Psychology 101 Chapter 4, 5, 6 Vocabulary

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distal stimulus

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an object or event in the outside world

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proximal stimulus

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the energies from the outside world that directly reach our sense organ

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psychophysics

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an approach to perception that relates the characteristics of physical stimulus to the sensory experiences they produce

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absolute threshold

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the smallest quantity of a stimulus that an individual can detect

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difference threshold

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the smallest amount that a given stimulus must be increased of decreased so that an individual can detect the difference

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just-noticeable difference

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the smallest difference that an organism can reliably detect between two stimuli

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Weber's law

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the observation that the size of the difference threshold is proportional to the intensity of the standard stimulus: proportional change

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Fechner's law

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the observation that the strength of a sensation is proportional to the logarithm of physical stimulus: physical intensity proportional to psychological intensity

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perceptual sensitivity

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an organism's ability to detect a signal

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decision criteria

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an organism's rule for how much evidence it needs before responding

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signal-detection theory

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the theory that perceiving or not perceiving a stimulus is actually a judgement about whether a momentary sensory experience is due to background noise alone or to the background noise plus a signal

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payoff matrix

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the pattern of benefits and costs associated with certain types of responses: what if offered a million dollars?

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transduction

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the process through which a physical stimulus is converted into a signal within the nervous system

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sensory coding

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the process through which the nervous system represents the qualities of the incoming stimulus-whether auditory of visual. whether red light or green light. whether sour taste or sweet taste

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specific theory

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the proposal that different sensory qualities are signaled by different quality-specific neurons. Only correct in a few cases, usually related to pain: thinks different neurons are used to differentiate red vs. green.

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pattern theory

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the proposal that different sensory qualities are encoded by specific patterns of firing among the relevant neurons: which neurons are firing more and which are less at any given moment

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sensory adaptation

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the process by which the sensitivity to a stimulus declines if the stimulus is presented for an extended period of time: shower doesn't feel as hot after awhile because you settled into it

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kinesthesis

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the sensations generated by receptors in the muscles, tendons, and joints that inform us of our skeletal movements: orientation of body space

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vestibular senses

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the sensations generated by receptors in the semicircular canals of the inner ear that inform us about the head's orientation and movements: movements of the head

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skin senses

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the group of senses, including pressure, warmth, cold, and pain, through which we gain information about our immediate surroundings

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nociceptors

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receptors in the skin that give rise to the sense of pain; they respond to various form of tissue damage and to temperature extremes

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gate control theory

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the proposal that pain sensations must pass through a neural gate in order to reach the brain and can be blocked at that gate by neurons that inhibit signals from the nociceptors: pain receptors from one part of the body override pain from another and block the lesser pain

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olfactory epithelium

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a mucous membrane at the top of the nasal cavity; contains the olfactory receptor neurons that respond to airborne molecules called odorants

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glomeruli

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sites in the brain's olfactory bulb where signals from the smell receptors converge: one for each preferred odorant

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pheromones

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biologically produced odorants that convey information to other members of the species: when women have periods sync

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papillae

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structures on the tongue that contain the taste buds, which in turn contain taste receptors

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sound waves

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successive pressure variations in the air that vary in amplitude and wavelength

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amplitude

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the height of a wave crest, used as a measure of sound intensity

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frequency

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the number of wave peaks per second in sound, governs the perceived pitch

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cochlea

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the coiled structure in the inner ear that contains the basilar membrane

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eardrum

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the taut membrane that transmits the vibrations caused by sound waves from the auditory canal to the ossicles in the middle ear

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oval window

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the membrane separating the middle ear from the inner ear

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auditory ossicles

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the three bones of the middle ear that transmit the vibrations of the eardrum to the oval window

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basilar membrane

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a membrane running the length of the cochlea; sound waves cause a deformation of this membrane, bending the hair cells in the cochlea and thus stimulating the auditory receptors

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hair cells

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the auditory receptors in the cochlea, lodged between the basilar membrane and other membranes above

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place theory

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a proposal about pitch perception stating that regions of the basilar membrane respond to particular sound frequencies and the nervous system interprets the excitation from different basilar regions as different pitches.

