Psychology exam 2

sensation

processing of basic information from the external world by the sensory receptors in the sense organs

infantile amnesia

the inability of adults to retrieve episodic memories from the first few year of life

misinformation effect

the decreased accuracy of episodic memories because of information provided after the event

motivated forgetting

willful forgetting of information so that it is less likely to be retrieved later

tip of the tonuge phenomenon

a failure to retrieve information despite confidence that it is stored in memory

retroactive interference

the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old memories

proactive interference

the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

forgetting curve

the retention of information over various delay times

mood dependent retrieval

the increased likelihood of remembering when a person is in the same mood during both encoding and retrieval

retrieval cues

information related to stored memories that helps bring memories back to mind

consolidation

the process where memory storage is integrated and becomes stable in the brain

prospective memory

memory for things we need to do in the future

retrospective memory

memory for things we have done in the past

affective conditioning

a form of conditioning in which a previously neutral stimulus acquires positive or negative value

self- referential encoding

encoding based on a an events relation to our self concept, which leads to enhanced memory for the event

multistore model of memory

information flows from our senes through 3 storage levels in memory; sensory, short term, and long term

encoding

occurs as we first preceive information in our environment and, in concert with out thoughts and feelings convert it into a form ready for storage

storage

the maintenance of the encoded information in our brains for later access. The duration of this storage can last a blink of an eye, or for a lifetime

retrieval

occurs when we access information stored in the brain from past experience

memory

the capacity to store and retrieve information in order to facilitate learning

meditation

a set of practices that focus on training mental processes like attention, awareness and sometimes emotions

hypnotic analgesia

a reduction in pain perception caused by a hypnotic suggestion

dissociation

a mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity.

activation synthesis hypothesis

dreams result from the brains attempt to organize the chaotic patterns of brain activity during sleep into a semi-coherent narrative

manifest content

the manifest content of a dream includes the actual images, thoughts, and content contained within the dream. 1 The manifest content is the elements of the dream that you remember upon awakening

latent content

the symbolic meaning of a dream that lies behind the literal content of the dream.

REM rebound

the tendency to spend more time in REM sleep if deprived of it on previous nights

size consistancy

we perceive objects as staying the same size, even when they're far away or close up.

color consistency

our ability to perceive colors as relatively constant over varying illuminations

binocular cues

the depth information gathered from our two eyes

gestalt psychology

school of psychological thought that attempted to explain how various elements group together to form objects, arguing that perception is more than a simple piecing together of building blocks

kinesthesis

the senses responsible for monitoring the position and movement of the body

vestibular system

the sensory system primarily responsible for balance

primary somatosensory cortex

the region of the brain where the processing of touch sensations occur

pitch

the perceptual quality of sound that makes a flute sound high and a tuba sound low

transduction

the transformation of sensory stimulus energy from the environment into neural imooulses

perception

organizing, identifying, and interpreting sensory information

psychophysics

the study of physical characteristics of stimuli and how we perceive them

absolute threshold

minimum needed to detect 50% of trials

signal detection theory

an approach to measuring thresholds that takes into account both the intensity of the stimulus and the psychological biases for a more accurate assessment

just noticeable difference

minimal change that can be detected 50% of the time

webers law

just noticeable difference of stimulus is a constant proportion regardless of intensity

adaptation

stop noticing a stimulus that remains constant overtime

sensory adaptation

occurs at the level of sensory receptors

perceptual adaptation

occurs higher up in the brain

visible light

small portion of electromagnetic spectrum is visable

wavelength

the distance between any 2 consecutive crests or troughs of a wave

amplitude

the height of the crests of a wave

pupil

a hole in the iris where light enters the eye

iris

the colored muscle circling the pupil and gives the eye its distinctive color

lens

a membrane at the front of the eye that focuses the incoming light on the retina, and bends light

retnia

the back of the eye that contains 2 kinds of photoreceptor cells

rods

support nighttime vision, peripheral vision

cones

responsible for high-resolution color vision, direct connection to neural cells,

optic nerve

a bundle of axons that converge from the retina and transmit action potentials to the brain

fovea

provides the highest level of visual activity because it only contains cones

blind spot

an area in the middle of the visual field where no information can be received, The blind spot is caused by an absence of photoreceptor cells.

clock vision

photopigments of cones

2 theories of color perception

trichromatic theory and opponent process theory

trichromatic theory

3 cone photopigments work together to produce color perception

opponent process theory

information from the cones is separated into 3 sets of opposing channels in the ganglion cell layer where pairs of visual neurons that work in opposition

feature detectors

specialized cells in the visual cortex that respond to basic features such as lines, edges and angles

visual association cortex

region of the brain where objects are reconstructed from prior knowledge and information collected by the feature detectors

prosopagnosia

a visual disorder in which individuals are unable to recognize the identity of faces

phi phenomenon

a visual illusion in which the flashing of separate images in rapid succession is perceived as fluid motion

monocular cues

aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only 1 eye

what are examples of monocular cues

texture gradient, linear perspective, interposition, relative height, relative size and relative motion

binocular disparity

difference in the retinal images of the 2 eyes that provides information about depth

what is the order in which information is sensed through the eye

optic nerve-optic chasm- lateral geniculate nucleus in thalamus- visual cortex

hubel and Wiesel experiment

recorded electrical activity from individual neurons in the brains of cats. They used a slide projector to show specific patterns to the cats and noted that specific patterns stimulated activity in specific parts of the brain

primary visual cortex

regions of the brain where objects are reconstructed from feature detectors and prior knowledge

“what” pathway in visual brain

ventral stream

“where” pathway in visual brain

dorsal stream

hearing

the detection of sound waves or changes in air pressure unfolding overtime

frequency

measures pitch in Hz

amplitude

measures loudness in dB

timbre

experience of sound quality or resonance

what is in the outer ear

pinna and auditory canal

ossicles

3 tiny bones, the hammer, anvil and stirrup, form a bridge between the eardrum and another membrane called the oval window

what is in the middle ear

eardrum/tympanic membrane and ossicles( hammer, anvil and stirrup)

basilar membrane

a structure in the cochlea where the auditory cilia are located

what is in the inner ear

cochlea

cochlea

fluid filled tub in the inner ear and contains the basilar membrane which lines the cochlea where the auditory cilia cells are

what is in pitch perception

frequency theory, and place theory

frequency theory

the brain uses the frequency of auditory sensory neuron firing to indicate pitch

place theory

different pitches arise from stimulation at different places along the basilar membrane

primary auditory cotex

region of the brain located in the temporal lobe where sound is processed

tactile sense

the sense of touch

what is amplitude perception

higher amplitude vibrations cause greater stimulation in the basilar membrane

tonotopic organization

the arrangement of the auditory cortex where nearby frequencies are processed near each other in the brain

sound localization

inter aural timing (sound reaches ear) and inter aural intensity(loudness of sound reaches ear)

what are the 2 main causes of hearing loss

conductive and sensorineural hearing loss

epithelium

mucous membrane in the nasal cavity that contains the olfactory receptor neurons

olfactory bulb

structure just above the nasal cavity where information is communicated to the primary olfactory cortex

glomeruli

a spherical cluster of neruons in the olfactory bulb

primary olfactory cortex

located in the anterior temporal lobe and connections to amygdala and hippocampus link olfaction to emotion and memory

consciousness

your moment by moment awareness of your mental and external world

mind body problem

EEG (brain activity) precedes conscious decisions-EMG (motor action) and supports the link between brain and behavior