AP Psych Unit 2 and 3

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Psychophyiscs

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Psychophyiscs

branch of psych that studies how sensory stimuli changes thoughts

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absolute threshold

smallest amount of a stimulus you can detect

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difference threshold

smallest amount of change in a stimulus you can detect

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Weber Law

The greater the magnitude or intensity of a stimulus; the more that stimulus must change before a person can notice it’s different

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selective attention

ability to focus upon one stimulus, from among all surrounding environmental stimuli

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goal-directed attention

selective attention to stimuli necessary for completing a task

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change blindness

observer fails to notice a change in a visual stimulus because they are focused on something else

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stimulus driven capture

larger magnitude or new stimuli are rapidly attended to

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sensory adaptation

the longer a person is exposed to an unchanging stimulus; the less likely they are to detect it

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signal detection theory

a person‘s emotional state, expectations and decisions making processes affect if they detect a stimulus or not

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McGurk Effect

what is seen can alter what is heard

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cornea

outermost and protective layer of the eyes

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pupil

opening in the eye that allows light to enter

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iris

colored portion of the eye that surrounds the pupil

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lens

structure that focus light on the retina

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accomodation

process in which muscles change the shape of the lens to better focus light

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retina

where transduction occurs

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photoreceptors

the cones are the first level of cells in retina

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cones

activated by color and bright light

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rods

activated by low light

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bipolar cells

connected to several rods and only one cone

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ganglion cells

bundle together to form optic nerve

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optic chiasma

x-shaped structure where optic nerves cross over to the hemispheres

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feature detectors

specialized neurons in the visual cortex that allow us to detect angles, shapes, edges, and movement

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Trichromatic theory

Three cones, S M and L that fire in different combinations and rates to allow a range of colors to be detected

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Opponent Process Theory

bipolar cells allow nerve fibers to detect complementary pairs of colors

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Afterimage

when a visual sensation briefly persists after original stimulus has been removed

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sound localization

ability to determine the origin of a sound by judging the relative time and intensity which sound waves reach each ear

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cocktail party effect

ability to focus attention on one particular sound while filtering out other sounds

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top down processing

occurs when stimuli are perceived as a whole rather than individual features

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bottom up processing

analyzing individual elements

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law of Pragnanz

people have tendency to being with top down processing because it has less cognitive effort than bottom up processin

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perceptual organizations and grouping

unconscious mind and automatic cognitive steps taken to establish an order in what is seen heard, etc.

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Gestalt Principles

the cognitive tendencies which influence the ways people organize images into patterns or wholes

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Law of Common Fate

visual elements seen moving in the same direction at the same rate, are perceived as a whole unit

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Law of Common Region

objects enclosed in borders or backgrounds are often perceived as a single unit

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simplicity

we tend to organize stimuli in the simplest way possible

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closure

tendency to fill any missing parts of a figure and see it as complete

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figure-ground

your experience of automatically identifying a figure, which has more detail, standing out against a background, which has less detail

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proximity

we tend to group objects that are physically close together

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perceptual set

temporary readiness to perceive a stimulus as a person expects to perceive it

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size constancy

ability to understand objects maintain a constant size despite the object’s distance

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shape constancy

objects maintain a constant shape, despite changing angle of view

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brightness constancy

ability to understand objects maintain a constant shape, despite lighting changes

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motion perception

feature detectors detect image’s expansion, diminishment, or movement across the retina

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depth perception

cognitive ability to perceive 3d characteristics of an objects or judge the distance of an object

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monocular cues

visual info needed to perceive depth detected by one eye brain unconsciously

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Relative size

small images are perceived as being further away; larger images are closer

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texture gradient

objects closer to the viewer are seen with greater detail than those further away

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interposition

an object obstructing the view of another is perceived as being closer

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linear perspective

parallel lines appear to converge at greater distance

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motion parallax

closer objects appear to move more quickly through the visual field while viewer is in motion

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binocular cues

depth perception info only detected with both eyes

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convergence

the eyes must converge inward to see an object that is up close

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retinal disparity

each eye/retina has unique angle of view

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parapsychology

The study of psychological phenomenon that can’t be scientifically validated

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cold reading technique

psychic makes multiple high probability guesses about a person's background, lifestyle, fears, etc.

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subliminal threshold

when stimuli are detected below the absolute threshold

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transduction

conversion of energy from one to another

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wavelength

distance from the peak of one sound wave to the next

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hue

color we experience

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parallel processing

processing many things at once

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place theory

different hairs vibrate in the cochlea when they hear different pitches, so some hairs vibrate when they hear high pitches and others vibrate when they hear low ones

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conduction deafness

when something goes wrong w/ the sound & vibration on the way to the cochlea

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Sensorineural deafness

when hair cells in cochlea get damaged

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kinesthesis

sense of position and movement of body parts

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Vestibular sense

monitors body’s position and movement (semicircular canals in ear help keep balance)

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Gustation

taste

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papillae

bumps on our tongue

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oflaction

smell receptors are located at top of nasal cavity

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anosmia

loss of smell

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gestalt

an organized whole

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figure-ground relationship

our first perceptual decision is what in the image is the figure and what is the background

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phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when 2 or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession

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perceptual constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging when illumination and retinal images are changing

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extrasensory adaptation

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, & precognition

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inattentional blindness

failing to see objects when attention is somewhere else

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heredity

genetically transmitted or transmittable from parent to offspring

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environment

every nongenetic influence from conception to health

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chromosomes

threadlike structures made of DNA that contains that genes

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genes

each DNA segment of a chromosome that determines a trait

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PKU

mutation

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down syndrome

extra 21st chromosome

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Klinefelter’s syndrone

XXY, extreme introversion and minimal sexual development

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