Pshychology

Biological Rhythms

Periodic physiological fluctuations. Example: A bear hibernating is an example of an Annual Cycle (which is one form of biological rhythms) Related Term: Circadian Rhythm because the Circadian Rhythm is the biological rhythm that occurs on a 24-hour cycle

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 Example: Floating finger sausage Related Term: binocular cue, because retinal disparity is an example of a binocular cue.

Convergence

a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object Example: staring at something close to you Related Term: binocular cue because convergence is an example of binocular cue.

Human Factors Psychology

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 Example: updating cell phones. Related Term: Evolution because our world changes, thus the people and how we interact with machinery changes.

Visual Cliff

a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. Example: when the baby crawls on the visual cliff to see if they noticed the "cliff" Related Term: Depth perception because the visual cliff is testing that.

Perceptual Set

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another Example: us seeing a girl that looks like a guy, and acts as a guy, but we know it is a girl. Related Term: Perceptual Adaptation because we are adapting to something we see, just as here we are mentally perceiving one thing and not another.

Phi Phenomenon

an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession Example: Christmas lights Related Term: Perceptual Constancy because they are opposites, but both having to do with us visually perceiving an object.

Gestalt

an organized whole. Example: a similar pattern, that is different, yet we see it as one. Related Term: Figure-Ground because in the figure ground we are organizing objects visually, and a gestalt is an organized whole.

Binocular Cues

depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of two eyes Example: convergence Related Term: Retinal Disparity because retinal disparity is the binocular cue for perceiving depth.

Monocular Cues

distance cues, such as linear perspective and overlap, available to either eye alone. Example: overlap Related Term: linear perspective because linear perspective creates the illusion of space and depth on a flatter surface.

Hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus. Example: the sensation of falling when your about to fall asleep Related Term: Amygdala because the amygdala is associated with anger and fear, and if your feeling the false sensations of a hallucination, you can become angry or scared.

Perceptual Adaptation

in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field Example: when we adjust to new glasses. Related Term: depth perception because in that we are perceiving depth, and in Perceptual Adaptation we are getting used to our surroundings again (and the depth) through something different (glasses).

Consciousness

our awareness of ourselves and our environment. Example: just sit and look at your surroundings. Related Term: sleep because sleep is a natural loss of consciousness, when we no longer are aware of our surroundings.

Perceptual Constancy

perceiving objects as unchanging (having consistent lightness, color, shape, and size) even as illumination and retinal images change. Example: a blue box on a table does not change, even when the lights are turned off, the box is still blue. Related Term: Perceptual set; because in a Perceptual set we know we see one thing, just like in Perceptual Constancy we see the same thing.

Sleep

periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness—as distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation. Example: Sleeping Related Term: Delta waves because the delta waves are the waves in your brain that occur when your in a deep sleep.

REM Sleep

rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active. Example: waking up and remembering ever detail of your dreams Related Term: hallucinations; because both are seeing something that is not there (REM Sleep meaning dreams).

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. Example: a hunter figuring out if the deer is in shooting range. Related Term: visual cliff because it is the device that is used to test depth perception development on babies.

Circadian Rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle. Example: some are more awake at night, then they are during the day. Related Term: Biological Rhythms because the circadian rhythm is an example of a Biological Rhythm.

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. Said to include telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition. Example: Psychics who can tell the future. Related Term: Parapsychology because Parapsychology deals with studying ESP.

Selective Attention

the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus. Example: reading and not listening to what your mother said to you. Related Term: Visual Capture because we can stare off into space looking at something, and not hearing anything.

Figure-Ground

the organization of the visual field into objects (the figures) that stand out from their surroundings (the ground). Example: when in a flat picture there appears to be a "figure" and a background for it (ground). Related Term: Grouping; because were organizing the visual field into groups.

Grouping

the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups. Example: seeing a wavy line with a straight line intersecting it instead of a patter of half-circles over a straight line. Related Term: figure ground because in both we are organizing.

Alpha Waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state Example: waves of the brain when relaxed and awake Related Term: Sleep, because when your relaxed and awake and having the alpha waves occur, you will eventually fall into sleep as you become more relaxed.

Parapsychology

the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and psychokinesis Example: a parapsychologist who studies ESP Related Term: ESP; the subject a Parapsychologist studies.

Visual Capture

the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses. Example: Looking at the road in front of you while driving, but not listening to the music on the radio. Related Term: Selective Attention because vision is dominating our senses, and can cause us to visually focus on one object.