Difficult Topics:

AP College Board Course of Study:Sensation and Perception

3.1 Principles of Sensation:

3.A Describe general principles of organizing and integrating sensation to promote stable awareness of the external world. EXAMPLES: Gestalt principles, Depth perception, Top-down processing, Bottom-up processing

3.B Discuss basic principles of sensory transduction, including absolute threshold, difference threshold, signal detection, and sensory adaptation.

3.C Identify the research contributions of major historical figures in sensation and perception. Examples: Contributions of Gustav Fechner, David Hubel, Ernst Weber, Torsten Wiesel

3.2 Principles of Perception

3.D Discuss how experience and culture can influence perceptual processes. Examples: Perceptual set, Context effects, Schema

3.E Discuss the role of attention in behavior.

3.3 Visual Anatomy

3.F Describe the vision process, including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the senses. Examples: Vision process, Concepts related to visual perception, Theories of color vision

3.G Explain common sensory conditions. Examples: Visual and hearing impairments, Synesthesia

3.4 Visual Perception.

3.H Explain the role of top-down processing in producing vulnerability to illusion.

3.5 Auditory Sensation and Perception

3.I Describe the hearing process, including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the senses. Examples: Hearing process

3.6 Chemical Senses

3.J Describe taste and smell processes, including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the senses. Examples: Taste, Smell

3.7 Body Senses

3.K Describe sensory processes, including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the body senses. Examples: Body sense: touch, Body sense: pain, Body sense: vestibular,Body sense: kinesthesis