When you detect physical energy  emitted or reflected by physical objects

**Occurs when energy from external environment stimulates receptors in the sense organs

Convert physical energy into electrical energy that can be transmitted as nerve pulses to the brain

We hear because we have an ear that has autonomically structures that make hearing possible, leading to different

EX: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it...does it make a sound?

Rare condition in which stimulation or one sense also evokes a sensation in another

(Able to taste color)

EX: "Cow"--If we were in a dark room--heard, smell, touch, taste- we would be able to identify that it is a cow.

Smallest amount of energy that a person can detect reliably.

EX: Sit in a dark room, asked to see a flash of light

~Some would always see

~Others would never see

Divides the detection of a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision process

**Helps with knowing when to give people breaks

Reduction of sensory responsiveness that occurs when stimulation is unchanging

**Prevents us from having to respond continuously to unimportant information

Absence of normal levels of sensory stimulation.

*Most people enjoy limited periods of deprivation

"Brain Spotlight"-singles out the things that are most important at that moment

**Downside- miss out on much that is going on around us

related to the amount of light emitted from or reflected by an object

**most of what we see if reflected light

Red, blue, and green receptors

When colors combine, other colors are formed

Pairs of colors are organized antagostically

Blue/Yellow

Black/White

One color is being stimulated while the other is being inhibited.

Proxmity

Closure

Similarity

Continuity

Visual cues that require the use of both eyes

When two lines known to be parallel appear to be coming together to converging

*Imply the existence of depth

Intensity of pressure wave

More energy contained in the wave, the higher it is at its peak

Frequency of a pressure wave

The number of timer per second the wave cycles through a peak

Complexity of a pressure wave

Pure tone = 1 frequency 

Usually what we hear is complex waves consisting of several subwaves

Taste buds: nest of receptors cells

**respond to different chemical sensation

-Depends on how many receptors are firing, patter is analyzed by brain and determines it is a certain taste/smell

Culture

Genetics

Learning-food poisoning, unable to eat that food ever again

Learn to like foods after more exposure

Smell

A function of all receptors in our skin

-Pressure receptors

-Temperature receptors

*All receptors have different sensitivity

Experience pain whether the impulses get past a neurological "gate" in the spinal cord and the impulse reaches the brain

**More receptors on the finger tips, there fore there is more space in the brain for the impulses from the finger tips

Balance

Allows us to know where our body is

Where our body parts are in relation to one another

EX: As long as a person was walking in daylight-walked with their eyes, when the lights were turned off they were no longer able to walk

Pain= important warning signal

Pain can be psychological and physical (chronic pain)

Infants miss out on an experience during a crucial time period, perception will be impaired

EX: cat grown in drum with vertical lines, play with pen vertically not horizontally 

Placebo= treatment has no active ingredient, yet some people will respond

Beliefs and expectations will release our endorphines

Especially representative example of a concept

Fruit=Basic

Apple= PROTOTYPE

Proposition

A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea

(MC Exam)

Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to consciousness

**Learning how to drive manual car, at first thinking outloud, talking through it. After a while, able to eat, or text

Set of procedures you aren't able to verbalize

EX: Sever mental damage- teach them how to play piano, ask them if they can they say no. Put hands on the piano they are able to play perfectly

Mental inflexibility, inertia, and obliviousness in the present context

EX: Morning routine

A conclusions follows from a set of premises

Premise true+Premise true=conclusion must be true

Suggest that a course of action, guides problem solving, but does not gurantee and optimal soultion

SHORT CUT

Process in which opposing factors or ideas are compared with a view to determining the best solution

(Pro/Con List)

Problem solving strategy guaranteed to produce a solution

**Problem solving

Very similar to critical thinking

-question assumptions

-evaluate/integrate evidence

**Assumptions limit us in terms of possibilites

Tendencacy to pay attention only to information that confirms ones own belief

EX: Cocktail Party Theory- Involved in a conversations and you hear your name across the room in another conversation, that now has your full attention

Belief is inconsistent with behavior

--Change it by either changing behavior, or changing your belief

EX: "I believe in going green," just threw out a can out the window, some one calls you out. You make a promise to change your recycling ways

MA/CA x 100

**Problem is that mental age doesnt always increase

Measurement of mental abilities, traits, and processes

**Bell shaped curve,

mean = 100

standard dev.=115

1904

Test measured a child's memory, vocabulary, and perceptual discrimination

Most used test

Full Scale IQ

Verbal IQ

Non-Verbal IQ

Scores are affected by expectations. It is expected that African Americans, Woman, and Latinos will do worse on test. 

EX: Asian woman give a test with a passage about men doing better, one given without the passage. Woman who didn't read the passage did better

Triarchic Theory

(Sternberg)

1. Componential- compare, analyze and evaluate 
2. Experiential- ability to come up with new solutions
3. Contextual- Apply things you know to every day life