1.

i. In psychological researches variables are behaviors, events, or other

characteristics that can change, or vary, in some way. And an experiment is
designed to determine the effect of an independent variable on a dependent
variable. A Confounding variable is anything that differs between the control
group and the experimental group besides the independent variable. It is a
variable other than the independent variable that has systematically affected the
dependent variable throughout an experiment. They occur when one or more
variables other than the independent variable are permitted to vary across
conditions of an experiment or when we have results that can’t be attributed to the
independent variable alone. An Extraneous variable is any variable outside the
experimental design that has the potential to affect the dependent variable. In an
experiment it’s important to control extraneous variables so that valid conclusions
are made. An extraneous variable that affects the validity of an experiment is
referred to as a confounding variable. In terms of similarities between them; both
of them are variables other than the independent variable that may affect the
dependent variable. Both can compromise the validity or reliability of the results.

ii. Independent Variable (IV) is the variable that is systematically changed in an

experiment. The independent variable in the experiment is the variable that is
manipulated to test its effects on the other, dependent variable. And also, it’s the
kind of variable that is controlled throughout the experiment, but is not affected
by any other variable. Dependent Variable (DV) is the variable that is measured
in an experiment. The dependent variable in the experiment is measured to see
how it is changed from the manipulation of the independent variable. It is the
variable being tested that depends on other factors. Both the IV and DV’s may
change during the duration of the experiment. However, the experimenter is in
control of changing the independent variable, but not the dependent variable. The
dependent variable solely changes the influence of the independent variable.

iii. Examples for Confounding and Extraneous Variable

E.g 1. A researcher who wants to know whether a sunlight makes plants grow, starts light
growth experiment by placing one plant in the sunlight and one in the darkness. After a
time when he sees that one of his plants is doing better than the other, he might assume
that its due to the sunlight but it may be wrong because; the water given for each of them,
soil and air temperature, location, container size; which all of these are extraneous
variables, are not measured accurately. They may or may not interfere with the
experiment. If any of this impact the result then we call it a Confounding variable.

E.g 2. Situational variables, participant variables, investigator effects and demand

characteristics are all extraneous variables that have the potential to affect the results of
the experiment. If they are not controlled however, they become confounding variables.
 Examples for Independent Variable and Dependent Variable.
Robert wanted to test how tall would tree grow after 1 year of treating it with a certain type
of fertilizer. In this experiment time is and will always be an independent variable. Because,
the height of the tree may change and also the amount of fertilizer, but will have no effect on
1 year period. Hence, we can’t speed up or slow time down, it will always be independent
from anything we do. In this case the height of tree is a dependent variable because its
dependent on the amount time, type of fertilizer, temperature and so on.
2.
SENSATION PERCEPTION

The experience of sensory stimulation.
Encompasses the processes by which our sense
organs receive information from the environment.
The activation of the sense organs by a source of
physical energy.
Input about the physical world provided by our
sensory receptors.
Involves transduction, the translation of physical
energy into electrical signals by specialized
receptor cells.
Sensation is not affected by culture.
Is associated with sensory memory.
The process of creating meaningful patterns from
the sensory information
is the brain’s and the sense organs’ sorting out,
interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli.
Receives information from the senses and
organizes and interprets into meaningful
experiences is largely conscious.
The process through which we select, organize,
and interpret input from our sensory receptors.
Involves perceptual organization and
interpretation as the main process of perception.
Perception is affected by culture because our
interpretation depends on it.
Is associated with perceptual memory.

a meaningless bit of information meaningful sensory experiences

E.g1 Hearing a song on the radio. E.g1 Feeling happy because you remember the
time with your friend and you heard that song.
E.g2 Tasting broccoli E.g2 Spitting back out because you hate broccoli.

