Psy 110 Exam 3

Front 1

sensation

Back 1

the process through which the senses pick up visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli and transmit them to the brain

Front 2

perception

Back 2

the process by which sensory information is actively organized and interpreted by the brain.

Front 3

absolute threshold

Back 3

the minimum amount of sensory stimulation that can be detected 50% of the time.

Front 4

difference threshold

Back 4

measure of the smallest increase or decrease in a physical stimulus that is required to produce a difference in sensation that is noticable 50% of the time

Front 5

just noticable difference (JND)

Back 5

the smallest change in sensation that a person is able to detect 50% of the time.

Front 6

Weber's Law

Back 6

The law stating that the just noticable difference for all the senses depends on a proportion or percentage of change in a stimulus rather than on a fixed amount of change.

Front 7

sensory receptors

Back 7

highly specialized cells in the sense organs that detect and respond to one type of sensory stimuli--light, sound, or odor, for example--and transduce the stimuli into neural impulses

Front 8

transduction

Back 8

the process through which sensory receptors convert the sensory stimulation into neural impulses

Front 9

sensory adaptation

Back 9

the process in which sensory receptors grow accustomed to constant, unchanging levels of stimuli over time.

Front 10

visible spectrum

Back 10

the narrow band of electromagnetic waves that are visible to the human eye.

Front 11

cornea

Back 11

the tough, transparent, protective layer covering the front of the eye and bends light waves inward through the pupil.

pupil is the small dark opening in the center of the iris, or colored part of the eye.

Front 12

lens

Back 12

the transparent disc-shaped structure behind the iris and the pupil that changes shape as it focuses on objects at varying distances.

Front 13

accomodation

Back 13

the flattening and bulging action of the lens as it focuses images of objects on the retina

Front 14

retina

Back 14

the layer of tissue that is located on the inner surface of the eyeball and contains the sensory receptors for vision.

Front 15

rods

Back 15

the light-sensitive receptor cells in the retina that look like slender cylinders and allow the eye to respond to as few as five photons of light.

Front 16

cones

Back 16

the light-sensitive, rounded receptor cells in the retina that enable humans to see color and fine detail in adequate light but do not function in very dim light.

Front 17

fovea

Back 17

a small area at the center of the retina that provides the clearest and sharpest vision because it has the largest concentration of cones.

Front 18

blind spot

Back 18

the point in each retina where there are no rods or cones because the cable of ganglion cells is extending through the retinal wall.

Front 19

optic nerve

Back 19

the nerve that carries visual information from each retina to both sides of the brain.

Front 20

optic chiasm

Back 20

a point where some of their nerve fibers cross to the opposite side of the brain.

Front 21

primary visual cortex

Back 21

the part of the brain in which visual information is processed.

Front 22

feature detectors

Back 22

neurons in the brain that respond only to specific visual patterns (for example, lines or angles)

Front 23

hue

Back 23

the dimension of light that refers to the specific color percieved

Front 24

saturation

Back 24

the purity of a color, or the degree to which the light waves producing it are of the same wavelength.

Front 25

brightness

Back 25

the intensity of the light energy that is percieved as a color.

Front 26

trichomatic theory

Back 26

the theory of color vision suggesting that there are three types of cones in the retina that make a maximal chemical response to one of three colors--red, green, or blue.

Front 27

opponent process theory

Back 27

the theory of color vision suggesting that three kinds of cells respond by increasing or decreasing their rate of firing when different colors are present.

Front 28

afterimage

Back 28

a visual sensation that remains after a stimulus is withdrawn.

Front 29

color blindness

Back 29

the inability to distinguish certain colors from one another.

Front 30

Gestalt principles

Back 30

figure-ground: as we view the world, some object (the figure) often seems to stand out from the background (the ground)

similarity: objects that have similar characteristics are percieved as a unit

proximity: objects that are close together in space or time are usually percieved as belonging together.

continuity: we tend to percieve figures or objects as belonging together if they appear to form a continuous pattern.

closure: we percieve figures with gaps in them to be complete. (triangle)

Front 31

perceptual constancy

Back 31

the phenomenon that allows us to percieve objects as maintaining stable properties, such as size, shape, and brightness, despite differences in distance, viewing angle, and lighting.

