Psychology Ch 5, 6, 9

sensory receptors

specialized neurons that respond to specific types of stimuli

sensation

occurs when sensory receptors detect sensory stimuli

transduction

sensory receptors detect a specific stimuli and convert energy to send an action potential to the CNS

absolute threshold

minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for you to detect it 50% of the time

subliminal messages

messages presented below the threshold of conscious awareness but able to be recieved

just noticeable difference

the minimum difference in stimuli required to detect a change between stimuli

perception

way that sensory info is interpreted, organized, and consciously experienced

bottom-up processing

system in which perceptions are built from sensory input, first type

top-down processing

interpretation of sensations influenced by available knowledge, experiences, and thoughts

sensory adaptation

not perceiving stimuli that remain relatively constant over prolonged periods of time

inattentional blindness

failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention

motivation

when you think you perceive something when it is not because you want it to happen

signal detection theory

change in stimulus detection as a function of current mental state

beliefs and values

people with positive attitudes towards something are more likely to rate it positively

cultural differences

some cultures can be more predisposed to certain illusions

light waves

the visible spectrum that humans can see

color

different wavelengths of light

red

longer wavelengths

blue

short wavelengths

amplitude

brightness/intensity of color

blind spot

a point of no receptors, where information exits eye

cones

daytime vision, color info, in fovea

rods

nighttime vision

frequency

number of waves that pass a given point at a given time

pitch

frequency of sound waves

loudness

amplitude of sound waves

optic chasm

where the optic nerve of each eye merges

what pathway

object recognition and identification

where/how pathway

location and how someone might interact with the stimulus

trichromatic theory

all colors can be made with red, green, and blue

opponent process theory

color is coded in opponent pairs

afterimage

continuation of a visual sensation after removal of the stimulus

depth perception

ability to perceive spatial relationships

binocular cues

cue that relies on both eyes

binocular disparity

slightly different view each eye receives

moncular cues

cues that only rely on one eye

linear perspective

when two parallel lines converge in an image, a monocular cue

interposition

partial overlap of objects

outer ear

pinna and tympanic membrane

middle ear

the three ossicles: malleus, incus, stapes

inner ear

cochlea and basilar membrane

temporal theory

frequency is coded by activity level of a sensory neuron

place theory

different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies

monaural cues

each ear interacts with incoming sound waves differently

binaural cues

provide location of sound using both ears

interaural level difference

sound coming from one side of body is more intense at closest ear

interaural timing difference

small difference in the time at which a given sound wave arrives at each ear

deafness

partial or complete inability to hear

congenital deafness

deafness from birth

conductive hearing loss

associated with a failure in the vibration of the eardrum and/or movement of the
ossicles

sensorineural hearing loss

failure to transmit neural signals from cochlea to brain

vestibular sense

ability to maintain balance and body posture

taste buds

groupings of taste receptor cells with hair like extensions that protrude into central pore of taste bud

proprioception

perception of body position

kinesthesia

perception of body’s movement throughout space

tranduction

the method in which the senses are perceived

pheromones

chemical messages sent by another individual

meisnerr’s corpuscles

respond to pressure and lower-frequency vibrations

pacinian corpuscles

detect transient pressure and higher frequency vibrations

merkel’s discs

respond to light pressure

ruffini corpuscles

detect stretch

thermoception

temperature perception

nociception

sensory signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain

inflammatory pain

signals some type of tissue damage

neuropathic pain

caused by damage to neurons of the nervous system

congenital insensitivity to pain

rare genetic disorder in which the individual cannot feel pain from birth

figure

focus of the visual field

ground

the background

gestalt principle of similarity

things that are alike tend to be grouped together

gestalt principle of continuity

more likely to perceive continuous, smooth flowing likes rather than jagged, broken lines

gestalt principle of closure

perceive a complete picture rather than segments

pareidolia

psychological phenomenon that causes some people to see or hear a vague or random image or sound as something significant

reflexes

motor/neural reactions to a specific stimulus (blinking, coughing)

instincts

behaviors triggered by a broader range of events (migrating)

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience

associative learning

when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment

approaches to learning

classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning

unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that elicits a reflexive response

unconditioned response

a natural unlearned reaction to a stimulus

neutral stimulus

stimulus that does not naturally elicits a response

conditioned stimulus

stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response

behavior caused by conditioned stimulus

higher order conditioning

an established conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus (the second-order stimulus), so that eventually the new stimulus also elicits the conditioned response, without the initial conditioned stimulus being presented

acquisition

initial period of learning when organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and a unconditioned stimulus

extinction

decrease in the conditioned response when the UCS is no longer presented with the CS

spontaneous recovery

the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period

stimulus discrimination

when an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar

stimulus generalization

when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus

habituation

learning not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change

little albert

example of conditioning to get baby to fear furry things- watson

positive operant conditioning

to add something

negative operant conditioning

to take away something

reinforcement

increasing a behavior

punishment

decreasing a behavior

pleasant consequence

results in more likely to occur again behavior

unpleasant consequence

results in less likely to occur behavior

positive reinforcement

something is added to increase the likelihood of a behavior (high grades, raise)

negative reinforcement

something is removed to increase the likelihood for a behavior (car beeping that only goes after putting on seatbelt)

primary reinforcers

those that have innate reinforcing qualities (food, pleasure)

secondary reinforcers

ones that have no inherent value, but have value when linked with a primary reinforcer