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AP Psych Ch 5 Vocab
Psychology Eighth Edition by David G. Myers
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. |
| Bottom-up Processing | analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. |
| Perception | the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. |
| Top-down Processing | information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. |
| Psychophysics | the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. |
| Absolute Threshold (Gustav Fechner) | the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. |
| Difference Threshold (Ernst Weber) | the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. |
| Just Noticeable Difference | being able to see a change in an item: ex. A pack of gums price goes up from 50 cents to $4. |
| Signal Detection Theory | a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint signal amid background noise. Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue. |
| Subliminal Persuasion | below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. |
| Priming | the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response. |
| Sensory Adaption | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. |
| Weber's Law | the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount). |
| Transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret. |
| Wavelength | the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission. |
| Hue | the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of 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 brighness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude. |
| Cornea | place where light enters the eye, it protects the eye and 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 pupils opening. |
| 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 the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information. |
| Rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, gray, necessary for peripheral 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 daylight or in well0lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. |
| Bipolar Cells | specialized sensory neurons for the transmission of special senses. |
| Ganglion Cells | found in the ganglion cell layer of the retina. |
| Optic Nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. |
| Blindspot | 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, around which the eye’s cones cluster. |
| Nearsightedness | a condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina. |
| Farsightedness | a condition in which far-away objects are seen more clearly than near objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina. |
| Acuity | the sharpness of vision. |
| Accommodation | the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. |
| Feature Detection | nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. |
| Parallel Processing | the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving |
| Trichromatic Theory (Young and Helmholtz) | the theory that the retina contains 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 (Hering) | the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green. |
| Sound Waves | jostling molecules of air, each bumping into the next, like a shove being transmitted through a concert hall’s crowded exit tunnel. |
| Amplitude | the extent of a vibratory movement (as of a pendulum) measured from the mean position to an extreme |
| Frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (ex. Per second) |
| Pitch | a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. |
| Place Theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s 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 its pitch. |
| Sound Localization | listener's ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound in direction and distance. |
| Auditory Canal | passages in the outer ear from the auricle to the tympanic membrane. |
| Eardrum | a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear. |
| Ossicles | contained within the middle ear space and serve to transmit sounds from the air to the fluid-filled labyrinth (cochlea). |
| Cochlea | a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses. |
| Oval Window | a membrane-covered opening which leads from the middle ear to the vestibule of the inner ear. |
| Basilar Membrane | within the cochlea of the inner ear is a stiff structural element that separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea |
| Hair Cells | are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in all vertebrates. |
| Auditory Nerve | a bundle of nerve fibers that carries hearing information between the cochlea the brain. |
| Auditory Cortex | the part of the brain that processes sensory information in the form of sound. |
| Touch Receptors | other skin sensations, variations of pressure, warmth, cold, pain. Caused by stroking adjacent pressure spots creates a tickle, repeated gentle stroking of a pain spot, etc. |
| Pain | your bodies way of telling you something has gone wrong. |
| Gate-Control Theory | the theory that the spinal cord contains a “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. |
| Taste Receptors | Sweet, Salty, Sour, Bitter, Umami |
| Olfactory Bulbs | The bulblike distal end of the olfactory lobe, where the olfactory nerves begin. |
| Olfactory Cilia | “nose hairs,” but is important to distinguish between the macroscopic nose hairs near the opening of the nostrils, and the microscopic hairs in the olfactory epithelium, the part of the nose which traps smells and communicates them to the brain. |
| Olfactory Nerve | A nerve that registers smells by carrying the impulses for the sense of smell from the nose to the brain. |
| 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. |
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BrandonMush
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