AP Psychology Vocabulary Units 8-14

Sensory receptors

Specialized cells unique to each sense organ that responds to a particular form of sensory stimulation

Transduction

The process by which a form of physical energy is converted into a coded neural signal that can be processed by the nervous system

Absolute threshold

The smallest possible strength of a stimulus that can be detected half the time

Difference threshold, Just noticeable difference

The smallest possible difference between two stimuli that can be detected half the time

Sensory adaptation

The decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus

Subliminal perception, Nonconscious perception

The detection of stimuli that are below the threshold of conscious awareness

Mere exposure effect

The finding that repeated explore to a stimulus increases a person’s preference for that stimulus

Cornea

A clear membrane covering the visible part of the eye that helps gather and direct incoming light

Pupil

The opening in the middle of the iris that changes size to let in different amount of light

Iris

The colored part of the ee, which is the muscle that control the size of the pupil

Lens

A transparent structure, located behind the pupil, that actively focuses, or bends, light as it enters the eye

Accommodation

The process by which the lens changes shape to focus incoming light so that it falls on the retina

Retina

A thin, light-sensitive membrane, located at the back of the eye, that contains the sensory receptors for vision

Rods

The long, thin, blunt sensory receptors of the eye that are highly sensitive to light, but not to color, and that are primarily responsible for peripheral vision and night vision

Cones

The short, thick, pointer sensory receptors of the eye that detect color and are responsible for color vision and visual acuity

Fovea

A small area in the center of the retina, composed entirely of cones, where visual information is most sharply focused

Optic disk

Area of the retina without rods or cones, where the optic nerve exits the back of the eye

Blind spot

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, producing a small gap in the field of vision

Ganglion cells

In the retina, the specialized neurons that connect to the bipolar cells; the bundled axons of the ganglion cells form the optic nerve

Bipolar cells

In the retina, the specialized neurons that connect the rods and cones with the ganglion cells

Optic nerve

The thick nerve that exits from the back of the eye and carries visual information to the visual cortex in the brain

Optic chiasm

The point in the brain where the optic nerve fibers from each eye meet and partly cross over to the opposite side of the brain

Color blindness

One of several inherited forms of color deficiency or weakness in which an individual cannot distinguish between certain colors

Afterimage

A visual experience that occurs after the original source of stimulation is no longer present

Audition

The technical term for the sense of hearing

Amplitude

The intensity or amount of energy of a wave, reflected in the height of the wave; the amplitude of a sound wave determines a sound’s loudness

Decibel

The unit of measurement for loudness

Pitch

The relative highness or lowness of a sound, determined by the frequency of a sound wave

Frequency

The rate of vibration, or the number of sound waves per second

Timbre

The distinctive quality of a sound, determined by the complexity of the sound wave

Outer ear

The part of the ear that collects sound waves; consists of the pinna, ear canal, and eardrum

Eardrum, Tympanic membrane

A tightly stretched membrane that the end of the ear canal that vibrates when hit by sound waves

Middle ear

The part of the ear that amplifies sound waves; consists of three small bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup)

Inner ear

The part of the ear where sound is transduced into neural impulses; consists of the cochlea and semicircular canals

Cochlea

The coiled, fluid-filled inner-ear structure that contains the basilar membrane and hair cells

Basilar membrane

The membrane within the cochlea of the ear that contains the hair cells

Hair cells

The hair-like sensory receptors for sounds, which are embedded in the basilar membrane of the cochlea

Olfaction

Sense of smell

Gustation

Sense of taste

Pheromones

Chemical signals released by an animals that communicate information and affect the behavior of other animals of the same species

Olfactory bulbs

The enlarged ending of the olfactory cortex at the front of the brain where the sensation of smell is registered

Taste buds

The specialized sensory receptors for taste that are located on the tongue and inside the mouth and throat

Nociceptors

Specialized sensory receptors for pain that are found in the skin, muscles, and internal organs

Substance P

A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of pain messages to the brain

Kinesthetic sense

The sense of location and position of body parts in relation to one another

Proprioceptors

Sensory receptors, located in the muscles and joints, that provide information about body position and movement

Vestibular sense

The sense of balance, or equilibrium

Bottom-up processing, Data-driven processing

Information processing that emphasizes the importance of the sensory receptors in detecting the basic features of a stimulus in the process of recognizing a whole pattern (parts to whole)

Top-down processing, Conceptually driven processing

Information processing that emphasizes the importance of the observer’s knowledge, expectations, and other cognitive processes in arriving at meaningful perceptions (whole to parts)

Gestalt psychology

School of psychology that maintained sensations are actively processed according to consistent perceptual rules, producing meaningful whole perceptions (gestalts)

ESP (extrasensory perception)

Perception of information by some means other than through the normal processes of sensation