Front 32

depth perception

Back 32

the ability to percieve the visual world in three dimensions and to judge distances accurately.

Front 33

binocular depth cues

Back 33

depth cues that depend on bothe eyes working together

Front 34

monocular depth cues

Back 34

depth cues that can be percieved by one eye alone

Front 35

real motion

Back 35

perceptions of motion tied to movements of real objects through space.

Front 36

apparent motion

Back 36

perceptions of motion that seem to be psychologically constructed in response to various kinds of stimuli

Front 37

phi phenomenon

Back 37

apparent motion that occurs when several stationary lights in a dark room are flashed on and off in sequence, causing the perception that a single light is moving from one spot to the next.

Front 38

autokinetic illusion

Back 38

apparent motion caused by the movement of the eyes rather than the movement of the objects being viewed.

Front 39

illusion

Back 39

a false perception or a misperception of an actual stimulus in the environment.

Front 40

bottom-up processing

Back 40

information processing in which individual components of a stimulus are combined in the brain and prior knowledge is used to make inferences about these patterns.

Front 41

top-down processing

Back 41

information processing in which previous experience and conceptual knowledge are applied in order to recognize the nature of a "whole" and then logically deduce the individual components of that whole.

Front 42

perceptual set

Back 42

an expectation of what will be percieved, which can affect what actually is percieved.

Front 43

attention

Back 43

the process of sorting through sensations and selecting some of them for further processing

Front 44

inattentional blindness

Back 44

the phenomenon in which we shift our focus from one object to another, and in the process, fail to notice changes in objects to which we are not directly paying attention.

Front 45

consciousness

Back 45

everything of which we are aware at any given time--our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and external environment.

Front 46

circadian rhythms

Back 46

within each 24hr period, the regular fluctuation from high to low points of certain bodily functions and behaviors.

Front 47

suprachiasmatic nucleus

Back 47

a pair of tiny structures in the brain's hypothalamus that control the timing of circadian rhythms; the biological clock.

Front 48

subjective night

Back 48

the time during a 24 hour period when the biological clock is telling a person to go to sleep.

Front 49

restorative theory of sleep

Back 49

the theory that the function of sleep is to restore body and mind.

Front 50

circadian theory of sleep

Back 50

the theory that sleep evolved to keep humans out of harm's way during the night; also known as the evolutionary theory.

Front 51

NREM sleep

Back 51

non rapid eye movement sleep, which consists of four sleep stages and is characterized by slow, regular respiration and heart rate, little body movement, an absence of rapid eye movements, and blood pressure and brain activity that are at their 24 hour low points.

Front 52

REM sleep

Back 52

a type of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, paralysis of large muscles, fast and irregular heart and respiration rates, increased brain wave activity and vivid dreams.

Front 53

sleep cycle

Back 53

a period of sleep lasting about 90 minutes and including one or more stages of NREM sleep followed by REM sleep

Front 54

sleep spindles

Back 54

sleep stage 2 brain waves that feature short periods of calm interrupted by brief flashes of intense activity.

Front 55

slow-wave sleep

Back 55

deep sleep, associated with stage 3 and stage 4 sleep.

Front 56

stage 4 sleep

Back 56

the deepest stage of NREM sleep, characterized by an EEG pattern of more than 50% delta waves.

Front 57

REM rebound

Back 57

the increased amount of REM sleep that occurs after REM deprivation; ofen associated with unpleasant dreams or nightmares.

Front 58

microsleeps

Back 58

a brief lapse (2-3 seconds long) from wakefulness into sleep, usually occuring when a person has been sleep deprived.

Front 59

REM dreams

Back 59

a type of dream occuring almost continuously during each REM period and having a story-like quality; typically more vivid, visual, and emotional than NREM dreams

Front 60

NREM dream

Back 60

a type of dream occurring during NREM sleep that is typically less frequent and memorable than REM dreams.

Front 61

lucid dreams

Back 61

a dream that an individual is aware of dreaming and whose content the individual is often able to influence while the dream is in progress.

Front 62

manifest content

Back 62

Freud's term for the content of a dream as recalled by the dreamer.

Front 63

latent content

Back 63

Freud's term for the underlying meaning of a dream.

