Psych Unit 7

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106 Terms

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sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

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sensory receptors

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

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perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

  • brings meaning to sensation; produces an interpretation of the world, but it isn’t a perfect representation

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bottom-up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information (relying on senses ONLY)

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top-down processing

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

  • reading your friend’s text with a lot of typos and knowing what it means

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selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus (minute detail)

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cocktail party effect

the ability to attend to one voice among a sea of other voices (while also being able to detect your own name)

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inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

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change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness

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transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another; the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brain can interpret

  1. receive: sensory neurons (receptors)

  2. transform: interneurons (processed by brain and spinal cord)

  3. deliver: motor neurons (physiological response)

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absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

  • because there is a fuzzy line between detection and nondetection, a person’s threshold is not necessarily absolute; it varies continuously with our mental alertness and physical condition (signal detection theory)

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signal detection theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise); assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

says sensation depends on the characteristics of the stimulus, background, and detector

  • takes observer’s characteristics into account, says stimulus judgment is often unconscious

  • some people can detect certain things more easily than others

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subliminal

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

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difference threshold (just noticeable threshold)

the minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time (minimum that is still recognizable)

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priming

activates unconscious associations; used by researches

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Weber’s law

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

the size of the just-noticeable difference is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus; the just-noticeable difference is large when the intesntiy of the stimulus is high

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sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

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wavelength

the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next; electromagnetic ones vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long pulses of radio transmission

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hue

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth

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intensity

the amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness; determined by the wave’s amplitude

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cornea

the eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris; transparent tissue where light enters the eye

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pupil

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

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iris

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening; expands and contracts to change the size of the pupil for light

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lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina; focuses the light rays on the retina through accommodation

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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

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fovea

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster; area of sharpest vision; has highest concentration of cones (NO RODS)

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accommodation

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or fear objects on the retina

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rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

  • especially sensitive to dim light, but not color

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cones

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

  • especially sensitive to colors, but not dim light

    • responsible for our ability to “see” colors

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path light travels

rods/cones (retina)

bipolar cells

ganglion cells

optic nerve

thalamus

occipital lobe

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optic nerve

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the retina to the brain

  • this is where the stimulus, once changed into a neural impulse, gets passed onto the brain

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blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind” spot because no photoreceptors are located there

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Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

the theory that the retina contains 3 types of color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color

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opponent-process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, 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

there are some color combos we never see (e.g. reddish-green or yellowish-blue)

  • color perception is controlled by the activity of 2 opponent systems; a blue-yellow mechanism and a red-green mechanism

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feature detectors

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

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parallel processing

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions

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audition

the sense or act of hearing

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amplitude

the physical strength of a wave (the “volume” of the sound)

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frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (determines pitch)

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pitch

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

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decibels

a logarithmic unuit that expresses the ratio of acoustic or electric power (intensity)

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eardrum

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middle ear

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

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cochlea

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

  • contains auditory receptors for hearing

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inner ear

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

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basilar membrane

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hair cells

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auditory nerve

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auditory cortex

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sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss

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conduction hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea; less common

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cochlear implant

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

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tactile sense

sense of touch

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bottom-up cognition of pain

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top-down cognition of pain

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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

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phantom limb sensation

misinterpretation of the spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of normal sensory input

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endorphins

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placebo

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gustation

sense of taste

  • specialized nerves carry nothing but the taste messages to the brain; there, taste is realized on a specialized region of the parietal lobe’s somatosensory cortex

  • taste receptors can easily be damaged by alcohol, smoke, acids, or hot foods

  • gustatory receptors are frequently replaced

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olfaction

sense of smell

  • odons first interact with receptor proteins associated with hairs in the nose

  • hairs convey information to the brain’s olfactory bulbs, located on the underside of the brain (bypasses thalamus)

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kinesthesia

our movement sense—our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body arts

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vestibular sense

our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

  • receptors for this info are tiny hairs in the semicircular canal of the inner ear (info sent to the cerebellum)

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sensory interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

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McGurk effect

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embodied cognition

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gestalt

an organized whole; these psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

  • divides perceptual experience into figure and ground

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figure-ground

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

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grouping

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

after distinguishing the figure from the ground, our perception needs to organize the figure into a meaningful form using grouping rules

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proximity

we group nearby figures together; we see not six separate lines, but three sets of two lines

<p>we group nearby figures together; we see not six separate lines, but three sets of two lines</p>
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continuity

we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones; this pattern could be a series of alternating semicircles, but we perceive it as two continuous lines—one wavy, one straight

<p>we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones; this pattern could be a series of alternating semicircles, but we perceive it as two continuous lines—one wavy, one straight</p>
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closure

we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object, thus we assume that the circles on the left are complete but partially blocked by the (illusory) triangle; add nothing more than little line segments to close off the circles and your brain stops constructing a triangle

both visual and auditory stimuli

  • similarity, proximity, continuity

<p>we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object, thus we assume that the circles on the left are complete but partially blocked by the (illusory) triangle; add nothing more than little line segments to close off the circles and your brain stops constructing a triangle</p><p>both visual and auditory stimuli</p><ul><li><p>similarity, proximity, continuity</p></li></ul>
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depth perception

the ability to see objects in 3 dimensions although the images that strike the retina are 2-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

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visual cliff

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

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binocular cues

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

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retinal disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth; by comparing retinal images from the 2 eyes, the brain computes distance — the greater the disparity between the 2 images, the closer the object

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monocular cues

a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to each eye alone

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relative height

monocular cue; we perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away

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relative motion

monocular cue; as we move, objects that are actually stable may appear to move

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relative size

monocular cue; if we assume 2 objects are similar in size, most people perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

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linear perspective

monocular cue; parallel lines appear to meet in the distance (the sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance)

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interposition

monocular cue; if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

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light and shadow

monocular cue; shading produces a sense of depth consistent with our assumption that light comes from above

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motion perception

the process of inferring the speed and direction of elements in a scene based on visual input

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stroboscopic movement

our brain perceiving a rapid series of slightly varying images as continuous movement

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phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when 2 or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

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perceptual constancy

the ability to recognize the same object as remaining “constant” under changing conditions

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color constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color even when changing illumination filters the light reflected by the object

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lightness constancy

ability to perceive the relative reflectance of objects despite changes in illumination

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relative luminance

the amount of light a objects reflects on its surroundings

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shape constancy

the tendency for a familiar object's shape to be perceived as constant when observed from various angles, positions and orientations

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size constancy

the perception of an object or quality as constant even though our sensation of the object changes

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perceptual adaptation

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

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perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

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schema

concepts in our brain that organize and interpret unfamiliar information

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context

the situation/circumstances in which an event occurs

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extrasensory perception (ESP)

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input

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telepathy

mind-to-mind communication

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clairvoyance

perceiving remote events, such as a house on fire in another state

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precognition

perceiving future events, such as an unexpected death in the next moth