AP Psychology Unit #4 Vocabulary

Psychological

A Psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions

Post Hypnotic Suggestion

A Suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some dinicians to help control undesried symptoms and behaviors

Retinal Disparity

A binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the two eyeballs, the brain computes distance-the greater the disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the objects

Human Factors Psychology

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

Cochlea

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

Cochlear Implant

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

Texture Gradient

A gradual change from a coarse distinct texture to a fine/indistinct textures signals increasing distance

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

Perceptual Set

A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and that alone

LSD

A powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid

Methamphetamines

A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system, with the speeded up body functions and associated energy and mood changes; overtime, appears to reduce baseline Dopamine levels

Dissaciation

A split in conciousness, which allows osme thoughtsand behaviors to occur simulataneusly with others

Ecstacy

A synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short term health risks and longer term harm to serotonin producing neurons and to mood and cognition

Signal Detection Theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue

Eardrum

A tight membrane that vibrates with the waves and transfers it to the middle ear

Pitch

A tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency

Near Death Experience

An altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death ( such as through cardiac arrest): often similar to drug-induced hallucinations

Phi Phenomenon

An illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off quick succession

Bottom-up processing

Analysis that begins with the sensory recpetors and workss up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Relative motion (motion parallax)

As we move, objects that are actually stable may appear to move

Relative Clarity

Because light from distant objects passes through more atmosphere, we perceive hazy objects as father way than sharp, clear objects

Subliminal

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awarness

Addiction

Compulsive drug craving and use

Transduction

Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret

Monocular Cues

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

Binocular Cues

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

Sensory Adaptation

Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Fencher's law

Discharge from nerve recpetor to strength of stimulus

Depressants

Drugs (alcohol, barbiturates and opiates) that reduce neural activity and slow body functions

Stimualnts

Drugs (caffeine, nicotine, ecstasy) that excite neural activity and speed up body functions

Opiates

Drugs such as morphine and heroin: they depress Neural activity, temporarily, essenting pain and anxiety

Barbiturates

Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement

Amphetamines

Drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded up body functions and associated energy and mood changes

Inattential blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed alsewhere

Inattentional Blindness

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

Size-Distance Relationship

Given an object's perceived distance and the size of its image on our retinas, we instantly and unconsciously infer the object's size

Sensori-nueral Hearing Loss

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

Conduction Hearing Loss

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

Interposition

If one object partially blackens our view of another, we perceive it as closer

Relative Size

If we assume that two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts the smaller retina image as farther away

Place Theory

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

Frequency theory

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 it pitch

Perceptual Interpretation

In vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even ineverted visual field

Top-down Processing

Information processing guided by higher level mental processes as when we construct perceptedions drawing on our experience and expectations

Basilar Memebrane

Lined hair cells that that pick that pick up the sound in the the inner car

Light and Shadow

Nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes

Feature Detectors

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

Law of Common Fate

Objects are percieved as lines that move along the smoothest path

Conciousness

Our awarness of ourselves and our environment

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to coverage with distance

Color Constancy

Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illuminationalters the wave-lengths reflected by the object

Perceptual Constancy

Perceiving object as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape and size) even as illumination and retinal images change

Biological Rythms

Periodic physiological fluctuations. (Annual, twenty-eight day, twenty four hour, and ninety-minute cycles)

Physical dependance

Physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is dicontinued

Steven's power law

Propose relationship between the magnitude of physical stimulus and its perceived intensity or strength

Hallucinogens

Psychedelic ("mind manifesting") drugs, such as LSD, that distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input

Law of Pragnanz

Reality is organized or reduced to the simplest form possible

Auditory

Sends neural messages (via the thalamus) to the temporal's lobe's auditory cortex

Parallel Processing

The Processing of several as focus of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural made of information processing of many function, including vision. contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problems solving

Depth perception

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

Priming

The activation, often unconsciously, of certain association thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

Pupil

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enter

Intensity

The amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude

Relative luminance

The amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings

Fovea

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

Middle ear

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing and tiny (hammer, anvil and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea's oval window

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

The controversial claim that perception can decor apart from sensory input. Said to include telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition

Hue

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light: what we know as the color names blue, green and so forth

Tolerance

The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug effect

Withdrawal

The discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug

Wavelength

The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the next . Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of radio transmission

Selective attention

The focusing of consciousness awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail part effect

Selective attention

The focusing of consciousness awareness on a particular stimulus, as in the cocktail party effect

Inner ear

The inner most part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals and Vestibular sacs

THC

The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects; including mild hallucinations

Oval window

The membrane that surrounds the cochlea

Difference Threshold

The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference. (Also called the just noticeable difference inj.)

Absolute Threshold

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time

Figure-Ground Relationship

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

Grouping

The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

Blindspot

The point at which the optic nerve leave the eye, no receptor cells are located there

Monism

The presumption that mind and body are different as peas of the same thing

Dualism

The presumption that mind and body are two distinct entities that interact

Sensory interaction

The principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste

Weber's Law

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)

Sensation

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

Perception

The process of organizing and interpretung sensory sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Vestibular sense

The sense of body movements and position, including the sense of balance

Para-psychology

The study of paranormal phenomenon, including ESP and psychokenisis

Psychophysics

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

Kinesthesis

The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Opponent Process theory

The theory that opposing retina, processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-balck) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red: others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

Young-Helmoltz Trichromatic (three color) Theory

The theory that the retina contains three different color recpetors- one most sensative to red, on to green, one to blue- which when stimulated in combination con produce the perception of any color

Gate-Control Theory

The theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto the brain. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activities in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain

Law of Closure

We fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

Law of Proximity

We group nearby objetcs/figures together. We see not six sperate lines, but three sets of two lines

Law of Similarity

We group together figures that are similar to each other. We see triangles and circles in verticle collumns of similar shapes, not horizontal and dissimilar

Relative Height

We perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away

Brightness Consistancy

We percieve an object as having a constant lightness even white its illumination varies

Law of Continuity

We percieve smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones