Unit 4

1. Unit 4 Sensation and Perception

2. Sensation & Perception • Sensation: how we receive information from our environment. • 5 Senses: See, hear, touch, taste, & smell. • Perception: what our body does with the information we sense.

3. Sensation & Perception • Absolute threshold: the weakest level you could detect a sound, light, etc. half the time. • Subliminal stimulation: receiving messages below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. • Sensory adaptation: diminished sensitivity because of constant stimulation.

4. Sensation & Perception • Wavelength: the distance from one wave peak to the next. It determines the hue. • Amplitude: height of the wave. • Intensity: brightness • Selective attention: Focusing on one thing allows us to block out other things going on.

5. Sensation & Perception • Cornea: where light enters the eye. • Pupil: regulates the amount of light. • Iris: colored ring of muscle, constricts or dilates depending on the amount of light. • Lens: focuses the light rays on the retina. • Acuity: The sharpness of vision.

6. Sensation & Perception • Retina: absorbs light, processes images. Contains rods and cones. • Rods: detects black & white & allows you to see in low light. • Cones: detects color & allows you to see in bright light. Most concentrated at the fovea.

7. Sensation & Perception Optic nerve: Carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. Fovea: Central point in the retina where cones (no rods) cluster. Point where images focus. Blind Spot: Point where the optic nerve leaves the eye because there are no receptor cells located there.

8. Sensation & Perception • Nearsighted: nearby objects are seen more clearly than distant objects. • Farsighted: distant objects are seen more clearly than nearby objects. • LASIK – laser eye surgery in which a flap is cut into the cornea to access tissue behind it. • PRK – laser to reshape the surface of the cornea.

9. Sensation & Perception • Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic theory: retina has 3 types of color receptors for red, blue, and green. • Opponent-Process Theory: opposing retinal processes enable color vision. Red & Green, Yellow & Blue, White & Black. • Afterimages: images continue to briefly appear even after the actual image is removed.

10. Sensation & Perception • Audition: the sense or act of hearing. • Amplitude: The height of the sound wave the determines the loudness. Frequency: the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given amount of time. • Pitch: the highness or lowness of a sound. • Decibels – measuring unit for sound energy.

11. Stirrup Semicircular Canals Anvil Hammer Auditory Nerves Cochlea Auditory Canal Ear Drum (Goes to throat)

12. The Ear Outer Ear: auditory canal & eardrum Middle Ear: hammer, anvil, & stirrup. Inner Ear: cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

13. Hearing Loss • Conduction hearing loss: eardrum is punctured or any of the tiny bones in middle ear lose their ability to vibrate. • Sensorineural hearing loss: damage to the cochlea, hair cells, or auditory neurons.

14. TOUCH • Made up of four skin senses: • Pressure • Warmth • Cold • Pain Itching is gentle stimulation of pain receptors. Gate-Control Theory: pain messages can pass through a “gate” in the spinal cord on their way to the brain.

15. Taste • Gustation: the chemical sense of taste with receptor cells in taste buds on the tongue, on the roof of the mouth, in the throat. • Five basic taste sensations are: • Sweet • Sour • Salty • Bitter • Umami (Meaty Taste)

16. Smell • Olfaction: the chemical sense of smell. • Pheromones – chemicals released by animals that triggers a social response by another animal.

17. Perceptual Illusions Visual Capture – the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses. Gestalt – organizing pieces into a meaningful “whole”. Figure – Object Ground – Surroundings

18. Grouping Proximity – Group nearby figures together. Similarity – We group together figures that are similar to each other. Continuity – We see smooth, continuous patterns. Connectedness – We see objects as a single unit. Closure – We fill in the gaps to create a complete, whole object.

19. Perception Depth Perception – Seeing two dimensional objects as three dimensional. Visual Cliff – test of depth perception in babies. Binocular Cues – depth cues that depend on the use of two eyes.

20. Monocular Cues • Monocular Cues – depth cues using 1 eye. • Relative Size – The closer of two same size objects looks bigger. • Interposition – one object partially blocks our view of another, we see it as closer. • Relative Clarity – closer objects appear sharper than more distant, hazy objects.

21. Monocular Cues • Texture Gradient – far away objects that appear more densely packed or smooth. • Relative Height– Images higher in the picture seem farther away. • Relative Motion (Motion Parallax) – As we move, objects appear to move.

22. Monocular Cues • Linear Perspective – Parallel lines seem to converge in the distance. • Light and Shadow (Relative Brightness) – Closer of two identical objects reflects more light to your eyes.

23. Shape and Size Constancies • Shape Constancy – an object appears to maintain its normal shape regardless of the angle. • Size Constancy – an object appears to stay the same size despite changes in the size of the image. • Size-Distance Relationship – Farther objects seems larger.

24. Lightness Constancy • Brightness Constancy – an object maintains a particular level of brightness regardless of the amount of light reflected from it.

25. ESP • ESP (extrasensory perception): the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. • Parapsychology: the study of paranormal events that investigates claims of ESP.

26. ESP • A. Telepathy: Communicating with our minds only. • B. Clairvoyance: Ability to see remote events, things that happen at another location. (Psychics, Long Island Medium, etc.) C. Precognition: Ability to see the outcome of future events. D. Psychokinesis: Ability to move objects with your mind.

