VCE Psychology Unit 2 PDF

VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj 1. Sensation the physical Detection and response to sensory informa- tion vie sensory receptors. 2. Perception The cognitive detection of stimuli. assigning meaning t...

VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj 1. Sensation the physical Detection and response to sensory informa- tion vie sensory receptors. 2. Perception The cognitive detection of stimuli. assigning meaning to incoming sensory information. 3. Reception The process of detecting and responding to incoming sensory information. 4. Receptive field The area of space in which a sensory receptor can re- spond to a stimulus or the specific area of sensitivity of a receptor cell where a stimulus will affect its activity. 5. Transduction Converting incoming sensory information into a form which can travel along neural pathways to the brain. 6. Transmission When sensory information is carried along neural path- ways. 7. Interpretation The process of assigning meaning to incoming sensory information so that it can be understood. 8. Visual sensory The complex network of physiological structures involved system in vision. 9. Cornea Transparent, convex shaped covering which protects the eye and helps to focus light rays onto the retina at the back of the eye. 10. Pupil An opening in the iris that helps to control the amount of light entering the eye. 11. Iris The coloured part of the eye consisting of a ring of muscles that expand or contract to change the size of the pupil and control the amount of light entering the eye. 12. Lens A transparent, flexible, convex structure located immedi- ately behind the pupil which plays a major role in focusing light onto the retina. 1/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj 13. Retina Layer of neural tissue at the back of the eye that receives and absorbs light, and processes images for transmission to the brain. 14. Photoreceptor A light sensitive visual receptors cell in the eye (rods and cones) 15. Rod Photoreceptor in the eye's retina that responds to very low levels of light; primarily responsible for night vision. 16. Cone Photoreceptor in the retina of the eye that responds to high levels of light and is primarily responsible for colour vision and detecting fine details. 17. Optic nerve Transmits visual information from the retina to the primary visual cortex. 18. Blind spot A small area on the retina at the back of the eye where there are no photoreceptors so light cannot be detected. 19. Optic chiasm Point where the axons of ganglion cells in the optic nerve cross. 20. Visual percep- 'Rule' applied to visual information to assist organisation tion principle and interpretation of the information in consistent and meaningful ways. 21. Gestalt principle Organising the features of a visual scene to perceive a of visual percep- whole, complete form. tion 22. Figure-ground In visual perception, organising visual information by per- ceptually dividing a visual scene into a 'figure', which stands out from the 'ground', which is its surroundings. 23. Closure The perceptual tendency to mentally 'close up', fill in or ignore gaps in a visual image and to perceive objects as complete/Whole. 24. Similarity 2/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj The tendency to perceive parts of a visual image that have similar features, such as size, shape, texture or colour, as belonging together in a unit, group or 'whole'. 25. Proximity The tendency to perceive parts of a visual image which are positioned close together as belonging together in a group. 26. Depth perception The ability to accurately estimate the distance of objects and therefore perceive the world in three dimensions. 27. Depth cue Source of information from the environment (external cue) or from within the body (internal cue) that assists percep- tion of how far away objects are and therefore perceive depth, often classified as binocular or monocular. 28. Binocular depth A depth (or distance) perception cue requiring the use of cue both eyes. 29. Convergence A binocular visual perception depth cue involving the in- ward turning of the eyes to focus on nearby objects. 30. Retinal disparity A binocular visual perception depth cue based on the difference (disparity) of the retinal images. 31. Monocular depth A depth perception cue requiring the use of only one eye. cue 32. Accommodation In visual perception, a depth cue involving the automatic focusing of the lens in the eye to adjust shape in response to changes in the distance of view from an object. 33. Pictorial cue A visual perception depth cue that can be represented pictorially on a two-dimensional surface. 34. Linear perspec- A visual perception depth cue based on the apparent con- tive vergence of parallel lines as they recede into the distance. 35. Interposition A visual perception depth cue based on the principle that an object which partially covers another object is closer 3/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj than the object it covers and the covered object is further away. Also called overlap. 36. Texture gradient A visual perception depth cue based on the extent to which fine detail can be perceived in a surface. 37. Relative size The perceptual tendency to visually perceive the object that produces the largest image on the retina as being closer and the object that produces the smallest image as being further away (when objects are expected to be the same size). 38. Height in the vi- The perceptual tendency to visually perceive objects clos- sual field er to the horizon as being more distant than objects locat- ed further from the horizon 39. Perceptual con- the tendency to perceive an object as remaining stable stancy and unchanging despite any changes that may occur to the image cast on the retina. 40. Size constancy Recognising that an object's actual size remains the same, even though the size of the image it casts on the retina changes. 41. Shape constancy The tendency to perceive an object as maintaining its shape despite any changes in the shape of the image on the retina. 