BES 3141: General Psychology - Sensation, Perception, and Development

Vocabulary flashcards covering sensation, perception, Piaget's stages of cognitive development, and Kohlberg's levels of moral development from BES 3141 General Psychology.

Sensation

The process by which the sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus, or the absorption of information from the environment.

Sensory Receptors

Specialized forms of neurons that absorb and respond to sensory stimuli from the environment.

Absolute Threshold

The smallest amount of energy needed for a person to consciously detect a stimulus $50\%$ of the time it is present.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable $50\%$ of the time; also referred to as the difference threshold.

Subliminal Stimuli

Stimuli that are below the level of conscious awareness; strong enough to activate the sensory receptors but not strong enough for people to be consciously aware of them.

Perception

The method by which sensations experienced at any given moment are interpreted and organized in some meaningful fashion, involving organization, interpretation, and conscious experience.

Size Constancy

The tendency to interpret an object as always being the same actual size, regardless of its distance.

Shape Constancy

The tendency to interpret the shape of an object as being constant, even when its shape changes on the retina.

Brightness Constancy

The tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when light conditions change.

Perceptual Set

The tendency to perceive things in a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions; also known as perceptual expectancy.

Bottom-up Processing

The analysis of smaller features to build up to a complete perception, starting with sensory receptors and working up to the brain's integration of sensory information.

Top-down Processing

The use of pre-existing knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole, where perceptions are guided by available knowledge, expectations, or thoughts.

Cognitive Development

The development of thinking, problem solving, and memory over time.

Schema

A mental concept or cognitive framework formed through experiences with objects and events that serves as a blueprint to organize and interpret the world.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development (birth to $2\text{ years old}$) in which infants use their senses and motor abilities to interact with objects and understand their environment.

Object Permanence

The knowledge that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched, developing during the sensorimotor stage.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development ($2\text{ to }7\text{ years old}$) in which the preschool child learns to mentally represent objects using language and symbols, but cannot yet conserve or logically reason.

Egocentrism

The inability to see the world through anyone else's eyes, defined as difficulty understanding others' perspectives.

Centration

In Piaget's theory, the tendency of a young child to focus only on one feature of an object while ignoring other relevant features.

Animism

The tendency of children in the preoperational stage to attribute human characteristics and emotions to non-living objects.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's third stage of cognitive development ($7\text{ to }12\text{ years old}$) in which children become capable of logical thought processes regarding concrete, observable objects, but struggle with abstract and hypothetical ideas.

Conservation

The concept that the amount of an object or substance stays the same despite changes in its shape or arrangement, provided nothing is added or taken away.

Reversibility

The cognitive understanding that certain physical or mental processes can be undone or reversed.

Decentration

The ability to think more flexibly by focusing on multiple aspects of a problem simultaneously rather than concentrating on just one feature.

Seriation

The ability to arrange objects in a series based on a specific measurable characteristic, such as ordering sticks by length.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's final stage of cognitive development ($12\text{ years old to adulthood}$) in which individuals become capable of abstract thought, systematic hypothesis testing, and hypothetical-deductive reasoning.

Metacognition

The process of thinking about one's own thinking, enabling individuals to look inward and evaluate the quality and logic of their own thought processes.

Deductive Logic

The reasoning ability that requires using a general principle to determine a particular outcome.

Assimilation

The process by which children incorporate new experiences and objects into their existing schemas.

Accommodation

The process of adjusting existing schemas or creating new ones when new information does not fit into existing mental frameworks.

Equilibrium

The state of cognitive balance achieved between assimilation and accommodation, where understanding of the world is consistent with experiences.

Preconventional Morality

Kohlberg's first level of morality (typically very young children) where consequences determine morality: behavior that is rewarded is right, and behavior that is punished is wrong.

Conventional Morality

Kohlberg's second level of morality (older children, adolescents, and most adults) where conformity to social norms and laws determines right, and nonconformity is viewed as wrong.

Postconventional Morality

Kohlberg's third level of morality (reached by about $20\%$ of the adult population) where self-chosen moral principles are used to determine right and wrong, even if they conflict with societal laws.