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Psychology: Measuring Sensation

Terms

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he perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense
Synesthesia
the organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation
Perception
what takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals sent to the central nervous system
Transduction
simple awareness due to the stimulation of a sense organ
Sensation
methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus
Psychophysics
he minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus
Absolute Threshold
the minimal change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected
Just Noticeable DIfference (JND)
the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity
Weber's Law
an observation that the response to a stimulus depends both on a person’s sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person’s response criterion
Signal Detection Theory
sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
Sensory Adaption
the ability to see fine detail
visual acuity
light sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball
Retina
process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina
Accommodation
Photoreceptors that detect color, operate under normal daylight conditions, and allow us to focus on fine detail
Cones
Photoreceptors that become active only under low-light conditions for night vision
Rods
an area of the retina where vision is the clearest and there are no rods at all
Fovea
an area of the retina that contains neither rods nor cones and therefore has no mechanism to sense light
Blind Spot
the region of the sensory surface that, when stimulated, causes a change in the firing rate of that neuron
Receptive Field
pattern of responding across the three types of cones that provide a unique code for each color
Trichromatic Color Representation
pairs of visual neurons that work on opposition
color-opponent system
the part of the occipital lobe that contains the primary visual cortex
Area V1
the inability to recognize objects by sight
Visual-Form Agnosia
a perceptual principle stating that even as aspects of sensory signals change, perception remains consistent
Perceptual Constancy
a mental representation that can be directly compared to a viewed shape in the retinal image
Template
the difference in the retinal images of the two eyes that provides information about depth
Binocular Disparity
a depth cue based on the movement of the head over time
Motion Parallax
the perception of movement as a result of alternating signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations
Apparent Motion
ability to store and retrieve information
memory
the process by which we transform what we perceive, think, or tell into an enduring memory
encoding
the process of maintaining information in memory over time
storage
the process of bringing to mind information that has been previously encoded and stored
retrieval
process of actively relating new information to knowledge that is already in memory
elaborative encoding
the process of storing new information by converting it into mental pictures
visual imagery encoding
the act of categorizing information by noticing the relationships among a series of items
Organizational Encoding
process of maintaining information in memory over time
memory storage
place in which sensory information is kept for a few seconds or less
sensory memory store
a fast decaying store of visual information
iconic memory
fast decaying store of auditory information
echoic memory
a place where non-sensory information is kept for more than a few seconds but less than a minute
short term memory store
the process of keeping information in short term memory y mentally repeating it
Rehearsal
combining small peices of inforamtion into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory
Chunking
active maintenance of information in short-term storage
Working Memory
a place in which information can be kept for hours, days, weeks, or years
long term memory store
the inability to transfer new information from the short term store into the long-term store
anterograde amnesia
the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date usually the date of an injury or operation
retrograde amnesia
an enhanced ability to think of a stimulus such as a word or object, as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus
priming
a network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world
semantic memory
the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place
episodic memory
forgetting what occurs with the passage of time
Transience
Situations in which later learning impairs memory for information acquired earlier
Retroactive Interference
Situations in which earlier learning impairs memory for information acquired later
Proactive Interference
a lapse in attention that results in memory failure
Absentmindedness
remembering to do things in the future
Prospective Memory
a failure to retrieve information that is avialible in memory even though you are trying to produce it
Blocking
the temporary inability to retrieve information that is stored in memory, accompanied by the feeling that you are on the verge of recovering the information
Tip-of-the-Tongue Experience
assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source
Memory Misattribution
recall of when, where, and how information was acquired
Source Memory
a feeling of familiarity about something that hasn't been encountered before
False Recognition
the tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections
Suggestibility
the distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on recollection of previous experiences
Bias
type of bias in which people reconstruct the past to fit what they presently know or believe
Consistency Bias
type of bias that exaggerates differences between the past and present
Change Bias
type of bias in which we distort the past to make us look better
Egocentric Bias
the intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget
Persistence
Detailed recollections of when and where we heard about shocking events
Flashbulb Memories

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