AP Psychology Unit 3 test

Function of the fovea

responsible for sharp central vision

photoreceptor cells

rods and cones

How do schemas affect perception

They allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting the vast amount of information that is available in our environment. They also cause us to exclude pertinent information to focus instead only on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.

Describe the concept of motion parallax

objects moving at a constant speed across the frame will appear to move a greater amount if they are closer to an observer (or camera) than they would if they were at a greater distance.

Describe the opponent process theory of color vision

our ability to perceive color is controlled by three receptor complexes with opposing actions. These three receptor complexes are the red-green complex, the blue-yellow complex, and the black-white complex.

Sense not processed by thalamus

smell

Define/ describe sensory adaptation

When you've been repeatedly exposed to a stimuli and your senses diminish/become less sensitive to it

Describe top-down and bottom-up processing

Bottom-up: your retina detects lines, angles, and colors, and sends these messages to the brain Top-down: the brain interprets the messages to perceive what image the lines, colors, and angles make

Which part of the brain receives messages from the hair-like receptors that are involved in the vestibular sense?

Cerebellum

Give an example of a binocular cue for depth perception

Convergence -the inward angle of the eyes focusing on a near object.

List the eye to brain pathway of vision

First light enters the eye through the cornea. Then it passes through the pupil and hits the lens. Next, the light goes through the vitreous humor, and lastly, reaches the retina. The optic nerve then carries the signals to the visual cortex of the brain.

Middle ear bones and their function

Ossicles- amplify sound, send sound waves to inner ear and into the cochlea.

Why can't we multitask?

Our brains choose which information to process, and it only focuses on one thing.

List the four skin senses

Pain, warmth, cold, pressure

Explain the concept of depth perception

The ability to determine the relative distance between two objects

Explain synesthesia

When a stimuli activates one sense and another unrelated sense is involuntarily activated at the same time (Ex: hearing the note E and seeing the color yellow)

Define perceptual set/expectancy

When you are primed to expect a certain result based on past experience

Describe the cocktail party phenomenon

You can hear something of importance (your name) in the midst of a lot of other stimuli, such as at a cocktail party

Define/describe the phi phenomenon

an illusion of movement that arises when stationary objects—light bulbs, for example—are placed side by side and illuminated rapidly one after another.

Ability to focus on a particular conversation in a noisy and crowded room is called

cocktail party phenomenon

Cochlea defined

fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves travel and trigger nerve impulses.

Length of wavelengths of light and sound in relation to color or pitch

frequency

Pitch is to sound as ______is to light.

hue

Receptors for olfaction are located where

olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity

In visual perception, size constancy occurs as an object comes closer to the viewer because the....

perceived distance of the object becomes smaller

Blindspot defined

small part of the visual field where there are no photoreceptors, so there's no image detection

What part of the body contains a neurological gate that controls the transmission of pain messages to the brain?

spinal cord

Define absolute threshold

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

Describe size constancy.

the perception of an object as having a fixed size, despite the change in the size of the visual angle that accompanies changes in distance.

Define sensory interaction

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

Define sensation

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

Define perception

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

What are the parts of the inner ear?

vestibule, semicircular canals, cochlea

Scott lost his vision at a young age. When he was much older, he received a corneal transplant that allowed him to see again. After so many years of not being able to see, he had a very difficult time interpreting visual information such as faces and expressions. His visual problems most likely came from processing difficulties in the...

visual cortex