gre psych 9

phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession they are perceived as one light

induced motion

An illusion of movement occurring when everything around the spot of light is moved

autokinetic effect

illusion that a stationary point of light in a dark room is moving

motion aftereffect

illusion of motion of a stationary object that occurs after prolonged exposure to a moving object; object will seem like it is going in the opposite direction that it was

Visual Constancies

the accurate perception of objects as stable or unchanged despite changes in the sensory patterns they produce

size constancy

the tendency to interpret an object as always being the same actual size, regardless of its distance

Emmert's law

A law stating that the size of an afterimage depends on the distance of the surface against which the afterimage is viewed. The farther away the surface, the larger the afterimage appears.

Ames Room

Trapezoidal room; creates an optical illusion with one large and one small person

moon illusion

A visual illusion involving the misperception that the moon is larger when it is on the horizon than when it is directly overhead.

shape constancy

the tendency to interpret the shape of an object as being constant, even when its shape changes on the retina

lightness constancy

we perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its illumination varies

color constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

Muller-Lyer Illusion

illusion of line length that is distorted by inward-turning or outward-turning corners on the ends of the lines, causing lines of equal length to appear to be different

Hering illusion

When the horizontal lines are actually straight, they appear to be bowed.

Ponzo illusion

An illusion of size in which two objects of equal size that are positioned between two converging lines appear to be different in size. Also called the railroad track illusion.

Poggendorf Illusion

Is a geometrical-optical illusion that involves the misperception of the position of one segment of a transverse line that has been interrupted by the contour of an intervening structure

reversible figure

a drawing that is compatible with two interpretations that can shift back and forth

Preferential Learning

2 objects presented together, longer time looking at different one \= perceived differences in objects; infants

Habituation

infants; stimulus is presented and the infant stops responding to it eventually. different stimulus presented and infant responds to it \= can perceive difference between new and old stimulus

visual cliff experiment

used to determine when infants can perceive depth with 2 different "levels" presented

Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk

developed the visual cliff to test depth perception

Frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time; Hz

Intensity

the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude; decibels

pitch

the highness or lowness of a sound

Loudness

a sound's intensity

Timbre

quality of sound

inner, middle, outer

3 parts of the ear

pinna, ear canal

two parts of the outer ear

Ossicles

three tiny bones in the middle ear

tympanic membrane and ossicles

2 parts of the middle ear

hammer, anvil, stirrup

3 tiny bones in the middle ear

Organ of Corti

Center part of the cochlea, containing hair cells, canals, and membranes

cochlea, semicircular canals, vestibule

inner ear parts

oval window

the membrane that separates the middle ear from the inner ear

Pinna

the visible part of the ear

pathway of sound

sound -\> pinna -\> auditory canal -\> ear drum (tympanic membrane) -\> inner ear (hammer, anvil, stirrup) -\> oval window -\> cochlea -\> auditory nerve -\> temporal lobes

pitch perception

term for when different tones excite different areas of the basilar membrane and primary auditory cortex

place theory of hearing

the theory that different areas of the basilar membrane respond to different frequencies

Helmholtz and Young

proposed the place-resonance theory of pitch perception

frequency theory

in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

1000Hz

tones higher than this cannot be used in the frequency theory

Bekesy's Place Theory of Hearing

frequency of sound is indicated by the place on the organ of Corti that has the highest firing rate

taste & smell

two types of chemical senses

papillae

where taste buds are located

thalamus

where taste information travels to

olfactory epithelium

a thin layer of tissue, within the nasal cavity, that contains the receptors for smell

olfactory bulb

the brain center for smell, located below the frontal lobes

pressure, pain, warmth, cold

Four tactile(touch) sensations of humans

somatosensory cortex

where touch information travels to in the brain

Pacinian corpuscles

structures that respond quickly to displacements of skin

phantom limb pain

pain in a limb (or extremity) that has been amputated

orienting reflex

The tendency to turn toward an object that has touched you

Meissner's corpuscles

structures that detect touch or contact

Merkel's disks

respond to light pressure; pain

Ruffini endings

respond to stretch

free nerve endings

respond to pain and temperature changes

two-point threshold

refers to the minimum distance necessary between two points of stimulation on the skin such that the points will be felt as two distinct stimuli

physiological zero

temperature that is sensed as neither warm nor cold

gate theory of pain

pain sensation is reduced when other somatosensory signals are present; Melznack & Wall

spinal cord

where the gate theory of pain is located

selective attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect

cocktail party phenomenon

a phenomenon in which people tune in one message even while they filter out others nearby

dichotic listening

a task in which people wearing headphones hear different messages presented to each ear

Yerkes-Dodson Law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

Pavlov

founder of classical conditioning

reflex

unlearned response to a stimulus

Stimulus

a signal to which an organism responds

neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

dog food

unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov's experiment

drooling

the unconditioned response/reflex in Pavlov's experiment

bell

the neutral stimulus in Pavlov's experiment

bell ringing

the conditioned stimulus after dog learned through forward conditioning

salavation to bell

the conditioned response after dog learned through forward conditioning

acquisition

The initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response.

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events; Pavlov

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened by reinforcement or diminished if punished

Little Albert

subject in John Watson's experiment, proved classical conditioning principles, especially the generalization of fear

John Watson

Early behaviorist; famous for the "Little Albert" experiments on fear conditioning/operant conditioning

E.L. Thorndike

created the law of effect; the principle that behavior followed by favorable consequences becomes more likely and vice versa

law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely; cause and effect

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorist that developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli (i.e. food)

negative reinforcement

the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus

escape learning

through operant conditioning, this is the process of a behavior removing something undesirable (i.e. fasten seatbelt buzzer)

avoidance learning

the process by which one learns to perform a behavior in order to ensure that a negative or aversive stimulus will not be present (i.e. following a stop sign, not crashing)

punishment

any event or object that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again

discriminative stimulus

in operant conditioning, stimulus condition that indicated that the organism's behavior will have consequences

partial reinforcement effect

the tendency for a response that is reinforced after some, but not all, correct responses to be very resistant to extinction; behavior only enforced occasionally (i.e. gambling)

fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval

4 types of schedules of reinforcement

fixed ratio

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses (i.e. piecework)

variable ratio

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses (i.e. slot machines)

fixed interval

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed (i.e. going to office to pick up bimonthly check)

variable interval

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals (i.e. parent responding to child from the child's point of view)

shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward the desired behavior and extinguish unwanted behaviors

behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

flooding therapy

A behavioral treatment for phobias that involves prolonged exposure to a feared stimulus, thereby providing maximal opportunity for the conditioned fear response to be extinguished; forcing client to directly experience the feared object

implosion therapy

a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future; forcing client to imagine the feared object