42. Perceptual set The predisposition to perceive something in accordance with expectations of what it is. 43. Context The setting situation or environment in which an event oc- curs; in visual perception, the setting in which a perception is made. 44. Motivation Processes within us which activate behaviour that we direct towards achieving a particular goal. 45. Emotional state How an individual is feeling at a particular point in time. 4/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj 46. Past experience Personal experiences throughout an individual's life, in- cluding everything that is learned intentionally and unin- tentionally through experience. 47. Culture The way of life of a particular community or group that sets it apart from other communities and groups. 48. Perceptual dis- An inconsistency, or 'mismatch', between a perceptual tortion experience and physical reality. 49. Visual illusion A perceptual misinterpretation of real sensory information whenever that sensory information is viewed. 50. Ames room illu- A perceptual misinterpretation involving a trapezium sion shaped room which appears rectangular when viewed through a peephole using only one eye and people appear small or large, depending on where they stand in the room. 51. Flavour A perceptual experience produced by a combination of taste and other sensations. 52. Texture The property of food or beverage that is felt in the mouth and contributes to flavour. 53. Synaesthesia A percetual experience in which stimulation of one sense produces additional unusual experiences in anoth- er sense. 54. What are the Figure-ground Gestalt princi- Closure ples? Similarity Proximity 55. The process of STIMULUS- (visible light) Visual reception RECEPTION: Photo-receptors in the retina detect and receive sensory information 56. The process of TRANSDUCTION Transduction in sensory information is Converted from electro-magnetic to Vision electro-chemical energy. 5/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj 57. The process of Transmission transmission in electro-chemical energy is Sent to the brain via the optic Vision nerve 58. The process of ORGANISATION: organisation in information is organised into relatable information vision 59. Interoperation in INTERPRETATION: Visual cortex of the brain the vision 60. What are the Binocular: convergence & retinal disparity depth cues? Monocular: Accommodation Pictorial: Linear perspective, interposition, texture gradi- ent, relative size & height in the visual field. 61. What are the per- Size, shape and brightness ceptual constan- cies? 62. Perceptual set - Context, motivation, emotional state, past experience and factors culture. 63. 5 basic tastes sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami 64. Influences on Children - aversion to bitterness, prefer sweet foods. taste perception - - higher number of taste buds, more fussy - Number of age taste buds decreases with age Sense of smell declines with age 65. Müller-Lyer Illu- A visual illusion in which one of the two lines of equal sion length, each which has opposite shaped ends, is incor- rectly perceived as being longer than the other. 66. Social cognition How individuals interpret, analyse, remember and use information to make judgements about others in different social situations. 67. Person percep- tion 6/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj The mental process used to form impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of other people. i.e. what is she or he like 68. Halo effect Cognitive bias in which the impression formed about one quality of a person influences beliefs and expectations about the person in other qualities. 69. Attribution The process by which people explain the cause of their own and other people's behaviour, i.e. why do i do, what did they do 70. Personal attribu- An explanation of behaviour based on the characteristics tion of the person involved, such as their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort; sometimes called dis- positional. 71. Situational attri- An explanation of behaviour based on factors external bution to the person involved, such as the actions of another person, some aspect of the environment, the task, luck and fate. 72. Fundamental at- When explaining someone's behaviour, the tendency to tribution error overestimate the influence of personal factors and un- derestimate the impact of situational factors; behaviour is attributed to internal rather than external factors. 73. Actor-observer The tendency to attribute one's own behaviour to exter- bias nal/situational factors, while attributing other's behaviour to internal/personal factors. 74. Self-serving bias When judging others, the tendency to take the credit for our successes and attribute our failures to situational fac- tors. 75. Attitude An evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue. 76. 7/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj Tri-component An explanation of attitudes in terms of three related com- model of ponents - affective, behavioural and cognitive - that com- attitudes prise any attitude. 77. Affective compo- The emotional reactions or feelings an individual has to- nent wards an object, person, group, event or issue. 78. Behavioural The way in which an attitude is expressed through our component actions (or how we might behave should the opportunity arise) 79. Cognitive com- The beliefs we have about an object, person, group, event ponent or issue. 80. Social learning Modifying or adopting attitudes by observing other people, particularly people who are close to us and people who we respect and admire. 81. Repeated expo- Being exposed to an object, person, group, event or issue sure repeatedly. 82. Mere exposure The increase in liking for an attitude, object, person, group, effect event or issue as a result of being repeatedly exposed to it. 83. Stereotype A collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a certain group, regardless of individual differences among members of that group. 84. Stereotyping Process of grouping or fitting people into a category based on what is known about them. 85. Ingroup Any group to which an individual belongs or with which an individual identifies. 86. Outgroup Any group to which an individual does not belong or iden- tify. 87. Prejudice Holding a negative attitude towards the members of a group, based solely on their membership of that group. 8/9  VCE Psychology Unit 2 Study online at https://quizlet.com/_4fzuaj 88. Discrimination Positive or negative behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members. 89. Direct discrimi- Whens someone is treated unfavourably because of a nation personal characteristic protected by law. 9/9