Introductory Psychology - Chapters 4, 5, And 6

Front 1

Sensation
page 29

Back 1

Transforming energy from the stimuli outside us into neural energy that can be used for perception.

Front 2

Perception
page 29

Back 2

Mentally creating an image of the outside world.

Front 3

Psychophysics
page 29

Back 3

The area of psychology that addresses the topic of sensation – including the levels of intensity at which we can detect stimuli, how sensitive we are to changes in stimulation, and how psychological factors influence our ability to sense stimuli.

Front 4

Signal Detection Theory
page 29

Back 4

Theory that claims that our ability to notice a stimulus will vary due to psychological factors including motivation, past experience, and expectation.

Front 5

Absolute Threshold
page 29

Back 5

The minimum stimulation needed for a given person to detect a stimulus (odor, taste, sound, etc.) – the intensity necessary for a stimulus to be detected 50% of the time that it’s presented.

Front 6

Just Notable Difference (JND) or Difference Threshold
page 29

Back 6

The smallest difference a person can detect between two similar stimuli.

Front 7

Weber’s Law
page 29

Back 7

The just notable difference (of difference threshold) increases in proportion to the intensity or magnitude of the stimuli – that is, any given difference is harder to notice with more intense, powerful stimuli than with weaker ones.

Front 8

Sensory Adaptation
page 30

Back 8

When exposed to an unchanged stimulus, the nerve cells involved in detecting it begin to fire less frequently and our sensitivity to that stimulus diminishes.

Front 9

Feature Detectors
page 30

Back 9

Individual neurons that respond to highly specific aspects of your environment.

Front 10

Selective Attention
page 30

Back 10

The amount of information we can hold in our awareness is less than the amount of information available from our environment; Illustrates that our ideas about reality have to be chosen, organized, and interpreted, not simply detected.

Front 11

Perception
page 30

Back 11

Constructing meaning out of sensation.

Front 12

Gestalt Psychologists
page 30

Back 12

Among the first to formulate rules by which the brain pieces together meaningful experiences out of fragments of sensation – basically the mind fills gaps in out sensation.

Front 13

Depth Perception
page 30

Back 13

We’re capable of seeing objects in three dimensions despite the fact that the images on our retinas are only in two dimensions – allows us to estimate distances between ourselves and the objects we see.

Front 14

Depth Perception
page 31

Back 14

Requires two cues: binocular cues and monocular cues.

Front 15

Binocular Cues
page 31

Back 15

Require both eyes.

Front 16

Retinal Disparity
page 31

Back 16

Binocular cue referring to the difference between the image each eye receives. Ex. Finger close to face left eye sees left side, right eye sees right side, but moved further away the images appear more similar.

Front 17

Low Retinal Disparity
page 31

Back 17

Crude indicator that an object is relatively far away.

Front 18

Convergence
page 31

Back 18

Binocular cue referring to the extent to which the eyes must turn inward to view an object.

Front 19

Monocular Cues
page 31

Back 19

Require only one eye.

Front 20

Linear Perspective
page 31

Back 20

Monocular cue that refers to the fact that parallel lines appear to converge as they get further away.

Front 21

Motion Parallax (Relative Motion)
page 31

Back 21

Monocular cue that refers to the apparent movement of stable objects as we ourselves move.

Front 22

Fixation Point
page 31

Back 22

The focus of your observation.

Front 23

Interposition
page 31

Back 23

When one object partially blocks out part of another, we perceive it as closer.

Front 24

Texture Gradients
page 31

Back 24

Influence judgments of depth – objects that are closer tend to appear distinct, whereas those that are far away tend to blend together into an indistinct, fine texture.

Front 25

Sensory Restriction
page 31

Back 25

Without appropriate stimulation, the cells in the cerebral cortex don’t develop the inter-connections to allow certain perceptions.

Front 26

Critical Period
page 31

Back 26

Time frame usually in early development during which exposure to appropriate stimuliis required in order for the various perception skills to develop.

Front 27

Perceptual Sets
page 32

Back 27

Predispositions to perceive one thing and not another.

Front 28

Bottom-Up
page 32

Back 28

Processing information about your environment from simple sensory preceptors to more complex neural networks.

Front 29

Top-Down
page 32

Back 29

Processing information about your environment from expectations, motives, and contextual cues to raw sensory data.

Front 30

Consciousness
page 35

Back 30

The state of being aware.

Front 31

Consciousness
page 35

Back 31

Reflecting on environment or on internal experiences instead of simply reacting to them.

Front 32

Circadian Rhythm
page 35

Back 32

Predictability stems from being synchronized with parts of the day.

