OpenStax Psychology 2e Test Bank - Chapters 5, 6, and 7 Review

A comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set based on the test bank for Sensation and Perception (Chapter 5), Learning (Chapter 6), and Thinking and Intelligence (Chapter 7).

Top-down processing

Interpretation of sensations that is influenced by available knowledge and expectancies.

Sensation

What happens when sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor.

Perception

The way that sensory information is interpreted and consciously experienced.

Transduction

What occurs when sensory receptors convert energy from the environment (e.g., sound waves) into neural messages.

Inattentional blindness

The failure to notice a visible stimulus because attention is focused elsewhere, such as in the research protocol where $\frac{1}{3}$ of subjects did not notice a red cross.

Müller-Lyer illusion

An optical illusion where two lines of the same length appear to be different lengths.

Signal detection theory

A theory explaining the ability to distinguish a specific stimulus (like a child's voice) from background noise (like a crowded baseball game).

Weber's law

The principle that the ability to detect a change in a stimulus (such as illumination) varies depending on the context or intensity of the original stimulus.

Crest

The highest point of a wave.

Trough

The lowest point of a wave.

Amplitude

The height of a wave as measured from the highest point to the lowest point; higher amplitudes are associated with louder sounds.

Wavelength

The distance between wave peaks; within the visible spectrum, longer wavelengths are associated with the color red.

Cones

Photoreceptors in the eye that are most useful in brightly lit conditions and are responsible for perceiving color.

Rods

Photoreceptors in the eye that are most useful in low illumination or dim light.

Afterimage

The continuation of a visual sensation after the removal of the stimulus.

Binocular disparity

The slightly different view of the world that each eye receives, which serves as a distance cue for depth perception.

Optic nerve

The nerve that carries visual information from the retina to the brain.

Night blindness

A condition occurring when rods do not transform light into nerve impulses efficiently, making it difficult to see in dim light.

Cornea

The structure at the front of the eye through which light waves are first transmitted.

Pupil

The opening in the eye through which light enters before shining onto the retina.

Fovea

A small indentation in the back of the eye where the lens focuses images.

Congenital deafness

Deafness that is present from birth, where the individual has never experienced auditory stimuli.

Temporal lobe

The location of the auditory cortex where sound stimuli are processed for perception.

Temporal theory

A theory of pitch perception that is limited by the fact that neurons can only generate action potentials up to a certain speed.

Place theory

A theory of pitch perception suggesting that receptors on different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies.

Cochlear implant

An electronic device for the deaf that receives sound information and directly stimulates the auditory nerve.

Chemical senses

The category of senses (olfaction and gustation) that have sensory receptors responding to molecules in food or air.

Congenital analgesia

A condition where an individual is born without the ability to experience pain.

Vestibular sense

The sensory system that helps maintain balance.

Proprioception

The perceptual system that provides information about the position of body parts, allowing movement without constant visual monitoring.

Nociception

The sense that provides the brain with information about pain.

Gestalt psychology

A school of thought in psychology involving principles of perception such as the figure-ground relationship, law of continuity, and principle of closure.

Figure-ground relationship

The Gestalt principle involving the ability to distinguish an object (the figure) from its background (the ground).

Proximity

The Gestalt principle where things that are close to one another tend to be grouped together.

Similarity

The Gestalt principle where things that are alike (such as people wearing similar shirts) are perceived as being part of the same group.

Good continuation

The Gestalt principle suggesting we perceive smooth, continuous flow rather than abrupt interruptions.

Closure

The Gestalt principle where we perceive a complete picture even when the visual information is incomplete.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.

Instinct

Unlearned knowledge involving complex patterns of behavior, such as birds migrating or cats chasing prey.

Reflex

A specific motor or neural reaction to a stimulus, such as the pupil of the eye contracting in bright light.

Associative learning

A form of learning that includes both classical and operant conditioning.

Stimulus discrimination

A classical conditioning principle where an organism responds differently to various stimuli that are similar.

Stimulus generalization

A classical conditioning principle where an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Extinction

The decrease or disappearance of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

The return of a previously extinguished conditioned response.

Evolutionary theory

In the context of learning, it explains that conditioned taste aversions are adaptations that help organisms avoid harmful foods.

Negative reinforcement

An operant conditioning technique where an unpleasant stimulus is removed to increase a desired behavior.

Shaping

The process of rewarding successive approximations of a target behavior.

Primary reinforcers

Items that have innate reinforcing qualities, such as food or water.

Latent learning

Learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it.

Partial reinforcement

A schedule where the person or animal is not reinforced every time the desired behavior is performed.

Fixed interval schedule

A reinforcement schedule where behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time has passed, such as a weekly paycheck.

Fixed ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a behavior is rewarded after a set number of responses (e.g., receiving a prize after collecting $10$ stars).

Variable ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule where the number of responses needed for a reward varies, making it highly resistant to extinction (e.g., slot machines).

Cognitive map

A mental picture of the layout of one's environment.

Operant conditioning

A form of learning where behavior is motivated by the consequences (reinforcements or punishments) that follow it.

Observational learning

Also known as modeling; learning that occurs by watching others.

Vicarious reinforcement

The process where an observer sees a model rewarded, making the observer more likely to imitate the model's behavior.

Vicarious punishment

The process where an observer sees a model punished, making the observer less likely to imitate the behavior.

Concepts

Categories or groupings of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories.

Artificial concepts

Concepts defined by a specific set of characteristics.

Natural concepts

Concepts created through direct or indirect experience, such as knowing what a dinosaur is from books or movies.

Cognition

The processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory.

Role schema

A set of expectations about how individuals in specific roles will behave.

Lexicon

The vocabulary of a language.

Phoneme

The basic sound unit of a given language.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of language that conveys some type of meaning.

Semantics

The process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words.

Functional fixedness

A type of mental set where one cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to focus on information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Mental set

The tendency to persist in using a strategy that worked in the past but may not be working currently.

Hindsight bias

The belief that an event just experienced was predictable, even if it was not.

Availability heuristic

A mental shortcut where a person makes a decision based on the most easily recalled examples or information.