psychology grrr agggggrg

sensation

receiving physical energy from the environment and encoding it into neural signals.

perception

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

gestalt principals

we do not focus on small components, we perceive the bigger picture
-similarity
-pragnanz/good figure/simplicity
-proximity
-continuity
-closure
-common region/grouping
-figure ground
-symmetry
-common fate

similarity gestalt principle

Similar things tend to appear grouped together

pragnanz/good figure/simplicity gestalt principle

Objects in the environment are seen in a way that makes them appear as similar as possible

proximity gestalt principle

Things that are near each other seem to be grouped together

continuity gestalt principle

Points that are connected by straight or curving lines are seen in a way that follows the smoothest path

closure gestalt principle

We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

common region/grouping gestalt principle

A visual field with into objects/figures that stand out from their surroundings/ground

figure ground gestalt principle

the tendency to perceive objects, or figures, as existing on a background

symmetry gestalt principle

we perceive objects that are symmetrically arranged as wholes more often than those that aren't

common fate gestalt principle

things moving in the same direction are grouped together

depth perception

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

Visual clif

checkered table experiment with the 6-14 month olds conducted by Elanor Gibson and Richard Walk
>81% refused to walk

color deficient vision

a defective cornea or retina of the ye
-monochrome: no cones work
-dichromatic: one cone kinda works

Binocular cues

use two eyes to see depth
-retinal disparity/binocular disparity
-convergence
-afterimages

retinal disparity/binocular disparity

eyes 6cm apart so two separate images are taken in but only one is processed

convergence

cross eye object thing

afterimages

sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed >reversed colors.

Monocular cues

Use only 1 eye to see depth
-accommodation/mucsel cue
-arial atmosphere/relative clarity
-linear perspective
-interposition
-relative size
-negative height
-light and shadow
-texture gradient
>pictorial and motion parallax

motion parallax

closer objects appear to move faster than objects that are farther

pictorial depth cues

clues about distance that can be given in a flat picture

visual accommodation/muscle cue

the lense of the eye changing thickness to see depth

arial atmosphere/relative clarity

things far away in the air seem fuzzy because of pollution and distance

linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge at a vanishing point on the horizon. The closer the lines are, the greater the distance

interposition

partial blocking of one object by another object. You think that the blocking object is closer

relative size

if two objects are roughly the same size, the object that looks the largest will be judged as being the closes

relative height

clear objects appear closer than blurry or fuzzy objects

light and shadow

if there are two identical objects, the dimmer one seems farther away

texture gradient

texture becomes less and less apparent the farther it goes into the distance

phi phenomenon

the illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession

stroboscopic effect

flip book thing

autokinetic effect

The tendency to perceive a stationary point of light in a dark room as moving
-candle in dark room thing

Muller Lyer Illusion

different line length thing

relative motion

while we move, things close to us appear to move fast in the opposite direction; things farther away appear to move very slowly or not at all

perpetual constancy

color constancy
size constancy
shape constancy
light constancy

color constancy

color of an object remains the same even if lighting conditions change

size constancy

e objects as the same apparent size regardless of their distance

shape constancy

angle changes or an object rotates and we still perceive the object as staying the same

light/brightness constancy

whiteness, blackness, and grayness of objects remains constant no matter how much the illumination

top down processing

general to more specific
looking at a whole
trying to find patterns
already know this stuff

bottom up processing

more specific to general
don't know info

transduction

turning sensory info into neural impulses

difference threshold/just noticeable difference

min difference between stimuli 50% of the time

absolute threshold

min stimuli the body needs to consciously notice 50% of the time

weber's law

to compare objects they mush differ by the same constant percentages

subliminal perception

stimuli the conscious does not notice

signal detection theory

when you detect stimuli its intensity and your mental/physical state can change your perception

sensory adpatation

you get used to constant stimuli

psychophysics

study relationship between stimuli and response

Gustav Fecher (1801-1887)

german guy
made psychophysics
modern experimental psychology
black and white flashing lights produced color
studied synesthesia

David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel

harvard research dudes
noble prize dudes
analyzes brain impulses of cats and donkeys
special cells respond to visual features of enviroment

Ernest Weber

just noticeable difference
you can only compare objects by the same constant percentage

perpetual set

your eyes will see what they want to see
-expectation, emotion, and motivation can interfere

schemas

filling system in the brain
-object schemas
-person schemas
-social schemas
-self schemas
-event schemas: social etiquette

context effects

how marketing, the location you find the stimulus in, and cultural differences can change your perception

divided attention

multitasking is really switching fast

selective attention

only paying attention to specific things
-cocktail party effect
-stroop effect
inattentional blindness

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many

stroop effect

you recognize the color of the word first

intentional blindness

when you don't see things because you are hyperfocused

wavelenghts

wave's width
distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the next peak
equal to hue, pitch, and frequency
short wavelength = high frequency
long wavelenght = low frequency

amplitude vision

wave's height
peak of the wave to the trough of the wave
equals intensity and brightness and volume
tall amplitude = bright colors
short amplitude = dull colors

wavelength spectrum

little light chart thing

process of vision

cornea > pupil > iris > lens > vitreous humor > retina > optic nerve > visual cortex

pupil

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

iris

muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye and that controls the size of the pupil
in between cornea and the lens

lens

structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus light rays on the retina
behind the pupil
>accommodation: lens changing size

retina

contains the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of transduction
connects brain to optic nerve
gets images from the back of the eye

rods

type of retinal receptors
detect black, white, and shades of gray
peripheral and twilight vision
120 million rods

cones

type of retinal receptors
detect color
daylight
6 million cones

fovea

central focal point in the retina
cones home
deals with acuity

bipolar cells

neurons that connect the rods and cones w/the ganglion cells

ganglion cells

neurons that connect to the bipolar cells
a bunch of axons make the optic nerve

optic nerve

nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

blind spots

optic nerve leaves the eye
no receptor cells

aqueous humorous

clear fluid that gives the cornea it's rounded shape

cornea

covers the iris and the pupil
focuses light that enters the eye

dark adaptation

from light to dark

light adaptation

from dark to light

the transduction process

1) photochemical reactions happen in rods and cones
2) bipolar cells are activated
3) ganglion cells are activated and axons converge making the optic nerve
4)then info gets sent too the thalamus

feature detectors

nerve cells that only respond to certain traits

parallel processing

multitask

trichromatic theory

the retina has red, green, and blue and when they combine they make a single perceivable color
>white

opponent processing theory

opposing retinal processes enable after images

acuity

the sharpness of vision

nearsided/myopia

close is good but far is bad because rays converge in front of the retina

farsided/hyperopia

far is good but close is bad because rays converge in front of the retina

prosopagnosia

basically face blindneess

cataracts

when the lens gets cloudy

agnosopia/blind sight

primal visual cortex is damaged but vision stem still works so sometimes you get to see

frequency

number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
equals pitch

pitch

tone's highness or lowness.
shorter waves = higher pitch
longer waves = lower pitch

amplitude sound

wave's height
peak of the wave to the trough of the wave
equals intensity and brightness and volume
tall amplitude = loud sounds
short amplitude = dull sounds

timbre

quality of sound

process of hearing

pinna > ear canal > eardrum > ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup) > oval window > cochlea > cochlear fluid > cilia > organ of Corti

outer ear

traps sound waves and channels them through the auditory canal to the eardrum

pinna

skin part of ear

auditory canal

canal in which sound waves travel
eardrum is at the end

ear drum

tight membrane that vibrates when sound waves hit i