Moon illusion
the fact that the moon is perceived to be about 50% larger when it is near the horizon than when it is seen overhead, despite the fact that in both cases the moon is the same size and casts the same size retinal image
Ponzo Illusion
caused by a failure of the monocular depth cue of linear perspective — both bars are the same size even though the top one looks larger.
Embodied
built into and linked with our cognition
Human factors
the field of psychology that uses psychological knowledge, including the principles of sensation and perception, to improve the development of technology
Limited capacity
the notion that humans have limited mental resources that can be used at a given time
Divided attention
the ability to flexibly allocate attentional resources between two or more concurrent tasks
Spatial attention
refers specifically to how we focus on one part of our environment and how we move attention to other locations in the environment
Selective attention
the ability to select certain stimuli in the environment to process, while ignoring distracting information
Dichotic listening
an experimental task in which two messages are presented to different ears
Shadowing
a task in which the individual is asked to repeat an auditory message as it is presented
Subliminal perception
the ability to process information for meaning when the individual is not consciously aware of that information
Inattentional blindness
the failure to notice a fully visible object when attention is devoted to something else
Subliminal perception
stimuli presented below the threshold for awareness can influence thoughts, feelings, or actions
Dichotic listening
a task in which different audio streams are presented to each ear. Typically, people are asked to monitor one stream while ignoring the other
Selective listening
a method for studying selective attention in which people focus attention on one auditory stream of information while deliberately ignoring other auditory information
Inattentional blindness
the failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected, object or event when attention is devoted to something else
Inattentional deafness
the auditory analog of inattentional blindness. People fail to notice an unexpected sound or voice when attention is devoted to other aspects of a scene
Types of memory
explicit memory and implicit memory
Memory stages
sensory, short-term, and long-term
Long-term memory
storage of information over an extended period
Explicit memory
knowledge or experiences that can be consciously remembered
Episodic memory
the ability to learn and retrieve new information or episodes in one’s life
Semantic memory
the more or less permanent store of knowledge that people have
Recall memory
a measure of explicit memory that involves bringing from memory information that has previously been remembered
Recognition memory test
a measure of explicit memory that involves determining whether information has been seen or learned before
Relearning
assesses how much more quickly information is processed or learned when it is studied again after it has already been learned but then forgotten
Implicit memory
a type of long-term memory that does not require conscious thought to encode. It’s the type of memory one makes without intent; there are 3 types: procedural memory, classical conditioning effects, and priming
Procedural memory
our often unexplainable knowledge of how to do things
Classical conditioning effects
we learn, often without effort or awareness, to associate neutral stimuli (such as a sound or a light) with another stimulus (such as food), which creates a naturally occurring response, such as enjoyment or salivation
Priming
the activation of certain thoughts or feelings that make them easier to think of and act upon
Sensory memory
the brief storage of sensory information
Iconic memory
visual sensory memory
Echoic memory
auditory sensory memory
Eidetic imagery
when people can report details of an image over long periods of time (also known as photographic memory)
Short-term memory (STM)
the place where small amounts of information can be temporarily kept for more than a few seconds but usually for less than one minute
Working memory
the form of memory we use to hold onto information temporarily, usually for the purposes of manipulation
Central executive
the part of working memory that directs attention and processing
Maintenance rehearsal
the process of repeating information mentally or out loud with the goal of keeping it in memory
Chunking
the process of organizing information into smaller groupings (chunks), thereby increasing the number of items that can be held in STM
Episodic memory
memory for events in a particular time and place
Semantic memory
the more or less permanent store of knowledge that people have
Collective memory
refers to the kind of memory that people in a group share
Autobiographical memory
memory for the events of one’s life
Encoding
the initial experience of perceiving and learning events
Storage
the stage in the learning/memory process that bridges encoding and retrieval; the persistence of memory over time
Retrieval
the process of accessing stored information
Distinctiveness
the principle that unusual events (in a context of similar events) will be recalled and recognized better than uniform (non distinctive) events
Flashbulb memory
vivid personal memories of receiving the news of some momentous (and usually emotional) event
Recoding
the ubiquitous process during learning information in one form and converting it to another form, usually one more easily remembered
Memory traces (same as engrams)
a term indicating the change in the nervous system representing an event
experiences leave memory traces – every experience we have changes our brain and leaves a memory trace
Engrams (same as memory traces)
a term indicating the change in the nervous system representing an event; also, memory trace
Consolidation
the process occurring after encoding that is believed to stabilize memory traces
Retroactive interference
the phenomenon whereby events that occur after some particular event of interest will usually cause forgetting of the original event
Proactive Interference
when past memories interfere with the encoding of new ones
Misinformation effect
when erroneous information occurring after an event is remembered as having been part of the original event
Available information
the information that is stored in memory — but precisely how much and what types are stored cannot be known
Accessible information
the information we can retrieve
Encoding specificity principle
the hypothesis that a retrieval cue will be effective to the extent that information encoded from the cue overlaps or matches information in the engram or memory trace
