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AP Psyschology > AP Psychology Unit 4 Terms > Flashcards

AP Psychology Unit 4 Terms Flashcards

1
Q

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

A

Sensation

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2
Q

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

A

Preception

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3
Q

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

A

Bottom-up Processing

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4
Q

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

A

Selective Attention

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5
Q

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

A

Inattentional Blindness

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6
Q

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

A

Absolute Threshold

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7
Q

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

A

Subliminal

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8
Q

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage

A

Weber’s Law

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9
Q

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret

A

Transduction

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10
Q

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth

A

Hue

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11
Q

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

A

Pupil

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12
Q

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information

A

Retina

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13
Q

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond

A

Rods

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14
Q

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

A

Optic Nerve

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15
Q

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster

A

Fovea

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16
Q

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving

A

Parallel Processing

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17
Q

The sense or act of hearing

A

Audition

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18
Q

The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

A

Frequency

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19
Q

A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

A

Pitch

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20
Q

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

A

Cochlea

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21
Q

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated

A

Place Theory

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22
Q

A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

A

Cochlear Implant

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23
Q

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

A

Kinesthesis

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24
Q

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance

A

Vestibular Sense

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25
Q

An organized whole. These types of psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

A

Gestalt

26
Q

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

A

Grouping

27
Q

The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional

A

Depth Perception

28
Q

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

A

Visual Cliff

29
Q

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

A

Binocular Cues

30
Q

Depth cues such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone

A

Monocular Cues

31
Q

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

A

Perceptual Constancy

32
Q

In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

A

Perceptual Adaptation

33
Q

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

A

Perceptual Set

34
Q

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

A

Extrasensory Perception

35
Q

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

A

Top-Down Processing

36
Q

Failing to notice changes in the environment

A

Change Blindness

37
Q

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

A

Psychophysics

38
Q

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

A

Signal Detection Theory

39
Q

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

A

Priming

40
Q

Diminished activity as a consequence of constant stimulation

A

Sensory Adaptation

41
Q

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic versions of this vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission

A

Wavelength

42
Q

The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude

A

Intensity

43
Q

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

A

Iris

44
Q

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

A

Lens

45
Q

The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

A

Accommodation

46
Q

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. These detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

A

Cones

47
Q

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

A

Feature Detectors

48
Q

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors, which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color

A

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

49
Q

The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision

A

Opponent-Process Theory

50
Q

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

A

Middle Ear

51
Q

The innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

A

Inner Ear

52
Q

In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch

A

Frequency Theory

53
Q

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

A

Conduction Hearing Loss

54
Q

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness

A

Sensorineural/Nerve Hearing Loss

55
Q

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The gate is opened by activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers

A

Gate-Control Theory

56
Q

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

A

Sensory Interaction

57
Q

The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

A

Figure-Ground

58
Q

A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance-the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object

A

Retinal Disparity

59
Q

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

A

Phi Phenomenon

60
Q

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

A

Color Constancy

61
Q

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

A

Parapsychology

62
Q

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye and no receptor cells are located there

A

Blind Spot

AP Psyschology (10 decks)

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