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
AP Psych Vocab U3
AP Psych Vocab Unit 3 for Mrs. Hajdik's class
| 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 of sensory information |
| Top-down Processing | information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
| Absolute Threshold | the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
| Signal Detection Theory | a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus ("signal") amid background stimulation ("noise") |
| Subliminal Stimulation | below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| Difference Threshold | the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time |
| Weber's Law | the principal that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) |
| Sensory Adaptation | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation |
| Perceptual Set | a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another |
| Wavelength | the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next |
| 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 |
| Lens | the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina |
| Retina | the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of sensory information |
| Rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral light and twilight vision when cones don't respond |
| Cones | retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in day light or in well-lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. |
| 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 in the retina, at which the eyes cone's cluster |
| Parallel Processing | the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's neutral mode of information processing for many functions |
| Young Helm-Holtz Trichromatic Theory | the theory that the retina holds three 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 | the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision |
| Figure Ground | the organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surrounding (ground) |
| Depth Perception | the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to perceive distance |
| 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 two eyes, the brain computes distance-- the greater the disparity, the greater the distance |
| Monocular Cues | depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone |
| Perceptual Constancy | perceiving objects as unchanging even as illuminations and retinal images change |
| Color Constancy | perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if illumination alters the wavelengths affected by the objects |
| Perceptual Adaptation | in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field |
| Audition | the sense or act of hearing |
| Frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point at a given time |
| Pitch | a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on the frequency |
| Middle Ear | the chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) |
| Cochlea | a coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves travelling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses |
| Inner Ear | the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs |
| Sensorineural Hearing Loss | the most common form of hearing loss, also called nerve deafness, caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or the auditory nerve |
| Conduction Hearing Loss | less common form of hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea |
| Place Theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place the cochlea's membrane is stimulated |
| Gate Control Theory | the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass through to the brain |
| Sensory Interaction | the theory that one sense may influence another |
| Kinesthesis | the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts |
| Vestibular Sense | the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance |
| Gustation | sense of taste |
| Olfacation | sense of smell |
| Synaesthesia | a condition in which stimulation of one sense generates a simultaneous sensation in another. |
Created by:
drey737
Popular Psychology sets