AP Psychology Sensation & Perception
AP Psychology terminology for sensation and perception
Terms
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- difference threshold
- Just Noticeable Difference (JND); the smallest change in stimulation that you can detect 50% of the time; differs from one person to the other (and from moment to moment); tells us the flexibility of sensory systems
- figure/ground
- a gestalt-like illusion; an illusion where a figure of merges from the background (ground) using perceptual cues
- opponent-process theory
- created by Edward Hering; alternative theory used to explain after images; suggest that the retina contains three pairs color receptors or cones-yellow-blue, red-green, black-white; pairs work in opposition
- superposition
- an object appears closer because the images superimposed on the top of the other image; example-one card laying on top of another card
- hue
- color, or aspects of colors; most people can name 150
- taste buds
- receptor cells onsides, depth, and back of tongue; pairs with smell to determine flavors; recognizes for basic taste qualities: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter; adults have 10,000 but they decrease with age; research looking at umami<-- sensitivity to MSG and proteins
- brightness
- how bright or dark a color is; based on the strength of light entering your eyes
- monocular cues
- visual messages/cues that only require one eye
- absolute threshold
- minimal amount of energy required to produce any sensation; taste-1 g salt and 500 L of water, smell-one draw perfume in a three room apartment, touch-wing of the bee at 1 cm, hearing-pick of the watch 20 feet in a quiet room, vision-candle flame 30 miles on a clear night
- vomeronasal organ (VNO)
- located in the root of the nasal cavity; stimulated by pheromones; sends messages to a second olfactory bulb (and animals) that is designed to enter their mobile communication; activates hypothalamus and amygdala; dismissed as nonfunctional in humans
- Iris
- the color part of the eye; made of muscle that contracts/relaxes to control the size of the people allowing light to enter the eye
- blind spot
- place on the retina out where the ganglion cells axons leads the eye; no receptors fantasy rods/cones) are located here
- binoculars cues
- visual messages/cues that require the use of two eyes
- light adaptation
- process by which rods and cones become less sensitive to light in increased levels of light; takes approximately 1 minute to adjust
- Hammer, anvil, and stirrup
- middle ear; free tiniest bones in the body; quivering of eardrum causes these bounds to hate in sequence and carry vibrations to the oval window
- afterimage
- sensory experience that occurs after a visual experience has been removed; when eyes adjust to stimulation (or lack of) but they do not completely adjust/adapt
- Place theory
- one unto basic views of pitch discrimination; brain determines pitch by the place on the basilar membrane with the messages strongest; the highest frequency sounds cause the greatest vibrations at the stiff base of the basilar membrane
- shadowing
- illusion that gives depth to spherical objects to give it a three-dimensional quality
- texture gradient
- binocular cue; judges distance and depth in the objects in the foreground are large and clear but distant objects are smooth and less textured
- shape constancy
- tendency to see an object as the same shape no matter the angle it is viewed from; example-closed door collusion
- perceptual illusion
- illusion due to misleading cues in stimuli; inaccurate or impossible perceptions
- overtones
- tones that result from soundwaves that are multiples of the basic town; primary determinant of timbre; created by musical instruments
- placebo effect
- pain relief that occurs when a person believes that a pill or procedure will reduce pain; most likely caused by endorphin release
- color constancy
- tendency to perceive familiar objects as a color despite changes in sensory information; example-blue under fluorescent lights but not so blue and natural light--> it is still blue
- convergence
- binoculars cue; visual depth cue; muscles controlling eye movement as the eyes turned inward to view a nearby stimulus
- brightness constancy
- tendency to see an object
- decibel (dB)
- unit of measurement; measures loudness
- Adaptation
- process by which our senses adjust to different levels of stimulation; in addition there are two types-light and dark; the sensitivity of rods and cones change accord how much light is available
- gate control theory
- theory of pain sensitivity; suggest that there is a "neurological gate" in spinal cord that controls transmission of pain impulses to the brain; individual differences vary the control of the gate
- sound
- brains interpretation to changes in air pressure purposely soundwaves) as it passes through the ear
- physical illusion
- optical phenomenon; illusion produced by reflection of light into hot air; example-mirage
- retinal disparity
- binocular distance cue; based on the overlay of two retinal fields when both eyes focus on one object
- auditory nerve
- bundle of axons from the organ of Corti to the brain
- cochlea
- snail-shaped structure in the inner ear; contains fluid that vibrate; attach the oval window and basilar membrane
- perceptual constancy
- tendency to see/perceive objects as stable and unchanging; example-a white house is still white no matter the elimination or angle
- Cornea
- transparent protective coating over the front of the eye
- binaural cues
- cues sound location that requires both ears
- visual acuity
- the ability to distinguish fine details; acuity-Greek word for sharp
- colorblindness
- inability to see certain color combinations: red-green or blue-yellow; 10% are male and 1% are female
- elevation
- suggestion of depth because one object is appreciatively smaller; vestibular
- Pitch
- auditory experience corresponding to the frequency of sound vibrations, resulting in a higher or lower tone; humans respond to 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
- size constancy
- the perception of an object as the same size regardless of the distance from which it is viewed; example someone height
- vestibular sacs
- two sacks in the inner ear by the semicircular canals that since gravitation forward, backward, and vertical movement
- organ of Corti
- part of the inner ear; structure on service and basilar membrane that connects thousands of tiny hair cells (receptor cells) for hearing; each hair is taught by fibers that push and pull the vibrations of the basilar membrane and brain pools the information
- optic nerve
- bundle of axons from ganglion cells that carries no messages from the eye to the brain
- monochromats
- individuals who see no color at all; respond only to shades of light and dark; very rare
- pheromones
- often considered a nonfunctional relic of human past; it animals, it provides information about another animals identity or status (i.e. stress); secreted by glands or in urine that has effects on other animals behavior; stimulates vomeronasal organ (VNO); colorless molecules
- phi phenomenon
- illusion of apparent movement; caused by flashing lights in the sequence; example-neon lights
- wavelengths
- physical energy
- kinesthetic senses
- sense of muscle movement, posture, and strain on muscles/joints; provides information on speed and direction of movement; works with vestibular sense
- stroboscopic motion
- illusion of apparent movement; result from flashing a series of still pictures in rapid succession; example-motion picture
- amplitude
- the magnitude of the way; combined with frequency, it determines loudness; measured in decibels
- Timbre
- the quality or texture of sound; caused by overtones
- aerial perspective
- binocular cue; distance and depth; distant objects appear hazy and blurred
- frequency
- the number of cycles per second in a soundwaves; the primary determinant of page; expressed in hertz (Hz) unit
- motion parallex
- binocular distance cubed; objects close to you seem to move in the direction opposite from the way in which your head is moving; objects far away seem to move in the same direction; example-when you're driving in the car
- Cones
- visual receptor cells; located in retina; 8 million in each eye; works best in bright light; chiefly responsible for viewing color; greatest density in the fovea
- Sensation
- the raw data of experience; sensory stimulation; example are eyes only register light energy and ears only register wave energy
- additive color mixing
- mixing light waves to create new hues privacy colors)
- bipolar cells
- specialize neuron located in the eye; as one dendrite and one axon; connects rods/cones to ganglion cells
- golgi tendon organs
- works with kinesthetic senses; specialized nerve endings attached to tendon (attaches muscles and bones) and sense movement
- feature detectors
- specialized brain cells that respond to particular elements such as movement or lines; discovered by David Hubel and Torsten Weisel
- dichromats
- people who only see two of the three primary colors; blind to read-green or blue-yellow; colorblind individuals
- stereoscopic vision
- combination of two retinal images to give a 3-D perceptual experience
