AP PSYCH VOCAB 3

Bottom Up Processing

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

Top down processing

Information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Selective Attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

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 out brain can interpret

Absolute Threshold Lens

the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Retina

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

Cones

Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well lit conditions. Cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

Optic Nerve

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

Blind Spot

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

Fovea

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

Feature Detectors

Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

Parallel Processing

Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision

Trichomatic Theory

The theory that the retina contains 3 different types of 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

Opponent- Process Theory

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable vision

Gestalt

An organized whole. Gestalt psychologists 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)

Signal Detection Theory

A theory predictting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise)

Subliminal

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

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% of the time

Weber’s Law

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant)

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitvity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Accommodation

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

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 in infants and young animals

Binocular Cues

A depth cues, such as retina disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

Retinal Disparity

A binocular cue 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 Cues

A depth cue, dich 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

Color Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters are wavelengths 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

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Wavelength

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long pluses of radio transmission.

Hue

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth

Intensity

The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive as brightness or lightness. Intensity is determined by the waves’s amplitude (height).

Pupil

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

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

Rods

Retinal receptors that are detect black, white, and gray, and are sensitive to movement; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

Frequency

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

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 in the cochlea’s oval window

Cochlea

A coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

Inner Ear

The inner most 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

Conduction Hearing Loss

A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Cochlear Implant

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded intro he 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 sense in pitch

Vestibular Sense

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

Dichromatism

When a person can’t see a certain set of two colors, usually red and green or yellow and blue

Monochromatism

When a person can’t see any color and only sees the world in black and white

Blindsight

A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it

Phantom Limb Syndrome

The ability to feel sensations and even pain in a limb or limbs that no longer exist

Near Sightedness

A condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina

Far Sightedness

A refractive error due to an abnormally short eyeball, which causes the image of close objects blurred because the focal point of one or both eyes lies behind, rather than on the retina

Executive Function

The higher cognitive functions that allows a person to plan, set goals, focus attention, and control impulsive behavior

Prosopagnosia (face blindness)

a condition where you struggle to recognize faces or can’t interpret facial expressions and cues

Gate-Control Theory

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that block 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