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“Study Group” Study Guide

Test 2

Study Guide Must be Completed Before Attending the Study Group

Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception

1 Sensing and Perceiving the World

· ____________: the detection of a physical stimulus, such as light

· ____________: the organization and interpretation of sensory input

· ____________: how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience

· Absolute Threshold: minimum amount of stimulation you can detect ___% of the time

· Sensory adaption: gradual decline in sensitivity due to ____________ ____________

· Measuring Thresholds

1) Just Noticeable Difference: The ____________ ____________ in a stimulus that can just barely be detected

2) Weber’s Law: the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a ____________ ____________ despite variations in intensity.

· The Real World: Multitasking

· Research has found that when attention is directed to ____________, activity in ____________ areas decreases.

· This suggests that laws requiring hands free phones may have (a) ____________ effect on reducing car accidents.

2 Vision

· Light: light wave height (amplitude) determines the ____________ of light; wavelength determines the ____________

· Parts of the Eye

1) Pupil: opening in ____________ of eye; constricts and dilates

2) ____________: focuses light rays on the retina

3) Retina: contains the ____________ for vision (the rods and cones)

(a) ____________ are for night and peripheral vision; located in the ____________ of the retina.

(b) ____________ are for daytime vision and color; provide more “sharpness” in vision than rods; located in the ____________ of the retina.

3 Theories of Color Vision

· ____________ Theory: 3 types of cones – one sensitive to blue wave lengths (short), one to red (long), & one to green (medium)

· ____________ ____________ Theory: three systems - red/green system, yellow/blue system, black/white system

1) Example: American flag

· When stimulation is equal in a pair, you see ____________; when stimulation is equal in the three systems you see ____________

4 The Visual Brain

· Area V1: The part of the occipital lobe that contains the primary ____________ ____________.

· Neural Systems for Perceiving Shape

1) Neurons in the visual cortex, known as “feature detectors” (Figure 4.11), selectively respond to ____________ and ____________ in specific orientations in space (e.g., 0o, 45 o, 90 o). Different populations of feature detectors within Area V1 respond to each orientation possible in the visual field.

5 Perception

· ____________ Principles: the whole can be greater than the parts (Example: _____ ____________)

1) ____________ and ____________: People divide visual information into the thing being looked at and the background.

2) Grouping principles

(a) ____________ - elements that are close together are grouped together

(b) ____________ - viewers mentally supply ____________ pieces to complete a familiar picture

(d) ____________ - viewers try to organize elements in the simplest way possible

· ____________ ____________: making a guess about the form based on a pattern of stimulation

6 Perception of Depth and Distance

· Depth Perception

1) ____________ cues: Use both eyes

(a) ____________ – as objects get closer your eyes move toward each other

(b) __________ - each eye has a slightly different angle

2) ____________ cues: Use one eye

(a) ____________ ____________: converging lines

(b) ____________ ____________: texture appears more compact and less detailed as distance increases

· Optical illusions: A discrepancy between the ____________ of a stimulus and ____________

(a) Muller-Lyer illusion: Due to experience with ____________

7 Motion Perception

· ____________ motion: perception of movement as a result of altering signals appearing in rapid succession in different locations.

8 Change Blindness and Inattentional Blindness

· Change blindness: when people fail to detect changes in ____________ ____________ of a scene.

· Inattentional blindness: a failure to perceive objects that are not the ____________ of attention.

· Culture and Community: Does Culture Influence Change Blindness?

· Most research on inattentional blindness has focused on ____________ cultures.

· Recent research found that Japanese students detected more changes to ____________ ____________ than did American students, and that American students detected more changes to ____________ ____________ that did Japanese students.

9 Hearing (Auditory System)

· Sound: height of wave (amplitude) is ____________; wavelength/frequency is ____________

· How loud is too loud: over ___ decibels.

