bottom-up process
analysis that begins with the sense recoptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information
top-down processing
information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
sensation
process where our sensory receptors and nervous system
perception
process of organizing and interpreting sensory info. , enabling us to recognize meainingful objects and events
psychophysics
study of the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and our psychological experience of them.
absolute threshold
minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus, usually defined as the stimulus needed for detection 50% of the time
difference threshold
minimum difference b/w two stimuli that a subject can detect 50% of the time, just noticable difference
signal detection theory
predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus, assumes that there is no single absolute threshold
detection of a persons signal detection theory depends on
experience, expectations, motivation, level of fatigue
does a frog stay in boiling water??
no
when stimuli are detectable less than 50% of the time they are??
subliminal
Webers law
to perceive a difference between 2 stimuli, they must differ by a constant propotion
sensory adaption
diminished sensitivity, with constant stimulation
Transduction
conversion of one form of energy to the other
wavelength
the distance from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next
Hue
dimension of color determined by wavelength of light
intensity
amount of energy in a wave determined by amplitude
pupil
adjustable opening in the center of the eye
iris
ring of muscle the forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening
lens
transparent structure behind pupil that changes shape to focus images on the retina
accomodation
change in shape of lens, focus near objects
retina
inner surface of eye, light sensitive, contains rods and cones, black and white, layer of neurons,
acuity
keenness or acuteness, esp in vision or thought
nearsightedness
nearby objects seen more clearly, lens focuses image of distand objects in front of retina
farsightedness
far away objects seen more clearly, lens focuses near objects behind retina
Cones
near center of retina, fine detail and color vision, daylight or well lit conditions
rods
peripheral retina, detect black and white and gray, twilight or low light
optic nerve
nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
blind spot
point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a "blind spot" b/c there are no receptor cells there
fovea
central point in the retina, around which the eyes cones cluster
feature detectors
neurons in the visual cortex respond to specific features(shape, angle, movement)
parallel processing
simultaneous processing of several dimensions through multiple pathways (color, motion, form, depth)
Trichromatic theory
young and helmholtz, 3 different color receptors, red, green, blue
color deficient vision
people who suffer red-green blindness have trouble perceiving the number within the design
opponent process theory
opposing retinal processes enable color vision
hearing
audition, transduction of air pressure waves into neural messages that the brain reads as meaningful sound
audition
the sense of hearing
frequency
the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time
pitch
a tone's highness or lowness, depends on frequency
outer ear
auditory canal, eardrum
middle ear
hammer, anvil, stirrup
inner ear
oval window, cochlea, basilar membrane, hair cells
place theory
links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea membrane is stimulated
frequency theory
theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, enabling us to sense its pitch
conduction deafness
hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea
nerve deafness
hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerve
deaf culture
shared beliefs, values and behaviors of deaf or hard of hearing ppl who use sign language as communication
culture
refers to a group of ppl who share common beliefs and practices
how many ppl in U.S are hard of hearing
b/w 21 and 28 million, only b/w 100.000 and 200,000 consider themselves deaf
gate control theory
says spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
gate" opened
opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers
gate" closed
closed by activity in larger fibers or by info. coming from the brain
sensory interaction
one sense may influence another
kinesthesis
system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts
vestibular sense
sense of body movement and position, including balance
CIP
congenital insensitivity to pain-don't have pain
parts of the brain help w/pain
periaqueductal gray/ nucleus raphe magnus
learning
relatively permanent behavior change due to experience
The rein of Behaviorism
refutation of Wundt and his inntrospection, Mental events are not important and maybe even non-existent, psychology should only be concerned with what can be observed
John B. Watson
give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own world and i can make them into doctors, lawyers, etc regardless of race or religion
Associative learning
learning that certain events occur together, extremely adaptive feature of life,
classical conditioning
reflexive or respondent behavior, automatic response to stimulus
conditioning
process of learning associations
operant conditioning
responses are learned because of their consequences, behavior is strengthened by a reinforcer, diminished by a punishment, behavior is voluntary
Ivan Pavlov
russian physician/neurophysiologist, studied digestive secretions of dogs, Nobel prize in 1904
Classical conditioning
type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
Neutral stimulus
no response, stimulus that doesn't elicit any conditioned or natural response,
unconditioned stimulus
naturally triggers a response(food)
unconditioned response
naturally occuring response to a US, salivation
Acquisition
pairing of a neutral stimulus with unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response
Spontaneous Recovery
reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response
Extinction
diminishing of a conditioned response,
Generalization
tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similiar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similiar response
discrimination
classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned taste aversion
pairing a taste with sickness
operant conditioning
type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
B.F Skinner
father of operant conditioning, thought everything could be modeled in a stimulus response contingency
Reinforcement
anything that increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
Operant chamber
aka...skinner box (box where animals push down for food, shows their intelligence and learning)
Positive reinforcement
rewards or other positive consequences that follow behaviors
negative reinforcement
removing an aversive stimulus; engaging in behavior to remove a negative stimulus
fixed ratio
provides reinforcement after a fixed number of responses (piecework in a factory)
variable ratio
provides reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses (payouts on a slot machine)
fixed interval
reinforce the behavioral after a fixed period of time (weekly paycheck)
variable interval
reinforce the behavior after an unpredictable period of time (pop quiz)
what types of reinforcement schedules are most effective? Interval schedule and ratio schedule??
interval shedule- variable interval, ( if you don't know whats on the test, than you study more) Variable ratio ( slot machines are so addictive b/c the player doesn't know when reinforcement is coming)
behavioral therapy
obsessive compulsive disorder
sexual deviants
extinction in inappropriate behavior, reinforcement of healthy sexual behavior
positive punishment
administering an aversive stimulus(spanking)
negative punishment
removing desirable stimulus(taking away toys)
albert bandura's social learning theory
much of human behavior is learned observationally through the modeling of others
bobo doll experiment
had children observe an adult beating up a bobo doll, when children were in room alone they were more likely to beat up on the doll
biological predispositions
the minds of humans and other orgs. aren't blank slates
behaviorism's fallacies
mental events don't exist or are epiphenomena
behaviorism's important contributions
strict empirical observation the gold standard in psychological.
perception
process of organization and interpreting sensory info. allows us to recognize meaningful events
visual capture
tendency for vision to dominate the other senses
grouping
the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
gestalt
an organized whole, tendency to integrate pieces of info. into meaningful wholes
grouping principles
proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, connectedness
selective attention
focus of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
depth perception
ability to see objects in three dimensions, allows us to judge distance
binocular cues
retinal disparity, images from two eyes differ, closer the object, the larger the disparity
convergence
neuromuscular cue, two eyes move inward for near objects
monocular cues
relative size- smaller image is more distant, interposition- closer object blocks distant objects relative clarity- hazy object seen as more distant,
relative height
objects seen as more distant
relative motion
closer objects seem to move faster
linear perspective
parallel lines converge with distance
relative brightness
closer objects appear brighter
perceptual constancy
perceiving objects as unchanging despite changes in retinal image
sensory restriction-blackemore and cooper 1970
kittens raised without exposure to horizontal lines later had difficulty perceiving horizontal lines
perceptual adaption
vision ability to adjust to an artificially displaced visual field
perceptual set
a mental predisoposition to perceive one thing and not another
perceptual sets-schemas
what you see in the center is influenced by perceptual sets
extrasensory perception
controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input
parapsychology
the study of paranormal phenomena