AP Psych Unit 3-5

Sensation

sensing existence of stimulus

Perception

determining what the stimulus is

Synesthesia

neurological phenomenon when stimulation to one sensory/cognitive pathway triggers another sensory/cognitive pathway

Bottom-up processing

starts at sensory receptors, works up to higher processing, no prior knowledge

Top-down Processing

creates perceptions based on past experiences and expectations

Selective Attention

attention focuses on small portion of experience

Inattentional Blindness

when focused on one aspect, other things are completely unnoticed

Change Blindness

form of inattentional blindness, does not distinguish changes in environment

Change Deafness

subject does not notice sounds changing, like the voice of an interviewer

Transduction

converting one form of energy into another form, used by transforming sensory stimulations into neural impulses

Psychophysics

relationship between stimuli and effects on our psychological experiences

Absolute threshold

minimum stimulation needed to detect specific stimuli, 50/50 point

Signal Detection Theory

why people respond differently to some stimuli, different reactions due to circumstancial change

Difference Threshold

minimum change between stimuli a person can detect half the time

What increases with the size of stimulus?

Detectable difference

Weber’s Law

show when a person can detect a change (by percentage)

Priming

when exposure to one stimuli has an unconscious effect on subsequence stimuli

Sensory Adaptation

when exposed to unchanging stimuli, we become less aware of it

Perceptual Set

mental predisposition to see one thing and not another

Extrasensory Perception

claim that perception occurs apart from sensory input (reading minds)

Parapsychology

study of paranormal phenomena including ESP and psychokinesis

Light Energy

transduction used to move from sensation to perception

Why do we always have an “altered perception” of the world?

our brain always engages in transduction

What does wavelength influence in vision?

hue/colour

What does amplitude affect in vision?

brightness/intensity

Cornea

outer structure that directs light rays into eyes

Pupil

black opening whose size changes by iris

Iris

muscle tissue forms coloured portion of eye, dilates and constricts in response to changing light intensity

Lens

structure behind pupil that focuses images on retina

Retina

back of eye, where receptor rods and cones are, transduction area

Blind Spot

point where optic nerve leaves eye, no receptor cells

Optic Nerve

takes info to brain’s visual cortex

Accommodation

manipulating lens depending on seeing near or far, alterations can cause nearsightedness or farsightedness

Rods and Cones

main structure in retina, clusters around fovea

Optic Nerve

nerve that carries neural impulses to brain (thalamus) from eye, formed with bipolar and ganglion cells

Properties of Rods

• 120 million

• Periphery of retina

• High sensitivity in dim light

• Low colour sensitivity

• Low detail sensitivity

Properties of Cones

• 6 million

• Center of retina

• Low sensitivity in dim light

• High colour sensitivity

• High detail sensitivity

Feature Detectors

nerves that respond to particular parts of stimulus (shape, angle, etc.)

Parallel Processing

processing many aspects of a situation simultaneously

Serial Processing

conscious problem solving, processing a situation linearly

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

three types of cones exist, each responsible for particular portion of visible light spectrum (blue, green, red), based on wavelength of light, theory supported by colour blindness

Yellowish-green, cyanish-green, blue

later suggested colours for Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

Opponent Process Theory

three receptor types in pairs, excitatory or inhibitory, response/colour can occur one at a time (no reddish-green ever) “afterimage” phenomenon supports theory

Dichromaticism Deficiency

one colour missing/only two types of cones functioning

Monochromatism

cannot see any colours

Prosopagnosia (Occipital Lobe Damage)

disorder from birth, difficulty recognizing people’s face, 2-2.5% prevalence

Perceptual Organization

when given sensations, organizes into gestalt

Figure and Ground (Form Perception)

perception of foreground/background

Grouping

organizing stimuli into groups (proximity, continuity, closure)

Depth Perception

how we perceive objects in 3D from 2D images, relies on binocular cues

Binocular cues

depth cues that use both eyes

Retinal Disparity

binocular cue for perceiving depth, compares retinal images from both eyes, brain computes distance (greater the disparity between two images, closer the object)

