Psych 100- Exam 1

Sensation

The process of receiving stimulus and energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into neutral energies

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense

Bottom Up

The operations in S and P in which sensory receptors register info about the external environment and send it up to the brain for interpretation
Data-driven
Focus on incoming data
It takes place in real-time

Top Down

The operation in S and P is launched by cognitive processing at the brain's high levels that allow the organism to sense what's happening and to apply that framework info to the world
Rely on contextual cues to interpret info
Use previous experience and expectations as cues

Reception

The stimulation of the sensory receptor cells by energy (sound, light, heat, etc.)
Psychophysics- the study of the psychological effect of the forms of energy

Transduction

Transforming this cell stimulation into neural impulses

Tranmission

Delivering this neural information to the brain to be processed

Absolute Threshold

The minimum level of stimulus intensity needed to detect a stimulus half the time
Anything below this threshold is considered subliminal

Signal Detection Theory

whether or not we detect a stimulus, especially amidst background noises
It depends not just on the intensity of the stimulus but also on psychological factors

Subliminal Detection

Below our threshold for being able to detect a stimulus consciously

Sensory Adaptation

To help detect more novel stimuli in our environment, our senses will tune out constant stimuli
When you switch your phone from one pocket to the other do you feel it?
The brain wants to focus on one sensation at a time

Perceptual Set

When what we EXPECT to see influences what we DO see

Female Hormones

estrogen and pro estrogen

Male Hormones

androgens

Scientific Method

Observing some phenomenon
Formulating hypotheses and predictions
Testing through empirical research
Drawing conclusions
Evaluating conclusions

Operational Definition

A definition that provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study

Descriptive Research

Describing the phenomenon
What are the basic dimensions of this variable?
How often does it occur?
Do any trends occur alongside it?
Cannot prove what causes a phenomenon
Get a general sense about the content
Cannot answer the question “why” or “how” things are the way they are
Often a preliminary step for under-researched areas

Observational

Systematic is key
Know who your target is, when and where you're observing, and in what form you're documenting your observations

Surveys/ Interviews

Asking participants straight up
Structured or unstructured

Case Studies

An in-depth look at a single individual
Rare cases that we cannot ethically replicate

Correlational Research

Relationships between variables
How do two variables change together?
Correlation is NOT causation

Experimental Research

Researcher chooses which variables to manipulate
Able to determine causation
Experimental vs Control Groups
Random assignments
Within Participant Design
Participants serve as their own control group
Do not need random assignments
Participants experience all conditions of the study

Quasi Experimental Design

Quasi means as if
Random assignment is not possible or unethical
Study the differences between naturally occurring groups

Internal

changes are due to the manipulation of the IV

External

Reflects real-world issues

Confound

third variables

Longitudinal Research

Measuring the same variable repeatedly over time
Can suggest potential causal relationships (not absolute)

Social Role Theory

The theory of gender development that while acknowledging the physical differences between the sexes argues that these differences color social expectations and create social structures that limit opportunities for all genders
Gender roles reflect the individuals expectations for how women and men should think, act, and feel
Gender stereotypes are general beliefs about what a man or woman should like, do, and behave

Social Learning Theory

1977
Theory of the importance of observing, modeling, and intimating the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others
We are influenced by the media, culture, rewards and punishments

Gender Schema Theory

1981
Theory of the influence of society’s beliefs about the traits of men and women
The pink tax is that many products for women are much more expensive than they are for men

Structuralism

Wundt's school of philosophy, looking at the structure of the mind, introspection

Functionalism

William James' school of philosophy, what are the functions or purposes of the mind and behaviors as we adapt to our environment, natural flow, influenced by Darwin

Biological Approach

Focuses on the body, especially the brain and nervous system

Behavioral Approach

Observable behavioral responses and the environmental determinates, what goes on in your environment that makes you react and behave the way you do?

Psychodynamic

Unconscious thought- battle between your biological drives and whats socially acceptable, Freud believed that relationships built in childhood were the underlying reason people behaved the way they did

Humanistic Approach

a person's positive qualities- what is their mindset on growth and density?, humans have the ability to control their outcomes and are not solely a product of their environment

Cognitive Approach

the mental processes involved in knowing, our attentions, perceptions, mental processes for solving problems

Evolutionary Approach

Some argue that certain processes can be traced back problems and thoughts humans had in early civilization, decision making, levels of aggressiveness, fears, and mating patterns

Sociocultural Approach

in order to understand behavior we must also understand the cultural context in which it occurs, huge leap as it reminded psychologists to look beyond western culture

Wilhelm Wundt

the father of psychology

Retina

the innermost light-sensitive membrane covering the back wall of the eyeball; it is continuous with the optic nerve. Contains rods and cones.

Trichromatic theory

Color perception is produced by 3 types of cone receptors in the retina that are particularly sensitive to different, but overlapping, ranges of wavelengths
Red, blue, and green

Rods

see light- dark or light

Opponent-process theory

Cells in the visual system respond to complementary pairs of red-green and blue-yellow colors; a given cell might be excited by red and inhibited by green, whereas another cell might be excited by yellow and inhibited by blue
Ewald Hering (1878)
Three sets of opponent retinal processes
Red-green
Yellow-blue
White-black
Evidence in afterimages

Cones

Color

Gestalt Psychology

How people organize the information coming at us
Gestalt (German word for configuration or form) psychology studies how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns

Figure ground

figures are objects that stand out from their surroundings

Proximity

we naturally group nearby figures together

Continuity

we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

Closure

we fill gaps to create a complex, whole object

Pinna

outer ear, shaped like a funnel, outside part of the ear that channels sound into the ear

Auditory canal

the canal that connects the outside of the ear and funnels it into the middle ear

Place theory

Each frequency produces vibrations at a particular place on the basilar membrane
We can detect the location of a sound with a higher frequency much better than a lower frequency

Frequency theory

Perception of a sound's frequency depends on how often the auditory nerve fires
Limitation is that a single neuron can only fire at a maximum rate of 1000 times/second
If a frequency requires a greater firing rate, then they must rely on the volley principle