AP PSYCH Mods 23-25

Gestalt

an organized whole. Just start psychologist, emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Figure-ground

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

Grouping

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

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 laboratory device for testing depth perception and infants and young animals

Binocular Clue

A depth clue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes.

Retinal Disparity

a binocular que 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 Cur

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

Phi Phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession.

Perceptual Constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent color, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Color Constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelength reflected by the object.

Perceptual Adaptation

the ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field.

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, anvil, and stirrup) 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 cochlea fluid trigger nerve impulses.

Inner Ear

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss, also called nerve deafness

Conduction Hearing Loss

a less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanic mechanical system that conduct sound waves to the cochlea.

Cochlear Implant

a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulated the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

Place Theory

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated

Frequency Theory

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to since it’s pitch. (also called temporal theory.)

Gate-control Theory

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto the brain. The “gate” is open by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

Olfaction

the sense of smell.

Kinesthesia

our movement sense— our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body arts.

Vestibular Sense

our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

Sensory Interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences it’s taste.

Embodied Cognition

The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments.