Exam 2 Flashcards
(26 cards)
The process by which people take raw sensations and give them meaning using knowledge, experience, and understanding of the world
Perception
The stimulus-detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain
Sensation
The decreasing responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus over time
Sensory Adaptation
The process of converting incoming physical energy into neural activity
Transduction
The minimum amount of energy that can be detected 50% of the time
Absolute Threshold
Branch of psychology that deals with the relationships between physical stimuli and mental phenomena
Psychophysics
Stimulus energy we can consistently detect
Supraliminal
Energy too weak to be consistently detected
Subliminal
Failure to notice fully visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged on another task, event, or object
Inattentional Blindness
Smallest difference between two stimuli that people can perceive 50% of the time
Difference Threshold
The smallest noticeable change in a stimulus is a constant ratio of the original stimulus.
Weber’s Law
3 Characteristics of Soundwaves
- Amplitude
- Frequency
- Wavelength
The ongoing awareness of the external world and one’s mental processes, thoughts, sensations, perceptions, feelings, and very existence
Consciousness
The characteristics of consciousness at any particular moment. Can be seen as a continuum of consciousness with a wide range of experiences, from being acutely aware and alert, to being totally unaware and unresponsive
Consciousness State
Bernstein’s 5 Levels of Consciousness
- Conscious level
- Nonconscious level
- Preconscious level
- Unconscious level
- Subconscious level
Sleeping, dreaming, hypnosis, meditation, drug induced
Altered State of Consciousness
Related to patterns of light and dark, sleep and wakefulness, social relationships, hormone release, sugar utilization. Cued by cycles of light and dark
Circadian Rhythm
Stage 1: Hypnagogic, hypnic myoclonia, alpha and theta waves
Stage 2: Sleep spindles, k-complex waves
Stages 3 and 4: Slow wave sleep, delta waves
REM Sleep: Rapid eye movement, sawtooth waves
Stages of Sleep
A state of consciousness that involves a shift in awareness, increased relaxation, and improved focus
Hypnosis
A person’s ability to respond to suggestions that alter their perception, sensation, emotion, thought, or behavior
Hypnotic Susecptibility
A suggestion made to a person while they are in a hypnotic trance that they will act on after they wake up
Posthypnotic Suggestion
A temporary disruption of memory for events that occurred during hypnosis
Hypnotic Amnesia
Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, marijuana, and certain pain medicines
Psychoactive Drugs
The scientific study of the effects of drugs on the mind and behavior
psychopharmacology
