AP Psych Unit 2

frontal lobe

A region of the cerebral cortex that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement

association areas

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking

Phineas Gage

railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that dramatically changed his personality and behavior; case played a role in the development of the understanding of the localization of brain function

Prosopagnosia

inability to recognize faces

feature receptors

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

hemispheric specialization

The control of distinct neurological functions by the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

brain lateralization

specialization of function in each hemisphere

corpus callosum

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

Plasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience

neurogenesis

the formation of new neurons

Broca's area

Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Wernicke's area

controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

vision

the ability to see

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

Cornea

The clear tissue that covers the front of the eye

pupil

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Fovea

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster

Retina

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond

Cones

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

bipolar cells

eye neurons that receive information from the retinal cells and distribute information to the ganglion cells

ganglion cells

their axons form the optic nerve

Thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

trichromatic theory

theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and green

opponent-process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

audition

the sense or act of hearing

hammer

A tiny bone that passes vibrations from the eardrum to the anvil

cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

basilar membrane

A structure that runs the length of the cochlea in the inner ear and holds the auditory receptors, called hair cells.

place theory

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

frequency theory

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Amplitude

Height of a wave

Frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Olfaction

sense of smell

nasal cavity

nose

olfaction neurons

olfactory bulb

a brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes

kinethesis

the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

vestibular sacs

organs in the inner ear that connect the semicircular canals and the cochlea and contribute to the body's sense of balance

semicircular canals

three canals within the inner ear that contain specialized receptor cells that generate nerve impulses with body movement

touch

pressure, pain, temperature

pain

an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage

Noniceptors

sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

gate-control theory

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

phantom limbs

misleading "sensations" from missing limbs

gustation

the sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on contact with a substance.

psychological influences

learned fears and other learned expectations, emotional responses, cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations

Sensory Disorders

visual and hearing impairments

color blindness

a variety of disorders marked by inability to distinguish some or all colors

sensorineural

permanent hearing loss that results from damage or malformation of the middle ear and auditory nerve

conductive loss

hearing loss resulting from damage to the outer or middle ear

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

signal detection

this theory predicts how and in what circumstances we can detect a stimulus; assumes there is no single threshold

subliminal messages

brief auditory or visual messages that are presented below the absolute threshold

bottom-up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Gestalt Principles

ways for the brain to infer missing parts of a picture when a picture is incomplete

figure-ground

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

grouping

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

context effects

memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place