Psyc100 Class Notes

Sensation

The physical process of having sense organs stimulated.

Perception

The psychological process of interpreting sensations to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Ambiguous images

Images that can be interpreted in multiple ways.

Filling in (pattern completion) phenomena

Perception that goes beyond sensation.

Sensory adaptation

Diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus.

Transduction

Converting physical stimuli into neural information.

Psychophysics

Study of the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and psychological experiences.

Absolute threshold

Minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

Signal detection theory

Theory that explains the four possible combinations when presented with stimuli.

Difference threshold

Minimum difference a person can detect between two stimuli half the time.

Weber’s law

The size of a just noticeable difference is a constant fraction of the stimulus intensity.

Cornea

The protective area that helps in low-level focusing of light.

Retina

The membrane at the back of the eye that houses photoreceptors.

Rods

Photoreceptors used for seeing black and white and shapes.

Cones

Photoreceptors used for seeing color and clarity.

Optic nerve

Made of axons from ganglion cells.

Feature detectors

Neurons in the visual cortex that respond to specific aspects of shapes.

Trichromatic color theory

Theory that explains color vision results from mixing three colors of light.

Opponent process theory

Color vision results from cones linked in pairs of opposing colors.

Binocular cues

Depth cues that result from using both eyes.

fovea

section of the retina

simple cell

bar of light oriented at particular angle

color blindness

weakness or deficiency in perception of certain colors

binocular cues

depth cues that result from the use of both eyes

retinal disparity

compare image from retinas of both eyes; greater disparity means object is closer

binocular convergence

information about how much eyes must rotate inward to look at an object. More rotation means object is closer

Monocular cues

depth cues that are available to each eye separately

Linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge as they get further away

Texture gradient

you can see more texture or detail on objects that are closer

Atmospheric perspective

things that are further away will appear hazier and bluer in color

Interposition

partially occluded (blocked) it appears to be further away

Perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging even as the image on the retina changes

Shape constancy

a shape has a constant shape but the shape falling on your retina changes

Lightness constancy

objects seem to have the constant lightness even when illumination varies

Relative luminance

amount of light in an object reflects relative to its surroundings

Color constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having constant color even when changing illumination alters reflected wavelengths

Gestalt

an organized whole

Law of continuity

opt for the simplest solution

Law of proximity

grouping objects together because they are close together

Principle of closure

we fill in boundaries/boards when there is none physically there

Figure ground

organization of visual field into its objects (figures) and surroundings (ground)

Learning

enduring changes in behavior that occur with experience

Association

processes by which two pieces of information in environment are linked, so we connect them in our minds

Contiguity

nearness in time and space

Frequency

how often something occurs

Similarity

how alike things are

Conditioning

form of associative learning in which behaviors are triggered by associations with events in the environment

Operant conditioning

rewards and punishments to increase or decrease behavior

Classical conditioning (pavlovian conditioning)

neutral stimulus becomes associated with stimulus which has automatic, inborn response

Neutral stimulus

stimulus that does not lead to any predictable response

Unconditioned stimulus

stimulus with a biologically innate response

Unconditioned response

biologically hardwired innate response

Conditioned stimulus

stimulus resulting in a conditioned response

Conditioned response

response that is learned over time with association

Acquisition

initial learning of the stimulus; response relationship

Forward conditioning

CS comes before US; most effective

Backward conditioning

US comes before CS

Higher-order conditioning

a new neutral stimulus can become a new CS

Extinction

diminished responding when the CS is no longer paired with the US

Spontaneous recovery

occurs after conditioned response is established, there is a pause in the experiment and response is the same when used again

Generalization

tendency to respond with the Cr to stimuli similar to the CS

Discrimination

learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli

John Waston’s Little Albert study

one of the least ethical studies; when Albert would attempt to touch a white mouse, Waston would make a loud noise. This resulted in Albert having a fear sensation anytime he saw something white and fluffy

Law of effect

consequences of a behavior increase or decrease likelihood the behavior will be repeated

Reinforcement

make the behavior more likely to occur

Positive reinforcement (adding a stimulus)

strengthen response by following it with a pleasing stimulus

Negative reinforcement (removing a stimulus)

strengthen response by removing something undesirable

Primary reinforcers

unlearned and innately satisfying

Secondary reinforcers

are associated with primary reinforcers to achieve result

Shaping

using reinforcers to gradually guide an animals actions towards a desired behavior

Continuous reinforcement

reinforce behavior every time it occurs

partial/intermittent reinforcement

• reinforce behavior, but not every time it occurs

• partial/intermittent reinforcement schedules

Fixed ratio

reinforce behavior after certain number of responses

Variable ratio

reinforce behavior after unpredictable number of responses

Fixed interval

reinforce first response after fixed amount of time

Variable interval

reinforce first response after varying time interval

Punishment

make the behavior less likely to occur

Positive punishment (adding a stimulus)

diminish response by following it with unpleasant stimulus

Negative punishment (removing a stimulus)

diminish response by removing a desired stimulus

Conditioned taste aversions

learned avoidance of particular taste or food

Instinctive drift

learned behavior that shifts toward instinctive unlearned behavior tendencies

Biological constraint model

view on learning which proposes that some behaviors are inherently more likely to be learned than others

Latent learning

learning that occurs in absence of reinforcement and is not demonstrated until later when reinforcement occurs

Memory

ability to take in, solidify, store and use information; the store of what has been learned and remembered

Encoding

brain attends to, takes in, and integrates new information from senses

automatic processing

encoding that happens without intention

effortful processing

encoding that is intentional and takes work

Consolidation

establishing, stabilizing, or solidifying memory

Storage

retention of memory over time

Hierarchies

organize information from most common to most specific

Schemas

mental frameworks; from experiences with people, objects, or events

Associative networks

 chain of associations between related concepts

Retrieval

recovery of information stored in memory

Aids to memory formation and retrieval

attention, sleep, emotion, depth of processing

Flashbulb memories

detailed snapshot for what we were doing when we first heard about a major, public, and emotionally charged event

Retrieval cues

prompt that helps access information in memory

Spreading activation

activation goes to all nodes that are attached to a node that is turned on

Encoding specificity

how the physical environment can act as a retrieval cue

Impediments to memory formation

distraction/multitasking, emotion

Rosy retrospection

tendency to remember events as more positive than they were