AP Psychology: Unit 2 Cognition - Perception Edition

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of perception, attentional processes, Gestalt principles, depth cues, and perceptual constancies from AP Psychology Cognition Unit 2.

Perception

The cognitive process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information, transforming it into meaningful objects and events.

Bottom-Up Processing

Information processing that begins with sensory receptors and basic sensory details, building up to a complete perception without prior knowledge or expectations influencing the process ('Details to Big Picture').

Top-Down Processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, context, prior knowledge, and expectations to interpret incoming sensory information ('Big Picture to Details').

Selective Attention

The process of focusing conscious awareness on a specific stimulus or task while filtering out or ignoring irrelevant competing stimuli.

Cocktail Party Effect

A specific form of auditory selective attention that enables a person to focus on a single voice or conversation amidst a noisy environment, while remaining responsive to personally significant stimuli such as their own name.

Inattentional Blindness

The perceptual failure to notice an unexpected but visible stimulus within the visual field when cognitive attention is focused on an alternate task or object.

Change Blindness

The failure to detect noticeable changes in visual environment when the change coincides with a brief visual disruption or distraction.

Schema

A mental framework or concept that helps organize, interpret, and predict information from past experiences, guiding expectations and behavior in specific settings.

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition or readiness to perceive certain aspects of available sensory data while ignoring others, shaped by prior experiences, expectations, and context.

Gestalt Psychology

A psychological approach emphasizing that the human mind naturally organizes individual sensory components into meaningful, coherent wholes, stating that 'the whole is different from the sum of its parts.'

Figure-Ground

The organization of the visual field into two components: the primary object of focus (figure) and the surrounding background environment (ground).

Binocular Depth Cues

Visual cues that require the coordinated use of both eyes to calculate depth, distance, and three-dimensional space.

Stereopsis

The neurological process of merging two distinct two-dimensional retinal images from separated eyes into a unified three-dimensional perception of depth.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular depth cue that calculates distance by comparing images from both eyes; because the eyes are set apart, the greater the difference (disparity) between the two retinal images, the closer the object.

Convergence

A binocular depth cue involving the neuromuscular angle of the inward turning of the eyes as an object moves closer to the observer's face.

Monocular Depth Cues

Distance and depth cues that can be perceived and processed using only one eye independently.

Relative Clarity

A monocular depth cue where sharp, detailed objects are perceived as closer, whereas blurry or hazy objects are perceived as farther away.

Relative Size

A monocular depth cue where, between two objects assumed to be similar in size, the object producing a smaller retinal image is judged to be farther away.

Texture Gradient

A monocular depth cue characterized by a progressive change in surface appearance from distinct, coarse details up close to fine, dense, and blended textures at greater distances.

Linear Perspective

A monocular depth cue based on the appearance of parallel lines converging toward a single vanishing point as distance increases.

Interposition

A monocular depth cue occurring when one object partially obscures or overlaps the view of another, causing the overlapping object to be perceived as closer.

Relative Height

A monocular depth cue in which objects positioned higher within the visual field are perceived as more distant, while objects positioned lower are perceived as closer.

Relative Motion

A monocular depth cue where, during movement, closer objects appear to speed by in the opposite direction faster than objects far away in the background.

Perceptual Constancies

The cognitive ability to recognize objects as stable and unchanging in size, shape, color, or brightness, despite variations in the sensory image formed on the retina.

Shape Constancy

The perception that an object retains its true form even when viewing angle or perspective changes alter the retinal image.

Size Constancy

The perception that an object maintains its actual physical dimensions regardless of distance variations that cause its retinal image to shrink or enlarge.

Color Constancy

The perceptual tendency to see familiar objects as maintaining consistent hue despite dramatic shifts in the wavelength or brightness of ambient lighting.

Lightness Constancy

The perception that an object possesses a constant level of brightness or surface reflectance, judged relative to its environmental illumination and surrounding context.

Apparent Movement

The optical illusion of motion generated by presenting a sequence of static, still images in rapid succession.

Phi Phenomenon

An optical illusion of continuous motion created when adjacent stationary lights or images flash on and off in rapid alternating sequence.