· Parts of the Ear

1) External:

(a) ____________: sound collecting cone

(b) Eardrum: ____________ that vibrates as sound waves hit it

2) Middle: 3 tiny bones – hammer, ____________, stirrup

3) Inner:

(a) ____________: fluid filled, coiled tunnel that contains receptors for ____________ (looks like a snail)

(b) Basilar Membrane: in the cochlea; holds the ____________ ____________

(i) ____________ ____________: convert physical stimuli into neural impulses sent to brain

(ii) Sound conducted through waves in ____________

10 Hearing Loss

· Hearing loss has two main causes:

1) Conductive hearing loss: arises because the ____________ or ____________ are damaged to the point that they cannot conduct sound waves effectively to the cochlea.

(a) May be addressed with medication, surgery, or a ____________ ____________.

2) Sensorineural hearing loss: is caused by damage to the ____________, the hair cells, or the auditory nerve after regular exposure to high noise levels.

(a) May be addressed with a ____________ ____________.

· Hot Science: Music Training

· A recent experiment has demonstrated that 8-year-old children introduced to 6 months of musical training had changes in their brains’ electrical responses to ____________ and ____________ stimuli, which were correlated with enhanced performance of the perception of these stimuli.

· More recent musical training studies indicate that these neural changes ____________ into ____________.

11 Pain

· Although pain is unpleasant, it is important for ____________.

· ____________ pain: occurs when sensory information from internal and external areas converges on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord.

· ____________–____________ theory of pain: holds that signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped or ____________, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from two directions (e.g., rubbing a stubbed toe, endorphins).

1) Holds that perception is a two-way street:

(a) ____________–____________ control: Senses feeding information to the brain.

(b) ____________–____________ control: The brain exerting control over what we sense.

12 Body, Position, Movement, and Balance

· ____________ ____________: the three fluid-filled semicircular canals and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in each inner ear; important for maintaining ____________.

13 Smell

· ____________ receptor neurons (ORNs): receptor cells that initiate the sense of smell.

· ____________ ____________: brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobe; sends outputs to centers of the brain responsible for basic drives, emotions, and memories.

· Pheromones: biochemical odorants emitted by other members of a species that can affect an animal’s ____________ or ____________.

14 Taste

· ____________: the thousands of “small bumps” that cover the tongue.

· ____________ ____________: the organ of taste transduction.

Chapter 6: Memory

1 Memory

· ____________: how information gets into memory

· ____________: how information is maintained (stored) in memory

· ____________: how information is pulled out of (retrieved from) memory

2 Three Stage Memory Model

· ____________ Memory: preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time

1) ____________ memory last ¼ to 1 second

2) Auditory memory lasts ___ to ___ seconds

· Short Term Memory (STM)

1) Capacity (i.e. how much can be stored): ___ +/- ___ (___ to ___ chunks)

(a) Chunk: a group of familiar ____________ stored as a single unit

2) Duration is ___ to ___ seconds without rehearsal

(a) ____________ is repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about the information

· Long Term Memory (LTM)

1) Duration (i.e. how long we store it) is possibly ____________

2) Example: ____________ Memories - vivid memories of what we were doing at the time of an emotion-provoking event (where were you doing during 9/11?)

· Types of Information in LTM

1) ____________ memory is for actions and skills (ex: how to ride a bike, ski, etc.)

2) Declarative memory is memory for facts (two types)

(a) Semantic memory is for ____________ facts

(b) Episodic memory is for ____________ facts

3 Encoding Methods

· Depth of Processing

1) Craik and ____________ Study: manipulated the depth of processing by varying types of ____________ subjects had to answer about each word on a list

(a) The ____________ we process information, the better our LTM

(b) ____________ Processing: emphasizes meaning (deeper processing)

· Rehearsal

1) Serial ____________ effects: better recall for words at the beginning and end than in the middle

(a) ____________ effect: recall words at the beginning of a list better; effect due to repetition of first few words in the list

(b) ____________ effect: recall words at the end of a list better; due to recall from STM

· Place information into a ____________ context (kite example)

· ____________: linking stimulus to other information at the time of encoding (example: applying classical conditioning to your own fear of spiders)

· Mnemonics are ____________ and ____________ for memory (example: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally = Parenthesis Exponents Multiplication Division Addition and Subtraction, for the order of operations in math)

4 Retrieving Memories

· Retrieval Cues

1) ____________ specific memory: put yourself in the same context as when you learned the information (example: scuba divers)

2) Encoding Specificity Principle: the better the match between the ____________ you study material and the ____________ you are given on a test, the better your recall (example: fill in the blank tests versus definition tests)

5 Visual Imagery Encoding

· Definition: the process of storing new information by converting it into ____________ ____________

1) Participants who studied lists of words using visual imagery encoding remembered ____________ as many items as participants who mentally repeated the words

2) Works for two reasons:

(a) When you create a visual image, you relate information to knowledge already in ____________.

(b) When you use visual imagery to encode words, you end up with two different mental ____________ for the items—a visual one and a verbal one.

6 Organizational Encoding

· Definition: the process of categorizing information according to the ____________ among a series of items.

1) Example: restaurant servers organizing table orders into hot drinks, cold drinks, hot foods, and cold foods.

7 Encoding of Survival-Related Information

· Participants who were asked to rate the relevance of randomly chosen words (e.g., stone, meadow, chair) for a survival situation later recalled ____________ of those words than participants who were asked to rate their usefulness for moving or their pleasantness.

8 The Role of the Hippocampus as Index

· ____________ amnesia: the inability to transfer new information from the short-term store into the long-term store (can’t remember new information).

· ____________ amnesia: the inability to retrieve information that was acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or surgery (can’t remember previous information).

· Research has shown that different aspects of a single memory (sights, sounds, smells, and emotions) are stored in different parts of the cortex.

1) Some psychologists argue that the hippocampal region acts as a kind of “index” that ____________ ____________ all of these aspects so that we remember them as one memory.

9 Memory Consolidation

· Definition: the process by which memories become ____________ in the brain.

· Reconsolidation: The process by which memories can become vulnerable to ____________ when they are ____________, requiring them to be consolidated again.

· Hot Science: Sleep on It

· Sleep selectively enhances the consolidation of memories that reflect the ____________ or ____________ of an experience, as well as emotionally ____________ memories.

· Participants who expected to be tested on a list of word pairs recalled more after ____________ compared to an equivalent period of ____________.

10 Retrieval Cues: Reinstating the Past

· State-dependent retrieval: the tendency for information to be better recalled when the person is in the same ____________ during encoding and retrieval.

1) Example: It is easier to remember happy memories when you are in a ____________ mood.

11 Consequences of Retrieval

· Retrieval Can ____________ Subsequent Memory

1) Participants studied brief stories and then either studied them again or were given a test that required retrieving the stories. After 5 minutes, studying the stories again showed slightly ____________ recall. However, after 2 days or 1 week later, ____________ showed higher recall than studying.

· Retrieval Can ____________ Subsequent Memory

1) Retrieval-induced ____________: a process by which retrieving an item from long-term memory ____________ subsequent recall of related items.

(a) When witnesses to a staged crime are questioned about some details of the crime scene, their ability to later recall ____________ details that they were not asked about is ____________ compared to witnesses who were not questioned at all initially.

· Retrieval Can ____________ Subsequent Memory

1) Participants who toured a museum while wearing a camera that took a picture every 15 seconds sometimes incorrectly ____________ stops they had never even visited when shown novel photos of these unvisited stops.

12 Memory Misattribution

· Definition: assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong ____________.

1) The man who identified the Oklahoma City federal building bomber also described an accomplice that didn’t ____________. Two men, one similar in appearance to the bomber, had also rented a van the day after the bomber did.

· ____________ memory: recall of when, where, and how information was acquired.

13 Suggestibility

· Definition: the tendency to incorporate ____________ information from ____________ sources into personal recollection.

1) Approximately ___% of the 24 participants in one study falsely remembered being ____________ in a shopping mall or a similar public space.

2) Research has shown that imagining past events (i.e., through psychotherapy) and hypnosis can help to create ____________ ____________.

14 Persistence

· Definition: the intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could ____________.

· A key part of the brain contributing to persistence is the ____________, which release stress related hormones that enhance the memory of a given stressful event.

15 Forgetting

· Did not ____________ information into LTM (example: reading words in text but not processing them)

· ____________ of Memory Traces: memories fade away with passage of time if not renewed through periodic use (no longer exist)

· ____________: information is accessible but cannot be accessed because of interference from other information

· ____________ ____________: cue dependent forgetting

1) Example: Encoding specificity principle

16 Reconstructing Memories

· ____________: an organized cluster of ____________ about a particular object or sequence of events.

1) Affect what you remember and fill in what you don’t remember (may not be correct)

· ____________ questions: How a question inquiring about a particular memory is worded influences how that memory is remembered.

1) Example: “How fast were the cars going when they (smashed into) each other?”

17 Improving Your Memory

· Use ____________ strategies: putting information into an organized framework in order to remember it more easily (example: HOMES for the names of the Great Lakes)

· Use ____________ cards

· ___________________________ practice (i.e. spreading out your studying) is more effective.

· Study in a situation as ______________as possible to the test taking environment.

· Get plenty of ____________________the night before the test.

· When taking a multiple choice test, say the __________________to yourself ___________________________looking at the options.

· Focus on MTSU Research: Memories from 9/11

· Memory consistency was generally ____________. Memories for ____________ details (where were you? what were you doing?) were better than memory for ____________ details (what were you wearing? what did you eat for breakfast?). High emotion hurt memory for ____________ details. In the comparison of the flashbulb memory hypothesis (significant events trigger storage of a detailed record of the event) and the attention-focusing hypothesis (strong emotion focuses your attention on the central details at the expense of peripheral details), results are more consistent with ____________–____________ hypothesis.

Practical Guide to Study Skills (Back of Textbook)

· Table 1: Rote Method Makeover

Common rote strategy	New and improved strategy
Reading	· Previewing each section before you read, and writing ____________ · Using questions to think while you read, and to ____________ yourself after reading
Copying definitions	· Writing definitions in ____________ ____________ ____________
Memorizing definitions	· Stating definitions in your own words, as though you were trying to ____________ the terms to ____________ ____________
Copying notes	· Elaborating on your notes · Noting ____________ between your notes and your past knowledge or experience · Making ____________ between terms and concepts within the material
Rereading the test or your notes	· ____________ your notes or the text in different ways · Self-testing with questions you wrote or those provided in the text · Testing yourself to see if you can repeat in ____________ ____________ ____________ material you have just read
Taking notes focused on the professor’s words	· Writing down not only what is on the slide, board, or outline, but also supplementing with ____________ ____________ ____________ · Marking spots of confusion and asking the professor for clarification later
Comparing your notes with a classmate to make sure you “got everything down”	· ____________ your notes with a classmate; ____________ to each other the material in your notes · Filling in any gaps with your own words

1 Exercise Your Brain by Reading Before Class

· Invite Desirable Difficulties

1) If you catch yourself ____________, start re-reading with the intention of staying more engaged

· Space it Out

1) If you have a 50-page chapter to read, ____________ your reading across a couple of days. Your brain needs breaks in order for memories to ____________.

· Self-test While You Read

1) Write ____________ for yourself as you read. Self-test yourself and take note of the information that you ____________ ____________.

· Work the Information in Different Ways

1) Instead of taking notes verbatim from the book or screen, write notes in ____________ ____________ ____________. Consider how the information links to your ____________.

2 Create a Set of Complete and Personally Meaningful Notes

· Remind yourself to focus on the ____________, not just the words:

· Listen for ____________ ____________ from your professor:

1) Professors says “There are four components of Z” – signals the start of a numbered list in your notes

· Develop a set of abbreviations and symbols

1) Helps to save ____________ while note-taking, but make sure the abbreviations and symbols help you make ____________ of the material

· Draw a representation of how concepts relate to each other

1) Consider using ____________ or create ____________

· Check yourself by noting spots where you got lost or confused

1) Mark where you get lost to keep pace with class while note-taking. Ask the ____________ or another ____________ about it immediately after class.

· As soon as possible after class, review your notes and jot down any ____________ ____________ that comes to mind.

1) Do this while the information is still fresh, especially with a classmate.

3 Moment of Truth: Exam Day

· The First Thing to Do Is to Manage Your Stress

1) ____________ Deeply

(a) You may not be able to prevent stress, but you can impact how long it lasts by the rate of your ____________

2) Have a ____________–____________ Plan

(a) Do what works best for you to ____________ ____________ before the test is passed out (music, talking with others, etc.)

3) Identify Factors That Influence Your Ability to ____________ ____________

(a) Ask the professor for minor ____________ (if you can wear earplugs, to close the door to the hallway).

(b) Make an appointment with the disabilities services department well in advance of exams for more significant accommodations.

· Be Strategic in Completing the Exam

1) Start by ____________

(a) This exposes yourself to cues that will spark activation of your neural networks.

2) Write on the Exam (if permitted)

(a) This helps to ease the strain on your busy mind. Circle ____________ ____________, cross out answers you know are ____________, etc.

3) If You Are Uncertain, Mark, Move On, and ____________ Later

(a) Don’t waste time on a question you aren’t getting at the moment. Coming back to a difficult question later allows your brain time to activate proper ____________.

4) Tip for Multiple-Choice Questions

(a) Treat them as an ____________–____________ question first, and try to ____________ the answer. Sometimes it’s easy to overthink the answer choices.

5) Don’t Assume Your First Hunch Is Always Correct

(a) Research indicates that students more often change from a(n) ____________ to a ____________ answer. If you are struck by compelling reasons that suggest your initial answer is incorrect, trust your reasoning.

6) Tip for Essay Questions

(a) Try to organize your thoughts into some kind of ____________ first. Provide the information that is ____________.

7) Don’t ____________

(a) Take all the time you are given on an exam!

Chapter 5: Consciousness

1 Levels of Consciousness

· ____________ processes: require alert awareness, absorb attention

· ____________ processes: occur with little awareness, do not interfere with other activities

· Day dreaming: imaginary scenes and events that occur while one is awake

· Sleep: continue to maintain a ____________ level of awareness

2 Biological Rhythms

· ____________ rhythms: occur every 24 hours (sleep/wake cycle)

· ____________ rhythms: occur less often than once a day (female menstrual cycle)

· ____________ rhythms: occur more often than once a day (sleep is a ___ minute cycle)

3 The Mind-Body Problem

· Definition: The issue of how the mind is related to the brain and body

· One study suggests that the brain’s activities ____________ the activities of the conscious mind.

1) The brain begins to show electrical activity not only before performing an action, but before making a ____________ ____________ to move.

4 Four Basic Properties

· Researchers have identified four basic properties of consciousness:

1) ____________: the quality of being directed toward an object, or how consciousness is always about something.

2) ____________: The integration of all the information from all the senses into one ____________ consciousness.

3) ____________: The capacity of consciousness to include some objects but not others.

(a) e.g., the cocktail-party phenomenon: people tune in one message even while they ____________ ____________ others nearby.

(b) ____________ listening situation tests: tests in which people wearing headphones hear different messages in each ear. When attending to message in one ear, especially likely to notice one’s own name spoken in the unattended ear.

4) Transience: The tendency for consciousness to ____________; analogous to consciousness being described as a “stream”.

· Hot Science: The Mind Wanders

· A recent study revealed that people engage in mind wandering, or experience “____________–____________ thoughts” during ____% of our daily activities!

· Allowing our minds to wander, while remaining active, can enhance our ability to ____________ ____________ and solve ____________ ____________

5 Conscious Contents

· Rebound effect of thought suppression: the tendency of a thought to return to consciousness with greater ____________ following suppression (e.g., do NOT think about a white bear).

6 A Modern View of the Cognitive Unconscious

· Cognitive unconscious: all the mental processes that give rise to a person’s thoughts, choices, emotions, and behavior even though they are not ____________ by the person.

· ____________ ____________: thought or behavior that is influenced by stimuli that a person cannot consciously report perceiving.

1) e.g., participants walking more slowly after an exercise in making sentences with various words associated with ____________.

7 Sleep Cycle

· Circadian rhythm: a naturally occurring ___–____________ cycle.

· ____________ ____________: a stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and a high level of brain activity.

1) Sleepers wakened during this stage of sleep report having ____________ much more often than those wakened during other stages.

8 Sleep Needs and Deprivation

· Sleep following learning appears to be essential for ____________ ____________.

· A few hours of sleep deprivation each night in humans can lead to:

1) A reduction in ____________ ____________ and reaction time

2) Increasing irritation and ____________

3) An increased risk of accidents and ____________.

9 Sleep Disorders

· Insomnia: most common; trouble falling asleep or staying asleep

· ____________: people abruptly enter REM sleep from waking state

· Sleep ____________: is when people briefly stop breathing during sleeping

· ____________ (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome): sleeping infants stop breathing & die

1) “____________ to Sleep” program

· Sleepwalking: occurs during ____________ sleep, most often in ____________. OK to ____________ person.

· ____________ ____________: are horrible dream images during stage 4 sleep. Do not remember by morning.

10 The Functions of Sleep

· ____________ ____________ can lead to fatigue, irritability, inattention, and decreased immune system functioning.

1) Can be dangerous to self and others

· ____________–____________ sleep: helps to restore body and brain for future activities.

· REM sleep: restores sensitivity to ____________, helping to keep us alert.

1) May be a time for creating and strengthening ____________ ____________.

2) May help to solidify and absorb the day’s ____________ and ____________.

11 Dreams

· Dream Consciousness

1) Five major characteristic of dream consciousness that distinguish it from the waking state:

(a) We intensely feel ____________.

(b) Dream thought is ____________.

(d) Dreaming occurs with ____________ ____________.

(e) We have ____________ ____________ the dream after it is over.

· Dream Theories

1) Activation-synthesis model: proposes that dreams are produced when the brain attempts to make sense of ____________ neural activity that occurs during sleep.

· The Dreaming Brain

1) Many dreams have emotional content in part due to the ____________, which is quite active during REM sleep and involved in response to threatening or stressful events

2) Dreams are also very visual. However, the parts of the brain associated with visual perception are not activated during dreaming. Instead, the visual association areas in the ____________ ____________, which are responsible for visual imagery, are active.

3) Dreams seem unplanned and rambling due to less activity in the ____________ ____________ during REM sleep, which is usually associated with planning and executive functioning.

4) During REM sleep, the ____________ ____________ is activated, but spinal neurons ____________ expression of motor activation.

· Focus on Faculty Research: Are People Influenced by Backward Messages?

· Davis John Oates proposed that when people tell a lie, their unconscious mind reveals the lie if they are recorded and then the recording is played backward. Dr. Langston and Christopher Anderson wanted to see if by playing a tape expected to arouse emotion backward (this tape described the effects of the Ebola virus on the body), they would get near the same response as one played forward. He also played a non-emotion arousing tape forward and backward (this tape described a peaceful trip to the mountains). The backward emotion-arousing tape aroused no more emotion than the forward or backward non-emotion arousing tape. The forwards emotion-arousing tape produced significantly ________________ arousal. While this casts doubt on the use of ____________ messages, it does not completely rule them out.

· Movies on sleep: study your personal notes