Visual Cliff

a method to see if animals or infants have developed depth perception or not

Monocular Cues

relative height, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, relative motion, light and shadow

Stroboscopic Movement (Motion Perception)

flipbook, series of still movements looking like motion

Phi Phenomenon

ring of lights, going on and off, perceived as movement although they are still

Perceptual Constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

Types of Perceptual Constancy

• Shape Constancy

• Size Constancy

• Colour Constancy

• Lightness Constancy

Perceptual Adaptation

ability to adjust to changed sensory input including artificially displaced or inverted visual field

Audition

sense of hearing

Properties of Waves

Wavelength/frequency → pitch, amplitude → loudness

Ear Structure

3 parts: outer, middle, inner

Bones of middle ear

Hammer, anvil, stirrup (vibrates with eardrum)

Hammer Malleus

connects eardrum to anvil

Inner Ear

innermost part of ear, contains cochlea, semicircular canals, vestibular sacs

Cochlea

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in inner ear, sound waves travelling through cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

Decibels

unit of proportion that is used to compare loudness of sounds

Place Theory

different parts of basilar membrane respond to particular frequencies (high at start, low at middle, explains higher pitched sounds, as it takes longer to hear lower pitched sounds

Frequence Theory

basilar membrane vibrates with sounds, relays electrical impulses, explains lower pitched sounds

Volley Principle

refined frequency theory to explain higher pitched sounds, neurons fire slightly out of sync with each other to produce higher frequencies

Interaural Intensity Difference (IID)

difference in volume between two ears, used to locate sounds

Interaural Time Difference (ITD)

difference in arrival of sound at each ear, used to locate sound

Hearing Loss Occurs…

after permanent or prolonged exposure to sounds over 85dB (8 hours), instantaneous hearing loss over 130dB

Conductive Hearing Loss

less common form of hearing loss, cause by damage to mechanical system that conducts sound waves to cochlea

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

hearing loss caused by damage to cochlea’s receptor cells or auditory nerves, most common form of hearing loss, also known as nerve deafness

Cochlear Implant

device that converts sounds into electrical signals and stimulates auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into cochlea

Vestibular Organs

semicircular canals, calcium crystal-filled vestibular sacs, sends info about position, rotation, acceleration

Stretch Receptors

send info about position of body parts, sends different number of nerve impulses per second depending on body part position

Anosmia

complete loss of smell

To smell, odor must be…

volatile, vacuum molecules into nose, molecules hit olfactory epithelium

Taste Receptors Density

based on papilla density on tongue, three types of tasters (super, medium, non)

Nociceptors

send pain signals to CNS

Neuropathic Pain

dysfunction in nervous system/damage to nerve, doesn’t give you info about environment

Gate Control Theory

dependent on whether the small or large nerve fibers are activated

What do small nerve fibers do in Gate Control Theory?

do not trigger inhibitory neuron, allows pain signals to go through

What do large nerve fibers do in Gate Control Theory?

activate inhibitory neurons, relieves pain

Endorphins

reduce response to pain, most noticeable when produced in response to exercise

Phantom Limb Sensation demonstrates…

top-down nature of sensation

Tinnitus

singular pitch you always hear because of damaged cochlea hairs sending signals

Pain Circuit

Tissue Injury → pain impulse → nociceptor nerve cell → projection to brain through interneurons

Sensory Interaction

principle that one sense can influence the other (smell of food influences taste)

Embodied Cognition

influence of bodily sensations, gesture, other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together, between two stimuli (classical conditioning) or response and consequence (operant conditioning)

Respondent Behaviour

automatic behaviour to stimuli that is uncontrolled

Operant Behaviours

behaviour that operates on environment, produces consequences

Cognitive Learning

acquiring mental info that guides behaviour

Behaviourism mainly believes behaviour can be explained with ____ learning

associative learning

Higher Order Conditioning

After classical conditioning, another neutral stimulus associated with original conditioned stimulus, becomes another conditioned stimulus, triggers conditioned response

Generalization

conditioned response occurs to similar/related stimuli (increases stimuli responses)

Discrimination

learned ability to respond only to specific stimuli (lowers responses)