Figure-ground relationship

Gestalt principle stating that a perception is automatically separated into the figure, which clearly stands out, from its less distinct background, the ground

Depth perception

The use of visual cues to perceive the distance or 3D characteristics of objects

Monocular cues

Distance or depth cues that can be processed by either eye alone

Binocular cues

Distance or depth cues that require the use of both eyes

Perceptual constancy

The tendency to perceive objects, especially familiar objects, as constant and unchanging despite changes in sensory input

Size/shape/color constancy

The perception of an object as maintaining the same size/shape/color despite changing images on the retina

Perceptual illusion

The misperception of the true characteristics of an object or an image

Moon illusion

A visual illusion involving the misperception that the moon is larger when it is on the horizon than when it is directly overhead

Perceptual set

The tendency to perceive objects or situations from a particular frame of reference

Biofeedback

Technique that involves using auditory or visual feedback to learn to exert voluntary control over involuntary body functions (heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow, muscle tension, etc.)

Neurological visual impairment

Loss of vision resulting from an acquired brain injury or impairment in the coordination of the eyes, and difficulties with visual perception

Change blindness

A phenomenon of visual perception that occurs when a stimulus undergoes a change without this being noticed by its observer

Feature detectors

Receiving neurons in the visual cortex that detect particular features or aspects or more complex visual stimuli (angles, edges, lines, forms)

Priming

The effect in which recent experience of a stimulus facilitates or inhibits later processing of the same or a similar stimulus

Convergence

When looking at a close-up object, your eyes angle inwards towards each other

Retinal disparity

Very different images from both eyes → object is closer, Similar images from both eyes → object is farther

Habituation

A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations

Inattentional blindness

Unless we pay close attention, we can miss even the most conspicuous events

Auditory nerve

Responsible for sending vibrations (sound signals) to the brain

Papillae

Tiny raised protrusions on the tongue that contain taste buds

Skin sense

Provide essential information about your physical status and interaction with objects in the environment

Ossicles

The three bones in the middle ear

Semicircular canals

Structure in the ear that are filled with fluid and lined with hair-like receptor cells that shift in response to motion, changes in body position, or changes in gravity

Conditioning

The process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses

Classical conditioning

The basic learning process that involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a response-producing stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the same response

Stimulus generalization

The occurrence of a learned response not only to the original stimulus but to other, similar stimuli as well

Stimulus discrimination

The occurrence of a learned response to a specific stimulus but not to other, similar stimuli

Higher order conditioning, Second order conditioning

A procedure in which a conditioned stimulus from one learning trial functions as the unconditioned stimulus in a new conditioning trial; the second conditioned stimulus comes to elicit the conditioned response, even though it has never been directly paired with the unconditioned stimulus

Extinction (classical)

The gradual weakening and apparent disappearance of conditioned behavior (occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS)

Spontaneous recovery

The reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without explore to the CS

Behaviorism

School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain the the process of learning

Placebo response, Placebo effect

An individual’s psychological and physiological response to what is actually a fake treatment or drug

Taste aversion

A classically conditioned dislike for and avoidance of a particular food that develops when an organism becomes ill after eating the food

Biological preparedness

In learning theory, the idea that an organism is innately predisposed to form associations between certain stimuli and responses

Law of effect

Learning principle proposed by Thorndike in which responses followed by a satisfying effect become strengthened and are more likely to recur in a particularly situation, while responses followed by a dissatisfying effect are weakened and less likely to recur in a particular situation

Operant

Skinner’s term for a voluntary behavior that operates on the environment to produce consequences

Operant conditioning

The basic learning process that involves changing the probability that a response will be repeated by manipulating the consequences of that response

Reinforcement

The occurrence of a stimulus or event following a response that increases the likelihood of that responses being repeated

Discriminative stimulus

A specific stimulus in the presence of which a particular response is more likely to be reinforced, island in the absence of which a particular response is not likely to be reinforced

Shaping

The operant conditioning procedure of selectively reinforcing successively closer approximation of a goal behavior until the goal behavior is displayed

Extinction (operant)

The gradual weakening and disappearance of conditioned behavior (occurs when an emitted behavior is no longer followed by a reinforcer)

Partial reinforcement effect

The phenomenon in which behaviors that are conditioned using partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction than behaviors that are conditioned using continuous reinforcement

Behavior modification

The application of learning principles to help people develop more effective or adaptive behaviors

Cognitive map

Tolman’s term for the mental representation of the layout of a familiar environment

Latent learning

Tolman’s term for learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement but is not behaviorally demonstrated until a reinforcer becomes available

Learned helplessness

A phenomenon in which exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behavior

Instinctive drift

The tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that can interfere with the performance of an operantly conditioned response

Observational learning

Learning that occurs through observing the actions of others

Mirror neurons

Neurons that activate both when an action if performed and when the same action is perceived