AP Psychology Unit 4

why this unit so hard bro

transduction

“magic” that allows energy from outside to convert into neural impulses to be processed by the brain

sensation

process in which sensory receptors receive information from our environment

perception

process of organizing and interpreting sensory information into meaningful objects/events

kinesthetic

gives feedback about position and orientation of specific body parts (know where hands are without looking)

vestibular

how our body is oriented in space; influences balance

bottom up processing

analysis that begins with sensory receptors and works up to sensory interpretation; interpret if you will like something for first time

top down processing

perception based off previous experiences, previous experiences and expectations affect detection and analysis of information from the senses

signal detection theory

paying more attention will make one more likely to hear a sound, predicts how and when a person detects a signal

absolute threshold

the minimum level of sensory stimulation that is required to be detected by an organism at least 50% of the time

difference threshold

minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected

Weber’s Law

the size of the JND is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus, % change matters over amount

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

extrasensory perception

perception without sensory input (guessing what color a pen is behind you)

context effect

the influence of the surrounding environment or situation on a person’s perceptions

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity over constant stimulation (pool water becomes less cold)

perceptual adaptation

adjustments of how we adapt to environment and filter out distractions

perceptual constancy

perception that objects do not change

cornea

allows light to travel through eye, clear protective outer layer that refracts light into eye

iris

colored portion of eye that controls size of pupil opening

pupil

opening of eye through which light enters

lens

accommodates and changes shape to focus images on retina

fovea

center of retina where visual acuity is highest

retina

where neural impulses happen, vision occurs here, process visual information

rods

detect black and white and let you know something is present in periphery

cones

near fovea, function in bright daylight, detects fine detail, enables color perception

ganglion cells

form optic nerve fibre, send to thalamus and then to occipital lobe

bipolar cells

receive nerve impulse and send to ganglion cells

optic nerve

transmits visual information from retina into brain

blind spot

absence of photoreceptors at point of exit for ganglion cells

trichromatic theory

Young-Helmholtz suggests that retina (cones) contain three receptors sensitive to red, blue, green

opponent processing

Hering said cones work in opposing pairs, overstimulating one cone will activate dormant cone when there’s a trigger (red-green, blue-yellow)

After image

an image that remains after the stimulation to the retina has ended

color blind

prevents people from discriminating between certain colors due to weakness in one of the cones, most common with red and green

inattentional blindness

failure to see objects in a visual field when attention is directed elsewhere

change blindness

failure to notice changes over time in environment

pinna

visible outer ear on either side of your head; helps pinpoint and locate sound

ear canal

where sound travels to reach eardum

ear drum

aka tympanic membrane, vibrates at a rate that corresponds to sound’s frequency, transmits to ossicles

ossicles

hammer - picks up eardrum vibrations
anvil - amplifies vibration
stirrup - passes vibration to cochlea

semicircular canals

fluid filled channels that help maintain balance

cochlea

where transduction occurs in ear (coiled, fluid-filled tube through which sound waves are transduced into nerve impulses)

place theory

certain hair cells when activated —> certain sounds

sound frequencies stimulate basilar membrane in cochlea on specific hair cells, results in perceived pitch

frequency theory

nerve impulses traveling in auditory nerve will match frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

auditory localization

helps understand where objects are depending on where sound is from

McGurk Effect

interaction of vision and hearing; auditory component and visual component of another sound = new sound

conductive deafness

issue with transferring sound waves to cochlea, helped by using hearing aids

sensorineural deafness

damage to inner ear (cochlea, hair cells), can be excessive loud sounds, earbuds, concerts

helped by using implants

depth perception

ability to gauge length, width and depth, and to judge how far away an object is

binocular cues

visual signals that require the use of both eyes to perceive depth and distance

monocular cues

cues to help us perceive depth without need of both eyes

linear

lines that seem to converge in an image

clarity

images nearby are more clear than distant

relative height

near objects are low in visual fields; more distant are higher up

texture gradient

texture of objects appears to change with distance

relative size

an object that appears larger than another believed to be of the same size is judged to be closer

interposition

objects that are obscured by other objects are perceived as being further away

Gestalt

grouping - the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

figure ground

perceive objects as distinct from their background

proximity

perceive objects as belonging together when they are close to one another

similarity

group objects that have similar characteristics 

closure

group disconnected pieces of information into a meaningful whole

apparent movement

illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession