Unit 4 Sensation & Perception AP Psychology
Myers UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and
CORRECT Answers
Sensation - CORRECT ANSWER the raw data of experience; sensory stimulation; example are
eyes only register light energy and ears only register wave energy
Perception - CORRECT ANSWER the mental process of sorting, identifying, and arranging raw
sensory data into meaningful patterns
Top-down processing - CORRECT ANSWER Constructing perceptions based on our experiences
and expectations
Selective attention - CORRECT ANSWER The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular
stimulus, like the cocktail effect (notice your name in a crowd)
Inattentional blindness - CORRECT ANSWER failing to see visible objects when our attention is
directed elsewhere
Change blindness - CORRECT ANSWER Failing to notice changes in the environment.
Transduction - CORRECT ANSWER Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation,
the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses.
Psychophysics - CORRECT ANSWER The study of relationships between the physical
characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
Absolute threshold - CORRECT ANSWER minimal amount of energy required to produce any
sensation, 50 percent of the time
, Signal detection theory - CORRECT ANSWER Predicts we will detect weak signals. Signal
detection theorists seek to understand why people respond differently to the same stimuli and why the
same person' reactions vary as circumstances change. Exhausted parents will notice the faintest whimper
from a newborn's cradle while failing to notice outer, unimportant sounds.
Subliminal - CORRECT ANSWER Sensory information that is below one's absolute threshold.
Priming - CORRECT ANSWER The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus
predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.
Difference threshold - CORRECT ANSWER Just Noticeable Difference (JND); the smallest
change in stimulation that you can detect 50% of the time; differs from one person to the other (and from
moment to moment); tells us the flexibility of sensory systems
Weber's law - CORRECT ANSWER Ernst Weber; The average person to perceive a difference two
stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.
Sensory Adaptation - CORRECT ANSWER Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant
stimulation.
Perceptual set - CORRECT ANSWER A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not
another
Extrasensory perception (ESP) - CORRECT ANSWER Controversial claim that perception can
occur apart from sensory input; telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition
Parapsychology - CORRECT ANSWER Study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and
psychokinesis
Wavelength - CORRECT ANSWER The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the
peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from longer/red, shorter/blue
Myers UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and
CORRECT Answers
Sensation - CORRECT ANSWER the raw data of experience; sensory stimulation; example are
eyes only register light energy and ears only register wave energy
Perception - CORRECT ANSWER the mental process of sorting, identifying, and arranging raw
sensory data into meaningful patterns
Top-down processing - CORRECT ANSWER Constructing perceptions based on our experiences
and expectations
Selective attention - CORRECT ANSWER The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular
stimulus, like the cocktail effect (notice your name in a crowd)
Inattentional blindness - CORRECT ANSWER failing to see visible objects when our attention is
directed elsewhere
Change blindness - CORRECT ANSWER Failing to notice changes in the environment.
Transduction - CORRECT ANSWER Conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation,
the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses.
Psychophysics - CORRECT ANSWER The study of relationships between the physical
characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them.
Absolute threshold - CORRECT ANSWER minimal amount of energy required to produce any
sensation, 50 percent of the time
, Signal detection theory - CORRECT ANSWER Predicts we will detect weak signals. Signal
detection theorists seek to understand why people respond differently to the same stimuli and why the
same person' reactions vary as circumstances change. Exhausted parents will notice the faintest whimper
from a newborn's cradle while failing to notice outer, unimportant sounds.
Subliminal - CORRECT ANSWER Sensory information that is below one's absolute threshold.
Priming - CORRECT ANSWER The activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus
predisposing one's perception, memory, or response.
Difference threshold - CORRECT ANSWER Just Noticeable Difference (JND); the smallest
change in stimulation that you can detect 50% of the time; differs from one person to the other (and from
moment to moment); tells us the flexibility of sensory systems
Weber's law - CORRECT ANSWER Ernst Weber; The average person to perceive a difference two
stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage.
Sensory Adaptation - CORRECT ANSWER Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant
stimulation.
Perceptual set - CORRECT ANSWER A mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not
another
Extrasensory perception (ESP) - CORRECT ANSWER Controversial claim that perception can
occur apart from sensory input; telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition
Parapsychology - CORRECT ANSWER Study of paranormal phenomena, including ESP and
psychokinesis
Wavelength - CORRECT ANSWER The distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the
peak of the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from longer/red, shorter/blue