- perception
- the mental process of sorting, identifying, and arranging raw sensory data into meaningful patterns; Ex. how we distinguish between music and crying, how we take light and form a tree
- semicircular canals
- three circular-like canals attached to the cochlea their relays messages about speed and direction of body rotation (vestibular sense)
- stretch receptors
- works with kinesthetic senses; specialized nerve endings that are attached to muscle fibers that sense of muscle stretches and contractions
- vestibular sense
- sense of equilibrium-orientation and/or position in space; originates in inner ear-movement of fluid in the semicircular canals relays messages about speed and direction of body rotation
- volley principle
- a modified or refined frequency theory; suggest that the auditory neurons fire in the sequence increasing to a rapid series of impulses; the complete pattern corresponds to the frequency of a soundwave
- papillae
- small bulbs on tongue that contain taste buds; the eye and replace every seven days
- Weber's law
- developed the 1930s by Ernst Weber; the principle that accounts for how one notices JND for any cents by noticing a fraction or proportion of a stimulus; change necessary for JND-hearing 0.3%, taste 20%, weight 2%
- subtractive color mixing
- mixing of pigments to create hues; depending on the pigment, light may be absorbed or reflected
- trichromats
- individuals with normal color vision
- monaural cues
- cues sound location that requires just one ear
- olfactory epithelium
- patch of tissue in nasal cavity that contains receptor cells
- saturation
- how rich or vivid a color is, deep/saturated
- optic chiasm
- located near the base of the brain; point where some the fibers in the optic nerve crossover to the other side of the brain
- Pupil
- small opening in the center of the iris; color part of the eye
- oval window
- membrane between the middle and inner ear; attach to stirrup of middle ear and cochlea of the inner ear; since vibrations to the cochlea
- linear perspective
- binocular cue; used to cue distance in depth by allowing two parallel lines to come together at a horizon
- light
- electromagnetic energy; eyes are sensitive to this energy
- round window
- located just below the oval window; equalize pressure in the inner ear
- basilar membrane
- part of the inner ear; divides the cochlea lengthwise; stiff near the oval window but becomes flexible by the other end; as the fluid in the cochlea begins to move, the basilar membrane ripples in response
- Lens
- transparent part of the eye behind the iris; focuses light on the retina; change shape to focus on objects;-if object is closed, muscles attach to the land contract to make lens around,-if object is far away, the muscles pull to flatten the lens
- dark adaptation
- process by which rods and cones become more sensitive to light in lower levels of light; maximum sensitivity is achieved in 30 minutes; in dark, there is not enough energy to see colors, therefore only see black, white, gray
- Retina
- the light-sensitive inner lining of the back of the eyeball; contains receptor cells
- autokinetic illusion
- illusion of apparent movement; when a stationary object is perceived to move
- Rods
- visual receptor cell; located in retina; 120 million in each eye; respond to varying degrees of light and dark; chiefly responsible for night vision and perception of brightness
- olfactory bulb
- axons of olfactory epithelium connects to olfactory bulb, which is considered the smell center of the brain; olfactory bulb records messages and send them to the temporal lobe and brain core
- trichromatic theory
- created by Hermann von Helmholtz; theory of color vision based on additive color mixing; suggest that the retina contains three types of color receptors, cones: red, green, blue
- ganglion cells
- neurons that connect the bipolar cells to the optic nerve; an interneuron; one million in each eye; summarizes and organizes data from rods/cones and sends it to the brain
- Fovea
- located on retina, directly behind lens; is a depressed spot; Center a visual field; images are sharpest here; contains mostly cones
- Hertz (Hz)
- unit that measures frequency a soundwaves or cycles per second
- soundwaves
- changes in air pressure caused when the molecules of air or fluid collide with one another and move apart again
- ossicles
- the middle ear; contains the hammer, anvil, and stirrup which are the smallest three bones the body; when the eardrum quivers it causes the hammer, anvil, and stirrup to hit each other in sequence, then carry the vibrations to the inner ear; stirrup catch the oval window