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AP Psych > Unit 3: Sensation and Perception > Flashcards

Unit 3: Sensation and Perception Flashcards

1
Q

Sensation

A

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

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2
Q

Sensory Receptors

A

Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

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3
Q

Perception

A

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognise meaningful object and events

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4
Q

Bottom-up Processing

A

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

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5
Q

Top-down Processing

A

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

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6
Q

Selective Attention

A

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

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7
Q

Inattentional Blindness

A

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

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8
Q

Change Blindness

A

Failing to notice changes in the environment

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9
Q

Transduction

A

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 brain can interpret

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10
Q

Psychophysics

A

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

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11
Q

Absolute Threshold

A

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

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12
Q

Signal Detection Theory

A

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 party on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness.

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13
Q

Subliminal

A

Below the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference (or jnd)

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14
Q

Priming

A

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

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15
Q

Weber’s Law

A

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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16
Q

Sensory Adaptation

A

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

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17
Q

Perceptual Set

A

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

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18
Q

Extrasensory Perception

A

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

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19
Q

Parapsychology

A

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

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20
Q

Wavelength

A

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next

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21
Q

Hue

A

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

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22
Q

Intensity

A

The amount of energy in a light wave or sound wave, which influences what we perceive ass brightness or loudness

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23
Q

Cornea

A

The eye’s clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and iris

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24
Q

Pupil

A

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

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25
Q

Iris

A

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

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26
Q

Lens

A

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

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27
Q

Retina

A

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

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28
Q

Accommodation

A

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

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29
Q

Rods

A

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and grey, and are sensitive to movement. Necessary for peripheral and twilight vision

30
Q

Cones

A

Retinal receptors that are concentrated near the centre of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; detect fine detail and give rise to colour sensations

31
Q

Optic Nerve

A

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

32
Q

Blind Spot

A

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, where no receptor cells are located

33
Q

Fovea

A

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

34
Q

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

A

The theory that the retina contains three different types of colour receptors – one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue – which, when stimulated in combination, can produces the perception of a color

35
Q

Opponent-Process Theory

A

The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable colour vision

36
Q

Feature Detectors

A

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

37
Q

Parallel Processing

A

Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions

38
Q

Gestalt

A

And organized whole; emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

39
Q

Figure-Ground

A

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

40
Q

Grouping

A

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

41
Q

Depth Perception

A

The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensions; allows up to judge distance

42
Q

Visual Cliff

A

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

43
Q

Binocular Cue

A

A depth cue, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes

44
Q

Retinal Disparity

A

A binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from two eyes, the brain computes distance – the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object

45
Q

Monocular Cue

A

A depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, available to either eye alone

46
Q

Phi Phenomon

A

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

47
Q

Perceptual Constancy

A

Perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent colour, brightness, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

48
Q

Colour Constancy

A

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

49
Q

Perceptual Adaptation

A

The ability to adjust to changed sensory input, including an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field

50
Q

Audition

A

The sense or act of hearing

51
Q

Frequency

A

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

52
Q

Pitch

A

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

53
Q

Middle Ear

A

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibration of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window

54
Q

Cochlea

A

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves travel through this to trigger nerve impulses

55
Q

Inner Ear

A

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

56
Q

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

A

Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptors cells or to the auditory nerves; the most common form of hearing loss, also called nerve deafness

57
Q

Conduction Hearing Loss

A

A less common form of hearing loss, caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

58
Q

Cochlear Implant

A

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

59
Q

Place Theory

A

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

60
Q

Frequency Theory

A

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

61
Q

Gate-Control Theory

A

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain signals travelling up small nerve fibres and is closed by activity in larger fibres or by information coming from the brain

62
Q

Olfaction

A

The sense of smell

63
Q

Kinesthetic Sense

A

Our movement sense – our system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

64
Q

Vestibular Sense

A

Our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

65
Q

Sensory Interaction

A

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

66
Q

Embodied Cognition

A

The influence of body sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

67
Q

Gustav Fechner

A

Studied the absolute threshold and our ability to be aware of a faint stimulus

68
Q

David Hubrel

A

Worked with Torsten Wiesel to identify how feature detectors in the visual cortex of the brain respond to visual cues such as edges, lines, angles, and movement

69
Q

Torsten Wiesel

A

Worked with David Hubel to identify how feature detectors in the visual cortex of the brain respond to visual cues such as edges, lines, angles, and movement

70
Q

Ernest Weber

A

Created Weber’s law, the idea that for us to notice a difference in a stimulus, it must increase by a consistent percentage, not a consistent amount

AP Psych (9 decks)

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