Myers' AP Psychology Sensation and
Perception Study Guide Exam Fully
Solved (2025) Updated.
sensation - Answer the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive
and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
perception - Answer the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling
us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
bottom-processing - Answer analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to
the brain's integration of sensory information.
top-down processing - Answer information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.
selective attention - Answer the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
inattentional blindness - Answer falling to see visible objects when our attention is directed
elsewhere.
change blindness - Answer falling to notice changes in the environment.
transduction - Answer conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the
transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our
brain can interpret.
absolute threshold - Answer minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50
percent of the time.
signal detection theory - Answer a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of
a fain stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes that there is no single
absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations,
motivation, and alertness.
, priming - Answer the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus
predisposing one's perception, memory or response.
difference threshold - Answer the minimum difference between two stimuli required for
detection 50 of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference (or jnd).
Weber's Law - Answer the principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ
by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount).
sensory adaptation - Answer diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
perceptual set - Answer a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
ESP - Answer extrasensory perception
extrasensory perception - Answer the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from
sensory input; includes telepathy clairvoyance, and precognition.
wavelength - Answer the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the
next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of
radio transmission.
hue - Answer the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we
know as the color names blue, green, and so forth.
intensity - Answer the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as
brightness of loudness, as determined yo the wave's amplitude
pupil - Answer the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
iris - Answer a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil
and controls the size of the pupil opening.
lens - Answer the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus
Perception Study Guide Exam Fully
Solved (2025) Updated.
sensation - Answer the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive
and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
perception - Answer the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling
us to recognize meaningful objects and events.
bottom-processing - Answer analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to
the brain's integration of sensory information.
top-down processing - Answer information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations.
selective attention - Answer the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
inattentional blindness - Answer falling to see visible objects when our attention is directed
elsewhere.
change blindness - Answer falling to notice changes in the environment.
transduction - Answer conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the
transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our
brain can interpret.
absolute threshold - Answer minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50
percent of the time.
signal detection theory - Answer a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of
a fain stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes that there is no single
absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations,
motivation, and alertness.
, priming - Answer the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus
predisposing one's perception, memory or response.
difference threshold - Answer the minimum difference between two stimuli required for
detection 50 of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference (or jnd).
Weber's Law - Answer the principle that to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ
by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount).
sensory adaptation - Answer diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation.
perceptual set - Answer a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
ESP - Answer extrasensory perception
extrasensory perception - Answer the controversial claim that perception can occur apart from
sensory input; includes telepathy clairvoyance, and precognition.
wavelength - Answer the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the
next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of cosmic rays to the long pulses of
radio transmission.
hue - Answer the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we
know as the color names blue, green, and so forth.
intensity - Answer the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as
brightness of loudness, as determined yo the wave's amplitude
pupil - Answer the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters
iris - Answer a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil
and controls the size of the pupil opening.
lens - Answer the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus
