Psychology 3R Chapter 1

Accuracy Measures

A dependent variable that assesses how correctly participants perform cognitive tasks

Analytic Introspection

A method that involved training participants to carefully examine their own conscious experiences and break them down into basic elements like sensations, images, and feelings.

Behaviorism

Study of behavior

• strengthening/weakening of associations between stimulus-pair responses

Cognitive Psychology

Study of mental processes:

• how people encode, store, retrieve information

Cognitive Revolution

Movement in psychology that revived interest in the mind as a focus of scientific questioning. Sparked by developments in linguistics, computer science.

Confounds

Factors that undermine the ability to draw casual inferences from an experiment

Consciousness

Awareness of ourselves and our environment

Dependent Variable

Variable the researcher measures but does not manipulate in an experiment.

Empiricism

Belief that knowledge comes from experience

Experimenter Expectations

When the experimenter’s expectations influence the outcome of a study

Independent Variable

Variable the researcher manipulates and controls in an experiment

Information Processing

Cognitive approach that treats the mind lke a computer.

• takes in info

• processes it

• produces output

Longitudinal Study

Study that follows the same group of individuals over time

Observational Research

Research method where scientists observe and measure phenomena without manipulation variables, allowing identification of relationships but not causation.

Participant Demand

Participants behaving in a way that they think the experimenter wants them to behave

Placebo Effect

When receiving special treatment or something new affects human behavior

Qualitative Analysis

Examination of the content, patterns, or characteristics of participants’ responses

Quasi-experimental design

experiment that does not require random assignment to conditions

random assignment

assigning participants to receive different conditions of an experiment by chance

Reaction Time Measures

Dependent variable that captures how quickly participants respond to stimuli or complete tasks

Structural Psychology

Titchener’s approach to psychology involving training participants to examine their own conscious experiences and breaking them down into sensations, images, and feelings

Transfer Measures

Dependent variable that assesses whether learning or skills from one context can be applied to new situations

Binocular Depth Cues

Depth cues created by retinal image disparity — the space between our eyes — which require coordination of both eyes 

Blindspot

Hole in our vision where the optic nerve leaves the retina 

Computer Vision

Machines or algorithms that are built to mimic the human sensation and perception system

Cones

Visual neurons specialized in detecting fine details and colors. Found in fovea

Convergence

Inward turning of our eyes required to focus on objects less than about 50 feet away from us (binocular cue)

Cornea

Clear covering that protects the eye and begins to focus incoming light

Depth cues 

message from our bodies and the external environment that supply us with information about space and distance.

Depth Perception

Ability to perceive three-dimensional space and to accurately judge distance

Embodied

particular environment that we sense and perceive becomes built into and linked with our cognition 

Fovea

Central point of the retina

Gestalt

Meaningfully organized whole

Human factors

Field of psychology using psychological knowledge, including principles of sensation and perception to improve development of technology

Iris

Colored part of the eye controlling the size of the pupil by constricting or dilating in response to light intensity

Lens

Structure that focuses on the incoming light on the retina

McGurk Effect

Error in perception that occurs when we misperceive sounds because audio and visual parts of the speech are mismatched 

Monocular Depth Cues

Depth cues that help up perceive depth using one eye

Mueller-lyer Illusion

Illusion where one line segment looks longer than the another based on converging or diverging angles at the ends of the lines

Optic Nerve

Collection of millions of ganglion neurons that send vast amounts of visual info to the brain

perception

process of interpreting and organizing the incoming information so that we can understand it and react accordingly

Perceptual constancy

ability to perceive a stimulus as constant despite changes in sensation

Pupil

Small opening in center of the eye

Retina

Layer of tissue at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptor cells 

Rods

Visual neurons that specialize in detecting black, white, gray colors

Saccades

Rapid shifting of the eyes from one fixation point to another 

Sensation 

process of receiving information from the environment through our sensory organs

Sensory Adaptations

Decreased sensitivity to a stimulus after prolonged and constant exposure 

Sensory Interaction

Working together of different senses to create experience

Synthesia

Experience in which one sensation (i.e. seeing a number) creates experiences in another (i.e. hearing a sound)

Transduction

Conversion of light detected by receptor cells to electrical impulses that are transported to the brain