Ap Psych Ch.6

Front 1

Prosopagnosia

Back 1

Face blindness

Front 2

Sensation

Back 2

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous systems recieve and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Front 3

Perception

Back 3

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

Front 4

Bottom- up processing

Back 4

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

Front 5

top-down processing

Back 5

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

Front 6

transduction

Back 6

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

Front 7

psychophysics

Back 7

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

Front 8

Absolute threshholds

Back 8

German scientist & philosopher Gustav Fechner... the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Front 9

signal detection theory

Back 9

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 on a person's experience, expectations, motivations, and alertness.

Front 10

subliminal

Back 10

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.

Front 11

priming

Back 11

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus pre-disposing one's perception, memory, or response.

Front 12

difference threshold

Back 12

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detetion 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference

Front 13

Weber's law

Back 13

the principle that, to be percieed as different, two stimuli mus differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount..

ie) intensity- 8%

weight- 2%

frequency- .3%

Front 14

Anthony Greenwald

Back 14

Subliminal messages tapes switched experiment

Front 15

sensory adaptation

Back 15

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Front 16

perceptal set

Back 16

mental predispostion to percieve one thing and not the other

Front 17

wavelength

Back 17

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

Front 18

hue

Back 18

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

Front 19

intensity

Back 19

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

Front 20

pupil

Back 20

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

Front 21

iris

Back 21

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

Front 22

lens

Back 22

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

Front 23

retina

Back 23

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

Front 24

accommodation

Back 24

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

Front 25

rods

Back 25

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

Front 26

cones

Back 26

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

Front 27

optic nerve

Back 27

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there.

Front 28

fovea

Back 28

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

Front 29

David Hubel & Torsten Wiesel

Back 29

1979 received a nobel peace prize for their work on feature detectors.

Front 30

feature detectors

Back 30

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

Front 31

parallel processing

Back 31

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 (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

Front 32

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

Back 32

the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, and one to blue- which when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color

Front 33

opponent-process theory

Back 33

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

Front 34

gestalt

Back 34

an organized whole. gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Front 35

figure-ground

Back 35

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

Front 36

grouping

Back 36

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Front 37

depth perception

Back 37

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

Front 38

visual cliff

Back 38

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and yound animals.. used by Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk

Front 39

binocular cues

Back 39

depth cues, such as retinal desparity, that descend on the use of two eyes

Front 40

retinal desparity

Back 40

a binocular cue for percieving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance- the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.

Front 41

monoular cue-Relative height

Back 41

We perceive higher objects as farther away

Front 42

monocular cue-Relative motion

Back 42

As we move, stationary obects appear to move

Front 43

monocular cue-relative size

Back 43

assuming two objects are similar size, the one that casts a smaller retinal image is perceived as farther away

Front 44

monocular cue- interposition

Back 44

if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

Front 45

monocular cue- linear perspective

Back 45

parallel lines appear to meet in the distance. the sharper the angle of convergence, the greater the perceived distance

Front 46

monocular cue-Light and shadow

Back 46

shading produces a sense of depth consistent with our assumption that light comes from above

Front 47

stroboscopic movement

Back 47

the brain perceives continuous movement in rapid series of slightly varying images

Front 48

monocular cues

Back 48

depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, availabe to either eye alone

Front 49

phi phenomenon

Back 49

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

Front 50

perceptual consistancy

Back 50

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, brightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change

Front 51

color constancy

Back 51

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

Front 52

Albert Ames

Back 52

Distorted room illusion

Front 53

knowledge comes from our inborn ways of organizing sensory experiences

Back 53

Immanuel Kant

Front 54

Through our experiences we lean to perceive the world

Back 54

John Locke

Front 55

William Molyneux

Back 55

Can people who were born blind, taught by touch to distinguish between a cube and sphere, and now are adults could if made to see visually distinguish the two

Front 56

George Stratton

Back 56

Perceptual adaptation goggles experiment

Front 57

Perceptual adaptation

Back 57

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

Front 58

audition

Back 58

the sense or act of hearing

Front 59

frequency

Back 59

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second)

Front 60

pitch

Back 60

a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on the frequency

Front 61

middle ear

Back 61

the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window.

Front 62

cochlea

Back 62

a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear; sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses

Front 63

inner ear

Back 63

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

Front 64

sensorineural hearing loss

Back 64

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

Front 65

conduction hearing loss

Back 65

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

Front 66

cochlear implant

Back 66

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

Front 67

place theory

Back 67

Herman von Helmholtz.... in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated (High pitch)

Front 68

frequency theory

Back 68

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

Front 69

volley principle

Back 69

neural cells alternate firing... combination of both place and frequency theory. (intermediate range pitch)

Front 70

nociceptors

Back 70

sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals.

Front 71

Gate control theory

Back 71

Ronald Melzack & Patrick Wall... the theory tht the spinal cord contans a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pas on to the brain. The "gate" is opened by the avtivity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Front 72

tinnitus

Back 72

a "ringing in the ears' sensation that somtimes occurs with people with hearing loss.. a phantom-sound similar to phantom-limb

Front 73

McGurk effect

Back 73

Harry McGurk & John MacDonald.. the brain perceiving one syllable as another when seeing and hearing two different ones together.

Front 74

sensory interaction

Back 74

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

Front 75

embodied cognition

Back 75

in psychological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preference and judgements.

Front 76

synaesthesia

Back 76

one sort of sensation (such as hearing sound) produces another (such as seeing color)

Front 77

anosmia

Back 77

inability to smell

Front 78

kinesthesis

Back 78

the system fir sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Front 79

vestibular sense

Back 79

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

Front 80

extrasensory preception (ESP)

Back 80

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

Front 81

parapsychology

Back 81

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

Front 82

telepathy

Back 82

mind-to-mind communication

Front 83

clairvoyance

Back 83

perceiving remote events, such as a house on fire in another state

Front 84

precognition

Back 84

perceiving future vents, such as an unexpected death in the next month

Front 85

psychokinesis

Back 85

"mind over matter"... levitation, influence