AP Psychology Chapter 3 Sensation and Perception

Photons

"wave packets" of light

Absolute Threshold

(Gustave Fechner) The smallest amount of energy needed for stimulus 50% of the time

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

(LGN) Sends image to occipital lobe

Eardrum

(Tympanic Membrane) Membrane in ear canal that vibrates in response to sound area *Highlighted blue

Visual Accomodation

Changing the Corneas shape from thick to thin, allows eye to focus on objects close and far away

Cornea

Clear membrane covering and protecting the eye. Bends light waves so the image can be focused on the retina *Highlighted red

Aqueous Humor

Clear watery fluid, continually replenished, supplies nourishment to the eye *Highlighted red

Nerves (Cochlear Nerve)

Cochlear nerve. The cochlear nerve, also known as the acoustic nerve, is the sensory nerve that transfers auditory information from the cochlea (auditory area of the inner ear) to the brain.

Iris

Colored part of the eye; its muscles control the size of the pupil *White star

Complete incomplete figures

In Gestalt theories, the principle of closure refers to the tendency to...

Anvil

In middle ear transmits vibrations from the hammer to the stirrup *Highlighted Blue

Pupil

Iris opening, changes size depending on the amount of light in the environment *White star

Light Adaptation

Recover of eyes sensitivity to visual stimuli in the light after being in the darkness

Dark Adaptation

Recovery of eyes sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after being in the light

Red-Green Color Blindness

Red and Green cones do not work *sees blue, yellow, and gray*

Whether someone is right-brained versus left-brained

Research suggests that perception may be influenced by all variables except

Frequency Theory

Theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane

Volley Principle

Theory of pith that stats that frequencies from about 400 Hz to 4000 Hz cause the hair cells to fire in a volley pattern or take turns firing

Pictorial Depth Cues

These require visual cues from only one eye..

Vitreous Humor

Thick transparent liquid that fills the center of the eye, mostly water, gives eye its shape

Culture

This affects visual perception

Depth Perception

This helps one to judge how far away objects are

Illusion Research

This type of research provides valuable information about how the sensory receptors and sense organs work...

Hammer

Tiny bone that passes vibrations from the eardrum to the anvil *Outlined in red

Outer Ear canal

Tube traveling sound to the ear drum *Yellow arrow

Stirrup (Stapes)

V-Shaped; passes vibrations to the cochlea *Highlighted blue

Perceive apparent brightness in a constant manner

Visually, the concept of brightness constancy causes the brain to

Convert the energy into neural activity, sending messages to the brain

When sensory receptors are stimulated by outside energy they...

Presbyopia

When the lens hardens as we age. it damages visual accomidation

Afterimage

When visual sensitivity persists for a brief time

Motion parallax

Which pictorial depth cue causes distant objects, such as mountains, to appear to move more slowly than closer objects, when viewed from a moving vehicle?

Fovea

Central area of retina; greatest density of photoreceptors *Red dot

Lens

Changes shape to bring objects into focus

Trichromatic Theory

(Young-Hemholtz) Theory of color vision, processes 3 cones: red, blue, and green. RED+GREEN=YELLOW RED+BLUE=MAGENTA Does not explain colorblindness and afterimage

Color

(hue), Determined by length of wave *long wavelengths are at the red end and the short wavelengths are at the blue end*

3 Parts of Vision

-Brightness -Color -Hue

Path of Light Through the Eye

1) Cornea 2) Aqueous Humor 3) Pupil 4) Lens 5) Vitreous Humor 6) Retina

Semicircular Canals

3 Loops of fluid-filled tubes with fluid attached to the cochlea. In the inner ear, and helps maintain balance

Opponent-Process Theory

4 Primary colors, theory that sensory receptors come in pairs. RED+GREEN YELLOW+BLUE BLACK+WHITE If one sensory receptor of color is overstimulated, the other color takes over

Color Blindness

A Recessive trait, 8% of men have it and 1% of women have it

Habituation

A decrease in responsiveness with repeated stimuli. (In the central nervous system) CAN GET THE FEELING BACK *white noise, such as the A/C, or projector in class*

Shape Constancy

A person will perceive a coin as a circle even if it is held at an angle to appear to the eye as an oval because of...

Sensation

Activation of receptors in the various sense organs

Volume

Amplitude is interpreted as...

