PSYCH 1014 - DEPTH TERMS ONLY - TEST 10/17

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.

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.

Difference Threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time.

Priming

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

Sensory Adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

Perpetual Set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another.

Audition

the sense or act of hearing.

Frequency

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

Pitch

a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency.

Middle Ear

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones—hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and stirrup (stapes)—that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

Cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid 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

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

Wavelength

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

Intensity

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

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

Accommodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new 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.

Cones

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

Optic Nerve

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

Fovea

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

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.

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.

Feature detectors

nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Parallel processing

processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

figure-ground

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

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.

Visual Cliff

a labortory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Binocular Cues

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

Retinal Disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Monocular Cues (end of chapter 6)

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

Zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Embryo

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

Fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Trimesters

a period of three months, especially as a division of the duration of pregnancy.

Teratogens

agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.

Prematurity

When a baby is born before 37 weeks

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Imitation

the action of using someone or something as a model.

Preferences

a greater liking for one alternative over another or others.

Growth Trends

the long run average rate for a country over a period of time.

Infant Directed Speech

type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant.

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

Accommodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Sensorimotor

ain Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) at which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

Preoperational

the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) at which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Conservation

the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Egocentrism

in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.

Concrete operational

the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) at which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Formal operational

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Zone of proximal development

the space between what a learner can do without assistance and what a learner can do with adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.

Scaffolding

a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking.

Theory of mind

people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

Executive function

the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.

Secure attachment

an attachment where a child feels comforted by the presence of their caregiver

Insecure attachment

people who have trouble making emotional connections with others

Maternal Sensitivity

the quality with which mothers respond to their infants' cues in a timely and appropriate manner.

Basic Trust

a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Resilience

the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences

Synaptic pruning

the process by which extra neurons and synaptic connections are eliminated in order to increase the efficiency of neuronal transmissions.

Adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person usually becomes capable of reproducing.

Imaginary Audience

a psychological state where an individual imagines and believes that multitudes of people are enthusiastically listening to or watching them.

Egocentrism

in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.

Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning

a general theory of all possible factors that might affect an outcome and forming ahypothesis

Identity

the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

Social Identity

the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships.

Intimacy

the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood.

Emerging Adulthood

a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Neurocognitive Disorders (NCDs)

acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. Also called dementia in older adults.

Alzheimer's Diease

a neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques, often with onset after age 80, and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities.

Social Clock (end of chapter 5)

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Memory

the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.

Recall

a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.

Recognition

a measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test

Relearning

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again.

Encoding

the process of getting information into the memory system—for example, by extracting meaning.

Storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time.

Retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage.

Sensory Memory

the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system.

short-term memory

briefly activated memory of a few items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is later stored or forgotten.

Long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory; conscious, active processing of both incoming sensory information, and information retrieved from long-term memory.

effortful processing

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort.

automatic processing

unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells, and word meanings.

semantic long term memory

explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is episodic memory).

episodic long term memory

explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems (the other is semantic memory).

spacing effect

the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

serial position effect

our tendency to recall best the last (recency effect) and first (primacy effect) items in a list.