AP Psych Sensory and Perception

Sensation

sensory receptors & nervous system receive stimuli

Transduction

one form of energy to another

Stimuli

changes/signals in our environment

Perception

organizing and interpreting sensory info

Absolute Threshold

minimum stimulation needed to detect/notice stimuli 50% of the time

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

minimum difference between 2 stimuli

Sensory Adaptation

less sensitivity to stimuli because of constant stimuli

Weber's Law

being able to tell the difference between degrees of stimulation

Sensory Interaction

different senses work together to create complete perception of the environment

Synesthesia

multiple preceptors of the same stimuli

Retina

inner surface of the eye. processes visual info & very light sensitive

Blind Spots

gap in the visual field when the optic nerve exists the retina

Lens

transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus

Accommodation

lenses changing structure and thickness to focus on an image

Nearsightedness

near is clear, far is blurry

Farsightedness

far is clear, near is blurry

Rods

photoreceptors in the retina that handle low light vision. very light sensitive

Cones

photoreceptors in the retina that handle color vision

Trichromatic Theory

retina contains 3 different color receptors. sensitive to red, green, and blue

Opponent Process Theory

cone receptors paired together to enable color vision (red/green, yellow/blue, white/black)

Photoreceptor Cells

cells in the retina that convert light into signals for the brain

Fovea

central focal point in the retina, cones cluster around it

Short Wavelengths (Light)

The highest frequency, perceive colors blue and purple

Medium Wavelengths (Light)

The middle frequency, perceive colors green and yellow

Long Wavelengths (Light)

The lowest frequency, perceive colors red and orange

Ganglion Cells

neurons in retina that send visual info to the brain

Afterimages

certain ganglion cells active while others aren't, leaves a lingering image in your eye

Dichromatism

only 2 types of cones available. You'd be unable to see the missing cone's color

Monochromatism

1 or no cones, complete color blindness (gray scale)

Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness)

difficulty recognizing people's faces

Blindsight

when someone can respond to visual stimuli w/out consciously experiencing it

Short Sound Wavelengths

high frequency/pitch

Long Sound Wavelengths

low frequency/pitch

Great Amplitude

loud sounds

Small Amplitude

soft sounds

Place Theory

sound waves trigger activity in (bounce off of) different parts of our ears

Volley Theory

groups of neurons create a higher frequency than just one

Frequency Theory

brain reads pitch by monitoring frequency of neurons traveling up auditory nerve

Sound Localization

how we identify were sounds are coming from

Conduction Deafness

damage to ear drum and middle ear bones, can cause hearing loss

Sensorineural Deafness

damage to cochlear hair receptor cells

Pheromones

produce chemical messages that can impact behavior (smell)

Gustation

200+ taste buds that catch chemicals in food

Skin Senses

pressure, warmth, cold, pain

Phantom Limb Sensation

the brain misinterprets the lack of normal sensory input for pain (after an amputation)

Vestibular Sense

monitoring our position, movement, and balance

Semicircular Sense

fluid filled tubes in our ears that sense the tilt/rotation of our head

Kinesthesis

position/motion detectors in our muscles

Bottom-up Processing

When the brain uses sensory input to understand things

Top-down Processing

When the brain uses experiences & higher level processing to see what you would expect to see

Snake Analogy Processing

• When you see something wriggling on the ground and think it's a snake (bottom-down)

• When you often see lots of snakes, so you assume sticks/branches are snakes (top-up)

Schemas

how people organize new info with existing knowledge using cognitive framework

Cognitive Framework

your mental structure of beliefs and ideas

Perceptual Sets

mental tendency through which we see the world

Gestalt Psycology

people given a cluster of sensations organize them into a whole form

Closure

emotional sense of completion

Figure-ground

organizing the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

Proximity

Physical closeness

Similarity

things that are alike and tend to be grouped together

Cocktail Party Effect

The brain's ability to focus on a single voice/sound while filtering out background noises

Inattention Blindness

When you fail to notice something unexpected because you're focused on something else

Change Blindness

When you fail to notice major visual changes to your environment (especially after a brief distraction)

Binocular Cues

Visual signals that perceive depth/distance using both eyes

Retinal Disparity

Slightly different images from left & right eyes combined to perceive depth/distance

Convergence

combining different senses to build perception of an environment

Monocular Depth Cues

visual signals that perceive distance and depth using only one eye

Relative Clarity

brain perceives sharp/clear objects as near by and blurry objects as farther away (monocular)

Relative Size

brain judges distance by comparing objects' sizes (monocular)

Texture Gradient

texture appears more detailed up close but smoother from further away (monocular)

Linear Perspective

when lines meet in the distance (at the vanishing point)

Interposition

when one object partially blocks another, the brain perceives the blocked object as farther away

Perceptual Constancies

the brain's ability to perceive familiar objects using standard sizes/shapes/colors

Apparent Movement

when stationary objects appear to move when flashed in rapid succession

What wavelengths are the colors red and orange?

Long wavelengths, lowest frequency

What is the minimum difference between two stimuli?

Just noticeable difference (JND)

What is the difference between rods and cones?

Rods: handle low light vision, very light sensitive

Cones: handle color vision

What are the three theories for why we hear?

Place theory, volley theory, and frequency theory.

What is the difference between the two types of deafness?

Conduction: Damage to ear drum and middle ear bones (is treatable)

Sensorineural: Damage to cochlear hair receptor cells (is not treatable)

What is the difference between the two types of processing?

Bottom up: using sensory input to understand things

Top down: using experiences and higher-level processing to see what we expect to see

List and explain the four types of monocular depth cues.

Relative clarity, relative size, texture gradient, linear perspective