UMICH Psych 240 exam 1

Subtractive Method

1. Pure insertion assumption (all the other stages remain the same even if a new stage is added) 2. Assumption Added stages: stages may occur at same time 3. Assume you know the stages (what they already are) Donders Can be more reputable by eliminating alternative possiblities (Huppert and Piercy and the amnesia experiment)

Direct Perception (stimulus theory)

All stimulus are unambiguous and we are prewired to pick up cues (bottom up is similar)

Constructivist Theory

Believes the opposite from direct perception and believes that we use prior knowledge to perceive. Bottom up and top down

Introspection (problems)

Hard to verify, subjective, end product only

Behaviorism (problems)

Limits science to only the observable (we can't observe everything), can't explain diversity in human behaviors like languages i.e.

Binocular Depth Cues

Retinal Disparity and Convergence

Monocular Depth Cues

Shape, Linear perspection, relative size, shadows, accomodation, and interposition

Perception

The experience of a stimulus

Distal Stimulus

The objects and events in the world around you

Proximal Stimulus

The patterns from distal stimuli that actually reach your eye or ear or senses

Mental Chronology

The study of time course of mental processes- Studies the questions: What stages are involved in a task and how long does it take for those tasks? (know the difference between choice(2 choices) and detection tasks(1 choice))

Cognitivist approach

What goes on in the mind is like a computer program

Independent variable

What you manipulate, passage of time, amount of alcohol taken in, and number of items shown to be memorized

Dependent Variable

What you measure, reaction time, accuracy, brain activity

Lack of correspondance

When the percep doesn't match the distal stimulus (optical illusion)

Paradoxical Correspondance

When the promixal stimulus doesn't match the distal stimulus but the percep does (moving objects )

Retina

lights through retina: ganglion, bipolar, photoreceptor

Neuron dendrites soma axons

neuron is brain cell, dendrites are like extentions and connections, soma is the body, axons are the myelinated stalks that the signal transmission / action potential takes place

Perceptual constancy

perception of size color and shape don't change with distance, light, or angle. Percep stays constant even with changing proximal stimulus and changing viewpoint

Rods and Cones Photoreceptors

rods detect brightness, cones are blue green and red. cones are in the fovea