psych

Attention

The process of focusing awareness on particular information while ignoring other information.

Characteristics of attention

Has a limited capacity, can be selective, can be divided, and can be sustained over time.

Influences on attention

Factors that affect focus, such as interest, motivation, fatigue, and the strength of a stimulus.

Selective attention

Focusing on one source of information while ignoring other distractions (e.g., listening to a teacher while classmates talk).

Divided attention

Splitting attention between two or more tasks simultaneously (e.g., listening to music while doing homework).

Sustained attention

Maintaining focus on a single task for an extended period (e.g., concentrating throughout an entire exam).

Controlled processes

Mental activities that require conscious attention and active mental effort (e.g., learning a new mathematical formula).

Automatic processes

Mental activities that occur with little conscious awareness or effort, typically developed through practice (e.g., reading familiar words).

Perception

The process of organising and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning.

Top-down processing

Interpreting incoming sensory information using prior knowledge, expectations, and past experiences.

Bottom-up processing

Building a perceptual experience directly from the raw incoming sensory stimuli, starting from individual features.

Visual perception

The process of interpreting sensory signals received through the eyes.

Iris

The coloured muscle of the eye that regulates how much light enters by adjusting pupil size.

Cornea

The clear outer layer at the front of the eye that protects the eye and bends incoming light.

Lens (eye)

The transparent structure that flexes and changes shape to focus incoming light rays onto the retina.

Retina

The light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye containing photoreceptors that convert light into neural impulses.

Optic nerve

The neural pathway that transmits visual signals from the retina to the brain.

Binocular depth cues

Visual depth cues that require the coordinated use of both eyes to judge distance and three-dimensional space.

Retinal disparity

A binocular cue where the brain calculates depth by comparing the slight differences between the images projected onto each eye's retina.

Convergence

A binocular cue involving the inward physical turning of both eyes to maintain focus on an approaching nearby object.

Monocular depth cues

Visual depth cues that allow distance and depth judgements using information from only one eye.

Accommodation (depth cue)

A monocular cue where the ciliary muscles alter lens curvature to focus on objects at varying distances, signalling depth.

Pictorial depth cues

Two-dimensional visual indicators in an image or flat surface that produce the illusion of depth.

Linear perspective

A pictorial cue where parallel lines appear to converge toward a vanishing point as they extend into the distance.

Interposition

A pictorial cue occurring when one object partially overlaps another, causing the overlapping object to be perceived as closer.

Relative size

A pictorial cue where the object casting the smaller retinal image is judged to be further away when two objects are assumed to be similar in physical size.

Texture gradient

A pictorial cue where surface details appear gradually finer, denser, and less distinct as distance increases.

Gestalt principles

Perceptual guidelines describing how the brain groups individual visual elements into organized, coherent wholes.

Figure-ground

A Gestalt principle involving the perceptual organization of a visual scene into a prominent central figure and a less distinct background.

Closure (Gestalt)

A Gestalt principle where the mind automatically bridges gaps or fills in missing lines to perceive an incomplete shape as complete.

Similarity (Gestalt)

A Gestalt principle where visual elements that look alike (such as sharing colour, shape, or size) are grouped together.

Proximity (Gestalt)

A Gestalt principle where objects positioned physically close to one another are perceived as belonging to a collective group.

Visual constancies

The ability to perceive an object as possessing stable properties despite changes in the visual image cast on the retina.

Size constancy

Perceiving an object's true dimensions as unchanging despite changes in viewing distance and retinal image size.

Shape constancy

Perceiving an object's true form as remaining identical even when changes in viewing angle alter its projected retinal shape.

Visual perceptual set

A psychological readiness or predisposition to interpret visual stimuli in a particular manner based on expectations, context, or experience.

Factors influencing visual perceptual set

Past experience, environmental context, and current emotional state.

Gustatory perception

The sensory process of detecting, transducing, and interpreting chemical taste molecules.

Biological factors in taste

Age-related reductions in sensitivity, genetic variations in taste receptors, and the density of papillae on the tongue.

Papillae

Small elevated structures on the tongue's surface, many of which house taste buds.

Supertasters

Individuals with high papillae density who experience taste sensations—especially bitter compounds—with heightened intensity.

Psychological and social influences on taste

Context, visual appearance, food texture, emotional state, cultural background, and historical food traditions.

Songlines (in relation to perception)

Aboriginal Australian cultural pathways linking Country, traditional ecological knowledge, food resources, and navigational stories.

Independent variable (IV)

The variable systematically manipulated, selected, or changed by the experimenter to determine its effect.

Dependent variable (DV)

The factor that is measured to determine whether it undergoes a change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Extraneous variables

Any unwanted variables other than the independent variable that could potentially influence the dependent variable.

Confounding variables

Extraneous variables that vary systematically alongside the independent variable, preventing clear conclusions about cause and effect.

Controlled variables

Conditions held constant throughout an investigation to ensure any observed changes are attributable solely to the independent variable.

Qualitative data

Non-numerical descriptions or opinions.\n- Strength: Provides rich, detailed information.\n- Limitation: Difficult to compare and statistically analyse.

Quantitative data

Numerical values, counts, or measurements.\n- Strength: Easily compared and analysed using statistics.\n- Limitation: Fails to provide detailed personal context or nuance.

Subjective data

Information derived from personal opinions, interpretations, or feelings.\n- Strength: Reflects authentic personal experiences.\n- Limitation: Vulnerable to personal bias and lack of reliability.

Objective data

Directly observable and measurable factual evidence independent of personal interpretation.\n- Strength: Minimises observer and participant bias.\n- Limitation: Cannot directly measure internal feelings or qualitative experiences.

Within-subjects design

An experimental framework where all participants complete every condition.\n- Strength: Minimises participant variables by keeping groups identical.\n- Limitation: Susceptible to order effects (practice or fatigue).

Between-subjects design

An experimental framework where distinct groups of participants are assigned to different conditions.\n- Strength: Eliminates order effects across conditions.\n- Limitation: Vulnerable to confounding differences between individual participants.

Mixed design

An experimental setup combining elements of both between-subjects and within-subjects designs.\n- Strength: Enables simultaneous assessment of differences between groups and changes within participants over time.\n- Limitation: More complex to structure, administer, and statistically evaluate.