AP Psych Sensation & Perception

Cornea

- Transparent, dome-like structure on the front part of the eye
- Gives eye focusing or refracting power

Pupil

- Adjustable opening in the center of the eye where light enters
- Controls amount of light entering eyes

Iris

- Forms colored portion of the eye around the pupil
- Controls size of pupil opening

Lens

- Transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina
- Focus the eye on near or far objects

Retina

- Light-sensitive layer that lines the back of the eye

Photoreceptors

- Convert light energy to electrochemical neural impulses that are conducted to our brain
- Rods and cones

Rods

- Allow us to see in dim light
- Perception of movement in peripheral vision

Cones

- Function in daylight and well-lit areas
- Ability to see color

Optic Nerve

- Carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain (occipital lobe)

Blind Spot/Optic Disc

- Point where optic nerve leaves the eye
- No receptor cells located there

Pinna

- Outer ear, visible part
- Designed to catch sound waves

Auditory/Ear Canal

- Small tube in the outer ear between ear flap and eardrum
- Transfers sound waves through ear

Tympanic Membrane/Eardrum

- Part of the ear that vibrates when sound waves hit it

Middle Ear

- Between eardrum and cochlea
- Allow sound waves to vibrate bones (auditory ossicles)
- Malleus, incus, stopes

Cochlea

- Snail-looking, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear (sound waves trigger nerve impulses
- Also deals with balance

Auditory Nerve

- Carries sound from cochlea to the brain

Gustation

- A two-phase chemical reaction that involves both our mouth and throat (taste) and nose (smell)
- Processing sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami

Olfacation

- Chemical molecules being breathed through the nose

Kinesthesis

- Sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Vestibular

- Located in the inner ear
- Controls balance

Absolute Threshold

- Smallest level of stimulus that can be detected
- Ex: The instant you start to hear music when gradually turning the volume up

Just Noticeable Difference/Difference Threshold

- Amount something must be changed to notice the difference
- Ex: Noticing the volume difference between 0 and 10 but not noticing the difference between 10 and 11

Weber's Law

- Amount of stimulus needed to notice a change depends on how proportionate the change is from the strength of the original stimulus

Inattentional Blindness

- When our focus is directed at one stimulus, leaving us blind to other stimuli

Change Blindness

- Missing things that change in your environment

Synesthesia

- Condition in which two senses are sensed at the same time, where one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another

Color Blindness

- Lacking functioning red or green sensitive cones (sometimes both)
- Missing cones that respond to a specific color

Face Blindness

- Inability to recognize people's faces

Monocular Perception

- Clues that can be used in depth perception that only need one eye

Binocular Perception

- Require both eyes to perceive depth or distance

Gestalt Perception

- Brain’s tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Perceptual Constancy

- Top-down process
- Tendency to perceive an object you are familiar with as having a constant shape, size, and brightness despite the stimuli changes that occur

Hubel & Weisel

- Made studies on visual cortex by recording the electrical activity of cat brains
- Sewed some cats eyes shut

Gustav Fechner

- Demonstrated that mental processes can be measured