AP Psychology Unit 4 Vocab
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beccamonster on October 10, 2011
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63 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Absolute Threshold | The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time |
| Accommodation | (1) The process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. (2) Adapting our current understandings to incorporate new information. |
| Audition | The sense or act of hearing. |
| Binocular Cues | Depth cues, such as retinal disparity, that depend on the use of two eyes. |
| Blind Spot | the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a spot where there are no receptor cells, a spot in which is not visible. |
| Bottom-Up Processing | Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information. |
| Change Blindness | Failing to notice changes in the environment. |
| Cochlea | A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses. |
| Cochlear Implant | A device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulation the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded in the cochlea. |
| Color Constancy | Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. |
| Conduction Hearing Loss | Hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. |
| Cones | Retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in well-lit conditions. The cones detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations. |
| 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. |
| Difference Threshold | The minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50 percent of the time. |
| Extrasensory Perception | The controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. |
| Feature Detectors | nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement |
| Parallel Processing | the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision |
| Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (three-color) Theory | the theory that the retina contains 3 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 |
| Opponent-Process Theory | the theory that opposing retinal processes (white-black, red-green) enable color vision. ex: some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red, or vice versa |
| Frequency | the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (for example, per second) |
| Pitch | a tone's experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency |
| Middle Ear | the chamber between the eardrum & cochlea containing 3 tiny bones (hammer, anvil & 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, & vestibular sacs |
| Place Theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated |
| Frequency Theory | in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches that frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch |
| Sensorineural Hearing Loss | hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves; also called nerve deafness |
| Kinesthesis | the system for sensing the position & movement of individual body parts |
| Vestibular Sense | the sense of body movement & position, including the sense of balance |
| 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 & is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain |
| Sensory Interaction | the principle that one sense may influence another |
| Gestalt | an organized whole |
| Figure-Ground | the organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground) |
| Grouping | the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups |
| Visual Cliff | a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants & young animals |
| Retinal Disparity | a binocular cue for perceiving depth: by comparing images from the retinas in the 2 eyes, the brain computes distance; the greater the disparity, the closer the object |
| Monocular Cues | depth cues (such as interposition & linear perspective) available to either eye alone |
| Phi Phenomenon | an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on & off in quick succession |
| Perceptual Constancy | perceiving objects as unchanging, even as illumination & retinal images change |
| Perceptual Adaptation | in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or even inverted visual field |
| Perceptual Set | a mental predisposition to perceive one thing & not another |
| Parapsychology | the study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP ^ & psychokinesis |
| Sensation | the process by which our sensory receptors & nervous system receive & represent stimulus energies from our environment |
| Perception | the process of organizing & interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects & events |
| Top-Down Processing | information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience & expectations |
| Selective Attention | the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus |
| Inattentional Blindness | failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere |
| Psychophysics | the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, & our psychological experience of them |
| Signal Detection Theory | a theory predicting how & when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single absolute threshold & that detection depends partly on a persons experience, expectation, motivation & alertness |
| Subliminal | below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| Priming | the activation, often unconsciously, of certain assosciations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory or response |
| Weber's Law | the principle that, to be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant percentage (rather than a constant amount) |
| Sensory Adaptation | diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation |
| Transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another. ex. sensation: stimulus energies to neural impulses our brains can interpret |
| Wavelength | the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. |
| Hue | the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light (color names like blue) |
| Intensity | the amount of energy in a light or sound wave as determined by the waves amplitude |
| Pupil | the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters |
| Iris | the ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil & controls the size of the pupil opening |
| Lens | the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on gthe retina |
| Retina | the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods & cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual information |
| Rods | retinal receptors that detect black, white, gray; necessary for peripheral & twilight vision, when cones don't respond |
| Optic nerve | the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain |
| Fovea | The central focal point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster |
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