Ap Psychology Modules 16, 18, 19, 20, And 21 Vocab

Front 1

Sensation

Back 1

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

Front 2

Perception

Back 2

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

Front 3

Bottom-up processing

Back 3

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

Front 4

Top-down processing

Back 4

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

Front 5

Selective attention

Back 5

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Front 6

Inattentional blindness

Back 6

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Front 7

Change blindness

Back 7

Failing to notice changes in the environment

Front 8

Transduction

Back 8

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 9

Psychophysics

Back 9

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

Front 10

Absolute threshold

Back 10

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

Front 11

Signal detection theory

Back 11

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

Front 12

Subliminal

Back 12

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Front 13

Priming

Back 13

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

Front 14

Difference threshold

Back 14

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

Front 15

Weber's law

Back 15

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Front 16

Sensory adaptation

Back 16

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Front 17

Accommodation

Back 17

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

Front 18

Rods

Back 18

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

Front 19

Cones

Back 19

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

Front 20

Optic nerve

Back 20

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

Front 21

Blind spot

Back 21

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

Front 22

Fovea

Back 22

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

Front 23

Feature detectors

Back 23

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

Front 24

Parallel processing

Back 24

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 25

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

Back 25

The theory that the retina contains 3 different color receptors-- one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue-- which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color

Front 26

Opponent-process theory

Back 26

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 27

Gestalt

Back 27

An organized whole

Front 28

Figure-ground

Back 28

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

Front 29

Grouping

Back 29

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Front 30

Depth perception

Back 30

The ability to see objects in 3 dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance

Front 31

Wavelength

Back 31

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

Front 32

Hue

Back 32

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 33

Intensity

Back 33

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 34

Pupil

Back 34

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

Front 35

Iris

Back 35

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 36

Lens

Back 36

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

Front 37

Retina

Back 37

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 38

Visual cliff

Back 38

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

Front 39

Binocular cues

Back 39

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

Front 40

Retinal disparity

Back 40

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

Front 41

Monocular cues

Back 41

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

Front 42

Phi phenomenon

Back 42

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

Front 43

Perceptual constancy

Back 43

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

Front 44

Color constancy

Back 44

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

Front 45

Perceptual adaptation

Back 45

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

Front 46

Audition

Back 46

The sense or act of hearing

Front 47

Frequency

Back 47

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

Front 48

Pitch

Back 48

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

Front 49

Audition

Back 49

The sense or act of hearing

Front 50

Middle ear

Back 50

The chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Front 51

Cochlea

Back 51

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

Front 52

Inner ear

Back 52

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

Front 53

Sensorineural hearing loss

Back 53

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

Front 54

Conduction hearing loss

Back 54

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

Front 55

Cochlear implant

Back 55

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

Front 56

Place theory

Back 56

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

Front 57

Frequency theory

Back 57

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

Front 58

Gate-control theory

Back 58

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

Front 59

Kinethesia

Back 59

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

Front 60

Vestibular sense

Back 60

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

Front 61

Sensory interaction

Back 61

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

Front 62

Embodied cognition

Back 62

In psychological science, the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements