Psychology Module 5 Chapter 3 & 4
Mescaline
a hallucinogen derived from the mescal (peyote) cactus
Hertz (Hz)
a unit expressing the frequency of sound waves, one hertz equals one cycle per second
Decibels (dB)
a unit expressing the loudness of a sound
Sleep Terrors
frightening dreamlike experiences that occur during the deepest stage of NREM sleep; nightmares, in contrast, occur during REM sleep
Odor
sample of molecules of a substance in the air
Theta Waves
slow brain waves produced during the hypnagogic state
Nonrapid Eye Movement (NREM) Sleep
the first four stages of sleep
Taste Buds
the sensory organs for taste; they contain taste cells and are located mostly on the tongue, located in roof, sides, and back of the mouth, and in the throat
Sensation
the stimulation of sensory receptors and the transmission of sensory information to the central nervous system
Size Constancy
the tendency to perceive an object as being the same size even as the size of its retinal image changes according to the object's distance
Common Fate
the tendency to perceive elements that move together as belonging together
Sound or Auditory Stimulation
the vibration of molecules in a medium such as air or water
Cornea
transparent tissue forming the outer surface of the eyeball
Weber's Constant
1/60 - the fraction of the intensity by which a source of physical energy must be increased or decreased so that a difference in intensity will be perceived
Absolute Threshold
German psychologist Gustav Fechner, the minimal amount of energy that can produce a sensation
Narcolepsy
a "sleep attack" in which a person falls asleep suddenly and irresistibly
Abstinence Syndrome
a characteristic cluster of withdrawal symptoms that results from sudden decrease in an addictive drug's level of usage
Flavor
a complex quality of food and other substances that is based on their odor, texture, and temperature as well their taste
Consciousness
a concept with many meanings, including sensory awareness of the world outside, direct inner awareness of one's thoughts and feelings, personal unity, and the waking state
Circadian Rhythm
a cycle that is connected with the twenty-four-hour period of the earth's rotation
Opiates
a group of narcotics derived from the opium poppy that provide a euphoric rush and depress the nervous system
Iris
a muscular membrane whose dilation regulates the amount of light that enters the eye
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements, which have been linked to dreaming
Hallucinogenics
a substance that causes hallucinations
Barbiturates
an addictive depressant used to relieve anxiety or induce sleep
Phencyclidine (PCP)
another hallucinogen whose name is an acronym for its chemical structure
Nonconscious
bodily processes that we recognize but are not conscious of/cannot directly experience the biological process
Stage 2 Sleep
brain waves are medium in amplitude with a frequency of about 4 to 7 cycles per second, but these are punctuated by sleep spindles, brief bursts of brain activity that have a frequency of 12 to 16 cycles per second
Hydrocarbons
chemical compounds consisting of hydrogen and carbon
Opioids
chemicals that act on opiate receptors but are not derived from the opium poppy
Cochlear Implants
contain microphones that sense sounds and electronic equipment that transmits sounds past damaged hair cells to stimulate the auditory nerve
Middle Ear
contains the eardrum and three small bones, which also transmit sound by vibrating, functions as an amplifier, increasing the pressure of the air entering the ear
Active Touching
continuously moving your hand along the surface of an object so that you continue to receive sensory input from the object, receives information concerning pressure, temperature, texture, and feedback from the muscles involved in movements of our hands
Loudness
corresponds to the height, or amplitude, of sound waves
Stage 4 Sleep
deepest stage of sleep, from which it is the most difficult to be awakened, delta waves slow to about 0.5 to 2 cycles per second, and their amplitude is greatest
Stage 3 Sleep
delta waves have a frequency of 1 to 3 cycles per second
Pitch
determined by its frequency, or the number of cycles per second as expressed in the unit hertz (Hz)
Sir Isaac Newton
discovered that sunlight could be broken down into different colors by means of a triangular solid of glass called a prism
Psychophysicist Ernst Weber
discovered that the threshold for perceiving differences in the intensity of light is about 2% (actually closer to 1/60th) of their intensity
David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel (1979)
discovered that various neurons in the visual cortex of the brain fire in response to particular features of the visual input
Flashbacks
distorted perceptions or hallucinations that occur days or weeks after LSD usage but mimic the LSD experience
Narcotics
drugs used to relieve pain and induce sleep; the term is usually reserved for opiates
Prostaglandins
facilitate transmission of the pain message to the brain and heighten circulation to the injured area, causing redness and swelling
Johan Karremans and his Colleagues (2006)
flashed "Lipton Ice" for about 1/50th of a second—too briefly to be consciously recognized—on a computer screen that was viewed by a group of participants, participants showed a preference for Lipton Ice
Tolerance
habituation to a drug, with the result that increasingly higher doses of the drug are needed to achieve similar effects
Unconscious
in psychodynamic theory, descriptive of ideas and feelings that are not available to awareness; also: without consciousness
Preconscious
in psychodynamic theory, descriptive of material that is not in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing one's attention
Repression
in psychodynamic theory, the automatic (unconscious) ejection of anxiety-evoking ideas, impulses, or images from awareness
Direct Inner Awareness
knowledge of one's own thoughts, feelings, and memories without the use of sensory organs
Stage 1 Sleep
lightest stage of sleep, brain waves slow down from the alpha rhythm and enter a pattern of theta waves, slow, rolling eye movements
Psychophysicists
look for the absolute thresholds of the senses by exposing individuals to progressively stronger stimuli until they find the minimum stimuli that the person can detect 50% of the time
Substance Dependence
loss of control over use of a substance; biologically speaking, dependence is typified by tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, or both