3. SENSORY ADAPTATION
Is a reduced sensitivity to unchanging stimuli over time. Adaptation is an adjustment in
sensory capacity after prolonged exposure to unchanging stimuli. It occurs when we become
accustomed to a constant stimulus and change our evaluation of it. And also repeated
exposure to a stimulus result in an apparent decline in sensitivity to it. If a stimulus is
 constant and unchanging, eventually a person may fail to respond it. However, extreme
intense stimulus can’t be adapted.
E.g1. A swimmer dives into a pool, notice the water is chilly. However, after swimming for a
while he/she don’t notice the water temperature.
Eg2. When we go out specially to the big cities, we hear a big noise of city traffic with a lot
of people. But after we stay in it for a while, we adapt that big noise of everything.

SELECTIVE ATTENTION
Because of human beings cannot absorb all of the available sensory information in their
environment, it’s important to selectively attend to certain aspects of the environment while
relegating others to the background. It is the process of selecting some inputs to attend to
while ignoring others. An input is more likely to reach a person’s awareness if it relates to an
anticipated event. Selective attention has obvious advantages, since it allows us to maximize
information gained from the object of our focus while reducing sensory interference from
other irrelevant sources. Selective attention to one thing may mean neglect of another.
E.g1. A professional football player may not recognize the voice of cheering huge crowded
fan while he’s playing. However, after a referee whistle to stop playing for an half hour play
this player may recognize a fans cheering for his team as well as himself.
E.g2. A selective attention example is having a conversation with someone in a crowded,
public space. One chooses to focus on what the friend is saying rather than every single noise
present in the background.

TRANSDUCTION
Transduction refers to the process in which a sense organ changes or transforms physical energy
into electrical signals that become neural impulses, which may be sent to the brain for
processing. It is the process of turning environmental information into neural impulses, in which
our sense organs produce neural impulses by their own required characteristics. In all the sense
organs, it is the job of sensory receptors to convert incoming stimuli information into
electrochemical signals-neural activity. For instance, Eyes through light waves, Nose through
chemical reaction from gaseous molecules, Tongue through chemical reactions, Ear through
sound waves, and Skin through pressure, pain and temperature create neural impulses.
E.g1. As we read any word, our eyes capture the lights reflected off the page in front of us. Then
structures in our eyes change this pattern of light into signals that are sent to brain and
interpreted as language.
E.g2. The brain receiving the sensory stimulus of smelling smoke. Because the brain smells
smoke, it may being to perceive that something nearby is burning.
4. As we are living in three-dimensional world depth perception, the ability to judge the
distance of objects, is crucial to human beings because it involves the interpretation of
visual cues that indicate how near or far away objects are. These cues can be divided into
two categories, monocular and binocular, depending on whether they can be seen with
only one eye or require the use of both eyes.

A. MONOCULAR CUES: are cues to depth or distance provided by only one eye. They
permit us to obtain a sense of depth and distance with just one eye. Some types of
monocular cues are presented below.
i. Accommodation: is the tension of the muscle that changes the focal length of the
lens of eye. In order to focus on close-up objects, certain muscles in our eye
contract, altering the shape of our lens. When looking at objects that are far away,
these same muscles relax.?
E.g Approaching objects at the bridge of our nose, if we feel our eye muscle is
contracted then the object is very near. If we feel our eyes muscle is relaxed then the
object is far from us.
ii. Motion parallax: a type of depth perception cue in which objects that are closer
appear to move faster than objects that are further.
E,g When we travel in a vehicle, objects far away appear to move in the same
direction as the observer, whereas close objects move in the opposite direction.
Objects at different distances appear to move at different velocities.
iii. Overlap or interposition: If one object overlaps another, it is seen as being closer
than the one it covers or when one object overlaps another, the object that is
partially obscured is perceived as being farther away.
E.g When we use our computer, we know that the keyboard is closer than the desk
because you we see the desk around the keyboard.
iv. Texture gradient: is that the texture of a surface appears smoother as distance
increases.
E.g A stadium in which a lot of fans are attended their texture become more visible
when we are closer and when we get far from them their texture become smoother
and near to the ground.
v. Height cues (aerial perspective): Below the horizon, objects lower down in our field
of vision are perceived as further; above the horizon, objects higher up are seen as
closer.  is a monocular cue of depth perception, where objects which are further away
appear lighter and less detailed.
E.g Standing on a tall mountain and observing grass, rocks, and trees up close, while
seeing mainly bluish colors in a distant valley.
 vi. Linear perspective: is method of determining depth by noting that parallel lines
appear to converge in the distance. The lines appear to eventually merge on the
horizon.
E.g., The apparent convergence of two parallel lines, specifically while viewing a
long, two-lane stretch of highway.

