AP Psych Unit 3 Terms

Sensation and Perception Terms

sensation

Stimulus in the environment activates sensory receptors and passes on the information to the brain

perception

How our brain organizes and interprets the sensory input

bottom-up processing

Processing the sensory stimulation at the most basic level as it hits your brain

top-down processing

Your brain takes your previous experiences, schemas, etc., and makes the stimulus into what it wants

absolute threshold

the minimum energy needed to produce a sensation

difference threshold

Is the point at which you can discriminate between two stimulus

webers law

quantifying the perception of change in a given stimulus

selective attention

that we can focus on one sensation at a time

cocktail part effect

the ability to focus one's attention a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli

stroop effect

Trying to read “color” words when they are actually colored in a different color

signal detection theory

that we will pick up on “weak” stimulus earlier if you are alert and are expecting it, or if it’s important to you

in-attentional blindness

we only take in a small amount of what we see

change blindness

where people don’t notice major changes in the environment occur

perceptual adaptation

our brain adapts to the way it perceives stimuli

perceptual set

that our assumptions and influences often change our perception

figure/ground

We organize stimuli into figures seen against the background

proximity

Grouping nearby figures together

similarity

Grouping similar items together

continuity

We view smooth patterns

connectedness

Connected stimuli are seen as one unit

closure

We fill in the gaps, close items

depth perception

the ability to perceive the relative distance of objects in one's visual field

Gibson and Walk visual cliff

Mothers tried to coax 6-14-month-olds to cross a Plexiglas plane that appeared to be a drop-off

transduction

the action or process of converting something and especially energy or a message into another form

rods

Black and White

cones

Color

blind spot

the part of the optic nerve leaves the eye

opponent process theory

some receptors are turned on to certain colors and turned off by others

color blindness

we have 3 types of color receptors (red, green, and blue)

cochlea

the spiral cavity of the inner ear, which produces nerve impulses in response to sound vibrations

basilar membrane

separates incoming sound into its component frequencies

types of taste buds

salt, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami

gate-control theory

in which pain signals can be sent up to the brain to be processed to accentuate the possible perceived pain, or attenuate it at the spinal cord itself

binocular cues

Cues that need both eyes to work in concert (together)

retinal disparity

that our eyes receive slightly different images

convergence of the eyes

the concept that explains that our eyes work at a more inward angle as an object gets closer

monocular cues

many other cues that our brain uses that only rely on one eye

interposition

When an object is placed in front of another, we see the object in front as closer

relative size

If we think we are seeing two similar-sized stimuli, we perceive the smaller image as farther away

texture gradient

The finer texture appears to be farther away

relative height

The higher item in our visual field appears farther away

linear perspective

Parallel lines appear to converge; therefore the closer they are the farther away (and bigger) you perceive an object between them

ponzo illusion

a visual illusion in which the upper of two parallel horizontal lines of equal length appears to be longer than the bottom

muller-lyer illusion

When a line is connected to inward arrows, we perceive it as smaller, yet the same-sized line with a connected outward arrow will appear bigger

Olfactory Bulb

receives information from the olfactory membrane and sends it to the brain