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AP psych > Unit three vocab > Flashcards

Unit three vocab Flashcards

1
Q

Gustav Fechner

A

studied our awareness of faint stimuli (like a bee wing on your cheek or a candle flame 30 miles away) and called them our absolute threshold.

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2
Q

Ernst Weber

A

one of the founders of experimental psychology. His studies on sensation and touch, along with his emphasis on good experimental techniques led to new directions and areas of study for future psychologists, physiologists, and anatomists.

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3
Q

David Hubel

A

American Canadian neurophysiologist noted for his studies of the structure and function of the visual cortex.

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4
Q

Torsten Wiesel

A

noted for his discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system

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5
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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6
Q

sensory receptors

A

Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli

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7
Q

perception

A

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

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8
Q

bottom-up processing

A

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information

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9
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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10
Q

selective attention

A

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

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11
Q

inattentional blindness

A

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

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12
Q

change blindness

A

Failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of an intentional blindness

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13
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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14
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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15
Q

absolute threshold

A

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

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16
Q

signal detection theory

A

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

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17
Q

subliminal

A

Below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

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18
Q

difference threshold

A

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experienced the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference

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19
Q

priming

A

the Activation, often unconsciously, certain associations, does predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

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20
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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21
Q

sensory adaptation

A

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

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22
Q

perceptual set

A

a Mental predisposition to percieve one thing and not another

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23
Q

extrasensory perception (ESP)

A

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

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24
Q

parapsychology

A

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

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25
Q

wavelength

A

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wave lengths vary from the short clips of gamma rays to the long pulses of radio transmission

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26
Q

hue

A

Are the dimension of color that is determined by the wave length of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, etc.

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27
Q

intensity

A

Amount of energy in a lightwave or sound wave, which influence is what we perceive as brightness or loudness. It is determined by the waves amplitude.

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28
Q

cornea

A

The eyes clear, protective outer layer, covering the pupil and Iris

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29
Q

pupil

A

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

30
Q

iris

A

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

31
Q

lens

A

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

32
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.

33
Q

accommodation

A

In sensation and perception, the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

34
Q

rods

A

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray. They are sensitive to movement. Necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don’t respond.

35
Q

cones

A

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well lit conditions. They detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations

36
Q

optic nerve

A

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

37
Q

blind spot

A

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a Blindspot because no receptor cells are located there

38
Q

fovea

A

The central focal point in the retina around the eyes cones cluster.

39
Q

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

A

the theory that the retina contains three different types of color receptors, one more sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue, which, when studied in combination, can’t produce the perception of any color

40
Q

opponent-process theory

A

the theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

41
Q

feature detectors

A

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

42
Q

parallel processing

A

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

43
Q

gestalt

A

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

44
Q

figure-ground

A

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

45
Q

grouping

A

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

46
Q

depth perception

A

The building to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two dimensional; allows us to judge distance

47
Q

visual cliff

A

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

48
Q

binocular cue

A

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

49
Q

retinal disparity

A

binocular cue for perceiving depth. By comparing retinal images from the two eyes, the brain competes distance – the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object

50
Q

monocular cue

A

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

51
Q

phi phenomenon

A

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

52
Q

perceptual constancy

A

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

53
Q

color constancy

A

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

54
Q

perceptual adaptation

A

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

55
Q

audition

A

the sense or act of hearing

56
Q

frequency

A

Are the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

57
Q

pitch

A

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

58
Q

middle ear

A

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum onto the cochleas oval window.

59
Q

cochlea

A

Coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses.

60
Q

inner ear

A

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacks.

61
Q

sensorineural hearing loss

A

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

62
Q

conduction hearing loss

A

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

63
Q

cochlear implant

A

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

64
Q

place theory

A

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we’re here with the place where the cochleas membrane is stimulated

65
Q

frequency theory

A

In here, 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.

66
Q

gate-control theory

A

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 the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or the information coming from the brain

67
Q

olfaction

A

The sense of smell

68
Q

kinesthesia

A

our movement sense – our systems for sensing that position and movement of individual body parts.

69
Q

vestibular sense

A

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

70
Q

sensory interaction

A

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

71
Q

embodied cognition

A

The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgments

72
Q
A

AP psych (11 decks)

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