AP Psychology test 3
reversible figure
a drawing that is compatible with two different interpretations that can switch back & forth
cochlea
a fluid-filled, coiled tunnel that contains the receptors for hearing
bottom up processing
a progression from individual elements to the whole image
top down processing
a progression from the whole to the elements
perceptual set
a readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way
pinna
a sound-collecting cone located in the external ear
after image
a visual image that persists after a stimulus is removed
perceptual hypothesis
an inference about what form could be responsible for a pattern of sensory stimulation
Poggendorf Illusion
angular displacement theory: the brain exaggerates all acute angles and minimizes all obtuse angles so we perceive the two lines as not connecting
moon illusion
appears smaller overhead than on the horizon
saturation
based on purity/richness
binocular fusion
brain's ability to fuse two pictures together
inner ear
choclea- sound enters the cochlea through the oval window which is vibrated by the stirrup; the sound is then sent along the auditory nerves to the thalamus and then to the temporal lobe
nearsightedness
close objects are clear but cannot see far
binocular depth cues
clues about distance based on the differing views of the two
monocular depth
clues about distance based on the image in either eye alone
hue
color based on wavelength short=blue mid=green long=red
opponent process theory
color perception depends on receptors that make antagonistic responses to 3 pairs of colors
pictorial depth cues
cues about distance that can be given in a flat picture
External ear
depends on the vibration of air molecules. consists of mainly the pinna. Sound waves are collected by the pinna and are funneled along the auditory canal toward the eardrum
Middle ear
depends on the vibration of movable bones. Vibrations of the eardrum are transmitted inward by a mechanical chain made up of the three tiniest bones in your body (the hammer, anvil and stirrup)
Inner ear
depends on waves in a fluid which are converted into a stream of neural signals sent to the brain. Consists largely of the cochlea. Waves in the fluid of the inner ear stimulate the hair cells which then convert this physical stimulation into neural impulses that are sent through the thalamus to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe.
just noticeable difference
difference between the absolute threshold and time it takes you to notice it go up
farsightedness
distance is clear near is blurry
ames room
emphasizes the impact of experience/beliefs in perception; we are used to seeing rectangular rooms so we assume that the room we are looking at is rectangular and therefore when one person appears to be farther form the ceiling than the other they look shorter because we do no assume that we are looking at a trapezoidal room
color blindness
encompasses a variety of deficiencies in the ability to distinguish among colors
light adaptation
eyes become less sensitive to light in high lighting
inattentional blindness
failure to see fully visible objects or events in a visual display because one's attention is focused elsewhere
adaptation
get used to something, may cause the just noticeable difference to go up
brightness
height of waves
trichromatic theory
human eyes have 3 types of receptors with differing sensitivities to different light wavelengths
visual agnosia
inability to recognize objects by sight
sounds waves
increased amplitude (dB)-> increased loudness purity influences timbre wavelength influences pitch
depth perception
involved the interpretation of visual cues that indicate how near or far away objects are
visual illusion
involves an apparently inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and its physical reality
optical illusions
know which gastalt principle associates with which illusion
process of vision
light comes through the cornea, goes through the lens and is focuses, sent back to the retina (upside down), processed in the retina, leaves through the optical disk and flipped by the optical nerve then sent to the vision cortex
auditory localization
locating the source of a sound in space
light
measured in amplitude (height) and wavelength (distance between peaks) -amplitude affects brightness -wavelength affects color -purity is how mixed the color is -saturation is the richness of the color -ultraviolet spectrum- short wavelengths -infared- longer wavelengths
absolute threshold
minimum stimulus it takes for you to notice it
retina
neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the eye. absorbs light, processes images, and sends visual info to the brain
feature detectors
neurons that respond selectively to very specific features of more complex stimuli
accomodation
occurs when curvature of the lens adjusts to alter visual focus
pupil
opening in the center of the iris; regulates the amount of light that passes through the eye
continuity principle
people tend to connect things in curves or straight lines (smooth images)
law of good form
people tend to organize forms in the simplest way possible
Phi phenomenon
perceiving movement because it is being presented in an incremental fashion
Gate theory
perception of pain saying that there is a "gate" in our spinal chord that can shut and atop the pain
