Sensation and Perception- Basic Unit Overview

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There are 61 terms in this set related to what was studied in a 2023 AP Psychology Class.
JULIANA TURNER
Flashcards by JULIANA TURNER, updated more than 1 year ago
JULIANA TURNER
Created by JULIANA TURNER almost 2 years ago
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Resource summary

Question Answer
Sensation Sensory receptors receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
Perception You organize and interpret sensory information so that you can recognize meaningful objects and events
Bottom Up Processing Analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works UP to the brain's integration of sensory information. (no preconceived ideas)
Top Down Processing Information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our own experiences/expectations (use background knowledge to interpret what we see)
What is psychophysics? Relationships between physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them.
Absolute Threshold Minimum STIMULATION needed to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time
Signal Detection Theory How and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise)
Subliminal Stimuli Below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Priming Activates certain associations to predispose one's perception, memory, or response
Difference Threshold Minimum DIFFERENCE needed for two stimuli to detect 50 percent of the time, we experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference.
Sensory Adaptation When your sensitivity to something is diminished when it has been constantly stimulated (getting used to the temperature of a swimming pool))
What would happen if our eyes DIDN'T constantly move to take in stimuli? images would look like strange fragments
What TWO physical characteristics of light determine our sensory experience? 1.) Wavelength: distance peak to peak, determines hue 2.) Intensity: Amount of energy in light waves- amplitude (height of waves)-- brightness
The Pupil Center of Eye, adjustable opening where light enters
The Iris Colored portion of eye, the ring around the pupil, controls size of pupil opening (tip: remember Iris is a pretty name, eyes have pretty colors)
Lens Behind the pupil, changes shape to help focus images on the retina (tip: the lens of a camera does the same thing, changes shape to help focus the images!)
Retina Inner Surface, has receptor rods and cones and layers of neurons that begin processing visual information.
Rods Retinal Receptors, detect black, white, and gray, needed for peripheral and twilight vision when cones don't respond
Cones Retinal receptor cells, work in daylight or well-lit conditions, detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations (tip: I always imagine an ice cream CONE with colorful scoops of ice-cream!)
Optic nerve From the Eye to the Brain, the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Fovea Central focal point in retina, the eye's cones cluster around it.
How does a blind spot develop within one's visual field? This is the point where the optic nerve leaves the eye, and creates a blind spot because no receptor cells are located there.
Feature Detectors Nerve cells in brain that response to specific features of the stimulus (shape, angle, or movement)
What can feature detectors do? -can respond to a scene's specific features (particular edges, lines, angles, movements) -temporal lobe behind your right ear lets you perceive faces
Parallel Processing Ability to do many things at once, recognizing faces and movement
Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory Retina has three color receptors (red, green, and blue) that when stimulated in combination can produce the perception of any color
Opponent Process Theory Opposing retinal images (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable us to see color. Some cells are stimulated by green, inhibiting by red, others stimulated by red and inhibited by green.
Afterimages seeing the opponent color when you stare at an image (say you stare at a green image, and you see the opponent color blue when you blink a couple times at a blank sheet of paper.
Pitch Depends on frequency, a tone's experiences highness or lowness
Frequency number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time (per second)
Outer ear Cartilage and skin, tragus, helix, lobule, collects sound waves into ear canal
Middle Ear Chamber between the eardrum and cochlea which has THREE tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) Concentrates vibrations of eardrum on the cochlea's oval window
Inner Ear Cochlea: snail shaped tube, incoming vibrations cause cochlea's membrane (oval window) to vibrate, which jostles fluid that fills tube semicircular canals and vestibular sacs also part of the inner ear
Place Theory The pitch we hear is linked to THE PLACE where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
Frequency Theory rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone (so we can sense its pitch)
Intensity Difference of sound (car honks to your right, your right ear receives a more intense sound because it's closer)
Cochlear Implant Device that converts sounds into electrical signals and stimulates auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea
Sensorineural Hearing Loss Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells
Kinesthesis Your sense of position and movement of your body parts
Vestibular Sense Sense of body movement and position (sense of balance) monitors your head's position and movement from your inner ear
Gate Control Theory Spinal cord has a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
Psychological Influences on Pain -attending to pain, learning based on experience, expectations Athletes who play through the pain
Social-Cultural Influences on Pain presence of others, EMPATHY for others' pain, cultural expectations (family member is in pain in the hospital, you feel empathy) "We tend to perceive more pain when others also seem to be experiencing pain."
Five major taste receptors Sweet-energy source Salty- sodium essential to physiological processes sour: potentially toxic acid bitter: potential poison umami: proteins to grow and repair tissue
Sensory Interaction Principle that one sense may influence the other, as it does when the smell of a food influences its taste. "A drink's strawberry odor enhances our perception of its sweetness."
Figure Ground Recognizing an object as distinct from its surroundings.
Proximity we group nearby figures together
Similarity We group similar figures together
Continuity We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones
Conectedness Since they're uniform and linked, we see the sets as a single unit
Closure We fill in gaps to create a complete whole object
Binocular depth cue Depends on the use of two eyes
Monocular Depth Cue available to either eye alone
Phi Phenomenon Illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
Perceptual constancy seeing objects as unchanging (shapes, size, lightness, and color all consistent) EVEN as retinal images change TOP DOWN PROCESS, we identify things and people very quickly
Shape Constancy Form of familiar objects are constant even while our retinal image of it changes (door open and close shape)
Size Constancy objects have constant size even while our distance from them varies.
Lightness Constancy we see object having a constant lightness even when its illumination varies
Color Constancy familiar objects have consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by object
Perceptual Adaptation Mental predisposition to see one thing compared to another, derived from our experiences, assumptions, and expectations, top down, saxophone/woman painting
Human Factors Psychologists help design devices, machines, and systems so they are easier for humans to use
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