Ap Psychology Unit 4 Flashcards

Cocktail party effect

Focusing attention on one particular stimulus while filtering out other stimuli

Gustation

Sense of taste (Chemical Sense)

Touch

Sense of temperature and pressure

Photoreceptors

Light sensitive cells in the retina where transduction occurs, that convert light energy to neural impulses

Afterimages

Sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed

Retinal disparity

When comparing retinal images from the two eyes; greater the difference between the two images the closer the object

Relative Size

Two objects the same size→if one appears larger than it’s close

Linear perspective

Parallel lines appear to meet in the distance; sharper the angle of convergence the greater the perceived difference.

Relative motion

Objects closer to you move faster than those further away from you

Inter position

Hidden objects are more distant that those objects that hide them

Texture gradient

As object gets further away from us, the texture gets smother

Sensation

Process by which sensory receptors and the nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Sensory Receptors

Sensory nerve ending stat respond to stimuli

Perception

Process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize and bring meaning to our world.

Bottom-up processing

Analysis that starts at sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing

Top-down processing

Analysis guided by higher level mental processing like when we construct perceptions based on experiences and expectations

Selective attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is elsewhere

Change blingness

Failing to notice changes in our environment

Transduction

Conversion of on form of energy into another. Changing sights, sounds, smells into a neural code the brain can interpert

Psychophysics

The study of paranormal phenomena, including psychokinesis

Absolute threshold

Minimum stimulation necessary for a stimulus to be detected (50% of the time)

Signal detection theory

Prediction of how and when we detect a faint stimulus amid background stimulation

Subliminal

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Difference threshold

Minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection

Weber’s law

Stimuli must differ by a constant amount to be perceived as different

Sensory adaptation

Loss of responsiveness in receptor cells after stimulation has remain unchanged for a while

Perceptual set

Mental predisposition to perceive on thing and not another context, motivation- Key factors (Wavelength→Pitch) (Amp→volume)

Wavelength

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next

Hue

The dimension of color that’s determined by the wavelength of light

Intensity

The amount of energy in a light wave or sound, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness.

Cornea

The eyes clear, protective layer, covering the pupil and iris

Pupil

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Iris

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size as well.

Lens

The transparent structure

Retina

The light sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual info

Accommodation

In sensation and perception, the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near of far on the retina

Rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, gray and are sensitive to movement, peripheral and twilight vision

Cones

Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina. detect color sensations

Optic nerve

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Blind spot

The point where your optic nerve leaves the eye, no receptor cells are located here

Fovea

The central focus point in the retina, around which the eyes cones fluster

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

The theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors

Opponent-process theory

The theory that opposing retinal processing (red-green)(blue-yellow)(white-black) enable color vision

Feature detectors

Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that responds to specific features of stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movements

Parallel processing

Processing many aspects simultaneously

Gestalt

Organizing perceptual whole; integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

Figure-ground

Organizing objects that start out from their surroundings

Grouping

Perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups (Proximity, simularty, continuity, closure)

Depth perception

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

Visual cliff

A laboratory device to test depth perception in infants and your animals

Binocular cue

A depth cue, such as retina disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

Retinal disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from two eyes, the brain computes distance

Monocular cues

A depth cue, such as interposition of linear perspective, available to either eye

Phi phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent light blink on and off in quick succession

Perceptual constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

Color constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the objects

Perceptual adaptation

The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

Audition

The sense of act of hearing

Frequency

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Pitch

A tone experienced highness, or lawness; depends on frequency

Middle ear

Concentrates the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochleas oval window

Cochlea

Snail shaped tube where transduction occurs

Inner ear

Contains cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular scars

Sensorineural hearing loss

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells of the auditory nerves

Conduction hearing loss

A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Cochlear implant

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

Place theory

The theory that links pitch we hear with the place where the cochleas membrane is stimulated

Frequency theory

The theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone

Gate control theory

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass to the brain

Olfaction

Sense of smell (Chemical sense)

Kinesthesia

Sense of body position and movement of body parts relative to each other

Vestibular sense

Sense of body orientation with respect to gravity

Sensory interaction

One sense may influence another