external ear
pinna- cones that collect soundwaves and funnel them to the eardrum through the auditory canal
sense of touch
pressure, warmth, cold, pain -pain accumulates the slowest -endorphins also prevent the feeling of pain -fast pathway- immediate pain -slow pathway- long term pain
feature analysis
process of detecting in specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a more complex form
dark adaptation
process where eyes become more sensitive to light in low lighting
ventral stream
processes the details of what objects are out there
dorsal stream
processes where the objects are, stereopsis->depth perception, gives sound/sight depth
Ponzo illusion
railroad tracks; our depth perception interprets the slanted lines on each side as getting farther away yet still parallel so when the line in the distance does not get smaller in accordance with the decreasing space between the two slanted lines it appears to be bigger
retinal disparity
refers to the fact that objects within 25 ft project images to slightly different locations on the right and left retinas, so the right and left eyes see slightly different views of the object
receptive field of a visual cell
retinal area that when stimulated affects the firing of that cell
Human hearing range
roughly 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
basilar membrane
runs the length of the spiraled choclea, holds the auditory receptors, called hair cells
perception
selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory inpot
vestibular sense
sense of balance, imbalance in fluid in your ear causes a sense of imbalance
olfactory
sense of smell(does not go through the thalamus, olfactory bulb in brain helps you smell)
gustatory
sense of tase
gustatory system
sensory system for taste
zollner illusion
similar to poggendorf we exaggerate the acute angles and minimize the obtuse angles so it seems like the lines are not parallel based on the angles of the smaller lines crossing the longer lines
kinesthetic sense
smoothness in motion (not a robot)
process of hearing
sound waves go into the pinna down the auditory canal to the eardrum then to the 3 bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) which vibrate and go through the oval window into the cochlea and through the basilar membrane and down the auditory nerves to the temporal lobe
Cones
specialized visual receptors that play a key role in daylight and color vision
rods
specialized visual receptors that play role in night and peripheral vision
sensation
stimulation of sense organs
transduction
taking one form of energy and turning it into another
perceptual constancies in vision
tendency to experience a stable perception in the face of continually changing sensory input
weber's law
the larger stimulus you start with the longer it takes to notice a difference
optic chiasm
the point at which the axons from the inside half of each eye cross over and then project to the opposite half of the brain
gastalt theory
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
similarity principle
things that are alike are grouped together (similar in shape/size/color)
proximity principle
things that are near each other seam to belong together
fovea
tiny spot in center of the retina that contains only cones
lens
transparent eye structure that focuses the light rays falling on the retina
Muller-Iyer illusion
two arrows one with inward facing ends one with outwards facing ends. This is an illusion based on the continuity principle because we follow the open arrows so it seems longer than the closed arrows.
Sound waves
vibrations of molecules (which must travel through some physical medium such as air) the wavelength affects the perceived quality of pitch while amplitude(dB) affects the perceived quality of loudness and the purity affects the perceived quality of timbre
figure and ground
we can differentiate between foreground and background and we can change what we focus on
closure principle
we group elements to create a sense of closusre
experiment with sunglasses and pendelum
when you cover 1 eye with sunglasses and watch the pendelum it looks like it is moving in a circle this is because the light to one eye is slowed down due to retinal disparity
cornea
where light enters the eye
mid ear
3 small bones the hammer,anvil and stirrup, which vibrate the soundwaves on the oval window
Place theory
Hermann von Helmholtz (1863) proposed that the perception of pitch corresponds to the vibration of different portions, or places, along the basilar membrane. This assumes that hair cells at various locations respond independently and that different sets of hair cells are vibrated by different sound frequencies. The brain then detects the frequency of a tone according to which area along the basilar membrane is most active
Frequency theory
Rutherford (1886) said that the perception of pitch corresponds to the rate, or frequency, at which the entire basilar membrane vibrates. This theory views the basilar membrane as more like a drumhead. It says that the whole membrane vibrates in response to sounds, but that a particular sound frequency causes the basilar membrane to vibrate at a specific rate. The brain detects the frequency of a tone by the rate at which the auditory nerve fibers fire.