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timbre

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the quality of a sound apart from its pitch or loudness, timbre enables us to distinguish a clarinet from an oboe, or one person's voice from another

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photoreceptor

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a light-sensitive cell located on the retina that converts light energy into neural impulses

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retinal image

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the image of an object that is projected on the retina. Its size increases with the size of the object and decreases with the object's distance from the eye

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rods

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photoreceptors in the retina that respond to lower light intensities and give rise to the achromatic sensations (colorless)

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cones

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visual receptors that respond to greater light intensities and give rise to chromatic, color, sensations

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fovea

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the area roughly at the retina's center where cones are plentiful and visual acuity is greatest

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optic nerve

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the bundle of fibers that proceeds from each retina to the brain

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photopigment

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a chemical in the photoreceptors that changes its form in response to light, producing an electrical change that signals to the nervous system that light is present

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lateral inhibition

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the pattern of interaction among neurons in the visual system in which activity in one neuron inhibits adjacent the neuron's responses. When one cell fires, the ones next to it fire less

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trichromatic color vision

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the principle underlying human color vision. Color vision occurs through the operation of three sets of cones, each maximally sensitive to a different wavelength of light

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opponent-process theory

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a theory of color vision that proposes three pairs of color antagonists: red-green, blue-yellow, and white-black. Excitation of neurons sensitive to one member of a pair automatically inhibits neurons sensitive to the other member.

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receptive field

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for a particular cell in the visual system, the pattern of retinal stimulation that most effectively causes the cell to fire. For some cells, this pattern is defined simply in terms of a retinal location; for others, the most effective input has a particular shape, color, or direction of motion: like the horizontal lines

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feature detectors

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neurons in the retina or brain that respond to specific attributes of the stimulus, such as movement, orientation, and so on: detect certain elements in visual pattern

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Gestalt psychology

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a theoretical approach that emphasizes the role of organized wholes in perception and other psychological processes: our thoughts have meaning only in relationship to each other

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similarity

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in perception, a principle by which we tend to group like figures especially by color and orientation

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proximity

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in perception, the closeness of two figures. The closer together they are, the more we tend to group them together perceptually

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good continuation

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a factor in visual grouping, we tend to perceive contours in a way that laters their direction as little as possible: smooth lines

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subjective contours

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perceived contours that do not exist physically. We tend to complete figures that have gaps in them by perceiving a contour as continuing along its original path.

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reversible figure

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a visual pattern that easily allows more than one interpretation, in some cases changing the specification of a figure and ground, in other cases changing the perceived organization in depth: 3D box could be facing two ways

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visual search

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a task in which participants are asked to determine whether a specified target is present within a field of stimuli

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feature net

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a model of pattern recognition involving a network of detector's and having feature detectors as the network's starting point: letter detectors lead to word detectors

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geons (geometric ions)

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simple geometric figures, such as cubes, cylinders, and pyramids, that can be combined to create all other shapes. An early (and crucial) step in some models of object recognition is determining which geons are present: a lamp is a cylinder with a cone on top

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parvo cells

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ganglion cells that, because of their sensitivity to differences in hue, are particularly suited to perceiving color and form: small

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magno cells

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ganglion cells that, because of their sensitivity to brightness changes, are particularly suited to perceiving motion and depth: large

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"what" system

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the visual pathway leading from the visual cortex to the temporal lobe, especially involved in identifying objects

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"where" system

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the visual pathway leading from the visual cortex to the parietal lobe; especially involved in locating objects in space and coordinating movements

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binding problem

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the problem confronted by the brain of recombining the elements of a stimulus, given the fact that these elements are initially analyzed separately by different neural systems: look at how strong neurons are firing at the same time

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perceptual constancy

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the accurate perception of certain attributes of a distal object, such as its shape, size, and brightness, despite changes in the proximal stimulus caused by variations in our viewing circumstances: a door is still a door whether it is open or closed

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unconscious inference

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a process postulated by Hermann von Helmholtz to explain certain perceptual phenomena such as size constancy: the size of a dog up close doesn't change when looking at the same thing far away

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depth cues

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sources of information that signal the distance from the observer to the distal stimulus

