AP Psych Unit 4 Sensation & Perception

Question 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Answer 1

sensation

Question 2

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events.

Answer 2

perception

Question 3

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

Answer 3

bottom-up processing

Question 4

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Answer 4

top-down processing

Question 5

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Answer 5

selective attention

Question 6

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Answer 6

inattentional blindness

Question 7

failing to notice changes in the environment

Answer 7

change blindness

Question 8

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Answer 8

psychophysics

Question 9

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Answer 9

absolute threshold

Question 10

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness

Answer 10

signal detection theory

Question 11

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Answer 11

subliminal

Question 12

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory or response

Answer 12

priming