AP Psychology - Sensation and Perception

Sensation

Obejctive, external, happens in the body, raw data. An example is sound waves

Perception

Subjective, internal, happens in the mind, assembled product. An example is music or language.

Transduction

The process of converting physical energy into neural signals

Absolute threshhold

The minimum amount of stimulus energy needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

Just noticeable difference

The smallest change in the stimulus you can notice

Sensory Adaptation

Getting used to a stimulus

Weber’s Law

If the original stimulus is intense, you will need a new, more intense, stimulus to notice.

Synesthesia

Perceiving sensation in more than one way. Seeing sounds, or tasting words.

Retina

Similar to a movie screen, the layer in the back of the eye that contains light sensitive neurons.

Cone Cell

Center of the retina, good for fine detail.

Blind spot

Where the optic nerve exits the eye

Visual Nerve

Where the blind spot is, transmits visual info from the retina to the brain.

Lens

Flexible, clear, bends light. It focuses light onto the retina, playing a crucial role in vision.

Accommodation

Flexing the lens, a fancy word for adjusting the focus of the eye to see objects clearly at different distances.

Nearsightedness

Seeing things that are near but not far away

Farsightedness

Seeing things that are far away but not near

Photoreceptors

Neurons that react to light

(Rods and Cones)

Thrichromatic theory

The retina contains three types of cones: Red, green, and blue.

Sensation, a good theory for the eyes

Opponent-process theory

Color perception is controlled by opposing retinal processes

Perception, a good theory for the mind.

After Images

Visual images that persist after the stimulus is removed

Dichromatism

A type of color blindness where one of the three color receptors is absent or not functioning

Blindsight

Seeing unconciously, responding to visual stimuli but not actually seeing it.

Sound localization

Sound htis one ear before the other, and the brain uses that disparity (difference) to locate the sound.

Conduction deafness

A physical problem that causes deafness, a physical issue with the ear.

Sensorineural deafness

Hearing loss caused by damage to the auditory nerve

Sensory interaction

One sense may influence another

(Smell and taste combined create flavor, enhancing the experience.)

Wavelengths

Determines color in light and pitch in sound.

Longer = red

Shorter = violet

Amplitute

Determines how loud or how bright

Taller = louder, brighter, etc.

Loudness

Perception of sound, happens in your mind

Pitch

The percieved frequency of a sound wave

Pitch Perception

The ability to percieve different frequencies of sound as higher or lower pitches.

Place theory of sound

The theory that different areas of the cochlea are activated by different frequencies of sound

Frequency theory of sound

The theory that the frequency of a sound wave is matched by the rate of neural implusese in the auditory nerve.

Volley theory

A gang of neurons sends lots of signals to the brain that increases frequency.

Ganglion cells

A group of cells in the retina

(Because a gang can do more than one neuron)

Olfactory system

Your sense of smell, only sense that does not go to the thalamus.

Pheromones

Chemical signals in sweat

(My chemical romance)

Gustation

Sense of taste, has 6 possible outcomes

(Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, Umami, Oleogustus)

Gate control theory

We can only sense a certain amount of pain. There are limits.

Phantom limb

The sensation that an amputated limb is still present.

Vestibular sense

Sense of balance, where are your body parts?

Kinesthesis

Where is your head in relation to the earth?

It is the awareness of body position and movement, allowing us to perceive the orientation and motion of our body parts.

Bottom Up processing

Gathering details and then putting them together into something.

(Learning to read, one letter at a time)

Top down processing

Already knowing something, just using bias to recognise what it is

Schema

Pre existing set of knowledge

Perceptual set

Similar to schema, a mental predisposition to perceive something in a certain way. This can affect how we interpret sensory information based on expectations and experiences.

Prosopagnosia

A neurological condition characterized by the inability to recognize faces.

Gestalt Psychology

The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Closure

Where the brain fills in gaps to create a complete image

Figure and ground

Can only see one figure at a time, image or background

Proximity

Autonomically grouping things near eachother

Similarity

Automatically grouping things that look alike.

Perceptual Constancies

When the stimulus changes but we dont notice, and perceive the same thing.

Retinal Disparity

The brain uses images from both eyes to perceive depth

Convergence

A binocular depth cue that involves the inward angle of the eyes as they focus on a near object.