Perception, Attention, and Learning Vocabulary Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from attention, perception, Gestalt organization, depth cues, types of learning, and classical conditioning.

Attention

Focusing awareness on a narrowed aspect of the environment.

Selective Attention

The act of focusing on a specific aspect of the environment while ignoring others.

Inattentional Blindness

A failure to notice visual objects when attention is directed elsewhere, leading to a complete failure to detect the stimulus.

Change Blindness

A failure to notice changes in one's environment, characterized by noticing an initial stimulus but failing to perceive a change in it.

Stroop Effect

A demonstration of how automatic processes like reading can interfere with selective attention, making performance harder when a word's meaning and ink color do not match.

Sensory Adaptation

A change in the responsiveness of the sensory system based on the average level of surrounding stimulation.

Gestalt Principles

Rules of grouping based on the concept that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,' describing how perceptions are naturally organized according to specific patterns and configurations.

Figure/Ground

A Gestalt principle of perceptual organization that divides the visual field into distinct objects (figure) and their surroundings (ground).

Proximity

A Gestalt principle stating that when objects are near each other, they tend to be perceived as a unit.

Similarity

A Gestalt principle stating that when objects are similar to each other, they tend to be perceived as a unit.

Closure

A Gestalt principle stating that when viewing disconnected or incomplete figures, people tend to fill in the spaces to perceive a complete unit.

Contours

A Gestalt principle where individuals perceive visual boundaries and cues to depth even when they do not physically exist.

Depth Perception

The ability to see objects in three dimensions rather than as flat two-dimensional images.

Binocular Depth Cues

Visual depth cues that arise from having two eyes and are present when viewing the three-dimensional world.

Retinal Disparity

A binocular depth cue resulting from the approximately $65\text{ millimeters}$ distance between eyes, creating slightly different retinal images that the brain uses to compute distance to nearby objects.

Convergence

A binocular depth cue where eye muscles turn the eyes inward toward each other when viewing a nearby object.

Monocular Depth Cues

Depth cues available from each eye alone used to infer distance and three-dimensional shape.

Occlusion

A monocular depth cue where a nearer object blocks or obscures the view of an object that is farther away.

Relative Size

A monocular depth cue where far-off objects project a smaller retinal image than closer objects of similar size.

Linear Perspective

A monocular depth cue where seemingly parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance.

Learning

A relatively enduring change in behavior resulting from experience, distinguished from memory which focuses on acquiring, storing, and retrieving knowledge.

Nonassociative Learning

A category of learning in which an organism adjusts its behavioral responses to a repeated stimulus.

Habituation

A form of nonassociative learning where a behavioral response to a stimulus decreases following repeated exposure.

Dishabituation

An increase in behavioral response to a change in a stimulus after habituation has occurred, such as when the repeated stimulus stops.

Sensitization

A form of nonassociative learning where a behavioral response to a stimulus increases after exposure, especially if the stimulus is threatening or painful.

Associative Learning

Learning about the link or relationship between two stimuli or events that go together.

Social Learning

Learning that occurs through instruction or by observing how others behave.

Classical Conditioning

A form of associative learning where a neutral stimulus is paired with an unlearned stimulus until the neutral stimulus predicts another stimulus and elicits a response.

Operant Conditioning

A type of associative learning in which an organism learns that a specific behavior leads to a consequence.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that automatically triggers an unlearned response without any prior conditioning.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

An unlearned, automatic response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus (US).

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response prior to learning, but becomes the conditioned stimulus after pairing.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that elicits a response only after learning (conditioning) has taken place.

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response given to a conditioned stimulus (CS) after conditioning has occurred.