AP PSYCHOLOGY EXAM REVIEW -
UNIT 1 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Sensation - Correct Answers -The process of taking information in from the
environment.
Transduction - Correct Answers -The process of changing raw sensory data into an
electrochemical message that will be sent to the brain for interpretation.
Perception - Correct Answers -How we recognize, interpret and organize our
sensations.
Kinesthetic Sense - Correct Answers -Monitors the position and movements of muscles,
bones, and joints. Receptors in the joints and tendons send the brain information about
the angle of your limbs.
Vestibular Sense - Correct Answers -The system for balance. Fluid in the semicircle
canals of the inner-ear maintain the body's sense of balance.
Detection Threshold or Absolute Threshold - Correct Answers -The minimum intensity
of energy required to produce sensation in a receptor cell at least 50% of the time.
Difference Threshold or Just Noticeable Difference - Correct Answers -The smallest
change in stimulation that you can detect .
Weber's Law - Correct Answers -The greater the magnitude of the stimulus, the larger
the difference must be in order to be noticed.
Sensory Adaptation - Correct Answers -Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant
and unchanging stimulation.
Sclera - Correct Answers -The white, fibrous material that provides the structure and
shape to the eyeball.
Vitreous Humor - Correct Answers -The clear, gel-like fluid inside of the eyeball that
helps to maintain its shape.
Cornea - Correct Answers -Transparent protective coating over the front part of the eye
.
, Iris - Correct Answers -The colored part of the eye - this muscle dilates or contracts the
pupil to allow more or less light to enter.
Pupil - Correct Answers -The small, adjustable center of the iris that allows light to enter
the eye.
Retinal Disparity - Correct Answers -A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing
images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the
disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.
Place Theory - Correct Answers -Iin hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with
the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
Volley Theory - Correct Answers -A theory that proposes that our brain decodes pitch
by noticing the frequency at which groups of hair cells on the basilar membrane are
firing
Lens - Correct Answers -Flexible enough to focus on objects near or far.
Accommodation - Correct Answers -If an object is very close is gets smaller and
rounder; if an object is further away, it get larger and wider.
Retina - Correct Answers -The inner lining of the back of the eyeball. The lens focuses
an image from the outside world on the retina, and the retina in turn transduces the
image.
Rods - Correct Answers -Determine shades of light and dark and peripheral vision.
Cones - Correct Answers -Determine color.
Ganglion Cells - Correct Answers -Detect edges, lines, angles and movement and
transmit to feature detectors in the brain.
Fovea - Correct Answers -On the retina, directly behind the lens. The area of sharpest
picture.
Optic Nerve - Correct Answers -Carries the transduced visual information from the eye
and sends it to the brain for processing.
Blind Spot - Correct Answers -The area closest to the optic nerve, that has no receptor
cells. Also known as the optic disc.
Young-Helmholtz Theory or Trichromatic Theory - Correct Answers -Cones in the eye
are pre-set to be sensitive to RED, GREEN, and BLUE. Depending on which cone(s) is
stimulated, and to what degree, we see a wide range of colors.
UNIT 1 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Sensation - Correct Answers -The process of taking information in from the
environment.
Transduction - Correct Answers -The process of changing raw sensory data into an
electrochemical message that will be sent to the brain for interpretation.
Perception - Correct Answers -How we recognize, interpret and organize our
sensations.
Kinesthetic Sense - Correct Answers -Monitors the position and movements of muscles,
bones, and joints. Receptors in the joints and tendons send the brain information about
the angle of your limbs.
Vestibular Sense - Correct Answers -The system for balance. Fluid in the semicircle
canals of the inner-ear maintain the body's sense of balance.
Detection Threshold or Absolute Threshold - Correct Answers -The minimum intensity
of energy required to produce sensation in a receptor cell at least 50% of the time.
Difference Threshold or Just Noticeable Difference - Correct Answers -The smallest
change in stimulation that you can detect .
Weber's Law - Correct Answers -The greater the magnitude of the stimulus, the larger
the difference must be in order to be noticed.
Sensory Adaptation - Correct Answers -Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant
and unchanging stimulation.
Sclera - Correct Answers -The white, fibrous material that provides the structure and
shape to the eyeball.
Vitreous Humor - Correct Answers -The clear, gel-like fluid inside of the eyeball that
helps to maintain its shape.
Cornea - Correct Answers -Transparent protective coating over the front part of the eye
.
, Iris - Correct Answers -The colored part of the eye - this muscle dilates or contracts the
pupil to allow more or less light to enter.
Pupil - Correct Answers -The small, adjustable center of the iris that allows light to enter
the eye.
Retinal Disparity - Correct Answers -A binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing
images from the retinas in the two eyes, the brain computes distance—the greater the
disparity (difference) between the two images, the closer the object.
Place Theory - Correct Answers -Iin hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with
the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
Volley Theory - Correct Answers -A theory that proposes that our brain decodes pitch
by noticing the frequency at which groups of hair cells on the basilar membrane are
firing
Lens - Correct Answers -Flexible enough to focus on objects near or far.
Accommodation - Correct Answers -If an object is very close is gets smaller and
rounder; if an object is further away, it get larger and wider.
Retina - Correct Answers -The inner lining of the back of the eyeball. The lens focuses
an image from the outside world on the retina, and the retina in turn transduces the
image.
Rods - Correct Answers -Determine shades of light and dark and peripheral vision.
Cones - Correct Answers -Determine color.
Ganglion Cells - Correct Answers -Detect edges, lines, angles and movement and
transmit to feature detectors in the brain.
Fovea - Correct Answers -On the retina, directly behind the lens. The area of sharpest
picture.
Optic Nerve - Correct Answers -Carries the transduced visual information from the eye
and sends it to the brain for processing.
Blind Spot - Correct Answers -The area closest to the optic nerve, that has no receptor
cells. Also known as the optic disc.
Young-Helmholtz Theory or Trichromatic Theory - Correct Answers -Cones in the eye
are pre-set to be sensitive to RED, GREEN, and BLUE. Depending on which cone(s) is
stimulated, and to what degree, we see a wide range of colors.
