AP Psychology Sensation and Perception Unit

sensation

to detect stimuli from the environment around us

perception

understanding the world around us

bottom-up processing

sense something first then understand it second

top-down processing

another word for perception

selective attention

brain's ability to consciously do one thing at a time

inattentional blindness

failure to notice certain details while focusing on one thing

change blindness

failure to notice changes in the environment

transduction

turn one type of energy into another

psychophysics

how to measure components within psychology

absolute threshold

minimum stimulus required to notice that stimulus 50% of the time

subliminal

below absolute threshold

priming

unconscious activation of certain associations

signal detection theory

some of us are more likely to notice certain stimuli due to experiences

difference threshold

noticing the difference between two similar stimuli 50% of the time

Weber's law

stimulus must change by the same percentage not the same amount for it to be consistently noticable

sensory adaptation

you notice stimuli less and less as you have more exposure

wavelength

measure from peak to peak

hue

color

intensity

how bright or dark a color is; high = bright, low = dull

amplitude

measure from peak to trough

pupil

dilates due to light

lens

behind pupil, moves light of back of eye

retina

multi-layered, transduction

fovea

point of central focus

optic nerve

neural impulses

blind spot

no rods & cones

cornea

outer covering, first part light travels through

iris

colored muscle, changes shape

accommodation

process of bending and moving light to the back of the eye

rods

able to see shades of gray, dull light, & peripheral

cones

able to see color & bright light

feature detectors

process different aspects of an image

supercell clusters

specific objects

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

color receptors of red, green, blue; use cones

opponent process theory

neurons in optic nerve accept and reject color; red-green, blue-yellow, black-white

perceptual set

experiences effect perception

context effect

experiences effect perception

gesalt

the whole is greater than the some of its parts

figure-ground

we separate objects & background

grouping

different ways to group objects into a whole

proximity

grouping things that are next to each other

continuity

seeing one continuous line

closure

put lines in an image to make sense of it

depth perception

measure distance, seeing in 3D (visual cliff)

binocular cues

measuring distance between objects close to us, two eyes

retinal disparity

greater the difference an image is going into each eye, the closer it is

monocular cues

measure distance between objects further away, one eye

relative clarity

clear = close, blurry = far (monocular cue)

relative size

small = further, larger = closer (monocular cue)

interposition

objects blocked by others = further (monocular cue)

linear perspective

more lines converge = further (monocular cue)

texture gradient

more textured = closer (monocular cue)

stroboscopic movement

stationary movements become smooth movements; flip books

phi phenomenon

going between two stationary photos quickly and they appear that they're moving

perceptual constancy

different wavelengths become constant

color constancy

seeing color changes, yet seeing them the same

lightness constancy

different light changes wavelengths, yet we see them as the same

shape constancy

shape changes, yet we see it as the same

size constancy

relative size

critical period

time frame that you must learn something

perceptual adaptation

brain's ability to adapt perceptually

audition

sense of hearing

frequency

number of wavelengths that pass through in a time frame

pitch

highness and lowness

conduction hearing loss

damage to eardrum or ossicles

sensorineural hearing loss

damage to cochlea or auditory nerve (most common)

cochlea implant

stimulates hair nerves

compressed sound

can hear loud not quiet

place theory

we hear various pitches due to the place where the hair cells move

frequency theory

we hear pitches due to the speed of neural messages to the brain

stereophonic hearing

can hear 3D, can locate sounds

noiceptors

pain receptors

gate-control theory

gates in spinal cord that block out or let in pain

phantom limb sensations

feeling of a missing limb still there

tinnitus

phantom sounds, constant ringing

olfaction

sense of smell

olfactory bulb

behind eyes

pheromones

odorless smell that comes off of us that others smell

sensory interaction

when senses work together, they're magnified

kinesthesis

body position

vestibular sense

balance

embodied cognition

senses effect mood