AP Psych Unit 2, Quiz #4

Sensory Adaptation

Decline in sensory responsiveness occurs when a stimulus is unchanging; nerve cells temporarily stop responding and get used to it.

Sensation

how we detect and process environmental stimuli

Perception

how we make sense of what our senses pick up. It's a mix of bottom-up processing (starting with raw sensory data) and top-down processing. (using what we already know to interpret things)

Cornea

The transparent, curved, outermost layer of the eye that helps focus light onto the retina. It is the eye's primary refracting surface, bending and focusing light rays to enable clear vision.

Pupil

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye that controls the amount of light entering the eye.

Retina

The innermost layer of the eye that contains specialized cells called photoreceptors, which detect light and convert it into electrical signals to be sent to the brain for visual processing.

Optic Nerve

A bundle of nerve fibers that carries visual information from the retina to the brain. It plays a crucial role in transmitting visual signals for processing and interpretation.

Rods

Photoreceptor cells located in the retina that are responsible for detecting motion and dim light.

Cones

photoreceptor cells in the retina that are responsible for color vision and detailed visual perception. They work best in bright light conditions.

Trichromatic theory

A theory of color vision that suggests the human eye has three types of cones, each sensitive to different wavelengths of light (red, green, and blue)

Amplitude

the height or depth of a wave signal such as sound or light, which correlates with perceived loudness in sound waves and brightness in light waves.

Frequency

the number of complete cycles (vibrations) of a wave that occur in a given time.

Cochlea

Coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear that transforms sound vibrations to auditory signals.

Frequency Theory

It explains that a sound heard is replicated and matched by the same amount of nerve impulses that are then transmitted to the brain.

Gate-Control theory

a theory that explains how the brain regulates and modulates the perception of pain.

Olfaction

refers to the sense of smell and is the ability to detect and perceive odors.

Absolute Threshold

the smallest amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect that stimulus 50% of the time.

Absolute Threshold

The smallest amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect that stimulus 50% of the time.

Signal Detection Theory

the detection of a stimulus depends on both the intensity of the stimulus and the physical/psychological state of the individual.

Gestalt Rules

Rules that describe how we perceive and organize visual information. They explain how our brains group individual elements into a unified whole based on certain principles such as proximity, similarity, closure, and continuity.