PSY 410 Exam 2

Blind spot

Portion of retina without photoreceptors; optic nerve leaves eye

Illusory Conjunction

Improper combination of individual item features

Feature Detectors

Specialized cells that respond to specific stimuli

Optic Chiasm

Where the optic nerves cross over for contralateral processing

Ventral Pathway

What pathway from Occipital lobe to Temporal lobe

Deletion

Covering of an object due to motion

Interposition

Distance cue from one object partially covering another

Relative size

Distance cue due to prior knowledge of objects of equal size

Receptive Field

Area of visual field that photoreceptors respond to

Experience Dependent Plasticity

Connections in brain dependent upon life experiences

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

Portion of thalamus

Dorsal Pathway

Where pathway from Occipital lobe to ParietalFo

Rods

Peripheral and dim light photoreceptors

Accretion

Uncovering of an object due to motion

Cones

Light and color photoreceptors

Figure/ground

Separation of object vs. background; reversible figure

Perspective Convergence

Distance cue; parallel lines come together in distance

Perceptual Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having stable properties despite changes in sensory input (like size, shape, brightness)

Familiar Size

Distance info based on existing knowledge about object size

Fovea

Portion of retina with greatest visual acuity; only cones

Binding Problem

We know the brain combines sensory input into cohesive whole, but not how it does it successfully

Good Continuation

Lines perceived as following smoothest path

Similarity

Items similar to each other perceived as a group

Uniform Connectedness

Items connected to each other perceived as single unit

Closure

Gaps mentally filled in to perceive consistent item

Common Fate

Things moving in same direction perceives as a group

Proximity

Items closer together perceived as a group

Common Region

Items enclosed in specific area perceives as a group

Law of Pragnanz

Items perceived in simplest form possible

Unconscious Inference

Perceive objects most likely to be cause of pattern

Perception

Interpretation of environmental stimulation

Word Frequency Effect

Higher frequency words recognized and processed more quickly and accurately

Bottom-up Processing

Individual features from environmental stimuli put together; recognition

Scene Schema

Knowledge about what a scene typically contains

Apperceptive Agnosia

Inability to integrate features into whole pattern

Lexical Decision Task

Decide whether string of letters is real word or not

Bayesian Inference

Statistical probability of an event being true given prior info, current likelihood, and evidence (total probability of something being true)

Priming

Facilitation of recognition of/response to stimuli

Top-down processing

Expectations guide perception of environment

Oblique Effect

Perception of vertical and horizontal orientations is easier due to experiences with common physical environmental properties

Pop-out effect

Target items “jumping out” amongst distractors become more easily identified

Signal Detection Theory

Framework for yes/no decisions about whether a signal is present among background noise

Sensation

Environmental stimulation of senses

Light from above assumption

Shadow information perceived from assumption that the light causing the shadow came from above (as it does in natural environment)

Associative Agnosia

Perception of whole pattern but no association with meaning

Visual Search Task

Lab task looking for target item amongst distractors

Word Superiority Effect

It is easier to recognize a letter within the context of a word than to recognize a letter presented by itself

Inattentional blindness

Lack of attention can result in stimuli in clear view not being perceived

Processing capacity

Amount of info a person can handle at a given moment

Automaticity

Repeatedly practiced skills eventually require little/no attentional resources

Shadowing

Immediate repetition attended message during dichotic listening task

Repetition priming

Priming produced by recent prior encounter with stimulus

Early selection models

Unattended messages filtered out based on physical properties before we perceive attended stimulus

Exogenous control

Something from environment automatically captures attention

Perceptual processing

Processing of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory input into meaningful experience

Late selection models

Unattended messages filtered out based on meaning after we perceive attended stimulus

Stroop effect

Delayed RT for incongruent stimuli compared to congruent stimuli

Cocktail Party Effect

Suddenly tuning in to previously ignored stimuli (like hearing your name in a convo you weren’t listening to)

Continuity errors

Changes from one scene to the next in film that cannot be explained by off camera actions

Divided attention

Attending to more than one thing at a time; shifting attention back and forth (perceived as multitasking/simultaneous)

Executive control

Mental resources dedicated to controlling thoughts, maintaining goals, organization, shifting plans/strategy, inhibiting automatic responses

Unilateral visual neglect

Patients that ignore one half of visual field

Selective attention

Focusing attention on one stimulus and ignoring others

Endogenous control

Active choice of where to focus attention

Inhibition

Suppressing automatic processes

Change blindness

Difficulty detecting changes in scenes presented one after another