Myers' AP Psychology Unit 4

amplitude

Height of a wave

social-cultural influences of pain

Presence of others, empathy for others' pain, cultural expectations

rubber-hand illusion

-top down influence

relative motion

objects closer to a fixation point move faster and in opposing direction to those objects that are farther away from a fixation point, moving slower and in the same direction

taste

one of the senses an organism uses to gather information about an object, usually with special nerves on the tongue

moon illusion

optical illusion which causes the moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky, also occurs with the sun and star constellations, has been known since ancient times and recorded by various cultures

horizontal-vertical illusion

our perceiving vertical dimensions as longer than identical horizontal dimensions

psychological influences of pain

pain is the most psychological driven

color constancy

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

precognition

perceiving future events

perceptual constancy

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

clairvoyance

perceiving remote events

outer ear

pinna The portion of the ear consisting of the pinna and the external auditory canal. The outer ear is separated from the middle ear by the tympanic membrane (the eardrum).

auditory cortex

primary site of most sound processing, including speech, music, sound info A an area in the temporal lobe of the brain that is reponsible for hearing.

vestibular sacs

two sacks in the inner ear by the semicircular canals that since gravitation forward, backward, and vertical movement

lightness/brightness constancy

we perceive an object as having a constant lightness even while its illumination varies

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 its pitch (low pitched sounds)

perceptual adaptation

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field0

Prosopagnosia

inability to recognize faces; face blindness A form of visual agnosia characterized by difficulty in the recognition of people's faces; caused by damage to the visual association cortex

Top-Down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

sensation.....

involves bottom-up processing (also known as feature detector)

context effects

memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place Retrieval cue a common retrieval cue in which memory is aided by being in the physical location where encoding took place; ex) psychologists have shown that students score better when they take an exam in the same room in which they learned the information

feature detector cells

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

endorphins

"morphine within"--natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

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.

ernst weber

1795-1878; Field: perception; Contributions: just-noticeable-difference (JND) that eventually becomes Weber's law; Studies: 1st study on JND

cochlea

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

standard deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

Colorblind

A recessive x-linked disorder in which an individual cannot distinguish between certain colors.

relative height

A monocular cue for perceiving depth; objects higher in our field of vision are perceived as farther away.

basilar membrane

A structure that runs the length of the cochlea in the inner ear and holds the auditory receptors, called hair cells.

signal detection theory

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

pitch

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

decibels

A unit of measurement of loudness Units of sound volume=

size constancy

Ability of the visual perceptual system to recognize that an object remains constant in size regardless of its distance from the observer or the size of its image on the retina.

Torsten Wiesel

Along with David Hubel discovered feature detector groups of neurons in the visual cortex that respond to different types of visual images

ponzo illusion

An illusion of size in which two objects of equal size that are positioned between two converging lines appear to be different in size. Also called the railroad track illusion.

connectedness

Because they are uniform and linked, we perceive each set of two dots and the line between them as one unit

controlling pain

Can be.................by distraction or other stimulation (rubbing place where needle is about to pierce) sleep and mood also affects........ in addition to thought and feeling that.........experience............, our bodies have natural pain killer call endorphins (stimulating the release of neurotransmitters that interfere with...........messages in the spinal cord and brain.

telepathy

Communication from one mind to another without speech, writing, or other sensory means mind-to-mind communication

schemas

Concepts or mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.

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.

linear perspective

Parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more the lines converge, the greater the perceived distance

volley principle

Modification of frequency theory stating that a cluster of nerve cells can fire neural impulses in rapid succession, producing a.........of impulses.

light and shadow

Nearby objects reflect more light to eyes. Given two identical objects, the dimmer one seems farther away

perceiving loudness

Number of hair cells activated (loud sounds activate a lot of hair cells)

proximity

Objects that are close together are more likely to be perceived as belonging in the same group.

similarity

Objects that are similar in appearance are more likely to be perceived as belonging in the same group.

continuity

Objects that form a continuous form (such as a trail or geometric figure) are more likely to be perceived as belonging in the same group.

cones

Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight or in well-lit conditions. The.......detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.

rods

Retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond.

closure

Similar to top-down processing. Objects that make up a recognizable image are more likely to be perceived as belonging in the same group even if the image contains gaps that the mind needs to fill in.

serial processing

Solving a problem one step at a time, a relatively slow process in comparison to parallel processing. occurs when the brain computes information step-by-step in a methodical and linear matter

sensory deprivation

The absence of normal levels of sensory stimulation - if one sense is........., another will become stronge

priming

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

pupil

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters.

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.

amplitude (sound)

The bigger the......the louder the sound

fovea

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

Extrasensory perception

The controversial claim that perception can occur 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.

wavelength

The distance between two corresponding parts of a wave

selective attention

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

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.

timbre

The overall quality of a sound the distinguishing quality of a sound

Weber's law

The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage

Sensation

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

accommodation

The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

Perception

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

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory

The theory that the retina contains three different color receptors—one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue—which combined can produce the perception of any color.

ossicles

The three small bones found in the middle ear (the malleus, the incus, and the stapes/the anvil, hammer, and stirrup) that help to amplify the vibrations from sound waves. The malleus is attached to the tympanic membrane and the stapes is attached to the oval window of the cochlea.

critical period

The time in the development of an organism when it is especially sensitive to certain environmental influences; outside of that period the same influences will have far less effect

lens

The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina.