Front 64

activation-synthesis hypothesis of dreaming

Back 64

the hypothesis that dreams are the brain's attempt to make sense of the random firing of brain cells during REM sleep.

Front 65

parasomnias

Back 65

sleep disturbances in which behaviors and physiological states that normally take place only in the waking state occur while a person is sleeping.

Front 66

somnambulism

Back 66

sleepwalking; a parasomnia that occurs during partial arousal from stage 4 sleep.

Front 67

sleep terrors

Back 67

a sleep disturbance that occurs during partial arousal from stage 4 sleep, in which the sleeper springs up in a state of panic.

Front 68

nightmares

Back 68

frightening dreams that occur during REM sleep and are likely to be remembered in vivid detail.

Front 69

somniloquy

Back 69

sleeptalking; a parasomnia that can occur during any sleep stage.

Front 70

narcolepsy

Back 70

an incurable sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and uncontrollable attacks of REM sleep.

Front 71

sleep apnea

Back 71

a sleep disorder characterized by periods during sleep when breathing stops and the individual must awaken briefly in order to breathe.

Front 72

insomnia

Back 72

a leep disorder characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep, by waking too early, or by sleep that is light, restless, or of poor quality.

Front 73

meditation

Back 73

a group of techniques that involve focusing attention on an object, a word, one's breathing, or one's body movements in order to block out all distractions, to enhance well being and to achieve an altered state of consciousness.

Front 74

hypnosis

Back 74

a procedure through which one person, the hypnotist, uses the power of suggestion to induce changes in thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions, or behavior in another person, the subject.

Front 75

sociocognitive theory of hypnosis

Back 75

a theory suggesting that the behavior of a hypnotized person is a function of that person's expectations about how subjects behave under hypnosis.

Front 76

neodissociation theory of hypnosis

Back 76

a theory proposing that hypnosis induces a split, or dissociation, between two aspects of the control of consiousness: the planning function and the monitoring function.

Front 77

theory of dissociated control

Back 77

the theory that hypnosis is an authentic altered state of consciousness in which the control the executive function exerts over other subsystems of consciousness is weakened.

Front 78

psychoactive drug

Back 78

any substance that alters mood, perception, or thought; called a controlled substance if approved for medical use.

Front 79

physical drug dependence

Back 79

a compulsive pattern of drug use in which the user develops a drug tolerance coupled with unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug use is discontinued.

Front 80

drug tolerance

Back 80

a condition in which the the user becomes progressively less affected by the drug and must take larger and larger doses to maintain the same high.

Front 81

withdrawal symptoms

Back 81

the physical and psychological symptoms (usually the exact opposite of the effects produced by the drug) that occur when a regularly used drug is discontinued and that terminate when the drug is taken again.

Front 82

psychological drug dependence

Back 82

a craving or irresistible urge for a drug's pleasurable effects.

Front 83

stimulants

Back 83

a category of drugs that speed up activity in the central nervous system, suppress appetite, and can cause a person to feel more awake, alert, and energetic; also called uppers.

Front 84

depressants

Back 84

a category of drugs that decrease activity in the central nervous system, slow down bodily functions, and reduce sensitivity to outside stimulation; also called downers.

Front 85

narcotics

Back 85

a class of depressant drugs derived from the opium poppy that produce both pain relieving and calming effects.

Front 86

hallucinogens

Back 86

a category of drugs that can alter and distort perceptions of time and space, alter mood, produce feelings of unreality, and cause hallucinations.

Front 87

the primacy effect

Back 87

the tendency for an overall impression of another to be influenced more by the first information that is recieved about that person than by information that comes later.

Front 88

attribution

Back 88

an assignment of a cause to explain one's own or another's behavior.

Front 89

situational attribution

Back 89

attributing a behavior to some external cause or factor operating within the situation; an external attribution.

Front 90

dispositional attribution

Back 90

attributing a behavior to some internal cause, such as a personal trait, motive, or attitude; an internal attribution.

Front 91

actor-observer effect

Back 91

the tendency to attribute one's own behavior primarily to situational factors and the behavior of others primarily to dispositional factors.