Front 33

Sleep
page 35

Back 33

Consciousness state in which brain waves cycle through a series of five stages approximately every 90 minutes.

Front 34

Brain Waves
page 35

Back 34

Electrical currents in the brain.

Front 35

Electroencephalogram (EEG)
page 35

Back 35

Neurological test graphically measuring brain wave activity.

Front 36

Alpha Waves
page 36

Back 36

Brain waves produced in a relaxed but awake state, waves are relatively slow and regular.

Front 37

Stage 1
page 36

Back 37

Sleep stage characterized by slower breathing and irregular, relatively erratic brain waves, and lasting approximately five minutes.

Front 38

Hypnogogic
page 36

Back 38

Sensations like falling or floating experienced during stage 1 of sleep.

Front 39

Stage 1
page 36

Back 39

During this stage of sleep alpha waves cease and are replaces by slower theta waves.

Front 40

Stage 2
page 36

Back 40

Sleep stage lasting about 20 minutes characterized by deeper relaxation and occasional bursts of rhythmic brainwaves and K-complexes.

Front 41

Sleep Spindles
page 36

Back 41

Occasional bursts of rhythmic brainwaves during stage 2 of sleep.

Front 42

Stage 3
page 36

Back 42

Sleep stage characterized by the start of large, slow brain waves called delta waves.

Front 43

Delta Waves
page 36

Back 43

Large, slow brain waves found in stage 3 and 4 of sleep.

Front 44

Stage 4
page 36

Back 44

Sleep stage characterized by stronger, more consistent delta waves.

Front 45

Slow-Wave Sleep
page 36

Back 45

Stages 3 and 4 of sleep together lasting approximately 30 minutes and the most difficult to wake from.

Front 46

Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
page 36

Back 46

10 minute sleep stage characterized by more rapid and irregular breathing, heart rate increase, and eyes darting back and forth under eyelids.

Front 47

Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
page 36

Back 47

Sleep stage in which people usually dream.

Front 48

Paradoxical Sleep
page 36

Back 48

Another name for REM sleep stage given due to the sleeper appearing calm and relaxed despite a great deal of cortical activity.

Front 49

REM, Stage 4
page 36

Back 49

With each sleep cycle, periods of _______________ sleep get longer and periods of _______________ sleep get shorter.

Front 50

Insomnia
page 37

Back 50

Sleep disorder which involves recurring difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep.

Front 51

Narcolepsy
page 37

Back 51

Sleep disorder of sudden, uncontrollable attacks of sleep during waking hours.

Front 52

Sleep Apnea
page 37

Back 52

Sleep disorder in which one stops breathing intermittently during sleep. The lack of oxygen wakes the sleeper up enough to snort for more air. These brief episodes can happen hundreds of times in a night.

Front 53

Manifest Content
page 37

Back 53

According to Freud, the images that actually appear to the dreamer.

Front 54

Latent Content
page 37

Back 54

According to Freud, usually a “forbidden” sexual or aggressive wish that the dreamer would repress if awake.

Front 55

Activation-Synthesis Theory
page 37

Back 55

Dream theory premise that the brain’s neurons fire randomly during sleep, and as we wake, we construct a dream to make sense of the random images that have been generated.

Front 56

Information-Processing
page 37

Back 56

Dream theory premise that dreams are a way to consolidate information.

Front 57

REM Rebound
page 37-38

Back 57

When deprived of REM sleep and dreams for a period of time, people typically make up for it later by experiencing prolonged periods of REM sleep.

Front 58

Hypnosis
page 38

Back 58

An induced state of consciousness characterized by deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility.

Front 59

Dissociation
page 38

Back 59

A split in consciousness.

Front 60

Psychoactive Drugs
page 38

Back 60

Produce a state of consciousness that is different from “normal” consciousness by mimicking, inhibiting, or stimulating the activity of neurotransmitters.

Front 61

Depressants, Stimulants, and Hallucinogens
page 38

Back 61

The three most common types of psychoactive drugs.

Front 62

Depressants
page 38

Back 62

Psychoactive drugs which slow down body functions and neurological activity.

Front 63

Stimulants
page 38

Back 63

Psychoactive drugs which increase neural activity and body functions.

Front 64

Hallucinogens
page 38

Back 64

Psychoactive drugs which distort perceptions and produce sensations that have no physical basis.

Front 65

Depressants
page 38

Back 65

Psychoactive drugs that include alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates.

Front 66

Learning
page 41

Back 66

Typically defined as a relatively enduring change in behavior that is the product of experience.

Front 67

Experience
page 41

Back 67

Earlier events that influence the way an organism behaves in the present.

