ap psych 16 and 17

sensation

sensory receptors and nervous system receives and represent stimulus energies from our environment ex: alarm, electric light

perception

organizing and interpreting sensory info, letting us recognize meaningful objects/events

bottom up processing

starting with sensory input, brain attempts to understand/make sense, no prior knowledge, enables sensory systems to detect lines and ancles

top down processing

guided by experience and higher level processes, what we expect to see, when we have prior knowledge, an expericed hiker you expect to see snakes on your hike, lets you interpret what your senses detect

selective attention

out tendency to focus on just a particular stimulus among the many that are being received

cocktail effect

you focus your attention on only one voice in a very loud room

selective info

we are only in one place at a time so we miss on objects that are availed to be sensed

inatentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is elseware

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the visual environment

transduction

conversion of one form of energy, such as light waves, into another form, like neural impulses that our brain can interpret step 1 receive, step 2 transform, step 3 deliver

psychophysics

the study of relationships between the physical characterists of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

signal detection theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation, depends on the strength of the signal (how loud the sound is, how bright the light) and our psychological state (our experience, our motivation, and how alert we are)

webers law

to be able to tell the difference between degrees of stimulation, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

subliminal stimuli

are not detectable 50 percent of the time, below your absolute threshold, may not notice if they are weak

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, predisposing ones perception, memory, or response,

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity to stimuli as a consequence of constant stimulation,

perceptual set

shortcut that influences how we interpret sensory info by focusing on certain aspects while ignoring others

perceptual hypotheses

people develop ____ ____ based on experiences from their lives

motivation

desirable objects, such as water bottle viewed by a thirsty person, seem closer than they really are

emotion

when angry, people more often perceive neutral objects as guns

parapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena, including esp and psychokinesis

psychokinesis

the ability of the mind to move objects

esp (extra sensory perception)

the controversial claim that awareness can occur apart from sensory input includes telepathy (mind to mind communication), clairvoyance (seeing remote events_, and precognition (seeing the future)