Psychology Exam 2 Indiana University P155

Sensations

the elementary building blocks of an experience

Perceptions

the meaningful interpretations of an experience

Vision Learning Goals: Translate

light----electrochemical language of the brain

Vision Learning Goals: Identify

basic feature of the visual message

Physical Properties of Light

Wavelength, Amplitude, and Purity

Psychological Properties of Light

Hue, Brightness, and Saturation

Rods

Sensitive to low light

Cones

Sensitive to fine detail and color, focused in the fovea (direct back of the eye), three kinds of cone in retina (each has a different type of photopigment in the photoreceptors)

Light Sensitive Cells

Photopigments break down in bright light, they regenerate after the time in low light, causing dark adaptation

The Visual Pathway

Eye to Optic Nerve to Optic Chiasm to Optic Track to Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (in the Thalamus) to Optic Radiations

Prosopagnosia

Brain damage that results in the inability of the individual to tell people apart from looking at their faces, has to do with spacial awareness

Bottom-up Processing

Controlled by physical messages delivered to the senses

Top-down Processing

Controlled by one's beliefs and expectations about the world

Recognition by Component Theory

Objects broken down into simple geometrical components (geons) before identifying whole object, easy to identify incomplete or degraded objects

Retinal Disparity

Difference between location of images in each retina

Convergence

How far the eyes turn inward to focus on an object

Frequency

The speed of the vibration

Amplitude

The intensity of the the vibration

Human Ear Structure

Outer Ear (Pinna) to Ear drum to Middle Ear (3 tiny bones; malleus, incus, and stapes) to Inner Ear to Cochlea to Hair Cells on the Basilar Membrane

Frequency Theory

The pitch is determined partly by frequency of the impulses coming from the hair cells

Place Theory

Pitch determined by where hair cells on the basilar membrane are responding to sound

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Nerve to Midbrain (Inferior Colliculus) to Medial Geniculate Nucleus (Thalamus) to Temporal Lobe

Chemoreceptors

The chemicals bind to receptors

Smell (Olfaction)

Receptor cells in upper part of the nasal cavity send messages to olfactory bulb

Taste (Gustation)

Receptors cells on the tongue (taste buds) respond to sweet, bitter, salt, and sour tastes

Consciousness

The subjective awareness of internal and external events

Attention

The internal processes used to set priorities for mental functioning. Attention is CAPACITY LIMITED

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

Used to measure changes in electrical potentials recorded in the form of line tracings (brain waves); reveals regular, cyclic changes in brain activity during sleep

EEG Patterns of Sleep Stages

Awake (fast and random), Drowsy (Alpha Waves), Non REM 1 (Light sleep theta waves), Non REM 2 (Sleep), Non REM 3 ( Slow wave sleep, delta activity), REM Sleep (Resembles being awake)

Dyssomnia

Problems connected with amount, timing, and quality of sleep (insomnia, hypersomnia, and narcalepse)

Parasomnias

Abnormal disturbances to sleep (night terrors)

Psychoactive Drugs

Drugs that affect behavior and mental processes through alterations of conscious behavior

Tolerance

Body adapts to compensate for continued use, increasing amounts are needed to produce the same effects

Drug Dependency

Condition in which an individual experiences physical or psychological need for the drug

Depressants

These drugs slow the activity of the Central Nervous System

Stimulants

Increase activity of the Central Nervous System (caffeine, nicotine, MDMA, and cocaine)

Hallucinogens

Drugs that affect perceptions, distort idea of reality (LSD, Marijuana, and psilocybin)

Orientation Response

Turning towards a new event, after repeated exposure to an event

Habituation

Reduced response to the event, you stop getting excited about free pizza

Sensitization

Increased response to an event, someone laughs even before you tickle them (but they know it's coming)

Classical Conditioning

Technique developed to study how simple associations form, these associations allow us to prepare ourselves for future event

Conditioned Stimulus

Functions as a signal that the Unconditioned Stimulus (US) is about to occur; comes before the US, not at the same time either

Stimulus Discrimination

Responding differently to a new stimulus than to the Conditioned Stimulus

Operant Conditioning

"Operate On", organisms learn about the consequences of their own voluntary actions

Law of Effect

If a response is followed by a satisfying consequence, the response will be strengthened; is the response is followed by an unsatisfying consequence, the response will be weakened

Positive Reinforcement

Usually involves an appetitive reward (something that the organism wants/needs). However, what matters in defining to as positive us the effect on behavior, not subjective qualities

Negative Reinforcement

Response leads to the removal of some stimulus (shutting of an alarm clock)

Positive Punishment

Presentation of an event after responding lowers the likelihood of that response (scolding)

Negative Punishment

Removal of an event after responding lowers the likelihood of that response (taking away a cellphone)

Learning

Any change in behavior that results from experience

Shaping

A procedure in which reinforcement is delivered for successive approximations of the desired response (a little kid learning to wash their hands)

Observational Learning

Learn by watching others (cultural difference, apprenticeships, etc.)

4 Processes to support Observational Learning

1. Attention to the act or behavior 2. Memory for it 3. Ability to reproduce it 4. Motivation to do so

Memory

The capacity to preserve and retrieve information

Sensory Memory

Lasts from milliseconds to seconds, exact replica of a stimulus which usually lasts for a second or less. Iconic memory (vision), Echoic memory (hearing)

Longterm Memory

Lasts from minutes to months and even to years. System used to maintain information for extended periods of time; types of longterm memory Episodic Memory, Semantic Memory, and Procedural Memory

Episodic Memory

Memory of a particular event or episode that happened to you personally (first day of class, 7th birthday party, etc.)

Semantic Memory

Knowledge about the world, stored as facts that make little/no reference to one's personal experiences (# of planets, definitions of words, etc.)

Procedural Memory

Knowledge of how to do things (ride a bike, tying your shoes, athletic skills, etc.)

Working Memory

A system we use to temporarily store, think about, and reason with information. A mental work space, Short-term Memory is the storage of Working Memory

Cowan's Embedded Process Model

All sensations are processed in the same place together, some times we are better at processing certain types of information

Bradley's Multimodal Model of Working Memory

There are certain areas where information having to do with vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch are processed and they do not intertwine

Short-term Memory

Lasts from seconds to minutes. Part of Working Memory, and is subject to decay. Short-term Memory is TIME LIMITED

Decay

The spontaneous loss of memory over time

Interference

Loss of memory because it is overwritten by new information or confused with old information

3 Stages of Memory

1. Encoding 2. Maintenance 3. Retrieval

Elaboration

Forming connections between input and other information in memory. (Chunking is a simple form of elaboration) Test yourself on material, form mental pictures, and space the reputations for trying to retrieve the information

Flashbulb Memories

Rich records of the circumstances surrounding emotionally significant and surprising events (Kennedy Assassination, Paris Bombings, 9/11, etc.) These can be inaccurate, we tend to incorporate later experiences into our memories

Free Recall

Remembering information without explicit cues (hints)

Cued Recall

Remembering information based on a cue (multiple choice tests)