AP Psych 1.2 Terms Part 2

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Consciousness

Individual's subjective awareness of their thoughts, feelings, sensations, and surroundings

Blindsight

Phenomenon in psychology where individuals with damage to the primary visual cortex (the area of the brain responsible for conscious vision) can still process and respond to visual stimuli without being aware of it

Circadian Rhythm

Natural, 24-hour cycle of physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur in response to light and darkness cues in the environment

REM Sleep

N1

N2

N3

REM, (Rapid Eye Movement)

Light transitional sleep

Deeper light sleep with a drop in heart rate and temperature

Deep, restorative “slow-wave” sleep

Hallucination

Sensory experiences that occur without any external stimuli

Hypnagogic

Transitional phase between wakefulness and sleep, often accompanied by vivid, dream-like experiences or hallucinations

Ex. Falling Sensations

Memory Consolidation

Process by which short-term memories are transformed into long-term memories

Insomnia

Sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early, despite having adequate opportunity to sleep

Narcolepsy

Chronic neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and other sleep disturbances

Sleep Apnea

Sleep disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of breathing cessation or shallow breathing during sleep

Dream

Imaginary sequences of images, sensations, and emotions that occur during sleep, particularly REM sleep

Informant Processing Theory

Cognitive psychology framework that compares the mind to a computer, explaining how people receive, interpret, store, and retrieve information

Activation Synthesis Theory

Neurobiological model that explains dreams as the brain's attempt to create a narrative from random neural activity that occurs during REM sleep

REM Rebound

Body's compensatory increase in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep after a period of REM sleep deprivation, such as following sleep deprivation or the discontinuation of certain medications

Cones

Specialized photoreceptor cells in the retina responsible for color vision and high-acuity vision in bright light

Optic Nerve

Sensory nerve that transmits visual information from the retina to the brain, allowing for the perception of sight

Blind Spot

Area of unawareness or lack of insight into one's own thoughts, emotions, or behaviors

Fovea

Small, specialized depression in the center of the retina responsible for the sharpest and most detailed vision, known as central or foveal vision

Younghemholtz trichromatic theory

• Color deficient theory

Human eye has three types of cone cells, each sensitive to different wavelengths of light corresponding to red, green, and blue

• Biological condition of color vision deficiency and the sociological concept of color-blind racial ideology

Opponent-Process Theory

Psychological theory that explains how the human visual system perceives color and how emotional experiences are processed in opposing pairs

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Involves damage to the auditory pathway and can lead to significant cognitive and emotional effects

Conduction Hearing Loss

Problem with the mechanical transmission of sound waves, leading to muffled hearing and difficulty perceiving soft sounds, which can affect a person's ability to process spoken language

Place theory (place coding)

Problem with the mechanical transmission of sound waves, leading to muffled hearing and difficulty perceiving soft sounds, which can affect a person's ability to process spoken language

Frequency Theory 

• Endorphins

• Phantom Limb Sensations

• Placebo

Proposes that the perception of pitch is determined by the rate at which the auditory nerve fires in response to sound waves

Gate-Control Theory

Psychological model that explains how the brain regulates and modulates the perception of pain

Gustation

• Sweet - Sour - Salty - Bitter - Umami

• Oleogustu - Supertasters - Medium Tasters - Non Tasters

Sense of taste, which is the perception of flavors from chemical stimuli detected by taste buds on the tongue and in the mouth

Pheromones

Chemical substance secreted by an organism that influences the behavior or physiology of other individuals of the same species

Kinesthesis

Sensory system that provides information about the body's position, movement, and effort

Vestibular Sensor

Provides information about balance, spatial orientation, and movement through space, primarily by detecting head position and motion relative to gravity

Semicircular Canals

Three fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that are part of the vestibular system, crucial for detecting rotational movements of the head and maintaining balance

Sensory Interaction

Principle that one sense may influence another, with different senses working together to create a unified perception

Smell

Chemical sense that detects and processes odor molecules, involving specialized receptor cells in the nose that send signals to the brain's olfactory bulb and cortex for interpretation

Olfactory System

Sensory system responsible for the sense of smell

Taste Receptors

Specialized sensory cells located in taste buds on the tongue that detect chemicals in food to create the perception of taste

Chemical Senses

Primary means by which we detect and perceive smells (olfaction) and tastes (gustation) through the detection of chemical stimuli

Leptin

Hormone secreted by fat cells that helps regulate long-term energy balance by suppressing appetite and increasing metabolism when the body's fat stores are high

Aphasia

Impairment of language function, usually resulting from damage to the left hemisphere of the brain