Psychology Ch 6

absolute threshold

Absolute threshold is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular experience of them. ex. A doctor would test your hearing by exposing you to a variety of sounds at different volumes. The doctor would keep testing you until he found the minimum stimulation you can hear, this is a example of absolute threshold.

accommodation

Accommodation is the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. ex. When the eye is looking at something up close it tightens the ciliary muscle, making the lens more rounded.

audition

Audition is the sense or act of hearing. ex. I can hear a bird chirping, this is audition.

bottom-up processing

Bottom-up processing is the analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information. ex. When a human touches a burning hot stove they immediately pull their hand away from the stove because sensory receptors send a message to the brain letting you know your hand is burning, this is a example of bottom-up processing.

cochlea

Cochlea is a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses. ex. Some deaf people have a cochlea that does not trigger nerve impulses causing them not to be able to hear.

cochlear implant

Cochlear implant is a device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea. ex. A deaf person who's deaf because their cochlea does not work can get a cochlear implant to convert sounds into electrical signals to allow them to hear.

depth perception

Depth perception is the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional; allows us to judge distance. ex. When i look outside i can see that a tree is three dimensional and that it is closer to me then the road is, this is a example of depth perception.

difference threshold

Difference threshold is the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (or jnd). ex. A person puts their hand out and in it someone places a pile of sand. Then someone adds a tiny amounts of sand to their hand and asks you to tell them when they notice any change in the overall weight. As soon as they can detect any change in the weight, that difference between the weight of the sand before they added that last bit of sand and the amount of sand after they added it, is the difference threshold.

extrasensory perception

Extransensory perception is the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input; includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition. ex. A person that knows what you are thinking without you telling them has telepathy, this is a example of extrasensory perception.

feature detector

Feature detector is a nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement. ex.Without feature detectors, it would be difficult or even impossible to detect a round object, like a baseball, coming toward you.

figure-ground

Figure-ground is the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground). ex. A solid black figure that stands out from its back ground creates a shape of a vase and in the white space behind it it forms two faces.

fovea

Fovea is the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster. ex. I saw the sharpest image i have ever seen by using my fovea.

frequency

Frequency is the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second). ex. The higher the frequency is the shorter the wavelengths will be in a given time.

frequency theory

Frequency theory is 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. ex. When we hear a musical note, it causes specific vibrations in our ears that lets us hear that specific pitch. Lower notes vibrate at slower speeds, while higher notes vibrate at higher speeds, this is a example of frequency theory.

gate-control theory

Gate-control theory is 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. ex. Bill was racing his scooter down the hallway when he hit a bump and ran into the wall. A screw in the scooter went through his leg, but he didn't notice it because the spinal cord blocked the pain from being received in his brain. It wasn't until a few minutes later, after someone pointed it out, that Bill realized what had happened. The idea behind the pain-signal blocking immediately following Bill's accident is an example of the gate-control theory.

gestalt

Gestalt is an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. ex. We may be put together many good memories we had to remember a person after they have pasted away forming what we remember their personality as.

grouping

Grouping is the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups. ex. At a clothing store they group all clothes of one color in one section. All red clothes are in one section and all blue clothes are in a different section.

hue

Hue is the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we know as the color names blue, green, and so forth. ex. When we look at the grass we can see that it is green because the wavelength of light tells us it is green, this is a example of hue.

human factor psychology

Human factor psychology is a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use. ex. A car makes it safe and easy to travel in everyday life, this is a example of human factor psychology.

inner ear

Inner ear is the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. ex. You can not touch the inner ear with your hand because it is located so far in the ear.

intensity

Intensity is the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude. ex. The larger the wave's amplitude is the louder the sound will be, it will be more intense than a sound with a smaller amplitude.

iris

Iris is a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. ex. The iris dilates or constricts your pupil in the light and dark.

kinesthesis

Kinesthesis is the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts. ex. Very skilled dancers have great kinesthesis because being aware of there position and movement makes them dance well.

