Ap Psychology Myers 9E Chapter 6

Front 1

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

Back 1

Sensation

Front 2

The process of organising and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognise meaningful objects and events.

Back 2

Perception

Front 3

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

Back 3

Bottom-Up Processing

Front 4

Info processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perception drawing on our experience and expectation

Back 4

Top-Down Processing

Front 5

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

Back 5

Psychophysics

Front 6

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

Back 6

Absolute Threshold

Front 7

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 partly on a person's experience, expectation, motivation, and level of fatigue.

Back 7

Signal Detection Theory

Front 8

Below one's absolute threshold for concious awareness

Back 8

Subliminal

Front 9

the activation, often unconciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Back 9

Priming

Front 10

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time; experienced as the "just noticeable difference"

Back 10

Difference Threshold

Front 11

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage

Back 11

Weber's Law

Front 12

diminished sensativity as a consequence of contant stimulation

Back 12

Sensory Adaptation

Front 13

Conversion of one form of energy into another

Back 13

Transduction

Front 14

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

Back 14

Wavelength

Front 15

the dimension of colour that is determined by the wavelength of light

Back 15

Hue

Front 16

the amount of energy in a light or sounds wave, which we percieve as brightness or oloudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude

Back 16

Intensity

Front 17

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

Back 17

Pupil

Front 18

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the coloured portion of the eye around the pupil and controld the size of the pupil opening

Back 18

Iris

Front 19

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

Back 19

Lens

Front 20

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

Back 20

Retina

Front 21

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

Back 21

Accommodation

Front 22

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

Back 22

Rods

Front 23

retinal receptors cells that are concentrated near the centre of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions; detect find detail and give rise to colour sensation

Back 23

Cones

Front 24

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

Back 24

Optic Nerve

Front 25

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye; no receptor cells are located there

Back 25

Blind Spot

Front 26

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

Back 26

Fovea

Front 27

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

Back 27

Feature Detectors

Front 28

The processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously

Back 28

Parallel Processing

Front 29

the theory that the retina contains three different colour recptors which, when stimulated in combonation, can produce the perception of any colour

Back 29

Young-Heimholtz trichomatic (three-colour) theory

Front 30

the theory that opposing retinal processes enable colour vision

Back 30

Opponent-Process Theory

Front 31

The sense or act of hearing

Back 31

Audition

Front 32

coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

Back 32

Cochlea

Front 33

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

Back 33

Middle Ear

Front 34

contains cochlea, semicicular cannals, and vestibular sacs

Back 34

Inner Ear

Front 35

___ channels the sound wavesthrough the ___ to the ___, a tight membrane that vibrates with the waves

Back 35

Outer ear; auditory canal; eardrum

Front 36

incoming vibration cause the cochlea's membrane (the ___) to vibrate, causing ripples in the ___ bending the ___ lining its surface.

Back 36

oval window; basicular membrane; hair cells

Front 37

The ___ sends neural messages via the ___ to the ___ lobe's ___

Back 37

auditory nerve; thalamus; temporal; auditory cortex

Front 38

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

Back 38

Place Theory

Front 39

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

Back 39

Frequency theory

Front 40

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

Back 40

Conduction Hearing Loss

Front 41

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

Back 41

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Front 42

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

Back 42

Cochlear Implant

Front 43

the term for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Back 43

Kinethesis

Front 44

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

Back 44

Vestibular Sense

Front 45

the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain

Back 45

Gate-Control Theory

Front 46

the principle that one sense may influence another

Back 46

Sensory Interaction

Front 47

An organised whole; emphasis on our tendency to integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

Back 47

Gestalt

Front 48

The perceptual tendency to organise stimuli into coherent groups

Back 48

Grouping

Front 49

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

Back 49

Depth Perception

Front 50

lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Back 50

Visual Cliff

Front 51

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

Back 51

Binocular cues

Front 52

A binocular cue for perceiving depth; the greater the disparity between two images, the closer the object

Back 52

Retinal Disparity

Front 53

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

Back 53

monocular cues

Front 54

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

Back 54

Phi Phenomenon

Front 55

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change

Back 55

Perceptual Constancy

Front 56

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

Back 56

Perceptual Adaptation

Front 57

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Back 57

Perceptual Set

Front 58

A branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environment can be made safe and easy to use

Back 58

Human Factors Psychology

Front 59

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

Back 59

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

Front 60

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent colour

Back 60

Colour Constancy

Front 61

The study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

Back 61

Parapsychology

Front 62

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

Back 62

Frequency

Front 63

A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

Back 63

Pitch

Front 64

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

Back 64

Figure-Ground Theory