Herman von Helmholtz

Theorist who both aided in the development of the trichromatic theory of color perception and Place theory of pitch perception.

Thomas Young

Thought light was a wave

phantom limb sensations

When the brain misinterprets the spontaneous central nervous system activity that occurs in the absence of normal sensory input.

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 close the object

cochlear implant

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

umami

a fifth taste, sense receptors on the tongue react to certain amino acids

visual cliff

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

perceptual set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

statistical significance

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

cocktail party effect

ability to attend to only one voice among many

gustatory

affecting/relating to the sense of taste

interposition

an MC; if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer

relative size

an MC; if we assume that two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away

blindsight

an abnormal condition in which parts of the visual field are not consciously perceived but can be subconsciously perceived; a patients ability to point to the source of a light in scotoma

McGurk Effect

an error in perception that occurs when we misperceive sounds because the audio and visual parts of the speech are mismatched.

phi phenomenon

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

gestalt

an organized whole. ........psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.

Bottom-Up processing

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

auditory nerve

axons of neurons in the cochlea converge transmitting sound messages through the medulla, pons, and thalamus to the auditory cortex of the temporal lobes

subliminal persuasion

behavior change induced by...........processing Persuasion that occurs with stimuli that are beneath the lower threshold a method to present info in a certain that changes peoples minds without them aware of what it is going on,............messaging happens below the absolute threshold

subliminal

below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Priming

can be above or below the absolute threshold; get us ready to perceive one thing or another

afterimages

images that occur when a visual sensation persists for a brief time even after the original stimulus is removed sensations that linger after the stimulus is removed. Most visual...............are negative................., which appear in reversed colors.

place theory

in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated (high pitched sounds)

monocular cues

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

binocular cues

depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes

synesthesia

describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color", "a sweet sound") when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another. Ex: The sight of red ants makes you itchy. In literature, synesthesia refers to the practice of associating two or more different senses in the same image. Red Hot Chili Peppers' song title,"Taste the Pain," is an example.

sensory adaptation

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

David Hubel

discovered feature detectors in the visual system (along with Torsten Wiesel)

choice blindness

failing to detect a mismatch in your original choice Choosing a face, proctor switches the faces and asks you why you chose that face. But it is actually the one that you rejected.

change deafness

failing to notice change in auditory stimulus

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment 28. While a man provides directions to a construction worker, two experimenters rudely interrupt by passing between them carrying a board. The man's failure to notice that the construction worker was replaced by a different person during this interruption illustrates

Inattentional Blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere

top-down processing

general to specific

the difference threshold

has to be disproportionate to the jnd of your original stimulus; look for if the jnd is 10% greater on the original stimulus

constancy

has to do with perception (color, shape, size); idea that, in our minds, when we turn off the lights, the color still remains constant, even though it may look different on our retinas (duller or a different shade [of blue] we know that the color hasn't actually changed; we perceive it to be the same, even if we turn off the lights. things may appear different to us, but still think(perceive) them as being the same.

sensorineural hearing loss

hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness

conduction hearing loss

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

subliminal stimulation

if we listen to or see things below the absolute threshold, we will unconsciously detect that stimulus.

bipolar cells

second layer of neurons in the retina that transmit impulses from rods and cones to ganglion cells

nociceptors

sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals

supercell clusters

teams of cells that respond to more complex patterns

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

relative luminance

the amount of light an object reflects relative to its surroundings

stroboscopic movement

the brain's perception of continuous movement in a rapid series of slightly varying images; this is how we perceive motion in film and animation

middle ear

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

inner ear

the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

difference threshold

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference. (Also called just noticeable difference or JND.)

absolute threshold

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

optic nerve

the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

frequency

the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time

figure-ground

the organization of the visual field into objects (the.......) that stand out from their surroundings (the......).

grouping

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

blind spot

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there

sensory interaction

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

sound localization

the process by which you determine the location of a sound

parallel processing

the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving.

vestibular sense

the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance (p. 254

Olfaction

the sense of smell sense of smell, travels directly to the cerebral cortex, without stopping at the thalamus

audition

the sense or act of hearing

parapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis

psychophysics

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them Fechner started this area of psychology that addresses the relationship between psychological experiences and physical energy. A psychophysicist might look at the speed at which electrical impulses travel from the brain to the limbs, or how we perceive different light waves.

kinesthesis

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

visual capture

the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 242)

the signal-detection theory

the theory that goes against absolute threshold

Opponent-Process Theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

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. The "gate" is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain.

signal detection says.....

there are other reasons why we may or may not detect a stimulus

ganglion cells

third layer of neurons in the retina, whose axons converge to from to the optic

semicircular canals

three canals within the inner ear that contain specialized receptor cells that generate nerve impulses with body movement

eardrum

tightly stretched membrane located at the end of the ear canal that vibrates when struck by sound waves

sensing touch

touch is sensitivity to pressure on the skin