psychology exam revision

• sensation

  the process of our sensory organs receiving information from the environment and then sending it to relevant parts of the brain.
• 3 processes of sensation. reception, transduction, transmission
• reception


  light enters the eye through the cornea, it passes through the publes to the retina. the retina contains photoreceptors (light sensitive cells called rods and cones) that are responsible for detecting visual stimuli
• rods 


  particularly sensative to black and white. therefore are typically used during the night
• cones 


  provide clear color vision. rely on bright light to function, therefore is used during the daytime
• transduction

  the electromagnetic energy (light) is converted by rods and cones into electrochemical nerve impulses this allows visual information to travel along the fibers of the optic nerve to the brain optic nerve, the two tracts of neurons that transmit visual information from the eyes to the occipital lobes of the brain the optic nerve communicates information from the eyes to the occipital lobes photoreceptors are organised into groups, these groups form receptive fields
• transmission

  rods and cones send nerve impulses along the optic nerve to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe the occiptal lobe is located at the very back of the brain where specialised receptor cells respond as the process of visual perception continues
• three parts of perception

  selection, organisation, interprestation
• selection (perception)

  millions of stimuli enter the eye, its impossible to process them att at once, therefore we are selective in what we pay attention to the image is then broken up through feature detectors feature detectors- response to lines of a certain length, angle or direction
• organisation

  our visual cortex recognizes information so that we can make sense of it we do this through (perceptual constancies, gestalt principles, and depth cues) once the message is reassembled it travels along 2 pathways. the temporal lobe (identification) the parietal lobe (judge the object in space)
• interpretation

  stimulus is given meaning the temporal lobe identifies stimulus through comparing incoming information with previous information past experiences, motives, values and context helps us understand what we are looking at damage to the temporal lobe= unable to recognize an object or person damage to the parental lobe= lack of spatial awareness.
• selective and divided attention intro

  everyday millions of stimuli reach our sensory receptors and never become a part of our consciousness we cant react to all these stimuli, lots of them are channeled out
• attention 


  the process of focusing on specific stimuli, or aspects of the environment whilst ignoring and excluding others
• divided attention 


  refers to the ability to distribute our attention so that two or more activities may be performed simultaneously
• what does our ability to multitask depend on

  how much conscious effort is required for the various tasks the similarity (to previous known tasks) and complexity of the tasks how accomplished or experienced we are at doing the tasks
• selective attention 


  involves choosing and attending to a specific stimuli whilst at the same time excluding other stimuli
• what factors determine which stimuli is attended too

  our psychological state our motives can influence or force attention past experiences whether something is novel/ unusual/ changes repitition/ duration, a constant sound doesnt draw your attention (habituation), but a irregular sound does (dishabituation) repetition
• models for explaining memory

  encoding, storage, retrieval
• encoding

  conversion of sensory information into a usable form so that it can be neurologically represented, placed and the stored in memory
• storage

  retention of encoded information over time. we store the information in an organised way to make it easier for us to recover the information when needed
• retrieval

  the process of getting information back from your memory so that it can be used. retrieval relies on the right cues to locate the correct information stored in the brain. storage is a dynamic process where human memories change over time. they are rough copies rather than exact replicas of information.
• Atkinson and shiffon multi storage model of memory

  model that represents memory of sensory, long term and short term memory. each storage processes information in different ways and also differs in its function, duration and capasity. they operate simultaneously and interact in a integrated
• short term memory 


  a system with limited storage capacity, in which information is retained for a relatively short time unless renewed. its function is to hold information transferred from the sensory memory. the short term memory is temporary (18-20) seconds and then the information disappears if not renewed
• sensory memory (unconscious) 


  entry point of a memory where new incoming sensory information is stored for a very brief period. its capacity is unlimited. its a temporary storage system for information that will undergo further processing if paid attention too. the memory duration depends on its form. echoic memory or iconic memory
• echoic memory 


  used to descibe the auditory memory, can be stored for 3-4 seconds
• iconic memory 


  used to describe visual information. can be stored for 1/3rd of a second
• long term memory 


  potentially unlimited storage of information relatively permanently
• explicit long-term memory

  memories that are consciously retrieved, and general knowledge of information about personal experiences. episodic memory- LTM of personal significant events that are marked with a specific time stamp semantic memory - long term memory of facts and knowledge about the world, not tagged with a specific date
• implicit - long term memory 


  doesnt require conscious of international retrieval procedural memory- skills involves in a particular task, the long term me,ory of how to do something, based of practice and muscle memory classically conditioned memory- responses to conditioned stimuli aquired through classical conditioning , involuntary reflexive responses long-term
• braddely and hitsch

  working memory model that shows the way short term memory is transferred into long term memory
• phonological loop (brad & hitch) 


  sub slave system responsible for the auditory working memory. storage of what we hear, it also helps us to understand a sentence of more than a few words
• visuospatial scetchpad 


  subsystem responsible for visual information in the working model. it helps us picture objects
• the central executive 


  functional component of the working memory, its responsible for switching attention from task to task, deciding what material is needed for retrieval. it puts together the sounds and vision of working mode and controls our attention
• the episodic buffer 


  a sub system that helps to retrieve information from the LTM to assocuare with information that is in the working model, and to select and encode information.
• henry gustuv and molasion

  he went into a surgery to treat his epolepsy. the surgeon messed up and caused damage to his medial temporal lobes (includes the hippocampus and the amygdala). after the surgery he could still hold a conversation if not distracted. although he was unable to remember the period of time leading up to his surgery. he was also unable to form new log term memories
• hippocampus 


  medial temporal lobe structure that is crucial for the long term memory formation
• the hippocampus and memory

  involved in establishing context for each new memory such as location, structure, memory of places. declarative ,memory can be stored, although not permanently.
• formation of explicit memory (hippo and memory)

  the hippo is able to reproduce and enable new memories to be formed. the hippo is important for forming explicit memory as well as memory for complex tasks yjay require delacrative memory
• consolidating memories (hippo and memory)

  the process of making declarative memories permanent (consolidate) takes place in the hippocampus
• transferring new memory for storage

  the hippocampus transfers declarative information to other relevant parts of the brain, such as the lobes of the cerebral cortex