lens

Lens is the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. ex. When the lens is misshaped it can not focus on images properly causing a person to be near or far sighted.

middle ear

Middle ear is 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. ex. When on a plane the middle ear pops because of air pressure.

monocular cues

Monocular cues are depth cues, such as interposition and linear perspective, available to either eye alone. ex. If two objects are roughly the same size, the object that looks the largest will be judged as being the closest to the observer because of interposition and linear perspective.

opponent-process theory

Opponent-process theory is 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. ex. If you stare at something red for a minute then move your eyes toward a white surface then you will see a green afterimage.

optic nerve

Optic nerve is the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. ex. A man severely damaged his optic nerve so his neural impulses that allow him to see can no longer be carried from his eye to the brain, causing him to be blind.

parallel processing

Parallel processing is the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. ex. When a person sees an object they see many different aspects of it that together help the person identify the object as a whole. You may see the colors blue, black, and silver. These colors alone may not mean too much, but if you also see shapes such as rectangles, circles, and curved shapes, your brain may perceive all the elements simultaneously, put them together and identify it as a car.

parapsychology

Parapsychology is the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis. ex. A example of parapsychology is studying telepathy which is a paranormal phenomena that allows people the ability to obtain information psychically by reading the mind of another person.

perception

Perception is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. ex. When two people look at a painting one thinks the painting is of one vase and one thinks the painting is of two faces this is because they organized and interpreted sensory information differently than each other, this is a example of perception.

perceptual adaptation

Perceptual adaptation is in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field. ex. Someone who lives near a train can perceptually adapt such that they can ignore the train whistle in order to sleep at night. If someone came to visit, however, they would not have perceptually adapted to the train and would most likely not be able to sleep, this is a example of perceptual adaptation.

perceptual constancy

Perceptual constancy is perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change. ex. You are at a neighborhood bus stop. You see the bus as it turns the corner a few blocks away. From a distance the bus looks like a dot in your field of vision. You put up your palm and notice that you can cover the entire area of the bus with your palm. As the bus approaches the stop it begins to take up more and more of your field of vision. Your palm no longer covers the area of the bus, this is a example of perceptual constancy.

perceptual set

Perceptual set is a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. ex. The physical stimulus '13' is the same in each case but is perceived differently because of the influence of the context in which it appears. We expect to see a letter in the context of other letters of the alphabet, whereas we expect to see numbers in the context of other numbers.

phi phenomenon

Phi phenomenon is an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession. ex.when looking at Christmas lights their are icicle lights hang from some trees. These lights give the illusion of a melting motion as adjacent lights quickly blink on and off starting at the top and moving down, this is an example of the phi phenomenon.

pitch

Pitch is a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. ex. A dog can hear higher pitches then a human.

place theory

Place theory is in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated. ex. A sound that measures 6000 hertz would stimulate the spot along the basilar membrane that possesses a characteristic frequency of 6000 hertz. The brain detects the pitch based on the position of the hair cells that transmitted the neural signal.

priming

Priming is the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response. ex. A person who sees the word "yellow" will be slightly faster to recognize the word "banana." This happens because yellow and banana are closely associated in memory, this is a example of priming.

psychophysics

Psychophysics is the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. ex. A person may have socks on with the physical characteristic of being itchy but a person will not experience them being itchy all day, they will forget about it.

pupil

Pupil is the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. ex. A persons pupil gets very large when they are in a dark room to try and let as much light in them as possible and the pupil gets small in a very bright room to try and restrict the amount of light that goes in them, this is a example of pupil.

retina

Retina is 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. ex. Damage to the retina can cause permanent blindness through a condition called retinal detachment. In this condition, the retinal tissue is abnormally detached from its usual position preventing the rods and cones from receiving light and passing information to the brain to process.

retinal disparity

Retinal disparity is 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. ex. when a person grabs a nearby object and hold it in front of their nose. they then close their right eye and take notice of the view you have of the object with just your left eye. Then the do the same thing, switching eyes. If the object is right in front of their nose, each eye should give them a very different view of the object. Now, they keep moving the object away from their face while checking the different views from each eye. they should notice that the further away the object gets from your face the more similar each view is from each eye.

