Ch. 3 Introduction to Psychology

• Sensation: The process of integrating, organizing, an interpreting sensation.

• Structure of the eye:

-Retina: A thin, light sensitive membrane located at the back of the eye that contains the sensory receptors for vision. -Photoreceptors: A structure in a living organism, esp. a sensory cell or sense organ, that responds to light falling on it -Rods: The long, thin, blunt sensory receptors of the eye that are highly sensitive to light, but not to color, and that are primarily responsible for peripheral vision and night vision -Cones: The short thick pointed sensory receptors of the eye that detect color and are responsible for color vision and visual activity.

• Fovea: A small area in the center of the retina, composed entirely of cones, where visual information is most sharply focused.

• Optic Nerve: The thick nerve that exits the back of the eye and carries visual information to the visual cortex in the brain.

• Blind Spot: The point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, producing a small gap in the field of vision.

• Color Vision: We see a certain color because of hue, saturation, and brightness.

• Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision: There are three varieties of cones. Each that is especially sensitive to wavelength (red, green, and blue). I.e. If you see the color yellow both the red and green are effected. It is a good explanation towards color-blindness.

• After Images: Is a visual experience that occurs after the original source of stimulation is no longer present.

• The Opponent Process theory of color vision: There are four basic colors that are divided into two pair of color sensitive neurons, red-green and blue-yellow. The member of each pair opposes each other. If one is stimulated the other can not be.

• Sound waves: A wave that transmits sound

• Frequency: The rate of vibration, or the number of sound waves per second

• Amplitude: The intensity or the amount of energy of a wave, reflected in the height of the wave, the amplitude of a sound wave determines a sound’s loudness

• Ear

-Outer Ear: The part of the ear that collects sound waves; consists of the pinna, the ear canal, and the ear drum -Inner Ear: The part of the ear where sound is transduced into neural impulses; consists of the cochlea and semicircular canals. -Middle Ear: The part of the ear that amplifies sound waves; consists of three small bones: the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup

• Basilar Membrane: The membrane within the cochlear of the ear that contains the hair cells.

• Bottom Up Processing: Aka data-driven processing, Often when doing work

• Top Down Processing: Conceptually driven processing, occurs when we draw on our knowledge, experiences, expectations, and other cognitive processes.

• Perceptual Organizations: Integrate, organize, and interpret the lines, colors and contours in an image with no effort.

• Gestalt Psychologist: A school of Psychology founded in Germany in the early 1900’s that maintained that our sensations are actively processed according to consistent perceptual rules that result in meaningful whole perceptions, or gestalts.

• Figure and Ground: Example when you look at a coffee cup on a table, the cup is the figure while the table is the ground.