Front 68

Stimuli
page 41

Back 68

Environmental events that are capable of triggering responses.

Front 69

Response
page 41

Back 69

Change in behavior.

Front 70

Behaviorists
page 41

Back 70

Psychologists who focus solely on observable responses to stimuli.

Front 71

Cognitive Factors
page 41

Back 71

Expectations and the ability to represent events mentally.

Front 72

Associative and Non-Associative
page 41

Back 72

The two types of learning.

Front 73

Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and Observational Learning
page 41

Back 73

The three distinct procedures for producing associative learning.

Front 74

Non-Associative Learning
page 41

Back 74

Occurs when the repeated presentation of a single stimulus produces an enduring change in behavior.

Front 75

Habituation
page 41

Back 75

Repeated presentations of a stimulus eventually reduce responses to that stimulus.

Front 76

Sensitization
page 41

Back 76

Repeated or long-lasting presentation of an intense stimulus increases the response to a weaker stimulus.

Front 77

Associative Learning
page 42

Back 77

Involves the learning of a connection either between two stimuli or between a response and a stimulus.

Front 78

Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian Conditioning)
page 42

Back 78

Produces changes in responding by pairing two stimuli together.

Front 79

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
page 42

Back 79

Stimulus that already produces the response of interest.

Front 80

Unconditioned Response (UR)
page 42

Back 80

The response of interest to an unconditioned stimulus.

Front 81

Neutral Stimulus
page 42

Back 81

Stimulus that wouldn’t automatically produce the unconditioned response of interest.

Front 82

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
page 42

Back 82

A neutral stimulus that has been previously paired with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a response of interest.

Front 83

Conditioned Response (CR)
page 42

Back 83

The response of interest to a conditioned stimulus.

Front 84

Unconditioned Stimulus (US) produces Unconditioned Response (UR)
page 42

Back 84

Classical conditioning formula before conditioning.

Front 85

Neutral Stimulus + Unconditioned Stimulus (US) produces Unconditioned Response (UR)
page 42

Back 85

Classical conditioning formula during trials.

Front 86

Conditioned Stimulus (CS – formerly neutral stimulus) produces Conditioned Response (CR)
page 42

Back 86

Classical conditioning formula after learning has occurred.

Front 87

Expectation
page 42

Back 87

What an organism learns manifests as an ________________ that the unconditioned stimulus will show up after the conditioned stimulus.

Front 88

Extinction
page 43

Back 88

If the conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (US), the conditioned response (CR) will go away.

Front 89

Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning)
page 43

Back 89

Involves learning an association between a stimulus and a response that follows it (predictably).

Front 90

Reinforcement
page 43

Back 90

Adding or removing a stimulus to increase target behavior/response.

Front 91

Positive Reinforcement
page 43

Back 91

Presenting a stimulus to increase target behavior/response.

Front 92

Negative Reinforcement
page 43

Back 92

Removing a stimulus to increase target behavior/response.

Front 93

Punishment
page 43

Back 93

Adding or removing a stimulus to decrease target behavior/response.

Front 94

Reinforcement Schedules
page 44

Back 94

Rules for determining when reinforcement will be given.

Front 95

Ratio Schedule
page 44

Back 95

How many times a response has been made.

Front 96

Interval Schedule
page 44

Back 96

The amount of time since the last reinforcement.

Front 97

Fixed Ratio
page 44

Back 97

Reinforcement is always given for the same number of responses given. EX. Reinforcement given every 6th time the correct response/behavior occurs.

Front 98

Variable Ratio
page 44

Back 98

Reinforcement is given for an average number of responses given. EX. Reinforcement given between every 4-8 times the correct response/behavior occurs with an average of 6.

Front 99

Fixed Interval
page 44

Back 99

Reinforcement becomes available after a certain time period. EX. Reinforcement given for the first correct response/behavior after 6 minutes have passed.

Front 100

Variable Interval
page 44

Back 100

Reinforcement becomes available after an average time period. EX. Reinforcement given for the first correct response/behavior after 4-8 minutes have passed, with an average of 6.

Front 101

Extinction
page 44

Back 101

Occurs for operantly conditioned behaviors when a stimulus that used to show up predictably doesn’t appear anymore.

Front 102

Baseline Level
page 44

Back 102

Frequency at which a behavior occurs prior to conditioning.

Front 103

Observational Learning
page 44

Back 103

Learning operant behaviors indirectly by watching.

Front 104

Models
page 44

Back 104

The people from whom we learn in observational learning.

Front 105

Vicariously
page 44

Back 105

The ability to learn by watching what happens to models.