AP Psych- Sensation and Perception Unit 3

sensation

a process by which we detect physical energy (a stimulus) from the environment and convert it into neural signals

perception

a process by which we select, organize, and interpret our sensations

bottom up processing

a type of processing where analysis of the stimulus begins with the sense receptor and works up to the level of the brain and mind, sensation-->perception (/-\)

top down processing

a type of processing where knowledge and context are used to assist and drive information processing. We construct perceptions drawin gon our experience and expectations. perception-->sensation (T/-\E C/-\T)

top down, bottom up

left side- (top-down or bottom-up)
right side- (top-down or bottom-up)

top down

what type of processing do we use when we read something that has letters out of order?

selective attention

the concept of perceptions about objects change from moment to moment, the reason why we can only pay attention to one aspect of the object at a time

inattentional blindness

the inability to see an object or a person in our midst

change blindness

a form of inattentional blindness that occurs when a person viewing a visual scene apparently fails to detect large changes in the scene

cocktail party effect

the ability to focus one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises, ignoring other conversations, the auditory version of the figure-ground phenomenon

figure ground phenomenon

the phenomenon that explains why the figure is the sound one pays attention to while the ground is any other sound

transduction

the transformation or conversion of stimulus energy into neural impulses (photo***** and acoustical *****)

psychophysics

a study of the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience with them

absolute threshold

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

low

if you have a ***** threshold for sound, you can hear very quiet noises

high

if you have a ****** threshold for sound, you are not very sensitive to it and need a lot of stimulation to hear something

signal detection theory

a theory that predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background noise (other stimulation)

absolute thresholds, experiences, expectations, motivations, levels of fatigue

SDT assumes that there is no single ****** ***** and detections depends on a person's
1.
2.
3.
4.

SDT matrix

this is a

subliminal threshold

when stimuli are below one's absolute threshold for conscious awarness

difference threshold or just noticeable difference

the minimum amount by which stimulus intensity must be changed in order to produce a noticeable variation in sensory experience 50% of the time (key words: comparison terms)

weber's law

two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage to be perceived as different

minor

we are more sensitive to a (major/minor) change in weight

8, 2, 3

Weber's Law
stimulus | Constant
---------------------------------
Light | *%
Weight | *%
Tone | *%

sensory adaptation

the concept that diminished sensitivity as a consequence of CONSTANT stimulation (you feel it at first but not after a while)

sensory habituation

the concept that you have a decreased response to stimuli

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

context effects

a given stimulus may trigger radically different perceptions because of the immediate surroundings. ****** can radically alter perception

phototransduction

conversion of light energy into neural impulses that the brain can understand

wavelength-hue/color, intensity-brightness, saturation-purity

light characteristics
1. W***** determines ******
2. I***** determines ******
3. S***** determines ******

hue

the dimension of color determined by the wavelength of the light

wavelength

the distance from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next

blue, red

short wavelength= high frequency= ***** colors
long wavelength= low frequency= ***** colors

intensity

amount of energy in a wave determined by the amplitude

bright, dull

tall amplitude= ***** colors
small amplitude= ****** colors

pupil, lens, retina, fovea, optic nerve, blind spot, cornea, iris

label the eye

cornea

name the part of the eye: transparent tissue where light enters the eye

iris

name the part of the eye: muscle that expands and contracts to change the size of the opening (pupil) for light

lens

name the part of the eye: transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape and focuses the light rays on the retina

retina

name the part of the eye: contains sensory receptors that process visual information and sends it to the brain

accomodation

the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to help focus near or far objects on the retina

nearsightedness

a condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects

farsightedness

a condition in which faraway objects are seen more clearly than near objects

retina

name the part of the eye: the light sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing receptor rods and cones in addition to layers of other neurons that process visual information

3 ganglion cells, 2 bipolar layer, 1 photo receptors

name the layers of the retina from the inside out

bipolar, ganglion

***** cells receive messages from photoreceptors and transmit them to ***** cells which are for the optic nerve

optic nerve

name the part of the eye: carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

blind spot

name the part of the eye: point where the optic nerve leaves the eye because there are no receptor cells located there

fovea

name the part of the eye: central point in the retina around which the eye's cones cluster

rods, cones, retina

where does photo transduction take place? (3 answers)

tails of ganglion cells

what makes up your optic nerve?

