psych exam 2 - notes

thresholds

signal detection theory, absolute vs difference, sensory adaptation

transduction

vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, tactile/ haptic sensation

sensation

detection of stimulus energies from environment, translation into neural impulses; bottom up processing

perception

selection of important information, construction of meaning from that information; top down processing

threshold

minimum amount of stimulation required to be able to detect (sensory threshold) and experience (perceptual threshold)

signal detection theory

process of assessing individual’s awareness (perception) of a stimulus

hit

stimulus is present, participant is aware of stimulus

false alarm

stimulus is absent, participant aware of stimulus

miss

participant not aware, stimulus is present

correct rejection

participant is not aware, stimulus is absent

absolute threshold

bare minimum (maximum) stimulation to be able to sense/ perceive 50% of the time

supraliminal stimuli

stimuli above limit

subliminal stimuli

stimuli below limit

blindsight

some vision; sensation without perception

prosopagnosia

sensation without perception; see people’s face but can’t recognize them

difference threshold

bare minimum (max) change in stimulation you are capable to sense/ perceive 50% of time

weber’s law

the amount of change required to reach or exceed the noticeable difference changes based on the amount of stimulation

sensory adaptation

diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

transduction

process of translating sensory info into neural impulses

cornea

transparent film, bends light inwards, expands range of vision, always bends light the same and has same degree of retraction, can’t change shape

sclera

white part of eye, blocks other lights

iris

colored part of eye, muscle (capability to contract and relax)

pupil

hole that lets light pass into eye, want to control amount of light

lens

behind pupil, bends light inward, doesn’t bend light as much as cornea, can change shape bc its surrounded by ciliary muscles

ciliary muscles

control shape of lens, flattening (reducing degree of retraction) or bending (increasing refraction degree)

retina

detects light (photoreceptors), back of eye, different regions

fovea

center of retina; portion where light from center of field of view is cast (foveal field of view)

blind spot

in retina, where there’s no photoreceptors, can’t see anything, consciously perceive something there (brain fills in)

optic nerve

bundle of nerves, carries signals to part of brain that’s responsible for initial vision processing (occipital lobe, primary visual cortex)

cones

detect wavelengths of light we perceive as color, work best in response to bright light, most densely populated in fovea, use more energy

rods

can’t see color, grayscale, work equally in light and dim space, distributed throughout retina, more in periphery, very good at detecting movement

trichromatic theory of color vision

wave has wavelength and amplitude (independent of each other)

wavelength

length of wave, vibrations; hue (color); slow waves correspond to long wavelength (frequency)

amplitude

how high and low the waves are; brightness

importance of attention

attention is necessary first ingredient for perception

perceptual set

predisposition or expectation to perceive (see, hear, taste, etc) things a certain way based on previous experience

gestalt psychology

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

bottom up

sensation; sensation of basic features that are integrated into knowledge

top down

use memory/ expectations/ knowledge to interpret/ recognize/ understand info

perceptual closure

tendency to complete an image

law of proximity

objects that are close together are perceived to be apart of the same group

law of similarity

perceive objects as a group if they look similar

law of good continuation

continuity; individual objects are all apart of one thing

figure ground segmentation

recognize what’s in front and what’s behind

camouflage

disrupting figure-ground segmentation; rams up similarities, decreases contrast

perceiving distance

depth perception, not depth sensation; can influence figure and ground organization; influenced by binocular and monocular cues

binocular cues

convergence, retinal disparity

retinal disparity

each eye sees the world slightly differently, how 3d works

relative height

objects closer to horizon are further away

occlusion

closer objects further overlap objects

texture gradient

relative clarity; finer detail objects are closer

relative size

closer objects should be larger than further objects

linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge in the distance

learning

relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience, not maturation

empiricism

idea that knowledge is gained thru observation

associative learning

learning relationships, predictive (cause/ effect) relationships

classical conditioning

predictive relationship between 2 stimuli (CS:USC → CR)

stimulus

object/ event

unconditioned stimulus

not currently training, already exists, reflex/ habit

unconditioned response

from neutral + ucs

conditioned

trained, eliciting response from training, neutral before training

neutral stimulus

can produce responses, neutral with regard to unconditioned, untrained, with regard to baseline

conditioned response

produced from conditioned stimulus

acquisition phase

where neutral and unconditioned stimulus is paired

operant conditioning

predictive relationship between behavior and consequences (B:C→ 𝚫B)

nonassociative learning

learning corresponding to how our natural response to a stimulus changes over time

social/ observational

learning by watching others

rescorla wagner model

pairings vary in ease of association

stimulus generalization

transference of CR to other NS similar to CS

stimulus discrimination

nontransference of CR to other NS similar to CS

operant conditioning

association between behavior and consequences

the law of effect

thorndike; responses that produce a satisfying state of affairs become more likely, and responses that produce a dissatisfying state of affairs become less likely

basic paradigm

learner required, different possibilities; be able to observe behavior, able to provide consequences

reinforcer

anything that strengthens behavior

positive reinforcement

administer stimulus as consequence, gives something that you desire

negative reinforcement

increasing behavior by removing stimulus/ taking something away

punishment

anything that weakens behavior

positive punishment

giving something as consequence, unpleasant (administer stimulus)

negative punishment

remove stimulus, pleasant

positive reinforcement

increase likelihood, administer stimulus

positive punishment

decrease likelihood, administer stimulus

negative reinforcement

remove stimulus, increase reinforcement

negative punishment

decrease likelihood, remove stimulus

shaping

successive reinforcement of the desired behavior

continuous

quicker learning, quick extinction, rewarded everytime behavior is completed

intermittent

slows learning, reduces pace of extinction

applied behavior analysis

analyzing natural occurence

memory

evidence that learning persists over time

information processing model

encoding → storage → retrieval

encoding

getting information into code of memory

storage

retaining information over time

retrieval

remembering stored information

components of memory

sensory memory (sensM) → working memory (WM) →

sensM

brief and immense (but limited) storage, corresponds to sensation

iconic memory

short memory recall; teaching meaning of different tones, pay attention to different areas; play cue so participants attend to a particular area, with delay

working memory (WM)

short term memory; filters info attended to from SensM to WM; stores limited storage time and capacity; encodes processing of info in multiple components

chunk

unit of smaller units connected by meaning

wm encoding

phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad

primacy effect

better memory for info at the prime of list

recency effect

better memory for information at end of list