Intro to Psychology Exam #2

sensation

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

sensory receptors

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

Perception

the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful.

bottom-up processing

information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information (baby exploring world with their bottom up)

top-down processing

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

What three steps are basic to all of our sensory systems?

1. receive sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells.

2. transform that stimulation into neural impulses.

3. deliver the neural information to our brain.

- pneumonic: walking into TDR

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

psychophysics

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time (some factors to take into account are previous experience, motivation, physical state, etc.)

- ex. the faintest sound you can hear in a quiet room

difference threshold (just noticeable difference)

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time (as stimulus increases, so is the amount of intensity needed to notice a difference)

- ex. turning up/down music volume

signal detection theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

subliminal

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Ernst Weber

perception; identified just-noticeable-difference (JND) that eventually becomes Weber's law

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)

- ex. room is quiet -> small increase in noise is noticeable; room is noisy -> small increase in noise not easily detected

sensory adaptation (habituation)

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation - we become less aware because our nerve cells fire less frequently

Who was E.N. Sokolov, and what did he study?

E.N. Sokolov studied habituation, a form of sensory adaptation where people and animals stop responding to repeated, unchanging stimuli.

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another based on past experience

- ex. hearing yanny or laurel

What was the Bruner and Potter (1964) study, and what did it show?

People were slower to recognize a blurry picture when it was shown gradually getting clearer. The study showed that early guesses can interfere with later perception, proving that our expectations (perceptual set) can shape how we see things.

Gestalt

an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Wavelength

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

wavelength determines..

color (distance from one peak to the next)

- short wavelength = high frequency (blueish)

- long wavelength = low frequency (reddish)

hue

the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light

intensity

the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude

intensity determines...

brightness AND hearing

- great amplitude = bright colors, loudness

- small amplitude = dull colors, quieter

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 information

- mnemonic: retina records

accommodation

the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision when cones don't respond.

- mnemonic: dark roads at night

cones

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

- mnemonic: color + clarity

optic nerve

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

blind spot

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

fovea

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

the theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color

- ex. when ur eyes see red and green w/o blue, ur brain says yellow!

opponent-process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. Some cells are turned "on" by one color but "off" by another.

- ex. experiencing afterimages (like a green afterimage after staring at a red image)

feature detectors

nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex (occipital lobes) that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

parallel processing

processing of many aspects of a stimulus simultaneously (motion, form, depth, color)

figure-ground

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

grouping

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups (illustrates how the perceived whole differs from the sum of its parts)

what are the six principles of grouping?

1. proximity

2. similarity

3. continuity

4. closure

5. connectedness

6. contiguity

proximity

grouping nearby figures together

- ex. seeing three sets of two lines instead of six separate lines

similarity

grouping similar items (by color, shape, or size) together

- ex. seeing rows of circles and squares based on shape or color.

continuity

perceiving smooth, continuous patterns rather than separate, broken ones

- ex. seeing a line and a curve crossing instead of two separate shapes touching

closure

filling in gaps to create a complete, whole object

- ex. seeing a complete circle even if parts of it are missing

connectedness

perceiving linked or touching elements as a single unit

- ex. seeing dots connected by a line as one group

contiguity

perceiving events close in time or space as related or continuous

- ex. seeing a picture change and a sound occur at the same time, and assuming the picture made the sound

depth perception

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

What did Gibson and Walk (1960) study and find?

Used the visual cliff to study depth perception in infants; found it's partly innate (born with it) bc most infants refused to crawl over "cliff

visual cliff

a lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

binocular cues

depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes and are used to judge the distance of nearby objects

convergence

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object

- ex. looking at nose

retinal disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object.

monocular (pictoral) cues

a depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone

what are the seven monocular depth cues?

1. linear perspective

2. relative size

3. light and shadow

4. overlap (interposition)

5. texture gradients

6. aerial perspective

7. relative motion/motion parallax

linear perspective

parallel lines appear to meet in the distance

ex. railroad tracks seem to come together far away

relative size

smaller objects are perceived as farther away

ex. a person in the distance looks smaller than one up close

light and shadow

shading gives clues about depth and distance

ex. objects with darker shading look farther or indented

overlap (interposition)

when one object blocks another, it's seen as closer

ex. a hand in front of a book appears nearer than the book

texture gradients

surface details get smaller and blurrier with distance

ex. you can see blades of grass nearby, but it looks smooth far away

aerial perspective

distant objects look hazier or lighter due to atmosphere

ex. mountains look pale and blurry in the distance

relative motion (motion parallax)

when moving, nearby objects seem to move faster than distant ones

ex. trees by the road rush past, but far hills move slowly

phi phenomenon

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

perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

- ex. car is same size even as it drives away

perceptual adaptation

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

- ex. adapting to new glasses

audition

the sense or act of hearing

frequency

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

pitch

a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

middle ear HAS three bones...

1. hammer

2. anvil

3. stirrup

middle ear

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

inner ear

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

sensorineural hearing loss

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

conduction hearing loss

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 of hearing (place coding)

the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.

frequency theory of hearing (temporal coding)

the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

gate-control theory

the spinal cord has a neurological "gate" that either blocks pain signals or lets them reach the brain. The gate opens when small nerve fibers send pain signals upward and closes when large fibers or brain messages inhibit them

ex. mother kissing their childs "boo-boo"; the touch closes the pain "gate"

Hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur

what are the two theories that psychologists have proposed for how hypnosis works?

1. social influence theory: powerful social influences can produce a state of hypnosis

2. dissociation theory: a split in consciousness in which one part of the mind operates independently of the rest of consciousness

dissociation

a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others

posthypnotic suggestion

a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

Gustation

our sense of taste (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami)

Olfaction

our sense of smell

kinesthesia

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

vestibular sense

our balance sense—our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

sensory interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another

ex. when the smell of food influences its taste

embodied cognition

the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

- ex. using gestures while talking

extrasensory perception (ESP)

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

parapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis (telekinesis)

consciousness

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

introspective method (William James)

technique where individuals examine and describe their own thoughts and feelings to understand how the mind works; produces descriptive, non-numerical reports of mental experiences — making the outcome qualitative data.

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

selective attention

focusing consciousness awareness on a particular stimulus

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness

dual processing

the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

blindsight

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus w/o consciously experiencing it

- ex. person who is blind can't consciously see objects, but can still guess their location or movement correctly

sequential processing

processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems

epiphenomenon

happens at the same time as something else but there is no casual relationship between the two (one could happen w/o the other)

what three factors led to consciousness in the 1960s?

1. advances in Neuro knowledge

2. prevalence of mind altering drugs

3. cognitive revolution (lack of predictiveness)

sleep

periodic, natural loss of consciousness--as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation