Psych Test 4

sensation (minus vision), perception, and cognition

Pitch

• wavelength of sound

Loudness

• amplitude of sound

Place Theory

• Definition: A theory of hearing that suggests that the perception of pitch is determined by the location (place) on the cochlea's basilar membrane that is stimulated by sound waves. High-frequency sounds activate hair cells closer to the base of the cochlea, while low-frequency sounds stimulate hair cells closer to the apex (tip).

Frequency Theory (with the Volley Principle)

• Definition: Frequency theory suggests that pitch perception is determined by the rate at which nerve impulses travel up the auditory nerve. The higher the frequency of the sound, the faster the impulses. However, because neurons cannot fire faster than 1,000 times per second, the Volley Principle proposes that groups of neurons fire in a pattern, allowing the auditory system to perceive higher frequencies

Sound Localization

• Definition: The ability to identify the location of a sound source. Sound localization is achieved through differences in the time and intensity at which sound reaches both ears, helping the brain determine the direction of the sound.

Conduction Deafness

• Definition: A type of hearing loss that occurs when there is a problem in the outer or middle ear that prevents sound from being conducted to the inner ear. It can be caused by damage to the eardrum or ossicles (tiny bones in the middle ear), often treatable with hearing aids

Sensorineural Deafness

• Definition: A type of hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea (inner ear) or the auditory nerve. This can result from aging, prolonged exposure to loud sounds, or genetic factors and is often treated with cochlear implants.

Chemical Senses (Olfaction + Gustation)

• Definition: The senses responsible for detecting chemicals in the environment—olfaction (smell) and gustation (taste). Both senses play important roles in taste perception and the detection of odors, providing feedback to the brain about food and environmental stimuli.

Thalamus - Smell is Not Processed Here

• Definition: Unlike other sensory information, smell (olfaction) is directly processed by the olfactory bulb and does not pass through the thalamus before reaching the brain. This is unique, as most other sensory information is relayed through the thalamus

Pheromones

• Definition: Chemical signals released by an individual that can affect the behavior or physiology of another individual of the same species. Pheromones can influence mating behaviors, social interactions, and other biological responses.

Gustatory Cells (Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salty, Umami, Oleogustus)

• Definition: Specialized cells on the taste buds responsible for detecting taste stimuli.

  • Sweet: Detects sugars.

  • Sour: Detects acidity.

  • Bitter: Detects alkaloids or toxins.

  • Salty: Detects salts.

  • Umami: Detects savory or meaty flavors (e.g., glutamate).

  • Oleogustus: A potential taste for fat (emerging area of research)

Taste Receptors (Linked to Sensitivity of Taste)

• Definition: The receptors on the taste buds that respond to specific chemical compounds in food. Sensitivity to taste varies from person to person, influencing how strongly a person perceives different tastes. Genetic differences, age, and environmental factors contribute to variations in taste sensitivity.

Supertasters, Nontasters, Medium Tasters

• Definition:

  • Supertasters: People who have a higher density of taste buds and are more sensitive to certain tastes, especially bitter ones.

  • Nontasters: People who have fewer taste buds and are less sensitive to tastes, especially bitter.

  • Medium Tasters: People who fall in between supertasters and nontasters in terms of taste sensitivity.

Touch

• Definition: The sense that detects pressure, temperature, and pain through receptors in the skin. It is essential for perceiving physical contact with the environment and plays a role in maintaining bodily integrity.

Hot = Warm and Cold Receptor Activation

• Definition: The sensation of "hot" is the result of simultaneous activation of both warm and cold receptors in the skin. The brain interprets the combined signal as the perception of heat.

Pain (Gate Control Theory)

• Definition: Gate Control Theory of pain suggests that the spinal cord contains a "gate" that can either allow or block pain signals to reach the brain. The gate is controlled by both sensory signals and competing signals, such as pressure or warmth, which can reduce the perception of pain

Phantom Limb Syndrome

• Definition: A phenomenon experienced by individuals who have had a limb amputated, where they continue to feel sensations, including pain, in the absent limb. This occurs due to the brain's continued representation of the missing limb.

Gustation/Olfaction = Strong Sensory Interaction

• Definition: The senses of taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction) interact strongly, with the sense of smell significantly influencing the perception of taste. For example, the flavor of food is heavily dependent on both its taste and its smell, and a blocked nose can make food taste bland.

Vestibular Sense (Note: Semicircular Canals)

• Definition: The sense of balance and spatial orientation, which is maintained by the vestibular system in the inner ear. The semicircular canals play a key role in detecting rotational movements of the head and help maintain balance by sending signals to the brain about the position and motion of the body.

Kinesthesis

• Definition: The sense of body position and movement, which is detected by receptors in muscles, joints, and tendons. Kinesthesis helps us perceive the position and movement of our body parts, aiding in coordinated movement and balance.

Bottom-up and Top-down Processing

• Bottom-up Processing: A type of information processing that starts with sensory input, where perception begins with raw data from the environment. The brain processes the basic features (like color, shape, or sound) and builds up to a higher-level understanding (like recognizing an object).

• Top-down Processing: A type of information processing that starts with a cognitive framework or expectation and uses prior knowledge, experiences, or context to interpret sensory data. It's influenced by expectations and existing beliefs.

Schemas

• Definition: Mental frameworks or cognitive structures that help organize and interpret information based on prior knowledge and experiences. Schemas influence how we perceive new information, guiding our attention and memory

Perceptual Set

• Definition: A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. It refers to the tendency to interpret sensory information in a particular way based on expectations, context, or prior experiences. For example, if you're told that a noise is a door creaking, you're more likely to perceive it as a door creaking.

Context

• Definition: The surrounding environment or conditions in which an event or stimulus occurs. Context influences perception by providing additional information that helps us interpret sensory data. For example, the same word might be interpreted differently depending on the context in which it is spoken

Gestalt Principles (Closure, Figure-Ground, Proximity, Similarity)

• Closure: The tendency to fill in missing pieces of an incomplete figure to perceive it as a whole.

• Figure-Ground: The ability to distinguish an object (figure) from its background (ground). For example, a black letter on a white page is the figure, and the white background is the ground.

• Proximity: The principle that objects that are close together tend to be perceived as a group.

• Similarity: The tendency to group objects that are similar in shape, color, or other characteristics.

Attention

• Definition: The cognitive process of focusing mental resources on specific information or stimuli while ignoring other distractions. Attention is crucial for perception, memory, and problem-solving

Selective Attention

• Definition: The process of focusing on a particular object or task while ignoring irrelevant stimuli. This allows us to concentrate on what is important at any given moment

Cocktail Party Effect

• Definition: The phenomenon in which a person can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room, but can still pick up on personally relevant information, such as hearing their name mentioned in another conversation

Change Blindness

Definition: The failure to notice significant changes in a visual scene, especially when the change occurs during a visual disruption (like a blink or a shift in focus). It highlights the limits of our attention.

Inattentional Blindness

• Definition: The failure to notice something in plain sight because one's attention is focused elsewhere. A common example is not noticing an unexpected object, like a gorilla walking through a scene, while focusing on another task (e.g., counting basketball passes).

Habituation (Learning Unit)

• Definition: A form of non-associative learning in which an organism decreases its response to a repeated stimulus over time. For example, becoming less sensitive to a constant background noise

Sensory Adaptation

• Definition: A decrease in sensitivity to a constant or unchanging stimulus. Sensory receptors become less responsive over time, such as not noticing the smell of perfume after wearing it for a while or becoming less aware of a ringing noise after it continues for some time.

Visual Cliff (Development Unit)

• Definition: A psychological test used to study depth perception in infants and animals. The visual cliff is an apparatus that creates the illusion of a steep drop-off, and it helps researchers assess whether an infant has developed depth perception by observing whether they will crawl across the "cliff."

Binocular Depth Cues: Retinal Disparity, Convergence

• Retinal Disparity: The slight difference in the images seen by the left and right eyes due to their different positions. The brain uses this disparity to gauge the depth or distance of objects.

• Convergence: The inward movement of both eyes when focusing on a near object. The more the eyes converge, the closer the object is perceived to be

Monocular Cues: Relative Clarity, Relative Size, Texture Gradient, Linear Perspective, Interposition

• Relative Clarity: The principle that objects that are clearer or sharper in detail are perceived as being closer, while distant objects appear more hazy or blurry.

• Relative Size: The principle that if two objects are similar in size, the one that appears smaller is perceived as farther away.

• Texture Gradient: The tendency for textured surfaces (such as a field of grass) to appear more detailed and textured when closer, and smoother or less detailed as they recede into the distance.

• Linear Perspective: The convergence of parallel lines (such as railroad tracks) as they recede into the distance, giving the illusion of depth.

• Interposition: The principle that when one object partially obscures another, the partially hidden object is perceived as farther away.

Perceptual Constancy (Size, Color, Shape, Lightness)

• Size Constancy: The perception that an object’s size remains constant, even when its distance from us changes, causing the image on the retina to shrink or expand.

• Color Constancy: The perception that an object's color remains the same under different lighting conditions, even though the color of the light hitting the object may change.

