Unit 3 Ap psych

• Sensation


  Raw data information that we receive from our five senses
• Perception


  The process of interpreting the information we've obtained through our five senses
• Gestalt psychology principles


  • Figure and ground
  • Continuation
  • Closure
  • Similarity
  • Proximity
  • Symmetry
• Figure and ground


  • The tendency of our visual system to simplify what we see into two categories: figures (objects we are focusing on or interested in) and ground (everything else that falls into the background)
• Continuation


  • We will continue to view the entire object and continue over to the next one
• Closure


  • Our brain will subconsciously fill in missing information when looking at a familiar object that is incomplete
• Similarity


  • When viewing objects in a group or specific pattern, it looks like one object even though the group or the pattern is separate
• Proximity


  • Creates a singular image out of objects that are placed close to each other, while objects placed further apart will seem separate
• Symmetry


  • Objects that are symmetrical to each other are perceived as one object
• Depth perception


  The ability to perceive relative distance of an object in one's visual field
• Binocular cues


  • Convergence
  • Retinal disparity
• Monocular cues


  • Relative size
  • Interposition
  • Relative height
  • Shading and contour
  • Texture and gradient
  • Linear perspective
  • Motion parallax
• Sensory transduction


  The process of activating sensory neurons to create a sensation
• Absolute threshold


  The minimum amount of stimulation needed to experience a stimulus
• Signal detection theory


  Predicts if you will perceive a weak signal or a stimulus that is near the absolute threshold
• Signal detection theory outcomes


  • Hit
  • Miss
  • False alarm
  • Correct rejection
• Sensory adaptation


  When we have a stimulus that is continuous and doesn't change, we eventually stop being able to perceive it
• Habituation


  When you are repeatedly exposed to a stimulus and start to have a reduced response to it
• Difference threshold


  The minimum change between two stimuli that causes an individual to detect the change
• Weber-Fechner's law


  The idea that for us to notice a difference between two stimuli, the two stimuli must differ by a constant percent, not a constant amount
• Perceptual constancy


  When you perceive objects and stimuli with familiar standard shape, size, color, and lightness even when changes are occurring
• Types of perceptual constancy


  • Size constancy
  • Color constancy
  • Shape constancy
  • Lightness constancy
• Perceptual set


  Influences certain aspects of images, objects, or situations that we are perceiving, causing us to focus on certain aspects and ignore others
• Schema


  A cognitive framework based on an individual's experiences that helps guide their perceptual sets and organize the world around them
• Optical illusions like the Muller-Lyer illusion work because of our perceptual sets and schemas
• Parts of the eye


  • Sclera
  • Cornea
  • Aqueous humor
  • Iris
  • Pupil
  • Lens
  • Vitreous humor
  • Retina
  • Choroid
  • Optic nerve
• Rods and cones


  Light-sensitive cells in the retina that convert light into neural impulses
• Lens


  Allows the eye to change focus, convex (curved on both ends)
• Vitreous humor


  Clear gel-like fluid in the vitreous cavity between the lens and retina, provides support and shape to the eye
• Retina


  • Located at the back of the eye, made up of layers of light-sensitive photoreceptor cells that convert light into neural impulses
• Choroid


  • Supports retinal cells and other eye cells by providing oxygen and nutrients from blood vessels
• Optic nerve

  • Located at the back of the eye, made up of retinal ganglion axons, transmits neural impulses from the eye to the brain
• Photoreceptors in the eye


  • Rods
  • Cones
• Rods


  Located on the outer edge of the retina, allow vision in dim light but no color perception
• Cones


  Located in the fovea centralis, allow for fine detail and color vision
• Astigmatism


  Irregular corneal shape that impacts focusing ability
• Cataracts


  Clouding of the lens causing blurry vision
• Trichromatic theory


  • Individuals can see color due to different wavelengths of light stimulating three different color receptors (red, green, blue)
• Opponent processing theory


  • Information from cones is sent to ganglion cells, causing some neurons to become excited and others inhibited (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white)
• Cooler colors


  Shorter wavelength