AP Psych Unit 3 Part 2 Vocab

top-down processing

brain down, constructing perceptions based on experiences and expectations

bottom-up processing

starts with sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory processing

parallel processing

a bunch of information being processed all at the same time

schemas

mental framework that organizes and interprets information, acting as a cognitive shortcut

perceptual sets

a mental predisposition to perceive something in a particular way

framing

the way something is posed or worded and therefore influences people’s perception of it

priming

similar to framing, if individuals are told what to expect to hear or are primed with a particular word, they are more likely to perceive that word

context effects

the cognitive principle where the surrounding environment, situation or physical state influences how a stimulus is perceived or remembered

experiences

the context of an individual’s previous experiences with similar sounds can influence their perception

motivation (Signal Detection Theory)

when presented with ambiguous stimuli, we can perceive it as aligning to our current desires or thoughts at that time

culture

cultural context helps to inform our perception so people from different

figure-ground

a type of perceptual grouping that allows us to recognize objects as distinct from their surrounding environment

proximity

grouping nearby figures together

closure

we fill in gaps to create a complete whole object

similarity

we group objects based on how similar they are to each other

selective attention

our ability to focus on a particular object or task in our environment while ignoring other irrelevant information

cocktail party effect

phenomenon where individuals can focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment while filtering out background noise, demonstrates our ability to concentrate on important stimuli, hearing something personally relevant to you can capture your attention

change blindness

a form of inattentional blindness where individuals fail to notice significant changes in a visual scene if the changes occur during a brief disruption or distraction

inattentional blindness

selective attention leads to this, where we may completely miss unexpected objects or events because our focus is directed elsewhere

visual cliff

part of an experiment on our innate ability to perceive depth, an apparent drop-off created by a sheet of glass covering a patterned surface

retinal disparity

because there is space between our eyes, each retina receives a slightly different image of the world, by comparing these two images your brain can judge how close an object is to you

convergence

when retinal images are combined by the brain

interposition

if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

relative size

objects that appear smaller are perceived as being farther away than larger objects of the same type and size

linear perspective

parallel lines that appear to meet in the distance, the sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance is

texture gradient

moving towards or away from an object changes our perception of its smoothness or texture (we see more texture when things are closer)

relative clarity

because more light passes through objects that are farther away, we perceive these objects as blurry, whereas nearby objects by contrast appear clear

shape constancy

the perceptual ability to recognize an object’s shape as remaining the same despite changes in the angle or perspective from which it is viewed

color constancy

ability of the brain to perceive the colors of objects as relatively constant even under varying lighting conditions

apparent movement

when an image looks like its moving but it isn’t

absolute threshold

weakest level of a stimulus that you can detect 50% of the time

subliminal messages

below the threshold of conscious awareness but can be registered by the subconscious mind

weber’s law

the difference threshold increases in proportion to the size of the stimulus

just noticeable difference

minimum difference that can be detected 50% of the time (one stimulus that changes or the difference between two stimuli)

sensory interaction

one sense can influence another (ex: smell impacts taste)

synesthesia

neurological condition that causes the brain to process sensory information across multiple senses resulting in a person experiencing more than one sense at once