Untitled Flashcards Set

Sensation

Raw data that the body receives from the environment (Touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight).

Perception

The interpretation of what you get from your senses.

Sensory Transduction

Occurs in neural receptors within sensory organs; transforms physical stimuli into electrical messages.

Sensory information and the Thalamus

A brain structure that relays all sensory information to the visual cortexes.

Bottom-up Processing

Building perception from individual sensory inputs; immediate recognition.

Top-down Processing

Interpretation based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations.

Iris

Colored ring of muscle that controls the size of the pupil.

Pupil

Tiny transparent hole in the center of the eye, changes its size to allow light entry into the eye.

Cornea

Outermost lens of the eye that protects and controls light entry.

Lens

Focuses light onto the retina for clear image formation. (responsible for accomodation)

Accommodation

The process of changing the shape of the lens to focus on objects.

Rods

Receptor cells that process low light and are responsible for night vision; processes green very well, and works best when light is dim

Cones

Receptor cells that process detailed color vision; sensitive to red, green, and blue.

Optic Nerve

Carries visual signals from the retina to the brain. (Visual info)

Blind Spot

A part of the eye that does not process visual information.

Visual Pathway

The route visual information travels through the Retina -> Optic Nerve -> Optic Chiasm -> Thalamus -> Primary Visual Cortex -> Visual Association Cortex.

Trichromatic Theory

Theory stating we see red, green, and blue, with other colors built from these.

Color Opponent Theory

Theory of opposing color receptor cells in the brain (Red-Green, Blue-Yellow, Black-White).

Gestalt Principles

Laws describing how our brains organize visual information into meaningful wholes.

Phi Phenomenon

The perception of apparent movement where none exists.

Figure-Ground Segregation

The ability to distinguish a figure from its background.

Closure

The brain's ability to fill in missing parts of an image.

Good Continuation

The tendency to perceive lines as continuous, even when they are not.

Similarity

The tendency to group similar objects together.

Pitch

Related to the frequency of a sound wave.

Loudness

Related to the amplitude of sound waves; larger amplitude = louder sound, smaller amplitude = smaller sound.

Basilar Membrane

Tissue that vibrates for high frequencies.

Apex Membrane

Tissue that vibrates for low frequencies.

McGurk Effect

An illusion that occurs when auditory and visual components of sound conflict, leading to altered perceptions.

Proprioception

Awareness of the position of one's body in space.

Olfactory Bulb

The area where olfactory receptors meet to create the olfactory nerve.

5 Basic Tastes

Bitterness, Sourness, Sweetness, Saltiness, Umami.

Learning

A change in how an organism behaves due to changes in the environment that were produced by their behavior.

Habituation

When our behavioral response to a stimulus DECREASES overtime

Sensitization

When our behavioral response to a stimulus INCREASES overtime

Classical Conditioning

Learning that occurs through pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process that uses reinforcement or punishment to influence behavior.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Stimulus that naturally elicits a response.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

Natural response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

An environmental event that does not elicit a specific response.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that now elicits a response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Response (CR)

Response elicited by the conditioned stimulus.

Little Albert Experiment

Demonstration of classical conditioning where a baby learned to fear a white rat by associating it with a loud noise (John Watson, Rosalie Rayner).

Extinction

Events following learned responses stop occurring, and that response sort of dies out.

Spontaneous Recovery

The re-emergence of a conditioned response after a period of extinction.

Generalization

Observing a conditioned response in the presence of similar stimuli.

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different stimuli and respond only to the conditioned stimuli.

The Law of Effect

Behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are likely to be repeated, while those followed by unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to occur.

Positive Reinforcement

A stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior when presented.

Negative Reinforcement

A stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior when removed.

Positive Punishment

An event that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again when presented.

Negative Punishment

The removal of a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior repeating.

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior.

Conditioning and drug addiction

Contributions from both Classical and Operant Conditioning:  Initial Exposure to drug → Conditioned tolerance increases drug intake →  Drug intake in a novel environment

Continuous Reinforcement

Continual reward from doing an activity at 1^st, until the behavior is natural.

Partial Reinforcement

A learning technique where a response is only reinforced part of the time

Ratio

The frequency of responses or number of times it occurs (EX: like with slot machines not having a fixed moment of response, but eventually paying out); Can be fixed, or a bit more unpredictable (variable).

Interval

The timing of the Response; Can be fixed, or a bit more unpredictable (variable)

Social Learning

Learning behaviors by observing and imitating others.

Encoding

The acquisition and transformation of information into a form that can be stored.

Iconic Memory

Brief sensory memory based on visual input.

Echoic Memory

Brief sensory memory based on auditory input.

Inattentional Blindness

Failure to notice an unexpected stimulus when focused on a particular task.

Short-term Memory

Limited capacity memory that holds information for about 15 to 30 seconds.

Maintenance Rehearsal

A technique to prolong short-term memory retention.

Chunking

Grouping of information to aid memory retention.

Working Memory

A system that allows for the storage and manipulation of information.

Long-term Memory

Memory that can last from minutes to a lifetime; includes episodic, semantic, and procedural memories (READ: short-term memory is stored into long-term and can be retrieved into short-term memory).

Episodic Memory

Memory of events personally experienced.

Semantic Memory

Memory for facts and general knowledge.

Procedural Memory

Memory for skills and tasks performed automatically.

Proactive Interference

Older information interferes with the ability to learn new information.

Retroactive Interference

New information interferes with the ability to recall old information.

Serial Position Curve

A graph showing how well items are remembered from the beginning and end of a list.

Primacy Effect

The tendency to remember the first few items in a list more easily.

Recency Effect

The tendency to remember the last few items in a list more easily.

Schema

A cognitive framework that helps organize and interpret information (Can be involved in filling gaps with false memory).

Hippocampus

A brain region crucial for memory consolidation.

Consolidation

The process of stabilizing a new memory into long-term memory; achieved through rehearsal

Reconsolidation

The process through which memories can be reactivated and potentially altered, whether accurate or not.

Flashbulb Memories

Detailed memories associated with emotionally significant events, differing from regular memories; can easily be influenced leading to false memories

False Memories

Memories that are distorted or fabricated, often influenced by external suggestions.

How does question wording influence how people respond to questions?

subtle differences in phrasing can subtly steer answers by evoking certain emotions, creating ambiguity, or suggesting specific answers

How does suggestibility create false memories?

Individuals can incorporate suggested or misleading information into their recall of events, leading them to believe they experienced something that did not actually happen. 

Anterograde Amnesia

Inability to form new memories after a traumatic event.

Retrograde Amnesia

Inability to remember information or events prior to a traumatic incident.

Patient H.M.

A patient who lost the ability to create new memories after undergoing brain surgery.