Psychology 101: Introduction to Study Strategies and Sensory Processing

Flashcards covering key study strategies, the foundational principles of sensation versus perception, and the physiological mechanics of the human auditory system.

Rote Memorization

A study strategy based on learning through repetition, which empirical data shows is one of the least effective methods for college-level exam preparation.

Elaboration Technique

A study strategy where new lecture concepts are connected to personal anecdotes, experiences, or knowledge from other academic classes to build meaningful comprehension.

Sensation

The experience associated with environmental stimuli (such as sound or light) and the initial steps by which sense organs and neural pathways take in that stimulus information.

Perception

The higher-level mental process of organizing and meaningfully interpreting sensory information brought in through sensation.

Physical Stimulus

The matter or energy (such as sound waves, light, or chemical molecules) that directly impacts the sense organs.

Physiological Response

The non-mental, electrical cellular activity that occurs in sense organs as a direct result of exposure to a physical stimulus.

Sensory Experience

The subjective initial detection of sight, sound, touch, or other sensations before higher-order perceptual organization takes place.

Receptor Cell

A specialized non-neuronal cell (such as rods and cones in the eye) that converts physical stimuli into electrical changes that trigger neural impulses.

Transduction

The biological process in which a sensory receptor cell produces an electrical response to a physical stimulus.

Receptor Potential

A graded electrical charge produced by transduction in receptor cells, where the magnitude of partial depolarization varies depending on the strength of the stimulus.

Qualitative Information

Sensory information regarding the specific type or kind of energy present (such as red vs. green light), determined by which specific set of neurons fires.

Quantitative Information

Sensory information regarding the strength or amount of a stimulus, encoded by the rate of neuronal action potential firing per second.

Sensory Adaptation

The tendency of sensory systems to become more sensitive when exposure to stimuli decreases, and less sensitive when exposure to stimuli increases over time.

Amplitude

The physical magnitude or height of a wave, which corresponds to the psychological perception of loudness.

Frequency

The physical rate of completed wave cycles per second, which corresponds to the psychological perception of pitch.

Tympanic Membrane

Also known as the eardrum; a membrane in the ear canal that vibrates in response to sound waves at the exact frequency of the incoming air vibrations.

Auditory Ossicles

The trio of tiny bones in the middle ear—the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and stirrup (stapes)—that transfer sound vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the oval window.

Cochlea

A snail-shell-shaped, fluid-filled structure in the inner ear containing hair cells that convert mechanical fluid vibrations into electrical signals sent to the brain.

Conductive Deafness

Hearing loss caused by the ossicles in the middle ear becoming rigid, preventing normal vibration transmission and requiring higher sound pressure levels.

Sensorineural Deafness

Hearing loss resulting from damage to internal sensory structures between the stirrup and the brain, such as damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve.

Tinnitus

A persistent ringing or buzzing sensation in the ears indicating permanent damage or loss of cochlear hair cells.