AP psyh unit one part 2

Bottom Up processings

sensation - building something to make sense with no context (analysis of the sitmuli begins with the sense receptors and works up to the level of the brain and mind)

top-down processing

perception - information processing guided by higher-level mental rpocesses as we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations (interpreting stimulus in context)

Threshold

an edge or boundary

Absolute threshold

the minimum amount of stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus (ppl have different thresholds) (50%)

difference thresholds

"just noticeable difference" - the minimum amount of difference needed to detect that two stimuli are not the same

Subliminal threshold

when stimuli are below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness (detect it LESS than 50% of the time)

webers law

explains the "just noticeable difference" - stimuli have to have a two percent difference

Signal detection theory

predicts when we will detect weak signals - sensitivity and responsiveness increases with emotional state (ex being hyper aware)

Sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

selective attention - discrimination

particular attention is paid to selective objects based on preferred sensory feedback

selective attention - cocktail party effect

the ability to focus one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises; ignoring other conversations

inattentional blindness

refers to the inability to see an object or a person amidst an engrossing scene

Vision - transduction

in sensation

vision - phototransduction

conversion of light energy into neural impulses that the brain can understand

auditory/acoustic transduction

conversion of sound waves into neural impulses (the cilia in the cochlea)

short wave length

high frequency (bluish colors

long wavelength

low frequency (reddish colors

Intensity/brightness

the amount of energy in a wave determined by amplitude; related to perceived brightness

great amplitute

bright colors

small amplitude dull colors

soft sounds

Cornea

transparent tissue where light enters the eye

iris

muscle that expands and contracts to change the size of opnening(pupil) for light (also the coloring of the eye)

Lens

focuses the light rays on the retina

Retina

contains sensory receptors that process visual information and send it to the brain - light-sensitive inner surface of the eye. has receptor rods and cones plus layers of other neurons that process visual information

optic nerve

carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

blind spot

point where the optic nerve leaves the eye

Fovea

central point in the retina

cones

located in the center of the retina - low sensitivity to light

rods

more rods than cones

Trichromatic color theory

based on behavioral experiments - theory theory that the retina contains three receptors sensitive to red

Opponent process theory

as our receptor cells sense colors in our environment

Dichromatism

color vision deficiency where only two colors are perceptible

monochromatic

color vision deficiency where all colors are shades of grey

color constancy

color of an object remains the same under different illuminations.

Outter ear

pinna and auditory canal

pinna

collects sounds. shaped like a funnel. visible part of ear

Auditory canal

a tube that connects the pinna and the tympanic membrane (eardrum) - funnels sounds toward eardrum and protects the eardrum

middle ear

chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (ossicles - hammer

anvil

Inner ear

innermost part of the ear

contains the cochlea

cochlea

coiled

Place theory

in hearing

Frequency theory

the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone

conduction hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea (the waves never reach the cochlea)

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerve

Touch

The sense of touch is a mix of four distinct skin senses—pressure

sensory cortex

part of touch - located in the parietal lobe and it receives the info (left side of body = right brain) - the more sensitive a body part is the more surface area is given to it in the cortex

Pain

tells the body that something is wrong

congenital insensitivity

rare disease in which body feels no pain

gate control theory

our spinal cord has neurological "gates" that either block pain or allows it to be sensed. the release of endorphins would close the gate.

Receptors for six tastes

sweet

smell (olfactory sense)

a chemical sense - odorants enter the nasal cavity to stimulate 5 million receptors to sense of smell

sensory interaction

the principle that one sense may influence another