Sensory Conflict Theory

An explanation of motion sickness in which the information from the eyes conflicts with the information from the vestibular senses

Subliminal Stimuli

Below the level of conscious awareness

Somesthetic Senss

Body senses consisting of skin senses *KINESTHETIC & VESTIBULAR

Eustachian Tube

Connects middle ear to the back of the nose; it equalizes the pressure between the middle ear and the outside ear. This is where you here the "Pop" as altitude changes *Outlined in red

Microsaccades

Constant tiny movement of the eyes that prevents sensory adaptation to visual stimuli

Retina

Contains photoreceptor cells

Hertz (Hz)

Cycles or waves per second, a measurement of frequency

In early infancy

Depth perception seems to develop

Brightness

Determined by amplitude (how high or how low a wave is)

Sensory Adaptation

Diminishing sensitivity to changing stimulus (outside the central nervous system) CANNOT GET THE FEELING BACK *cold swimming pool, cologne, clothing, or jewelry*

Synesthesia

Disorder where the signals from various sensory organs are processed in the wrong cortical areas, resulting in the sense info being interpreted as more than one sensation

Hyperopia

Farsightedness

The three types of cells/neurons in the Retina

Ganglion cells Bipolar cells Special cells

Cones

Has color sensitivity to low levels of light, and has to deal with sharpness of vision *sees color*

Rods

Has noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light. Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina *sees black and white*

...cones can adapt to an increase in brightness faster than rods can adapt to a decrease in brightness

Light adaptation occur so much more rapidly than dark adaptation because...

Myopia

Nearsightedness

Blind Spot

No rods and cones. Axons of three layers of retinal cells exit the eye to form the optic nerve, insensitive to light

Perceptual Set

One's tendency to perceive things in a certain way because of previous experience or expectation is called __________.

Signal Detection Theory

Predicting how and when we detect presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise) *WHY PEOPLE RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO THE SAME STIMULI* -detection will always depend on persons experiences, expectations, motivations, and alertness

Transduction

Process of converting outside stimuli; turns light into neural activity

wavelength, amplitude, and purity

Properties sound waves and light waves share..

Saturation

Purity of color adding black or grey will make the color less saturated

The absolute threshold for the sense of smell

Researchers have found that for a person to notice a smell in a room, the smallest amount of scent needed is one drop of perfume diffused throughout a three-room apartment. This amount of perfume would be described as:

Graphine

Seeing letters or numbers in color

Optic Nerve

Sends visual information to the brain *Highlighted yellow

Skin Senses

Sensations of touch, pressure, temperature, and pain

Kinesthetic Senses

Sense of the location of body parts in relation to the ground and eachother

Radial Kerototomy

Small incisions in the cornea to change focus in the eye

Just Noticeable Difference (Difference Threshold)

Smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50% of the time...The research of Ernst Weber led to the formulation of a theory of.....

Pitch

Sound wavelengths are interpreted by the brain as...

Sensory Receptors

Specialized forms of neurons that respond to outside stimuli

Subliminal Perception

Subliminal stimuli acts upon unconscious mind, inflicting behavior

Monochrome Color Blindness

Syndrome where no cones exist, or cones exist, but do not work at all *sees shades of gray*

Organ of Corti

The __________ contains the receptor cells for the sense of hearing.

Müller-Lyer

The __________ illusion tends to occur more in societies with lots of buildings that have straight lines and corners.

The Absolute Threshold

The __________ is the lowest level of stimulation that a person can consciously detect 50 percent of the time the stimulation is present.

Moon

The apparent distance hypothesis, which is a basic error in our application of size constancy, is the best explanation that we have for the __________ illusion.

Visual Accommodation

The change in the thickness of the lens as the eye focuses on objects that are far away or close

Cochlea

The cochlea is the sense organ that translates sound into nerve impulses to be sent to the brain. Each person has two cochlea, one for each ear. The cochlea is a fluid-filled, snail shaped cavern in the mastoid bone of your skull behind each ear

Transduction

The process of converting outside stimuli into neural activity is called __________.

Vestibular Senses

The sensations of movement, balance, and body position

Olfaction (olfactory sense)

The sense of taste

Linear Perspective

The tendency for lines that are actually parallel to seem to converge, as when you look down a long interstate highway, is __________.

Closure

The tendency to complete figures that are incomplete.

Size Constancy

The tendency to interpret an object as always being the same size regardless of its distance from the viewer is __________.

Brightness Constancy

The tendency to perceive the apparent brightness of an object as the same even when the light conditions change

Top-down processing

The use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole is known as

Pinna

The visible part of the ear, funneling

Place Theory

Theory of pitch that states that different pitches are experienced by the stimulation of hair cells in different locations on the organ of corti

Because there is not enough visual information present to help you readily distinguish the figure from the ground.

Why is it so difficult to tell what you should focus on when you look at a reversible figure?

Convergence

__________ is the rotation of the two eyes in their sockets to focus on a single object.

Proximity

__________ is the tendency to perceive objects that are close to one another as part of the same grouping.

Weber's Law

__________ states that the smallest difference between two stimuli that is detectable 50 percent of the time is always a constant.

Olfactory bulbs

areas of the brain located above the sinus cavity and below the frontal lobes

Figure-Ground Perception

one has a tendency to perceive objects as existing on a background.