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binocular cues

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a depth cue based on the differences between the two eyes' views of the world. this difference becomes less pronounced the farther an object is from the observer

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monocular depth cues

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features of the visual stimulus that indicate distance even if the stimulus is viewed with only one eye

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pictorial cues

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patterns that can be represented on a flat surface in order to create a sense of 3D objet of scene: 3D movies, view masters

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interposition

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a monocular cue to distance that relies on the fact that objects farther away are blocked from view by closer objects

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linear perspective

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a cue for distance based on the fact that parallel lines seem to converge as they get farther away from the viewer

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motion parallax

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a depth cue based on the fact that, as an observer moves, the retinal images of nearby objects move more rapidly than do the retinal images of objects farther away

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motion detectors

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cells in the visual cortex that are sensitive to an image moving in a particular direction across the retina

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apparent movements

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the perception of movement produced by stimuli that are stationary but are presented first at one position and then, at an appropriate time interval, presented at a different position: the flashing circles that make it look like they are moving in a circle

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induced motion

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perceived movement of a stationary stimulus, usually caused by movement of a surrounding framework or nearby objects: we usually perceive larger objects as still and smaller objects as moving

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correspondence problem

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as your view changes, the perceptual task of determining which aspects of the current view correspond to which aspects of the view seen a moment ago.

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illusory conjunction

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a pattern of errors in which observers correctly perceive the features present in a display, such as color and shape, but misperceive how they are combined. For example, they might report seeing a green 0 and a red X, when really it was a green X and a red 0 presented.

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priming

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the process through which a detector or portion of the nervous system is prepared for an upcoming input, making it easier for the participant to recognize that input: warming up for certain input, just like putting primer on before paint

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consciousness

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moment-by-moment awareness of ourselves, our thoughts, and our environments

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introspection

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the process of "looking within" to observe one's own thoughts, beliefs, and feelings: has many flaws

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cognitive unconscious

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the mental support processes outside our awareness that make our perception, memory, and thinking possible

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blindsight

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the ability of a person with a lesion in the visual cortex to reach toward or correctly "guess" about objects in the visual field even though the person reports seeing nothing

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mind-body problem

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the difficulty in understanding how the mind and body influence each other--so that physical events can cause mental events, and so that mental events can cause physical ones

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neural correlates of consciousness

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specific brain states that seem to correspond to the content of someone's conscious experience

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global workspace hypothesis

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a hypothesis about the neural basis of consciousness. it proposes that specialized neurons, called workspace neurons, give rise to consciousness by allowing us to link stimuli or ideas in dynamic, coherent representations: ideas become conscious when they are linked to each other through workspace neurons

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alpha rhythm

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a pattern of regular pulses, between 8 and 12 per second, visible on the EEG of a person who is relaxed but awake and typically has their eyes closed

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beta rhythm

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the rhythmic pattern in the brain's electrical activity often observed when a person is actively thinking about some specific topic

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delta rhythm

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the rhythmic pattern in the brain's electrical activity often observed when a person is in slow-wave sleep

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slow-wave sleep

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a term used for both stage 2 and stage 4 sleep; characterized by slow, rolling eye movements, low cortical arousal, and slowed heart rate and respiration

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REM sleep

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sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, EEG patterns similar to wakefulness, speeded heart rate and respiration, near paralysis of skeletal muscles, and highly visual dreams

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activation-sythesis hypothesis

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the hypothesis that dreams may be just a byproduct of the sleeping brain's activities, which are later assembled into a semi coherent narrative: opposite of Freud's sexual and anger idea of dreams

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hypnosis

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a highly relaxed, suggestible state of mind in which a person is likely to feel that his actions and thoughts are happening to him rather than being produced voluntarily

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depressants

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drugs that diminish activity levels in the nervous system: alcohol

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stimulants

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drugs that have activating or excitatory effects on brain or bodily functions: caffeine

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hallucinogens

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drugs that powerfully change perception and can trigger sensory experiences in the absence of any inputs: LCD

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withdrawal

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a consequence of drug dependence that occurs when the drug is withheld, such that the person feels strong drug cravings and psychological and medical distress

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drug tolerance

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the diminished response to a drug that results from extended use, so that over time the user required larger doses to experience the drug's effects.