unit 3:Sensation & Perception

ap psych

Sensation

The process of receiving stimuli from the environment through the senses, leading to the initial awareness of physical energy.

Transduction

The conversion of physical energy from stimuli into neural signals that the brain can interpret.

Perception

The process of organizing, interpreting, and consciously experiencing sensory information, allowing individuals to understand and interact with their environment.

Botton-up processing

A perception process that starts with sensory input, building from the simplest elements to more complex perceptions, allowing the brain to construct stimuli interpretation.

Top-down processing

A perception process that relies on prior knowledge, expectations, and experiences to interpret sensory information, influencing how individuals perceive stimuli.

Selective attention

The cognitive process of focusing on a specific aspect of information while ignoring others, enabling individuals to prioritize certain stimuli in their environment.

Inattentional Blindness

A phenomenon where an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight due to focusing attention on another task or aspect of their environment.

Change blindness

A cognitive phenomenon where a change in a visual stimulus goes unnoticed by the observer, often due to a lack of focused attention.

Absolute Threshold

The minimum intensity of a stimulus that can be detected by an individual 50% of the time. It varies among individuals and can be influenced by factors such as expectations and previous experiences.

Difference Thresholds

Weber’s Law

Sensory Adaptation

A decrease in sensitivity to a constant, unchanging stimulus over time.

Hue

The dimension of color determined by the wavelength of light, corresponding to names like red, green, or blue.

Intensity

The amount of energy in a wave, determined by amplitude and perceived as brightness in light or loudness in sound.

Cornea

Pupil

Iris

Lens

Retina

Fovea

Rods

cones

Bipolar cells

Ganglion cells

Optic nerve

Blindspot

Accommodation

nearsightedness

farsightedness

Optic chiasm

Feature detector cells

Parrallel processing

Perceptual set

Context effects

Signals detection theory

Cocktail party effect

Gestalt psychology

Gestalt principle of closure

Gestalt principle of proximity

Gestalt principle of similarity

Figure-ground

Visual Cliff experiment

Binocular cues

Convergence

Retinal disparity

Monocular cues

Relative size

Relative height

Linear perspective

Interposition

Relative clarity

Texture gradient

Stroboscopic motion

Autokinetic motion

Phi phenomenon

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

Opponent-process theory

Afterimages

color vision deficiency

size constancy

Shape constancy

color/brightness constancy

audition

pinna

eardrum (tympanic membrane)

ossicles

Oval window

cochlea

Basilar membrane

Auditory nerve

frequency theory

Place theory

volley theory

conduction hearing loss

sensorineural hearing loss

Gustation

Gustatory receptor cells

olfaction

pheromones

touch

kinesthesis

proprioceptors

vestibular sense

semicircular canals

sensory interaction

synesthesia

psychoactive drugs

blood brain barrier

agonists

Reuptake Inhibitors

antagonists

depressants

opiates

stimulants

hallucionogens

dependences

tolerance

addiction

withdrawal symptoms

substance use disorder