Here is the full list of vocabulary terms from your AP Psychology unit, formatted for flashcards:

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Front: Sensation  

Back: The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment.

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Front: Transduction  

Back: The conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, transforming stimulus energies into neural impulses.

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Front: Absolute threshold  

Back: The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

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Front: Just-noticeable difference (AKA Difference Threshold)  

Back: The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time.

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Front: Sensory adaptation  

Back: Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.

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Front: Weber’s law  

Back: The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount).

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Front: Sensory interaction  

Back: The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste.

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Front: Synesthesia  

Back: A condition in which one sensory pathway leads to involuntary experiences in another sensory pathway, like "seeing" sounds.

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Front: Retina  

Back: The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that process visual information.

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Front: Blind spot  

Back: The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.

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Front: Visual nerve  

Back: Nerves that carry visual information from the retina to the brain.

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Front: Lens  

Back: The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

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Front: Accommodation  

Back: The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

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Front: Nearsightedness  

Back: A condition in which nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects because distant objects focus in front of the retina.

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Front: Farsightedness  

Back: A condition in which distant objects are seen more clearly than nearby objects because the image of near objects is focused behind the retina.

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Front: Photoreceptors  

Back: Specialized cells in the retina that respond to light and consist of rods and cones.

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Front: Rods  

Back: Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision.

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Front: Cones (blue, green, red)  

Back: Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and function in daylight. They detect fine detail and color (red, green, blue).

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Front: Trichromatic theory  

Back: Theory that the retina contains three types of color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color.

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Front: Opponent-process theory  

Back: The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision.

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Front: Afterimages  

Back: Sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed, often showing in complementary colors.

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Front: Ganglion cells  

Back: Cells in the retina that receive visual information from photoreceptors and transmit it to the brain through the optic nerve.

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Front: Dichromatism  

Back: A type of color blindness resulting in the absence of two types of cones.

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Front: Monochromatism  

Back: Total color blindness, where the person only perceives shades of grey.

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Front: Prosopagnosia  

Back: An inability to recognize faces, also known as face blindness.

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Front: Blindsight  

Back: A condition in which a person can respond to visual stimuli without consciously experiencing them.

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Front: Wavelength  

Back: The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next; determines color in light and pitch in sound.

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Front: Pitch  

Back: A tone's experienced highness or lowness, which depends on frequency.

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Front: Amplitude  

Back: The height of a wave's crest, which determines loudness in sound and intensity in light.

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Front: Loudness  

Back: The perceived volume of sound, determined by the amplitude of the sound wave.

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Front: Pitch perception  

Back: The ability to distinguish between different frequencies of sound.

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Front: Place theory  

Back: Theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated.

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Front: Volley theory  

Back: Theory that neurons alternate firing to carry higher frequency sounds by summing their output.

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Front: Frequency theory  

Back: Theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling pitch perception.

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Front: Sound localization  

Back: The ability to identify the origin of a sound in direction and distance.

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Front: Conduction deafness  

Back: Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

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Front: Sensorineural deafness  

Back: Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or the auditory nerves.

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Front: Olfactory system  

Back: The sensory system responsible for smell.

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Front: Thalamus  

Back: The brain's sensory control center, located on top of the brainstem; it directs sensory messages to the cortex.

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Front: Gustation  

Back: The sense of taste.

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Front: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, oleogustus  

Back: The six primary taste sensations.

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Front: Taste receptors  

Back: Sensory receptors located on the tongue responsible for taste perception.

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Front: Supertasters  

Back: Individuals who experience taste sensations more intensely due to a higher number of taste receptors.

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Front: Medium tasters  

Back: Individuals who have an average number of taste receptors.

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Front: Nontasters  

Back: Individuals with fewer taste receptors, experiencing weaker taste sensations.

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Front: Warm/cold receptors  

Back: Sensory receptors in the skin that detect temperature changes.

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Front: Gate control theory  

Back: Theory that the spinal cord contains a gate that either blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.

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Front: Phantom limb  

Back: The sensation of pain or other feelings in an amputated limb.

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Front: Vestibular sense  

Back: The sense of body movement and balance, primarily controlled by the semicircular canals.

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Front: Semicircular canals  

Back: Three fluid-filled canals in the inner ear responsible for the sense of balance.

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Front: Kinesthesis  

Back: The sense of body part movement and position.

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Front: Bottom-up processing  

Back: Analyzing sensory information by starting with the raw data received by sensory receptors and moving toward complex interpretations in the brain.

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Front: Top-down processing  

Back: Perception guided by higher-level knowledge, experience, expectations, and motivations, affecting the way sensory information is interpreted.

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Front: Schema  

Back: A mental framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information in the brain.

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Front: Perceptual set  

Back: A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another, influenced by expectations, emotions, and experiences.

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Front: Gestalt psychology  

Back: A psychological approach that emphasizes our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

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Front: Closure  

Back: The tendency to fill in gaps in an incomplete image to create a complete, whole object.

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Front: Figure and ground  

Back: The organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground).

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Front: Proximity  

Back: A principle of Gestalt psychology that states objects near each other are perceived as a group.

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Front: Similarity  

Back: A Gestalt principle stating that objects similar in appearance are more likely to be perceived as belonging together.

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Front: Attention  

Back: The process of focusing awareness on a particular stimulus while ignoring others.

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Front: Selective attention  

Back: The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus while excluding others.

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Front: Cocktail party effect  

Back: The ability to focus on a single voice among a multitude of conversations, especially when your name is mentioned.

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Front: Inattentional blindness  

Back: Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.

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Front: Change blindness  

Back: Failing to notice changes in the environment due to a lack of focused attention.

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Front: Binocular depth cues  

Back: Depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes, including retinal disparity and convergence.

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Front: Retinal disparity  

Back: A binocular cue for perceiving depth based on the difference between the images in each eye; the greater the disparity, the closer the object.

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Front: Convergence  

Back: A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object.

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Front: Monocular depth cues  

Back: Depth cues that require the use of only one eye, including relative size, interposition, and linear perspective.

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Front: Relative clarity  

Back: A monocular cue that suggests objects that appear clearer and sharper are closer than those that are hazy.

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