AP Psychology Module 3 Summary questions and answers jan-2024

3.1 How do sensations travel through the central nervous system, and why are some sensations ignored? - Correct Answer Sensation is the activation of receptors located in the eyes, ears, skin, nasal cavities, and tongue Sensory receptors are specialized forms of neurons that are activated by different stimuli such as light and sound A just noticeable difference is the point at which a stimulus is detectable half the time it is present Weber's law of just noticeable differences states that the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is always a constant Absolute thresholds are the smallest amount of energy needed for conscious detection of a stimulus at least half the time it is present Subliminal stimuli are just below the level of conscious awareness but have not been shown to affect behavior in day-to-day life Habituation occurs when the brain ignores a constant stimulus Sensory adaptation occurs when the sensory receptors stop responding to a constant stimulus 3.2 What is light, and how does it travel through the various parts of the eye? - Correct Answer Brightness corresponds to the amplitude of light waves, whereas color corresponds to the length of the light waves Saturation is the psychological interpretation of wavelengths that are all the same (highly saturated) or varying (less saturated) Light enters the eye and is focused through the cornea, passes through the aqueous humor, and then through the hole in the iris muscle called the pupil The lens also focuses the light on the retina, where it passes through ganglion and bipolar cells to stimulate the rods and cones 3.3 How do the eyes see, and how do the eyes see different colors? - Correct Answer Rods detect changes in brightness but do not see color and function best in low levels of light; they do not respond to different colors and are found everywhere in the retina except the center or fovea Cones are sensitive to colors and work best in bright light; they are responsible for the sharpness of visual information and are found in the fovea Trichromatic theory of color perception assumes three types of cones: red, green, and blue; all colors would be perceived as combinations of these three Opponent-process theory of color perception assumes four primary colors of red, green, blue, and yellow; cone are arranged in pairs, and when one member of a pair is activated, the other is not Color blindness is either a total lack of color perception or color perception that is limited to yellows and blue or reds and greens only