Ap psych unit 1.6-2.1

Apparent movement

It is when stable objects may also appear to move. When we see still images change quickly one after another, making it look like they are moving, like in movies or animated cartoons.

Attention

It is the ability to focus on certain things while ignoring others, helping us process information that is important or interesting.

Binocular depth cues

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

Bottom-up processing

Information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information.

Change blindness

A person fails to notice significant changes in a visual scene, often because they are not actively focusing on the area where the change occurs.

Closure

Perceptual principle in Gestalt psychology that refers to our tendency to perceive incomplete shapes or figures as complete by filling in gaps or missing information.

Cocktail party effect

Your ability to attend to only one voice within a sea of many as you chat with party guests.

Convergence

Both of your eyes (binocular) turn inward to focus on a close object, helping your brain understand how far away that object is; the more the eyes converge, the closer the object is perceived to be.

Figure and ground

The organization of the visual field into objects (the ___) that stand out from their surroundings (the ___).

Gestalt psychology

The brain organizes fragments of sensory data into gestalts or meaningful forms. The whole may exceed the sum of its parts, we filter sensory information and construct our perception

Inattentional blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

Interposition

Monocular depth cue that one object partially covers another, making the covered object appear farther away

Linear perspective

Monocular cues, that uses converging lines to create the illusion of distance in a two-dimensional image.

For example, parallel lines, like train tracks, appear to get closer together as they extend into the distance, making objects look smaller and farther away.

Monocular depth cues

A depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, is available to either eye alone.

Perceptual set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. A set of mental tendencies and assumptions that affects, top-down, what we hear, taste, feel, and see.

Proximity

Monocular cues, we tend to group objects that are close together in space, perceiving them as a single unit or related group. We group nearby figures together.

Relative clarity

Monocular depth cues, that are closer to us usually look clearer and more detailed, while those farther away appear hazy or blurry due to atmospheric effects, helping us judge distance.

Relative size

Monocular depth cue that helps us judge how far away objects are based on their size in relation to other objects. If two objects are similar in size, the one that appears larger is perceived to be closer, while the smaller one is seen as farther away.

Retinal disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brian computes distance - greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the cloaser the object.

Schema

Is a mental framework or structure that helps organize and interpret unfamiliar information based on previous experiences and knowledge.

Selective attention

Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus.

Similarity

We group objects that have similar characteristics, such as shape, color, or size.

Texture Gradient

Monocular depth cues, that perceive gradual change in the texture of a surface as it recedes into the distance. Objects that are closer tend to appear more detailed and textured, while those farther away appear smoother and less detailed

Top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.

Absolute threshold

The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time.

Amplitude

Wave’s height which determines the brightness or loudness

Difference threshold

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. AKA just-noticeable

Intensity

The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness. It is determined by the wave’s amplitude (height).

Just- noticeable difference

The smallest difference in intensity of a stimulus that a person can detect. AKA difference threshold

Sensation

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

Sensory adaption

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Sensory interaction

the principle that one sense can influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.

Synesthesia

It its a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. In other words, people with —— experience a blending or crossing of senses.

Transduction

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of physical energy, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses the brain can interpret.

Wavelength

the distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short gamma waves to the long pulses of radio transmission.

Weber’s law

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount).

Accommodation

the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus images of near or far objects on the retina.

Afterimages

Visual illusion that occurs after staring out an image for a period of time and looking away

blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Blindsight

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.

cones

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. It detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

dichromatism

Color deficiency that a person is missing one of the three types of cone cells.

farsightedness

Seeing distant objects better near objects. It occurs when the lens focuses the image on a point behind the retina.

ganglion cells

They transmit visual information from the retina to the brain

lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

monochromatism

More severe, that a person either has only one or none of cone cells. See the world in gray or very limited color.

nearsightedness

Myopia, can be remedied with glasses, contact lenses, or surgery.

opponent- process theory

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

optic nerve

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

photoreceptors

Specialized light- detecting cells on the retinas at the back of your eyes. Rods and cones.

prosopagnosia

Neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize faces.

retina

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

rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement. Rods are necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond.

trichromatic theory

Color vision proposes that the human eye perceives color through the combination of three types of cone cells, each sensitive to red, green, or blue light.

Audition

The sense or act of hearing

Basilar membrane

It is a structure in the inner ear's cochlea that vibrates in response to sound, helping to translate sound waves into neural signals for hearing.

Cochlea

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.

Conduction deafness

It results from damage to the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to the cochlea.

Mechanical systems: outer ear (pinna), ear canal, eardrum, and the ossicles.

Frequency

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second).

Frequency theory

It suggests another explanation for our ability to hear low-pitched sounds: The brain reads pitch by monitoring the frequency of neural impulses travelling up the auditory nerve.

Inner ear

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

Middle ear

A chamber between the eardrum and cochlea contains three tiny bones (Hammer, anvil, stirrup) that pick up the vibrations from the eardrum and transmit them to the cochlea.

Pitch

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness, depends of frequency.

Place theory

It presumes that we hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea’s basilar membrane. It best explains how we sense high pitches.

Semicircular canals

Three fluid-filled, loop-shaped structures in the inner ear that help maintain balance and detect rotational movements of the head.

Sensorineural deafness

Most common form of hearing loss, is caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness.

Sound localization

It is the process by which the brain determines the origin of a sound in space by analyzing cues like differences in timing, intensity, and frequency between the sound waves reaching each ear.

Sensorineural deafness

Most common form of hearing loss, is caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve; also called nerve deafness.

Gustation

Our sense of taste

Kinesthesis

Our movement sense; our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Oleogustus

Is the taste sensation associated with fatty acids, often described as the "taste of fat.” It is thought to signal the presence of dietary fats, which are important for energy intake, insulation, and cell growth.

Olfactory system

It is responsible for the sense of smell, consisting of structures like the olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity, the olfactory bulb, and the brain's olfactory cortex, which together detect and process odor molecules.

Phantom limb

It is the feeling that a missing limb is still present after amputation. People may experience sensations like itching, and pain. This happens because the brain continues to send signals to the areas were the limb used to be.

Pheromones

Olfactory chemical messages- especially those secreted by other members of their species. Some of them serve as sexual attractants.

Supertasters

They have more taste buds than others, enabling them to experience more intense taste

Taste receptors

Specialized cells located on taste buds that detect specific taste stimuli (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami) and send signals to the brain’s temporal lobe to create the perception of flavor.

Vestibular sense

Our balance sense, our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance. It monitors our head’s (and our body body’s) position and movement

Volley theory

It suggests that groups of neurons in the auditory system work together to fire alternatively, allowing us to hear low-pitch sounds by coordinating their responses even when individual neurons can't fire fast enough on their own.

Warm/cold receptors

Nerve in the skin that detects changes in temperature. Warm receptors respond to an increase of temperature, and cold receptors respond to a decrease.