rods

Rods are retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones don't respond. ex.The rods in the old womens eyes are weak so she can not see well at night giving her poor twilight vision.

sensation

Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. ex. When a person touches a a hot stove their sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies that tells their body the stove is hot, this is a example of sensation.

sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineual Hearing loss is hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness. ex. When i listen to my music at full blast i damage hair cells or nerve cells in my ear that causes me to have hearing loss.

sensory adaptation

Sensory adaptation is diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. ex. After a while you do not notice your glasses touching you face anymore this is because sensitivity is diminished as a consequence of constant stimulation, this is a example of sensory adaptation.

sensory interaction

Sensory interaction is the principle that one sense may influence another, as when the smell of food influences its taste. ex. When someone has a cold and can not breath out of their nose food will taste funny because they can not smell the food and that effects the taste of the food.

signal detection theory

Signal detection theory is a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimuli (signal amid background stimulation (noise)). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue. ex. A person is faced with a sound that is very faint or confusing. The person must make a decision, is the sound there or not. What makes this situation confusing and difficult is the presences of other mess that is similar to the sound.

subliminal

Subliminal is below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness. ex. A movie theater will blink a picture of food that blinks so fast that is is below one's absolute thresold for conscious awareness in the hope of making people hunger so they will spend money on their food without the people knowing that the movie theater is trying to do that to them, this is a example of a subliminal message.

top-down processing

Top-down processing is the information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. ex. When a person sees a hot stove this information is processed to a higher level so they know not to touch it based on past experiences, this is a example of top-down processing.

transduction

Transduction is 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. ex. Your ears receive energy in the form of sound waves and converts this energy into neural messages that make their way to your brain and are processed as sounds, this is a example of transduction.

vestibular sense

Vestibular sense is the sense of body movement and position, including the sense of balance. ex. A gymnast on a balance beam have a great vestibular scene because they must have very good balance to do tricks on a balance beam.

visual cliff

Visual cliff is a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. ex. When the baby was born his depth perception was tester with a visual cliff.

wavelength

Wavelength is the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from short blips of cosmic ray to the long pulses of radio transmission. ex. If someone talks underwater the peaks from one wavelength to the next will be farther apart then if someone talked not in water, this is because sound travels slower in water.

Weber's law

Weber's law is the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount). ex. If you are buying laptop that costs $1,000 and you want to add more memory that increases the and the price $200, you might consider this too much additional money to spend. However, if you were buying a $300,000 house a $200 feature may seem like nothing.

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three color) theory

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory is the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors - one most sensitive to red, one to green, one to blue - which, when stimulated in combination, can produce the perception of any color. ex. The Young-Helmholtz theory believe when a person sees the color pink they are using their blue and ed receptor to produce the color.

binocular cues

Binocular cues is depth clues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes. ex. By collecting information from your right and left eyes and then integrating it, your brain is able to construct a three-dimensional interpretation of the world.

blind spot

Blind spot is the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind" spot because no receptor cells are located there. ex. When looking at a dot on a paper and slowly moving the paper towards you the optic nerve will leave the eye and you will no longer be able to see the dot, this is a example of a blind spot.

color constancy

Color constancy is perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. ex.You are looking at a bowl of fruit that has in it a bright red apple, bananas, grapes, and mangos. If you saw only a small portion of the apple, but did not know that it was an apple, the color would appear to change a little as the light changed. However, once you know it is an apple, you will still perceive the color as bright red even when the light changes a little, this is a example of color constancy.

conduction hearing loss

Conduction hearing loss is hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. ex. While playing, a boy accidently jabbed a stick in his cousin's ear and punctured his eardrum. The cousin's ear can no longer conduct vibrations because he suffered damage to the mechanical system in the eardrum that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. He now experiences hearing loss in that ear, this is an example of conduction hearing loss.

cones

Cones are 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 sensations. ex. I can see perfectly in well-lit conditions because i have healthy and functioning cons in my eyes.