rod, cones

the fovea is a **** free zone as it contains only *****

more

there are (more/less) rods then cones

fovea

Location of cones

periphery

location of rods

rods

which has a higher sensitivity in dim light cones or rods?

cones

which has a higher color sensitivity cones or rods?

cones

which has a higher detail sensitivity cones or rods?

subtraction of colors

the concept that when 3 primary colors are mixed, all the wavelengths subtract and black results

addition of colors

the concept that when 3 primary colors are mixed, all the wavelengths add and white results

young helmholtz trichromatic theory

the theory that suggests that the retina contains 3 receptors that are sensitive to red, blue, and green colors

opponent-process theory

the theory that suggests that we process primary colors combined in pairs of red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white. these colors are antagonists to each other and therefore cannot be perceived together

color blindness

a genetic disorder in which people are blind to green or red colors

feature detection

the concept that states that nerve cells in the visual cortex respond to specific features such as lines, edges, angles, movement
*there are no association areas in the visual cortex*

hubel and wiesel

which scientists won the nobel prize for their work with feature detection?

parallel processing

processing of several aspects (subdivisions) of the stimulus simultaneously

grouping rules

we use ***** ***** after distinguishing the figure from the ground, to organize the figure into a meaningful form

proximity

a grouping rule that makes us group nearby figures together
EX. not 6 separate lines, but 3 sets of 2 lines

continuity

a grouping rule that makes us perceive smooth continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones
EX. one smooth wavy line and one straight line rather than alternating semicircles

closure

a grouping rule that makes us fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object
EX. we assume circles are complete but blocked by the triangle

depth perception

enables us to judge distances

Gibson and Walk

which two researchers worked together to investigate depth perception? (visual cliff study)

biology, heights, amplifies

We learn from the visual cliff study that ***** predisposes us to be wary of ***** and experience ***** that fear

retinal disparity, convergence, divergence

what are the 3 binocular cues?

retinal disparity

the binocular cue refers to how your brain can judge how close an object is using the difference between the two images

closer

the greater the retinal disparity, the ****** the objectc

convergence

the binocular and neuromuscular cue that states two eyes move inward to see near objects

divergence

the binocular and neuromuscular cue that states two eyes move outward to see faraway objects

relative size, interposition, relative height, linear perspective, relative motion

list the 5 monocular cues (SIHLM)

relative size

monocular cue- if two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts a smaller retinal image to be farther away

interposition

monocular cue- objects that block other objects tend to be perceived as closer

relative height

monocular cue- we perceive objects that are higher in our field of vision to be farther away than those that are lower

relative motion

monocular cue- objects closer to a fixation point move faster and in opposing direction to those objects that are farther away from a fixation point, moving slower and in the same direction

linear perspective

monocular cue- parallel lines such as railroad tracks appear to converge in the distance. The more the lines converge, the greater their perceived distance

motion perception

objects traveling towards us growing in size and those moving away shrink in size

stroboscopic motion

the illusion of motion that occurs when a stationary object is first seen briefly in one location and following a short interval is seen in another location

phi phenomenon

when lights flash at a certain speed they tend to present illusions of motion

color constancy

a perceptual constancy that makes you see perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color even if changing illumination levels alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

lightness constancy

a perceptual constancy that states the tendency for perceived lightness of an object to remain constant despite variation in the level of its illumination

size constancy

a perceptual constancy when objects remain the same size even when our distance from them varies

shape constancy

a perceptual constancy that illustrates that a door casts an increasingly trapezoidal image on our retinas as it opens, yet we still perceive it as rectangular

immanuel kant

a person that maintained that knowledge comes from our inborn ways of organizing sensory experiences

john locke

a person that argued that we learn to perceive the world through our experiences

restored vision

a person with this condition could differentiate figure and ground relationships, understand color, and light but has difficulty distinguishing a circle and a triangle

what does this describe? kittens raised without exposure to horizontal lines later had difficulty perceiving horizontal bars

critical period

a window of time for proper perceptual development

perceptual adaptation

a learned concept; visual ability to adjust to an artificially displaced visual field

acoustical transduction

conversion of sound waves into neural impulses in the hair cells of the inner ear

frequency, intensity, quality

what are the three characteristics of sound?

frequency

a characteristic of sound- the dimension of frequency determined by the wavelength of sound