4.1 Sensation and Perception Are Distinct Activities Flashcards
Define “Sensation”
Simple stimulation of a sense organ.
The basic registration of light, sound, pressure, odor, or taste as parts of your body interact with the physical world.
Define “Perception”
The organization, identification, and interpretation of a sensation in order to form a mental representation
What is “Transduction”?
The process that occurs when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the central nervous system
(Physical energy is converted into Neural energy)
Who developed Psychophysics?
Gustav Fechner; German
Define “Psychophysics”
Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus
What’s an example of a basic Psychophysics experiment?
Researchers could ask people to make a simple judgement—whether or not they saw a flash of light, for example…
The psychophysicist then relates the measured stimulus, such as the brightness of the light flash, to each observer’s yes-or-no response
Define “Absolute Threshold”
The minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus in 50% of trials (half)
What is the JND?
Just Noticeable Difference
Minimal change in stimulus that can just barely be detected
What is Weber’s Law in regards to Just Noticeable Difference?
States that the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity.
As an example, if you picked up a 20-gram envelope, then a 40-gram envelope, you’d probably notice the difference between them. But if you picked up a 2-kilogram and then a 2-kilogram + 20-gram package, you’d probably detect no difference at all between them
What is “Signal Detection Theory”?
Response to a stimulus depends both on the person’s sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of noise and on a person’s response criterion;
Takes into account individual perceptual sensitivity!
What is “Sensory Adaption”?
Sensitivity to prolonged stimulation tends to decline over time as an organism adapts to current conditions
Who was Donald Deskey?
He was a graphic designer from mid-century. His design of the first Tide detergent packaging reveals his solid grasp on the power of perception.
He used visually appealing and striking colours to catch people’s attention.
Which comes first; Sensation or Perception?
Sensation; which is input about the physical world obtained by our sensory receptors
What would happen to our sensation and perception if our visual processing centres in the brain?
Could interfere with the interpretation of information coming from the eyes; making our perception different.
Our senses could be totally intact, but our perception would be compromised.
Sensation and Perception are related, but separate events
What the name of the simplest quantitative measurement in psychophysics?
Absolute Threshold
