Sensation and Perception Terms

Overview

This lecture covers essential AP Psychology terms for Unit 1.6 on sensation, with clear definitions and examples to help with exam preparation.

Body position sense (proprioception) is sensing where body parts are without looking, like touching your nose with eyes closed.
Kinesthetic sense is awareness of body part movement and action, aiding coordination and balance during motion.
Sensation is detecting stimuli from the environment via senses; includes seeing, hearing, and touching.
Thresholds refer to the minimum stimulus required for detection, like barely hearing a soft sound.
Sensory adaptation describes becoming less sensitive to unchanged stimuli over time, such as no longer noticing a watch.
Sensory habituation means the brain becomes less responsive to repeated stimuli, like ignoring train noises after living nearby.
Sensory transduction is turning physical stimuli (light, sound, touch) into brain signals, like heat into a pain signal.
Sensory interaction means senses influence each other, such as taste being affected by smell.
Signal detection theory explains how someone can perceive a stimulus amidst background noise, factoring in sensitivity and decision criteria.
Embodied cognition shows body states influence perception and thought, like warmth making people seem friendlier.
Synesthesia is when one sense triggers another, like seeing colors when hearing music.
Vestibular sense helps maintain balance and spatial orientation, managed by the inner ear.
Weber’s law states that the just noticeable difference is proportional to the original stimulus intensity, so heavier items need larger changes to notice a difference.

Amplitude is the height of a wave, determining light brightness or sound loudness.
Electromagnetic spectrum includes all light waves, such as visible light, radio waves, and x-rays.
Hue refers to the basic color seen, e.g., red or blue.
Intensity means the brightness or strength of light or sound.
Visible light spectrum is the range of light humans can see, from red to violet.
Wavelength is the distance between wave peaks, determining light’s color and sound’s pitch.

Pinna is the outer ear that collects and directs sound inward.
Ear canal carries sound from the pinna to the eardrum.
Eardrum vibrates in response to sound, starting the hearing process.
Ossicles are three tiny middle ear bones transmitting sound vibrations to the inner ear.
Cochlea is a spiral inner ear structure that converts vibrations into brain signals.
Auditory nerves carry these signals from the cochlea to the brain.
Place theory states different cochlea parts respond to different sound frequencies (pitches).
Frequency theory relates pitch perception to how quickly auditory nerves fire.
Volley theory claims groups of neurons rapidly take turns firing to process high-frequency sounds.

Nociceptors are nerve endings that detect pain from harmful stimuli.
Gate control theory suggests the spinal cord has a "gate" that controls whether pain signals reach the brain.
Phantom limb sensation is feeling sensations in a missing limb, such as pain or movement.

Proprioception — sensing body part position without visual cues.
Kinesthetic sense — awareness of body movement and position.
Threshold — minimum stimulus needed for detection.
Sensory adaptation — decreased sensitivity to constant stimulation.
Habituation — reduced neural response to repeated stimuli.
Transduction — conversion of physical stimulus to neural signals.
Signal detection theory — model for detecting signals amidst noise.
Weber’s law — just noticeable difference depends on initial stimulus intensity.
Amplitude — wave height determining sound or light strength.
Wavelength — distance between wave peaks, determines color/pitch.
Pinna — outer ear structure for sound collection.
Ossicles — tiny bones transmitting sound in the ear.
Cochlea — inner ear part converting sound to signals.
Nociceptors — pain-detecting nerve endings.

Create flashcards for each key term and example.
Review the full video or notes covering Essential Knowledge and CED questions for further details.
Practice recalling definitions and examples for each key term.