AP Psych Unit 3

Binocular Cue

a depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

Visual Cliff

a lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Depth Perception

ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relations from 2D light hitting the retina

Young Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color.

Accommodation

Jean Piaget; people change schemas in order to fit in the new info.

Intensity

amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave; what we perceive is brightness/loudness

Hue

dimension of color determined by the wavelength of light (color names)

Gestalt

an organized whole; Gestalt psychologists emphasized integrating pieces of information to a whole

Wavelength

distance from the peak of one light/sound wave to the peak of the next (gamma rays, long waves)

Olfaction

sense of smell

Sensory Receptors

sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

Inner Ear

innermost part; cochlea, semicircular canal & vestibular sacs

Cochlea

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

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

Fovea

the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster

Blindspot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

Optic Nerve

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

Cones

retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

Rods

retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond

Retina

the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

Pupil

the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

Cornea

The clear tissue that covers the front of the eye (covers the pupil and the iris)

Lens

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

Iris

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

Retinal Disparity

a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Monocular Cue

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

Embodied Cognition

in psychological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments

Sensory Interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Vestibular Sense

the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

Kinesthesia

our movement sense - our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Gate Control Theory

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The "gate" is opened 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.

Parallel Processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Feature Detectors

nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Opponent Process Theory

opposing retinal processes enable color vision

Parapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition

Perceptual Set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Sensory Adaptations

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Weber's Law

perceived as different must differ by a constant minimum percentage (not amount)

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Difference Threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time

Subliminal

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Signal Detection Theory

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

Absolute Threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Psychophsyics

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Transduction

conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.

Change Blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment; type of intentional blindness

Inattentional Blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Top Down Processing

Guided by higher level mental processes, such as experience, motivation, and expectations

Bottom Up Processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Frequency Theory

the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

Place Theory

the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

Cochlear Impact

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

Conduction Hearing Loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness

Pitch

a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Perceptual Adaptation

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

Color Constancy

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

Perceptual Constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

Phi Phenomenon

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

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

Gustav Fechner

early German psychologist credited with founding psychophysics (mind & body as one; mind is the measurement of perception and sensation)

David Hubel

how the cortical cells, cells of the visual cortex of the brain, react to different stimuli

Ernst Weber

perception; identified just-noticeable-difference (JND) that eventually becomes Weber's law

Torsten Wiesel

discovered the major difference between cortical cells is the amount of info. they can process; ocular dominance in childhood