AP Psych Unit 4 Vocab
AP Psych Unit 4 Vocab
AP Psych Unit 4 Vocab
the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina strength of a sound wave that determines their loudness the sense or act of hearing depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes. the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there. analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information failing to notice changes in the environment (also known as selective attention) is the phenomenon of being able to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, much the same way that a partygoer can focus on a single conversation in a noisy room the inability to see completely one or more colors due to a deficiency of the eye, particularly the cones. hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations The skin senses that register sensations of pressure, warmth, and cold. the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are 2-D; allows us to judge distance the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference the physical object that provides information to the sensory organs.
17.
Divided attention
2.
3.
the ability to successfully execute more than one action at a time, while paying attention to two or more channels of information/modalities. When people perform a number of tasks in parallel, they must divide their attention, which may weaken performance. the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition nerve cells in the brain that respond the specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground) the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster. the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second) 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 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 actively in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain on organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups the sense of taste the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth An experience of a stimulus pattern in a manner that is demonstrably incorrect but shared by others in the same perceptual environment failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude
18.
4. 5.
19.
6.
20.
7.
21.
8.
22.
9.
23.
Frequency theory
24.
Gate-control theory
10.
11.
25.
Gestalt
12.
26.
13.
27. 28.
14.
29.
Illusion
15.
30.
16.
Distal stimulus
31.
32.
the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts. depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone. the sense of smell the theory that the retina contains three different color receptor-one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue-which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color. 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. the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent shapes, size, lightness, and color) even as illumination and retinal images change. a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession a specialized type of neuron found in the retina that is capable of phototransduction. The two photoreceptors are rods and cones. a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends of frequency in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations; thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response the energy that falls on the receptor cells, stimulating them to receive the message.
48.
Psychophysics
33.
the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of the them retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus the process by which our sensory receptors and rebous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste 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, expectations, motivation, and alertness the brain will continuous movement in a rapid series of slightly varying images below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness The dimension of auditory sensation that reflects the complexity of a sound wave. information processing guided by higherlevel mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing our experiences and expectations the transportation of stimuli to the nervous system, when environmental energy is transformed into electrical or neural energy. Receptor cells produce an electrical change in response to a physical stimulus. the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals the distance from the peak of one light of sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission
49.
Rods
34. 35.
50.
51.
36.
Parallel processing
52.
Sensorineural hearing loss Sensory adaptation Sensory interaction Signal detection theory
53.
54.
37.
Parapsychology Perception
55.
38.
39.
40.
56.
57.
41.
58.
42.
59.
43.
60.
Transduction
44.
45.
61.
46.
Priming
62.
63.
47.
Proximal stimulus
64.
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage (rather than a constant amount) The theory that there are three types of color receptors that produce the primary color sensations of red, green, and blue
65.