27. Unit 5 States of Consciousness

28. States of Consciousness • Consciousness – our awareness of ourselves and our environment. • Sigmund Freud– Father of Psychoanalysis. Studied subconscious. • Four types of biological rhythms: • Annual cycles • 28 day cycles • 24 hour cycles • 90 minute cycles

29. Sleep and Dreams • Circadian Rhythm – cycles of change that recur approximately every 24 hours. “Biological Clock” • Alpha waves are brain waves between awake and sleep. • Beta waves are awake brain waves. • Hypnagogic Sleep - This is the very relaxed and drowsy state that you pass through before entering sleep.

30. Sleep and Dreams – Stages Stage 1 Sleep – quick sleep stage with gradual loss of responsiveness to outside, drifting thoughts, and images. Stage 2 Sleep – Can be awakened without difficulty. Brain waves are characterized by sleep spindles.

31. Sleep and Dreams – Stages • Stage 3 Sleep – Beginning of deep sleep. • “Delta Sleep” begins (Stage 3 & 4) • Stage 4 Sleep – deepest sleep stage. • Bedwetting and sleepwalking occurs in this stage. • After stage 4, you return to stages 3 & 2, before entering stage 5, REM.

32. Sleep and Dreams – REM Stage REM Stage – REM sleep (Stage 5) REM – Rapid Eye Movement Brain waves resemble beta waves of being awake. Dreams and nightmares occur. Also called “paradoxical sleep”.

33. Sleep and Dreams – REM Stage REM Rebound – An increased percentage of time spent in REM sleep when we are deprived of REM sleep during previous nights. Sleep Debt– the amount of sleep owed to your body for lack of sleep in previous nights. Sleep Deprivation – not having enough sleep.

34. Sleep Theories Why do we sleep? 1. Protection – kept our ancestors from venturing around at night. 2. Recuperate – Repairs and restores brain tissues. 3. Remembering – Builds and restores our memories. 4. Growth – During deep sleep, growth hormones are released.

35. Sleep Disorders • Insomnia: the inability to fall asleep and/or stay asleep. • Narcolepsy: sudden and uncontrollable lapse into sleep • Sleep apnea: temporary pauses of breathing • Night terrors: characterized by bloodcurdling screams and intense fear • Sleepwalking: usually in stage 4.

36. Dreams • Lucid dreaming: awareness that we are dreaming • Manifest content: the remembered story line of a dream. • Latent content: the underlying meaning of a dream. • Hypnosis: state with deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility.

37. Drugs • Dependence: Compulsive use of a substance (addiction) • Tolerance: More substance is required to obtain the original effect • Withdrawal: Physical discomfort when the substance is stopped

38. Drugs • Psychoactive drugs: chemicals that alter perception, thinking, behavior, and mood. • Stimulant (Uppers): Substance that increases activity in body and nervous system. (Increase energy) • Depressant (Downers): Substance that decreases activity in body and nervous system. (Decrease energy)

39. Psychoactive Drugs Depressants: Alcohol, Barbiturates, Opiates • Stimulants: Caffeine, Nicotine, Cocaine, Crack, Amphetamines, methamphetamine (Speed, Crystal Meth), and ecstasy (MDMA). Hallucinogens: LSD, Marijuana(THC is active ingredient in marijuana)

40. Unit 6 Testing and individual differences

41. Intelligence • Intelligence: the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. • General Intelligence (g): a general intelligence factor that is in every specific mental ability. • Savant Syndrome: a person with one exceptional ability, but limited mental ability in the others.

42. Theories on Intelligence • Spearman – g (general intelligence). • Thurstone – Primary mental abilities (7 factors/clusters). • Gardner – 9 independent intelligences. • Sternberg – 3 areas that predict success.

43. Emotional Intelligence • Emotional Intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions. • Perceive: recognize emotions in faces, music, and stories. • Understand: to predict them & how they change and blend. • Manage: to express them in situations. • Use: to enable them.

44. Intelligence • Creativity: The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas. • Alfred Binet: invented the first intelligence test. • Lewis Terman: adapted Binet’s test for American school children. (Stanford-Binet test) • William Stern: German psychologist who created the IQ.

45. Intelligence Mental age Chronological age IQ= x 100 Mental age: the age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance.

46. Origins of Intelligence Testing Eugenics: encourage only smart and fit people to reproduce. Aptitude: the capacity to learn. Aptitude tests: a test designed to predict a person’s future performance. Achievement tests: a test designed to assess what a person has learned.

47. Test Construction Psychological tests must meet 3 criteria to be accepted: standardized, reliable, and valid. Standardization: It defines what the score you get means! Reliability: the extent to which a test yields consistent results. Validity: what the test is supposed to measure or predict.

48. Test Construction Normal Curve: a bell shaped curve in which most scores fall near the average and fewer scores are at the extremes. Mental retardation: low test score and difficulty living independently. Head Start Program: Government funded preschool program.

49. Environmental Influences • Flynn Effect: worldwide rise in IQ scores since the 1920s due to better nutrition and increasing years of schooling. Bias: Differences in performances caused by cultural experiences detected on tests. Stereotype Threat: A self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.