B. BINOCULAR CUES: are cues to depth or distance provided by the use of both eyes
or it is depth information based on the coordinated efforts of both eyes.

i. Convergence: In order to see close objects, our eyes turn toward one another; the
greater this movement, the closer such objects appear to be.
E.g. ?
ii. Retinal disparity (binocular parallax): Our two eyes observe objects from slightly
different positions in space; the difference between these two images is interpreted by
our brain to provide another cue to depth.
?
5. Detection or signal detection theory is a method of differentiating a person's ability to
discriminate the presence and absence of a stimulus (or different stimulus intensities)
from the criterion the person uses to make responses to those stimuli. It is about detecting
stimuli (a signal) through the senses. Testing the signal detection theory exposes
observers to signals. The initial study was designed to determine a threshold (minimum
value) for human response to stimuli. However, it has changed from determining a
threshold to testing how observers respond to signals. The threshold experiment showed
the observers had nothing in common in relation to creating values for human observers
as a standard threshold. The study, however, determined how observers view the signals.
Observers perceive signals as generally due to the participant not paying attention or not
being strong enough. Signal detection theory is based on the decision-making process as
one has to decide if they will act on the signal or not. The decision-making process is
applied to the signal detection theory by one's response or sensitivity to stimuli (a signal).
When testing the signal detection theory, a signal is given or not, and the observer recognizes
the signal or not. The outcomes of the signal detection experiment are Hit. Miss, False alarm,
and correct rejection.
Hit
Hit refers to the observer being exposed to the stimulus and the observe recognizing the
stimulus. Hit is a positive outcome of the testing as the stimulus was present and
acknowledged by the observer.
 Miss
Miss exposes the observer to the stimulus, but the observer does not acknowledge the present
stimulus. Miss is viewed as a negative outcome, and it indicates that something in the testing
was wrong. In the case of a miss, the stimulus was present but went undetected by the
observer.
False Alarm
The stimulus is not present, but the observer thinks they encountered a stimulus
Correct Rejection
The observer is not exposed to a stimulus, and they do not acknowledge a stimulus; this is
called correct rejection. This is a positive outcome of the testing as the stimulus was not
present, and the observer did not sense any signal.
E.g., In the hearing test, the subjects were commanded to raise their hand when they hear the
sound and if they didn’t hear they should not have to raise their hand.
At first, the sound was present and the subject raises the hand in this case we call it a Hit.
Because the signal was present and there was a positive response.
Secondly, the sound was present but the subject does not raise their hand in this case it would be
a Miss.
Thirdly, the sound was absence they didn’t play a sound but the subject raise their hand thinking
that they heard a sound. And this is going to be a False alarm.
Finally, the sound was absent and the subject does not raise their hand. And this will be a correct
rejection.
6. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a response naturally elicited by a
stimulus comes to be elicited by a formerly neutral stimulus. Operant conditioning is a
kind of learning in which a behavior is performed, followed by a consequence. Learning
takes place as a result of some voluntary action by the learner. In classical conditioning,
learning takes place without choice. The stimulus causes the response. Operant
conditioning takes place after the response, while classical conditioning takes place
before the response. Classical conditioning is learning by association, and operant
conditioning is learning by reinforcement.
In contrast to classical conditioning, operant conditioning involves encouraging or
discouraging a specific behavior using reinforcement