AP Psych Unit 1 Part 2

Sleep, Consciousness, and Sensation

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

unconscious processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously 

Sequential Processing

conscious processing or one aspect of a problem at a time 

Consciousness

subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

Cognitive Neuroscience

interdisciplinary study of the brain linked with cognition

Dual Processing

information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

Blindsight

a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it

Altered State of Consciousness

consciousness comes to us in altered states, including daydreaming, sleeping, drug-induced hallucinations, meditation, and hypnosis

Sleep

a unique state of altered consciousness where you are not aware of many stimuli but are not completely unaware either

Circadian Rhythm

our biological clock

NREM Sleep

non rapid eye movement, all stages of sleep except for REM sleep

NREM 1

brief stage of sleep where you could experience hallucinations and hypnagogic sensations

NREM 2

20 min sleep stage where sleep spindles may appear on the EEG

NREM 3

deep sleep marked by delta waves, brain and body are deep in sleep

Hallucinations

false sensory experience, seeing something

Alpha Waves

slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake

Delta Waves

the large, slow brain waves for deep sleep

Hypnagogic Sensations

bizarre experiences, such as jerking or feeling of falling

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

a pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls the circadian rhythm, Adjusts melatonin production

Insomnia

the most common sleep disorder, chronic ability to fall asleep, frequent arousals during sleep, early morning awakening

Sleep Apnea

temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings, feeling groggy even with the correct hours of sleep, 1 in 20 adults suffer

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

twitching, punching, kicking, and acting out one’s dream

Somnambulism

sleepwalking or complex motor behavior while asleep that occurs during stages 3 and 4

Night Terrors

Occurs mostly in children, no memory when awoken, occurs in stage 4 of a child’s sleep

Narcolepsy

Sudden, irresistible onset of sleep during normal waking hours, about 1/2000, can occur when walking and driving

Cataplexy

sudden loss of muscle control prior to narcoleptic attack

Sigmund Freud

proposed the wish fulfillment theory of dreaming where subconscious, unacceptable feelings could be projected

Manifest Content

one of Freud’s proposals, symbols that disguise true meaning; surface storyline

Latent Content

one of Freud’s proposals, hidden meaning of the dream

Activation Synthesis Theory

The theory that Dreams are a byproduct of synthesis of an active brain’s random neural firing, meaning that the brain synthesizes its own random bursts of energy as messages and creates a story

Information Processing Theory

cognition, dreams are tools for organizing and filing the day’s experiences into our memories, meaningful mental events 

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Sensory Organs

our sense organs that detect stimuli and convert to impulses, which get transmitted to the brain

Perception

Brain selects, organizes, and interprets coded neural messages into meaningful patterns 

Prosopagnosia

face blindness, inability to perceive faces

Daydreaming

conscious attention switches to memories, worries or desires, not as vivid and creative

REM Rebound

tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation, we will enter REM quicker when deprived and be in REM for longer

Sensory Adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation, swimmer analogy

Sensory Transduction

sensory process converting physical energy into neural messages the brain can interpret, barcode scanner analogy

Bottom-up Processing

data driven processing, a progression from individual elements to the whole, info is determined mainly by info from the senses not your expectations, Ex: coming to a conclusion based on their individual characteristics

Top-Down processing

schema driven processing, a progression from the whole to the elements, your knowledge or expectations will influence your perception 

Psychophysics

the study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli, and our psychological experiences of them

Absolute Threshold

minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Signal Detection Theory

absolute thresholds doesnt exist, as other factors need to be considered when determining whether we can detect a stimuli

Difference Threshold

JND, minimum difference needed to notice a stimulus change

Subliminal Perception

stimuli below our conscious awareness, very weak stimuli and has modest to no effect on behavior

Weber’s Law

JND is proportional to stimulus (TV volume example)

Young-Helmholtz Theory

the retina contains three different types of color receptors, red, green, blue, which can produce the perception of any color when stimulated

Dichromat

someone who cannot distinguish between red and green

Opponent Process Theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision

Fovea

the area of highest visual activity in the retina, holds only cones

Rods

respond to dim light, in the peripheral vision

Cones

helps you see color

Photoreceptors

rods and cones

Cornea

transparent, protective outer layer, bends and refracts light

Iris

ring of muscular tissue that allows the tissue to dilate or constrict, drugs can affect 

Vision

the eye takes in light through the pupil, focuses it in the lens and converts or transduces the signal in the retina

Pupil

adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters 

Lens

transparent structure that bends light passing through the eye and changes shape to focus (accomodation)

Visual Cortex

neural impulses are transformed here inot color, form and movement

Accomodation

process of changing shape

Blind Spots

the point where the optic nerve exits the eye and where there are no photoreceptors, any stimulus that falls onto this area cannot be seen

Optic Nerve

the bundle of ganglion cells that carries neural impulses from the retina to the brain

Retina

thin light, sensitive layer at the back of the eyeball, where all the photoreceptors are

Retinal Disparity

the difference between the vision in one eye in comparison to the other

Synesthesia

a neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate one of your sense stimulates several of your senses

Wavelength

distance from the peak of one light wave or sound wave to the peak of the next

Hue

dimension of color determined by wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, etc.

Intensity

amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave that influences what we perceive as brightness or loudness and is determined by the wave’s amplitude

Audition

the sense or act of hearing

Frequency

number of cycles completed by a wave in a given time

Amplitude

loudness or height of waves

Timbre

mix of tones; complexity of sound

Pitch

high or lowness of sound; depends on frequency

Middle Ear

chamber between ear drum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (ossicles), called the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, which concentrate vibrations of eardrum on cochlea’s oval window

Cochlea

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in inner ear that sound waves travel through, triggering nerve impulses

Inner Ear

contains cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

Eardrum

tympanic membrane

Hammer, anvil, stirrup

three tiny ear bones, also known as ossicles

Basilar Membrane

Convert waves into neural messages which then travel to auditory cortex

Auditory Cortex

Conduction Deafness

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

Nerve Deafness (Sensorineural)

the most common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve. Causes include infection, genetic defects, high blood pressure, exposure to loud noises, diabetes, etc.

Cochlear Implant

electronic device under skin that bypasses damaged cells and transmits signals to brain

Place Theory

the place in the ear that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated (also called place coding)

Frequency Matching Theory

the speed of the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense pitch

McGurk Effect

an illusion that occurs that what you are seeing clashes with what you are hearing, The look of the face influences what we think we are hearing

Smell

Olfactory Sense - Olfaction, our oldest sense and bypasses the thalamus directly to the olfactory bulb in the brain located in the limbic system

Vestibular Sense

balance and body position, works with kinesthesis to keep our balance when moving

Cilia

tiny hair receptors in the semicircular canals of the inner ear

Kinesthesis

our movement sense, our system for sensing the position and movement of our own individual body parts

Kinesthetic Sense Receptors

Receptors are found in joints and ligaments

Taste Receptor Cells

sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami

Pheromones

chemical signals released by organisms to communicate with other members of species (sexual attraction)

Gate-control Theory

The spinal chord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals/allows them to pass onto the brain. The gate is opened by the activity of pain signals travelling up small nerve fibers, and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by info coming from the brain

Taste Buds

where the 5 main taste receptor cells are located

Somesthesis

“body feeling”, the general name for all systems of sensitivity present in the skin and internal organs of the body 

Pain

a biopsychosocial feeling with many different stimuli

Nocireceptors

specialized sensory receptors that detect harmful temperatures, pressures, or chemicals 

Embodied Cognition

the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states of cognitive preferences and judgments, how we feel might affect how we think about a situation

Sensory interaction

the principle that one sense can influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste