Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
McCrary Unit 8
AP Psych 18-19 Sensation and Perception unit
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment |
| perception | the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events |
| bottom-up processing | analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration sensory information |
| top-down processing | information processing guided by higher mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and and expectations |
| selective attention | the focusing of consciousness awareness on a particular stimulus |
| inattentional blindness | failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere |
| change blindness | failing to notice changes in the environment |
| transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, transferring of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells into neural impulses our brain can interpret |
| psychophysics | the study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli, such as intensity, and our psychological experience of them |
| absolute threshold | the minimum amount of stimulation required to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
| signal detection theory | theory predicting how/when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus(signal) amid background stimulus(noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, alertness |
| subliminal | below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| priming | activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing perception, memory, or response |
| difference threshold | minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time, we experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference(JND) |
| Weber's law | principle that, to be presented as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than from a constant amount |
| sensory adaptation | diminished sensitivity to stimuli as a consequence of constant stimulation |
| perceptual set | a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
| extrasensory perception | (ESP) the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes therapy, clairvoyance, and precognition |
| parapsychology | the study of paranormal phenomena; including ESP and psychokinesis |
| wavelength | the distance from the peak of one part of the sound wave to the peak of the next. |
| hue | dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of the light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth |
| intensity | the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by a wave's amplitude |
| cornea | where light enters the eye, protects it, bends light to provide focus |
| pupil | the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters |
| iris | a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening |
| lens | transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina |
| retina | light sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information |
| accommodation | process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina |
| rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, gray; necessary for peripheral/twilight vision when cones don't respond |
| cones | retinal receptors cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions, the cones detect fine detail an give rise to color situations |
| optic nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain |
| blind spot | the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind spot" because no receptor cells are located there |
| fovea | the central focal point of the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster |
| feature detectors | nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement |
| parallel processing | the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the serial processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving |
| trichromatic theory | theory that retina contains 3 different 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 |
| opponent process theory | theory that opposing retinal processes(red-green, yellow-blue, white-black)enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green/inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red/inhibited by green |
| gestalt | an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists explained the tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes |
| figure ground | organization of visual field into objects(figures) that stand out from their surroundings(ground) |
| grouping | perceptual tendency to organize stimuli to coherent groups |
| depth perception | ability to see objects in 3D although images that strike the retina are 2D; allowing us to judge distance |
| visual cliff | a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals(glass table) |
| binocular cues | depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes |
| retinal disparity | a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain compares distance- the greater the disparity between the images the closer the object |
| monocular cues | depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspectives, available to either eye alone |
| phi phenomenon | an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on/off in quick succession |
| perceptual constancy | perceiving objects as unchanging(consistent shapes, size, brightness, color) even as illumination and retinal images change |
| color constancy | perceiving familiar objects as having constant color, even when it is changing, illumination reflected by color alters wavelengths |
| perceptual adaptation | in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field |
| audition | the sense/act of hearing |
| frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time(per second) |
| pitch | a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency |
| middle ear | the chamber between the eardrum/cochlea containing three tiny bones(hammer, anvil, stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window |
| cochlea | a coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear; send waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses |
| inner ear | the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, vestibular sacs |
| basilar membrane | the motion of vibrating fluids causes ripples in this, bends hair lining its surface, and triggers impulses in the adjacent nerve cells |
| sensorineural hearing loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness |
| conduction hearing loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts/sends waves to the cochlea |
| cochlear implants | a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea |
| place theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochleas membrane is stimulated |
| frequency theory | 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 pitch |
| gate control theory | theory the spinal chord has a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass to brain, "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers, closed by activity in larger fibers, info coming from the brain |
| five basic tastes | sweet(energy source), salty(essential to physiological processes), sour(toxic acid), bitter(potential poisons), umami(proteins to grow and repair tissue) |
| olfactory sense | our sense of smell, a chemical sense |
| kinesthesia | the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
| vestibular sense | the sense of body movement and position, including sense of balance |
| sensory interaction | the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste |
| embodied cognition | in physiological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements |
Created by:
abyrd6067
Popular Psychology sets