AP Psychology Key Terms 2.1a-2.1b

Test 11/26

Selective Attention

Focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Inattentional Blindness

Psychological lack of attention not associated with vision defects, leading to failure in perceiving unexpected stimuli in plain sight.

Change Blindness

Failure to notice changes in an environment

Perceptual Set

Mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Gestalt Psychology

The idea that the whole of anything is greater than its parts

Figure-Ground

The organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground).

Grouping

Brain organizes into coherent groups using principles like proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and connectedness.

Depth Perception

Ability to see objects in three dimensions, allowing us to judge distance.

The Visual Cliff

Laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Binocular Cue

Depth cue such as retinal disparity that depends on the use of both eyes.

Convergence

Binocular cue for perceiving depth; extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object.

Retinal Disparity

Binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the two eyes; distance

Monocular Cue

Depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone.

Stroboscopic Movement

Perception of continuous movement in a rapid series of slightly varying images (flipbook)

The Phi Phenomenon

Illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.

The Autokinetic Effect

Perceived motion of a stationary object in the dark, one light moving

Perceptual Constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change.

Color Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color despite changes in illumination.

Perceptual Adaptation

Ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field