Front 92

fundamental attribution error

Back 92

the tendency to attribute other's behavior to dispositional factors.

Front 93

self serving bias

Back 93

the tendency to attribute one's successes to dispositional causes and one's failures to situational causes.

Front 94

proximity

Back 94

physical or geographic closeness; a major influence on attraction.

Front 95

mere exposure effect

Back 95

the tendency to feel more positively toward a stimulus as a result of repeated exposure to it.

Front 96

halo effect

Back 96

the tendency to assume that a person has generally positive or negative traits as a result of observing on major positive or negative trait.

Front 97

matching hypothesis

Back 97

the notion that people tend to have lovers or spouses who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness and other assets.

Front 98

conformity

Back 98

changing or adopting a behavior or an attitude in order to be consistent with the social norms of a group or the expectations of other people.

Front 99

social norms

Back 99

the attitudes and standards of behavior expected of members of a particular group.

Front 100

groupthink

Back 100

the tendency for members of a tightly knit group to be more concerned with preserving group solidarity and uniformity than with objectively evaluating all alternatives in decision making.

Front 101

compliance

Back 101

acting in accordance with the wishes, suggestions, or direct requests of other people.

Front 102

foot in the door technique

Back 102

a strategy designed to gain a favorable response to a small request at first, with the intent of making the person more likely to agree later to a larger request.

Front 103

door in the face technique

Back 103

a strategy in which someone makes a large, unreasonable request with the expectation that the person will refuse but will then be more likely to respond favorably to a smaller request later.

Front 104

low ball technique

Back 104

a strategy in which someone makes a very attractive initial offer to get a person to commit to an action and then makes the terms less favorable.

Front 105

social facilitation

Back 105

any positive or negative effect on performance that can be attributed to the presence of others, either as an audience or as co-actors.

Front 106

audience effects

Back 106

the impact of passibe spectators on performance.

Front 107

co-action effects

Back 107

the impact on performance of the presence of other people engaged in the same task.

Front 108

social loafing

Back 108

the tendency to put forth less effort when working with others on a common task that when working alone.

Front 109

social roles

Back 109

socially defined behaviors considered appropriate for individuals occupying certain positions within a given group.

Front 110

attitudes

Back 110

a relatively stable evaluation of a person, object, situation, or issue, along a continuum ranging from positive to negative.

Front 111

cognitive dissonance

Back 111

the unpleasant state that can occur when people become aware of inconsistencies between their attitudes or between their attitudes and their behavior.

Front 112

persuasion

Back 112

a deliberate attempt to influence the attitudes and/or behavior of another person.

Front 113

prosocial behavior

Back 113

behavior that benefits others, such as helping, cooperation, and sympathy.

Front 114

altruism

Back 114

behavior that is aimed at helping another, requires some self sacrifice, and is not performed for personal gain.

Front 115

bystander effect

Back 115

a social factor that affects prosocial behavior: as the number of bystanders at an emergency increases, the probability that the victim will recieve help decreases, and the help, if given, is likely to be delayed.

Front 116

diffusion of responsibility

Back 116

the feeling among bystanders at an emergency that the responsibility for helping is shared by the group, making each person feel less compelled to act than if he or she alone bore the total responsibility.

Front 117

aggression

Back 117

the intentional infliction of physical or psychological harm on others.

Front 118

frustration-aggression hypothsis

Back 118

the hypothesis that frustration produces aggression.

Front 119

scapegoating

Back 119

displacing aggression onto members of minority groups or other innocent targets not responsible for the frustrating situation.

Front 120

prejudice

Back 120

attitudes (usually negative) toward others based on their gender, religion, race, or membership in a particualar group.

Front 121

discrimination

Back 121

behavior (usually negative) directed toward others based on their gender, religion, race, or membership in a particular group.

Front 122

realistic conflict theory

Back 122

the view that as competition increases among social groups for scarce resources, so do prejudice, discrimination, and hatred.

Front 123

social cognition

Back 123

the mental processes that people use to notice, interpret, and remember information about the social world.

Front 124

stereotypes

Back 124

widely shared beliefs about the characteristic traits, attitudes, and behaviors of members of various social groups (racial, ethnic, or religious) including the assumption that the members of such groups are usually all alike.