Cue overload principle
the principle stating that the more memories that are associated to a particular retrieval cue, the less effective the cue will be in prompting retrieval of any one memory
Testing Effect/Retrieval Practice Effect
the act of retrieval itself makes the retrieved memory much more likely to be retrieved again
Retrieval-Induced Forgetting
retrieving some information can actually cause us to forget other information relating to it
Mnemonic devices
a strategy for remembering large amounts of information, usually involving imaging events occurring on a journey or with some other set of memorized cues
Encoding
process by which information gets into memory
Decay
the fading of memories with the passage of time
Consolidation
process by which a memory trace is stabilized and transformed into a more durable form
Retrieval
process by which information is accessed from memory and utilized
Interference
other memories get in the way of retrieving a desired memory
Proactive interference
in which old memories block the learning of new related memories
Retroactive interference
in which new memories block the retrieval of old related memories
Adaptive forgetting
it can be argued that forgetting is adaptive, allowing us to be efficient and hold onto only the most relevant and useful memories
Medial temporal lobes
inner region of the temporal lobes that includes the hippocampus
Anterograde amnesia
inability to form new memories for facts and events after the onset of amnesia
Declarative memory
conscious memories for facts and events
Temporally graded retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve memories from just prior to the onset of amnesia with intact memory for more remote events
Retrograde amnesia
inability to retrieve memories for facts and events acquired before the onset of amnesia
Dissociative amnesia
loss of autobiographical memories from a period in the past in the absence of brain injury or disease
Misinformation effect
a memory error caused by exposure to incorrect information between the original event (ex: a crime) and later memory test (ex: an interview, lineup, or day in court)
Photo spreads
a selection of normally small photographs of faces given to a witness for the purpose of identifying a perpetrator
Foils
any member of a lineup (whether live or photograph) other than the suspect
Mock witnesses
a research subject who plays the part of a witness in a study
Schema (plural: schemata)
a memory template, created through repeated exposure to a particular class of objects or events
False memories
memory for an event that never actually occurred, implanted by experimental manipulation or other means
Common ground
information that is shared by people who engage in a conversation
Adjacency pair
a pair of utterances between people in conversation
Audience design
constructing utterances to suit the audience’s knowledge
Lexicon
words and expressions
Syntax
rules by which words are strung together to form sentences
Situation models
a mental representation of an event, object, or situation constructed at the time of comprehending a linguistic description
Priming
a stimulus presented to a person reminds them about other ideas associated with the stimulus
Ingroup
group to which a person belongs
Outgroups
group to which a person does not belong
Social brain hypothesis
the hypothesis that the human brain has evolved so that humans can maintain larger ingroups
Linguistic intergroup bias
a tendency for people to characterize positive things about their ingroup using more abstract expressions, but negative things about their outgroups using more abstract expressions
Social networks
networks of social relationships among individuals through which information can travel
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
the hypothesis that the language that people use determines their thoughts
Theory of mind
the human capacity to understand minds, a capacity that is made up of a collection of concepts (EX: agent, intentionality) and processes (EX: goal detection, imitation, empathy, perspective taking)
Identifying agents
allows humans to identify those moving objects in the world that can act on their own
Recognizing goals
to see the systematic and predictable relationship between a particular agent pursuing a particular object across various circumstances
Intention(al)
an agent’s mental state of committing to perform an action that the agent believes will bring about a desired outcome
Intentionality
the quality of an agent’s performing a behaviour intentionally — that is, with skill and awareness and executing an intention (which is in turn based on a desire and relevant beliefs)
Imitation
is the human tendency to carefully observe others’ behavior and do as they do — even if it is the first time the perceiver has seen this behaviour
Mimicry
copying others’ behaviour, usually without awareness
Synchrony
two people displaying the same behaviours or having the same internal states (typically because of mutual mimicry)
Mirror neurons
neurons identified in monkey brains that fire both when the monkey performs a certain action and when it perceives another agent performing the action (monkey see monkey do)
Automatic empathy
builds on imitation and synchrony in a clever way — if Sam is sad and expresses this emotion in her face and body, and if Katya watches or interacts with Sam, then she will subtly imitate her dejected behaviour and, through well-practiced association of certain behaviours and emotions, she will feel a little sad as well
Automatic empathy
a social perceiver unwittingly taking on the internal state of another person, usually because of mimicking the person’s expressive behavior and thereby feeling the expressed emotion
Joint attention
two people attending to the same object and being aware that they are both attending to it
Visual perspective taking
can refer to visual perspective taking (perceiving something from another person’s spatial vantage point) or more generally ro effortful mental state inference (trying to infer the other person’s thoughts, desires, emotions, etc)
physically or mentally putting yourself in someone else’s shoes
Simulation
the process of representing the other person’s mental state by using your own mental state as a model
Projection
a social perceiver’s assumption that the other person wants, knows, or feels the same as the perceiver wants, knows, or feels
False-belief test
an experimental procedure that assesses whether a perceiver recognizes that another person has a false belief — a belief that contradicts reality
People’s/Folk’s Explanation of Behaviour
people’s natural explanations for why someday did something, felt something, etc. (differing substantially for unintentional and intentional behaviours)
