Unit Review

cocktail party effect

brain's ability to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli

color blindness

a reduced ability to distinguish between certain colors

hair cells

the primary sensory receptor cells for hearing within the inner ear.

respond to vibrations of the basilar membrane via movement of the fine hairlike structures (stereocilia) that protrude from them.

figure ground

organization of a figure from its surroundings (background)

occipital lobe

portion of the cerebral cortex (back of head) includes areas that receive info from visual fields

reticular formation

a nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousalarea

sympathetic nervous system

the divisions of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy (fight or flight)

selective attention

the focusing on conscious awareness on a particular stimulus out of all that we experience

sensory adaption

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation (after a while, you don't notice something anymore)

binocular cues

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that uses two eyes

ACH

(aka acetylcholine) enables muscke actions, learning, and memory

association areas

areas of the cerebral cortex that are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus that automatically triggers an unconditioned response

unconditioned response

an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)

conditioned stimulus

a stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response (ringing of the bell)

conditioned response

a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced