AP psych unit 3

sensation

sensing environment through sensory data

perception

organizing and interpreting sensory info

bottom up processing

sensory analysis that begins at entry lvl; sense stimulus first, then perceive and process experience

top down processing

perceptual processing that uses previous experience, expectations, etc to draw conclusions

selective attention

focusing on specific sensory info while ignoring other sensory input

ex trying to talk while texting

inattentional blindness

failing to see smt in plain sight when focused on smt else

change blindness

failing to see changes in environment bc attention is directed elsewhere

cocktail party effect

ability to focus auditory attention to particular stimulus

ex; youre at a loud party and only focusing on a single convo

transduction

conversion of one for of energy to another

signal detection theory

predicts when we detect a faint stimulus amid bg noise; assumes there is no absolute threshold

ex; you can hear your phone ringing amid loud music

absolute threshold

smallest lvl of stimulus that can be detected 50% of the time; 50% due to detection can be influenced by expectations, etc

ex; noticing the faint difference between paint colors

priming

activation (often unconsciously) of certain associations

ex; saying the word "yellow" makes people think of bananas/ lemons

webers law

in order for two stimuli to be perceived as diff, they must differ by a constant percentage

ex; if your bag is normally 5 lbs, youre more likely to notice a difference of wearing a 10 lb bag than a 7 lb bag

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as consequence to constant stimulation; temp and short

ex; getting used to the temp of pool water

sensory habituation

decreased response to stimulus after frequent exposure

ex; not noticing your glasses overtime

perceptual set

mental predisposition to believe one thing and not another

ex; liking seafood while others think its gross

extrasensory perception

controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input, ie; telepathy, clairvoyance, etc

ex; claiming to see the location of a missing child after touching a piece of their clothing

accomodation (perception & sensation)

the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on retina

blind spot

point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye; no receptor cells are located here

depth perception

ability to see world in 3D, and know how fsr away objs are

begins at 8 months

binocular cues

depends on use of both eyes to perceive depth

monocular cues

requires only one eye to perceive depth

rods

activated by low light (dark and light shades)

cones

activated by bright light & responsible for color vision

linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge at vanishing point

interposition

closer objs may partially block farther objs

relative size

objs farther away look smaller than closer objs

relative height

objs higher in your FOV appear farther

relative clarity

clear objs appear closer than blurry ones

retinal disparity

each of our eyes transmits slightly diff images

convergence

rotating your eyes inward as smt gets closer

young-helmholtz trichromatic theory

retina has 3 types of color recpetor cones (rgb)

opponent process theory

opposing retinal processes (r,g, b,y, w,b) enable color vision, as visual info is transferred some neurons are excited & some are inhibited

explains after image

parallel processing

processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously

ex; when u see a bus approaching, you see its size, color, shape, depth, etc all at the same time

gestalt

gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

figure ground

organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from surroundings (ground)

proximity

grouping tg stimuli that are physically close

similarity

grouping tg stimuli that share similar characteristics

continuity

perceiving stimuli as continuous patterns

connectedness

perceiving stimuli that seem to have relation and continuous

closure

perceiving incomplete stimuli as complete

visual cliff

lab device for testing depth perception in infants and animals

ground has a constant pattern but drops off

phi phenomenon

illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off quickly

ex; loading circles

stroboscopic movement

illusion if movement when looking at slightly varying images in quick succesion

ex; flip books

relative motion

when we move while looking stationary objects, we perceive the stationary objs to be moving

ex; looking at trees/ moon while driving on highway

perceptual constancy

perceiving objs as unchanging (constant color, brightness, shape, and size) even as retinal images change

perceptual adaptation

ability to readjust over time an altered visual perception of the world

ex; being upside down then right side up

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to hair cells in cochlea (usually due to loud noise)

conduction hearing loss

less common; caused by damage to mechanical system that conducts sound waves to cochlea

usually caused by trauma or blockage

place theory

hair cells in cochlea respond to diff frequencies of sound based on where they’re located

frequency theory

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

best explains low frequencies

gate control theory

spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass through to the brain

explains why we can reduce pain through pressure, rubbing, distraction

kinesthesia

our awareness of position + orientation of specific body parts

ex; typing w/o looking at your hands

vestibular sense

awareness of balance + spatial orientation

• 3 semicircular fluid filled canals in inner ear give brain feedback ab orientation

gustav fechner

• studied edge of our awareness

• absolute threshold

ernst weber

• studied sensory response to weight

• webers law

david hubel

• showed that our visual processing deconstructs visual imgs and then reassembles them

• visual processing

tornsten wiesel

• showed that our visual processing deconstructs visual imgs and then reassembles them

• visual processing