LSD
lysergic acid diethylamide; a hallucinogen
Hypnagogic State
may experience brief but vivid dreamlike images
Proximity
nearness; the perceptual tendency to group together objects that are near one another
Feature Detectors
neurons in the sensory cortex that fire in response to specific features of sensory information such as lines or edges of objects
Phantom Limb Pain
people with amputated limbs report feeling pain in such missing, or "phantom," limbs, pain sometimes involves activation of nerves in the stump of the missing limb
Substance Abuse
persistent use of a substance even though it is causing or compounding problems in meeting the demands of life
REM Sleep or Paradoxical Sleep
produce relatively rapid, low-amplitude brain waves that resemble those of light stage 1 sleep, EEG patterns observed suggest a level of arousal similar to that of the waking state, difficult to awaken a person during REM sleep
Alpha Waves
rapid low-amplitude brain waves that have been linked to feelings of relaxation, 8 to 13 cycles per second
Taste Cells
receptor cells that are sensitive to taste
Pain
results when neurons called nociceptors in the skin are stimulated
Subliminal Stimulation
sensory stimulation below a person's absolute threshold for conscious perception
Outer Ear
shaped to funnel sound waves to the eardrum, a thin membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves, and thereby transmits them to the middle and inner ears
Secondhand Smoke or Passive Smoking
smoke from the tobacco products and exhalations of other people
Sensorineural Deafness
stems from damage to the structures of the inner ear, most often the loss of hair cells, people tend to be more sensitive to some pitches than others
Conductive Deafness
stems from damage to the structures of the middle ear—either to the eardrum or to the bones that conduct (and amplify) sound waves from the outer ear to the inner ear, often found among older people
Amphetamines
stimulants derived from alpha-methyl-beta-phenyl-ethylamine, a colorless liquid consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen
Delta Waves
strong, slow brain waves usually emitted during stage 4 sleep
Sleep Apnea
temporary absence or cessation of breathing while sleeping
Retina
the area of the inner surface of the eye that contains rods and cones
Auditory Nerve
the axon bundle that transmits neural impulses from the organ of Corti to the brain
Pupil
the black-looking opening in the center of the iris, through which light enters the eye
Inner Ear
the bony tube called the cochlea
Hue
the color of light, as determined by its wavelength
Suppression
the deliberate, or conscious, placing of certain ideas, impulses, or images out of awareness
Marijuana
the dried vegetable matter of the Cannabis sativa plant
Selective Attention
the focus of one's consciousness on a particular stimulus
Pitch
the highness or lowness of a sound, as determined by the frequency of the sound waves
Just Noticeable Difference (jnd)
the minimal amount by which a source of energy must be increased or decreased so that a difference in intensity will be perceived
Difference Threshold
the minimal difference in intensity required between two sources of energy so that they will be perceived as being different
Olfactory Nerve
the nerve that transmits information concerning odors from olfactory receptors to the brain
Optic Nerve
the nerve that transmits sensory information from the eye to the brain
Bottom-Up Processing
the organization of the parts of a pattern to recognize, or form an image of, the pattern they compose
Visible Light
the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that stimulates the eye and produces visual sensations
Similarity
the perceptual tendency to group together objects that are similar in appearance
Perception
the process by which sensations are organized into an inner representation of the world
Visual Perception
the process by which we organize or make sense of the sensory impressions caused by the light that strikes our eyes, involves our knowledge, expectations, and motivations
Dark Adaptation
the process of adjusting to conditions of lower lighting by increasing the sensitivity of rods and cones
Sensory Adaptation
the processes by which organisms become more sensitive to stimuli that are low in magnitude and less sensitive to stimuli that are constant or ongoing in magnitude
Vestibular Sense
the sense of equilibrium that informs us about our bodies' positions relative to gravity
Kinesthesis
the sense that informs us about the positions and motion of parts of our bodies, sensory information is fed back to the brain from sensory organs in the joints, tendons, and muscles
Perceptual Organization
the tendency to integrate perceptual elements into meaningful patterns
Closure
the tendency to perceive a broken figure as being complete or whole
Continuity
the tendency to perceive a series of points or lines as having unity
Brightness Constancy
the tendency to perceive an object as being just as bright even though lighting conditions change its intensity
Color Constancy
the tendency to perceive an object as being the same color even though lighting conditions change its appearance
Shape Constancy
the tendency to perceive an object as being the same shape although the retinal image varies in shape as it rotates
Desensitization or Negative Adaptation
the type of sensory adaptation in which we become less sensitive to constant stimuli
Sensitization or Positive Adaptation
the type of sensory adaptation in which we become more sensitive to stimuli that are low in magnitude
Top-Down Processing
the use of contextual information or knowledge of a pattern in order to organize parts of the pattern
Activation-Synthesis Model
the view that dreams reflect activation of cognitive activity by the reticular formation and synthesis of this activity into a pattern
Signal-Detection Theory
the view that the perception of sensory stimuli involves the interaction of physical, biological, and psychological factors
Freud on Dreams
theorized that dreams reflect unconscious wishes and urges, argued that dreams express impulses we would censor during the day, content of dreams is symbolic of unconscious fantasized objects
Gate Theory
Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall, nervous system can process only a limited amount of stimulation at a time, rubbing the area that hurts transmits sensations to the brain that "compete" for the attention of neurons
