Psych Exam 2 Lock in yYou Won't Fail Flashcards

Sensation

Your body detecting raw energy (light, sound, etc.). Social example: Just noticing someone’s face or voice with no meaning attached yet.

Perception

Your brain turning raw info into meaning. Social example: Interpreting someone’s facial expression as friendly or threatening.

Bottom-up processing

Brain only using the actual info in front of you. Social example: Judging a person only by what they’re doing right now, with no past assumptions.

Top-down processing

Brain using expectations and prior knowledge to shape what you experience. Social example: Stereotypes — you see a person and your brain fills in traits based on their group before they even speak.

Contextual effect

Same thing looks different depending on the situation around it. Social example: The same angry face looks more threatening on a stranger than on your friend.

Absolute threshold

Weakest level you can detect half the time. Social example: The quietest comment in a group you still manage to catch.

Difference threshold

Smallest change you can notice. Social example: Noticing when someone’s tone shifts just enough to sound annoyed.

Signal detection theory

Detection depends on the signal strength plus how ready you are to say yes. Social example: You’re more likely to “see” hostility in an ambiguous face when you’re already on edge or thinking about certain groups.

Wavelength

Controls the color of light. Social example: Not directly social, just the physical part of seeing color.

Amplitude

Controls brightness or loudness. Social example: How loud someone’s voice is when they raise it in an argument.

Frequency

Controls pitch of sound. Social example: High vs low voice affecting how dominant or soft someone seems.

Transduction

Turning physical energy into brain signals. Social example: Light from someone’s face becoming signals your brain can interpret.

Accommodation

Eye lens changing shape to focus. Social example: Focusing on someone’s face in a crowd.

Retina

Back of the eye that catches light. Social example: Where the image of a person’s face first lands.

Rods

Night vision and side vision, no color. Social example: Noticing movement of people in your peripheral vision in a dim room.

Cones

Color and sharp detail, need light. Social example: Clearly seeing someone’s facial expression in good lighting.

Fovea

Center of retina with sharpest vision. Social example: Looking directly at someone’s eyes or mouth to read their expression.

Trichromatic theory

Three types of color cells (blue, green, red). Social example: Basic physical reason we can see the colors of clothes or skin tones.

Opponent-process theory

Colors work in opposite pairs later (red-green, blue-yellow). Social example: Explains afterimages, not directly social.

Cochlea

Spiral in the inner ear where sound becomes signals. Social example: Where someone’s voice gets converted so you can understand them.

Hair cells

Tiny receptors in the cochlea. Social example: The cells that actually pick up the vibrations of speech.

Place theory

Different pitches hit different spots. Social example: Helps explain how we tell high and low voices apart.

Frequency theory

Neurons fire at the same rate as the sound. Social example: Helps with lower-pitched voices.

Volley principle

Groups of neurons take turns for higher pitches. Social example: Lets us process higher voices that one neuron couldn’t handle alone.

Gestalt principles

Brain groups things into meaningful wholes. Social example: We quickly group a few traits about a person into a full first impression.

Subjective contour

Seeing edges that aren’t really there. Social example: Your brain filling in missing info about a person so the impression feels complete.

Depth perception

Seeing how far away things are. Social example: Judging how close someone is standing to you in a social setting.

Retinal disparity

Two eyes see slightly different images to judge distance. Social example: Helps you tell how close someone is when they’re approaching.

Smell

Chemical sense tied strongly to emotion and memory. Social example: Someone’s cologne or scent instantly changing how you feel about them.

Taste

Chemical sense with five basic flavors. Social example: Not heavily social, but shared meals can still shape interactions.

Touch

Pressure, temperature, and pain from skin. Social example: A handshake or pat on the back affecting how you read the interaction.

Pain

Physical signal that mood and attention can change. Social example: Emotional pain from rejection or embarrassment can feel physical.

Phantom limb

Feeling a body part that’s gone. Social example: Shows the brain keeps a map of the body even without input.

Synesthesia

One sense triggers another automatically. Social example: Rare, but shows how differently people can experience the same social world.