• Shape Constancy: The perception that an object’s shape remains the same, even when viewed from different angles.

• Lightness Constancy: The perception that an object's lightness (brightness) remains constant, despite changes in lighting conditions.

Apparent Motion

• Definition: The illusion of movement when no actual movement occurs. It happens when stationary objects are presented in rapid succession or in a specific pattern (e.g., movies, where still images appear to move).

Concepts

• Definition: Mental categories or groupings used to organize objects, events, or ideas based on shared characteristics. Concepts help simplify the world by allowing us to group similar items together. For example, "dog" is a concept that includes all types of dogs

Prototypes

• Definition: The most typical or ideal example of a concept. A prototype represents the "best" or most typical example of a category. For example, when thinking of the concept "bird," a robin might be considered a prototype, as it most closely matches the common characteristics associated with birds (feathers, beak, etc.).

Metacognition (Memory Unit?)

• Definition: The process of thinking about thinking. It involves being aware of and controlling one’s own cognitive processes, such as understanding how you learn, monitor your progress, or adjust strategies when solving problems or recalling information. It is closely related to memory and problem-solving.

Schemas (Assimilation and Accommodation)

• Definition: A schema is a cognitive framework or structure that helps organize and interpret information based on past experiences.

  • Assimilation: The process of incorporating new information into an existing schema (e.g., seeing a new type of dog and thinking it is similar to the dogs you already know).

  • Accommodation: The process of altering or creating a new schema to fit new information that doesn't quite fit into existing schemas (e.g., realizing that a new type of animal you saw is not a dog, but a cat, and adjusting your schema for cats).

Algorithms

• Definition: Step-by-step, logical procedures or rules that guarantee a solution to a problem. Algorithms are thorough and exhaustive but may take more time. An example is using a mathematical formula or following a recipe step by step.

Heuristics

• Definition: Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that simplify decision-making and problem-solving. Heuristics are faster and more efficient than algorithms, but they do not guarantee a correct solution. Examples include the "trial and error" method or "educated guesses.

Representativeness Heuristic

• Definition: A cognitive shortcut in which people judge the likelihood of an event or object belonging to a category based on how closely it resembles a prototype of that category. For example, assuming someone who is quiet and likes reading is more likely to be a librarian than a farmer, even though farmers are statistically more common.

Availability Heuristic

• Definition: A cognitive shortcut in which people make judgments about the probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. If a person can easily recall a recent plane crash, they might overestimate the risk of flying, even though statistically it's a rare event

Mental Set

• Definition: A tendency to approach problems using strategies that have worked in the past, even if they are not suitable for the current situation. Mental set can hinder problem-solving by limiting creativity.

Functional Fixedness

• Definition: A cognitive bias that limits a person’s ability to use an object in a new way, even though it might be useful for solving a problem. For example, not thinking to use a spoon as a paperweight because you are fixated on its "normal" use for eating.

Priming

• Definition: A technique in which exposure to a stimulus influences a response to a later stimulus, without conscious awareness. For example, being shown words related to kindness might make you more likely to behave kindly afterward.

Framing

• Definition: The way information is presented or "framed" can influence decisions and judgments. For example, people are more likely to choose a medical treatment that is described as having a "90% success rate" than one described as having a "10% failure rate," even though both statements are logically equivalent.

Gambler’s Fallacy

• Definition: The mistaken belief that past events can influence future outcomes in situations where the events are independent. For example, thinking that after a series of heads in a coin toss, tails is "due" to occur, even though each coin toss is independent of the last

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

• Definition: The tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment of time, money, or effort has been made, even if the future costs outweigh the benefits. For example, continuing to watch a movie you don't enjoy just because you've already paid for the ticket.

Executive Functions

• Definition: High-level cognitive processes involved in planning, decision-making, problem-solving, self-control, and managing multiple tasks. Executive functions help us regulate our behavior and think in flexible, goal-directed ways. These functions are primarily managed by the prefrontal cortex.

Creativity

• Definition: The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas, solutions, or products. Creativity involves thinking outside the box and seeing connections between seemingly unrelated things. It can be fostered through divergent thinking and the ability to solve problems in new and original ways.

Convergent and Divergent Thinking

• Convergent Thinking: The ability to focus on finding a single, best solution to a problem. It involves narrowing down ideas and using logical reasoning. For example, solving a math problem with one correct answer requires convergent thinking.

• Divergent Thinking: The ability to generate many different ideas or solutions to an open-ended question or problem. It involves creative thinking and exploring various possibilities. For example, brainstorming multiple ways to solve a problem or create something new involves divergent thinking.