PSY101 Exam #2 Review - Sensation, Perception, and Learning

Flashcards derived from the PSY101 Exam #2 Review Sheet covering concepts in Chapter 3 (Sensation and Perception) and Chapter 4 (Learning).

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation is the detection of physical stimuli from the environment by sensory receptors, whereas perception is the brain's process of organizing and interpreting that sensory information.

What is transduction in sensation and perception?

Transduction is the process by which sensory receptors convert physical energy or environmental stimuli into electrical neural signals that the nervous system can process.

What is an absolute threshold?

An absolute threshold is the minimum intensity of stimulus energy required for an organism to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

What is a difference threshold (just noticeable difference)?

A difference threshold, or just noticeable difference (JND), is the minimum difference between two stimuli required to detect a difference between them 50% of the time.

What does Weber's law state?

Weber's law states that the difference threshold is a constant percentage or proportion of the initial stimulus intensity, rather than a fixed physical amount.

What does Stevens's power law describe?

Stevens's power law describes the relationship between physical stimulus intensity and perceived sensation magnitude, showing that perceived intensity grows as a power function of physical intensity.

What is sensory adaptation?

Sensory adaptation is the decrease in sensitivity to a sensory stimulus following prolonged, continuous, or unvarying exposure to that stimulus.

What basic properties characterize sensory waveforms?

The basic waveform properties are wavelength (the distance between wave peaks), amplitude (the height of the wave), and frequency (the number of wave cycles per unit time).

Why is vision sharper with cones than with rods?

Vision is sharper with cones because cones have a low ratio of convergence to ganglion cells (often 1-to-1 in the fovea), providing high visual acuity, whereas many rods converge onto a single ganglion cell.

What is the Trichromatic theory of color vision?

The Trichromatic theory proposes that color perception relies on three types of retinal cones sensitive to different wavelengths corresponding to red, green, and blue.

What visual phenomena does Opponent process theory explain?

Opponent process theory explains color vision phenomena that Trichromatic theory cannot, such as negative afterimages and specific types of colorblindness, through opposing color pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white).

What is the composite theory of color vision?

The composite theory integrates both Trichromatic theory (at the photoreceptor/cone level in the retina) and Opponent process theory (at later neural processing stages in the visual system).

What is the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing?

Bottom-up processing constructs perception directly from raw incoming sensory data, whereas top-down processing uses existing knowledge, context, expectations, beliefs, and past experience to interpret sensory data.

How do contextual effects and perceptual sets influence human perception?

Contextual effects use situational context to guide perception, while perceptual sets create a readiness or expectancy to perceive stimuli in a specific way based on past experience, belief, expectation, and culture.

Which Gestalt principles of perception are highlighted in Chapter 3?

The Gestalt principles highlighted are the figure-and-ground principle, closure, and subjective contours.

Which cues does the brain use for depth perception as covered in Chapter 3?

The brain uses retinal disparity, linear perspective, and interposition as depth perception cues.

What were the key contributions of Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson to classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning through salivary responses in dogs, and John B. Watson demonstrated classical conditioning of emotional responses (fear) in humans through the Little Albert study.

What are the five key components of classical conditioning?

The five key components are the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR), neutral stimulus (NS), conditioned stimulus (CS), and conditioned response (CR).

How do acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery operate in classical conditioning?

Acquisition is the initial learning phase where NS is paired with UCS; extinction occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS causing the CR to diminish; spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished CR after a rest period.

What is the difference between stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination in classical conditioning?

Stimulus generalization occurs when stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus evoke the conditioned response, whereas stimulus discrimination occurs when an organism learns to respond only to the specific conditioned stimulus and not to other similar stimuli.

How does classical conditioning relate to conditioned taste aversion?

Conditioned taste aversion occurs when an organism associates a specific food's taste with nausea or illness through classical conditioning, often developing after a single pairing and across long delay intervals.

What is Edward Thorndike's law of effect?

The law of effect states that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.

What is the difference between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement?

Positive reinforcement increases a behavior by adding a favorable stimulus, while negative reinforcement increases a behavior by removing an unpleasant or aversive stimulus.

What is the difference between positive punishment and negative punishment?

Positive punishment decreases a behavior by presenting an unpleasant stimulus, while negative punishment decreases a behavior by removing a pleasant or desirable stimulus.

What is the difference between primary and secondary reinforcers?

Primary reinforcers are naturally reinforcing because they satisfy basic biological needs (e.g., food, water), whereas secondary reinforcers acquire reinforcing power through association with primary reinforcers (e.g., money, praise).

What are the four partial schedules of reinforcement in operant conditioning?

The four partial schedules are fixed-ratio (FR), variable-ratio (VR), fixed-interval (FI), and variable-interval (VI).

What is shaping in operant conditioning?

Shaping is an operant conditioning procedure where reinforcers guide behavior toward a desired goal by rewarding successive approximations of the target behavior.

Which theories of motivation are listed in Chapter 4?

The theories of motivation listed are drive-reduction theory, incentive theory, arousal theory, and the Yerkes-Dodson law.

What is the overjustification effect?

The overjustification effect occurs when offering an extrinsic reward for an activity reduces a person's intrinsic motivation to perform that activity.

What is latent learning?

Latent learning is learning that occurs without immediate behavioral demonstration or obvious reinforcement, becoming apparent only when an incentive to demonstrate it is provided.

Who conducted the Bobo doll studies on observational learning and modeling?

Albert Bandura conducted the Bobo doll studies to research observational learning, modeling, and aggression.