AP psych Review

Habituation

An organisms decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it We might experience habituation if we are constantly around loud noises. We would notice the noise is less than someone who is used to acquire environment.

Bottom up processing

Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information Bottom up processing would detect lines, angles, and colors that form a painting of a flower.

Subliminal messaging

Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness Subliminal messaging can include in unnoticed image or word that can alter our response to a later question.

Perceptual constancy

Perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images change An example of perceptual constancy would be viewing a desk in bright light and in low light, but still recognizing it as a desk.

Transduction

The process of converting one for the energy into another that your brain can use All of our senses must go through transduction so that we can interpret what we are seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events Every person's perception is different.

Vestibular

The sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance. The vestibular sense monitors your heads, and thus your body's position, and movement.

Psychophysics

The study of relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them Psychophysics has discovered many things about the physical energy that we can detect and it's effects on our way to psychological experiences.

Opponent process theory (color)

The theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision The opponent process theory would argue that some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green.

Trichromatic Theory

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors-red, green, and blue- which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color The trichromatic theory does not explain afterimages.

Gate control theory

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

Lens

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina Just like the lens on the camera, the lens in the eye focuses incoming light rays into an image.

Retinal disparity

A binocular clue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas into eyes, the brain computes distance - the greater the disparity between the two images, the closer the object. The 3-D effect mimics or exaggerates normal retinal disparity.

Cornea

A protective covering over the eye The cornea is the covering over the eye through which the reflected light first enters.

Iris

A ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening The iris constricts in response to light intensity and even to inner emotions.

Signal detection theory

A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimuli Signal detection theory predicts when we will detect weak signals.

Pitch

A tones experienced highness or lowness The pitch depends on frequency.

Sensory adaptation

Decreasing responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation If you were wearing socks, you probably stop to perceiving the feeling of your socks on your feet because of sensory adaptation.

Monocular cues

Depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone One important monocular cue is interposition; or if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer.

Binocular cues

Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depends on the use of two eyes One importance of binocular clues is judging the distance of nearby objects.

Place theory

In hearing, the theory that links the pitch we here with the way with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated The place theory presumes that we hear different pitches because different soundwaves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea's Basilar membrane.

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's pitch The frequency theory suggests an alternative to the place theory, the brain reads pitch are monitoring the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve.

Convergence

In order to perceive depth properly, your eyes must move slightly inward or converge. Because of convergence, we can tell if objects are close to us or far away.

Top down processing

Information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations Someone using top down processing would detect what's our senses detects first.

Cochlea

It coiled, bony, fluid filled tube in the inner ear; Sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve influences The cochlea is a snail shaped tube that picks up the vibrations from the middle ear.

Taste buds

Located all over the tongue and some parts of the inside of the cheek and the mouth Our taste buds help us be able to absorb chemicals from the food we eat.

Pheromones

Naturally excreted bodily chemicals Pheromones provide information and trigger responses from opposite sex of the same species.

Feature detector

Nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement Feature detectors derive their name from their ability to respond to a scenes specific features - edges lines angles and movements.

Shape constancy

Perceiving an object as constant even while our retinas receive changing images of them Because of shape constancy we adjust our perceptions relative to different angles of the same door.

Size constancy

Perceiving objects as having a constant size, even while our distance from them varies An example of size constancy is realizing that a car is large enough to carry people, even when we see it's tiny image from two blocks away.

Cones

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 sensation.

Rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond Rods are vision cells activated by light that respond to black and white.

Dark adaptation

The adaptation of your eyes to allow more light to reach your retina by allowing the pupils to dilate When you enter a darkened theater or turn off the light at night, your eyes adapt using dark adaptation.

Pupil

The adjustable opening in the center of the eyes through which the light enters The light enters the eye through the pupil. The pupil is like the shutter of the camera.

Fovea

The central focal point in the retina, around which the eyes cones cluster The fovea contains the highest concentration of cones such that if we focus on something, you're focusing the light onto your fovea and see it in color.

Hue

The dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light We know of the hue as the color names: blue, green, purple, and so forth.

Olfaction

The experiences of smell Smell is directly linked to the brain, thus smells are deeply linked with memory.

Accommodation (perceptual)

The process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina The lens focuses the rays by changing its curvature in a process called accommodation.

Retina

The light sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information The retina is a multilayered tissue on the eyeball's sensitive inner surface.

Difference threshold

The minimum difference a person can detect between two stimuli half the time The difference threshold is also called the just noticeable difference.

Absolute threshold

The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time. The absolute threshold measures the smallest sound or taste or odor that we can detect at least 50% of the time.

Optic nerve

The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. Our optic nerve carries visual information to the brain, where the thalamus stands ready to distribute the information.

Blind spot

The point at which the optic nerve leaves the iron, creating a "blind spot" because no receptor cells are located there The brain cells in the whole created by the blind spot where the optic nerve leaves the eye.

Sensation

The process by which are sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment Sally's sensation is normal: her senses detect the same information and transmits that information to the brain.