AP Psychology Vocab Quiz 4

Perception

The process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, transforming it into meaningful objects and events.

Bottom-up processing

A way our brain makes sense of information by starting with the small details and then building up to a complete perception.

Top-down processing

Involves interpreting sensory information based on the larger context, prior knowledge, and expectations.

Schema

Cognitive frameworks or blueprints that help organize and interpret information based on past experiences and knowledge.

Perceptual set

A tendency to perceive or notice some aspects of the available sensory data and ignore others.

Gestalt psychology

Suggests that we perceive whole objects or figures rather than just a collection of parts.

Closure

The tendency for individuals to perceive incomplete or fragmented patterns as complete and whole.

Figure and ground

The organization of the visual field by separating an object from its surroundings.

Proximity

Objects that are close together are more likely to be perceived as belonging in the same group.

Similarity

Parts of a stimulus field that are similar to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together as a unit.

Attention

An interaction of sensation and perception affected by both internal and external processes.

Selective attention

The process of focusing on a specific aspect of information while ignoring others.

Cocktail party effect

Our ability to focus on one thing in a noisy environment, tuning out other stimulus.

Inattentional blindness

When an individual fails to notice an unexpected stimulus in their visual field when their attention is focused on something else.

Change Blindness

The failure to notice large changes in one’s environment when the change occurs simultaneously with a visual disruption.

Binocular depth cues

Visual information that requires both eyes to perceive depth and distance.

Retinal disparity

When each eye sees a slightly different picture because of their separate positions on our face.

Convergence

When our eyes move inward toward each other to focus on a close object.

Monocular depth cues

Visual indicators of distance that can be perceived using just one eye.

Relative clarity

A depth cue where objects that are clearer and more detailed are perceived as closer, while objects that are hazier or less clear seem farther away.

Relative size

A visual cue where objects closer to us appear larger, while objects further away seem smaller.

Texture gradient

The way we perceive texture to become denser and finer as it recedes into the distance.

Linear perspective

A depth cue where parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance.

Interposition

Occurs when one object overlaps another, leading us to perceive the overlapping object as closer.

Perceptual Constancies

Our brain’s ability to see objects as unchanging, even when the image on our retina (like size, shape, or color) changes.

Apparent movement

The visual perception of movement when objects are not actually moving.