Chapter 8: Psychology and Psychophysics Flashcards
Charles Bell
Discovered, in modern times, the distinction between sensory and motor nerves
Paul Broca
Found evidence that part of the left frontal lobe of the cortex is specialized for speech production or articulation
Gustav Theodor Fechner
Expanded Weber’s law by showing that, for just noticeable differences to vary arithmetically, the magnitude of a stimulus must vary geometrically
David Ferrier
Created a more detailed map of the motor cortex than Fritsch and Hitzig had. He also mapped cortical areas corresponding to the cutaneous senses, audition, olfaction, and vision
Pierre Flourens
Concluded that the cortical region of the brain acts as a whole and is not divided into a number of faculties, as the phrenologists had maintained
Gustav Fritsch
Along with Hitzig, discovered motor areas on the cortex by directly stimulating the exposed cortex of a dog
Franz Joseph Gall
Believed that the strengths of mental faculties varied from person to person and that they could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on a person’s skull. Such an examination came to be called phrenology
Hermann von Helmholtz
A monumental figure in the history of science who did pioneer work in the areas of nerve conduction, sensation, perception, color vision, and audition
Ewald Hering
Offered a atavistic explanation of space perception and a theory of color vision based on the existence of three color receptors, each capable of a catabolic process and an anabolic process. Hering’s theory of color vision could explain a number of color experiences that Helmholtz’s theory could not
Eduard Hitzig
Along with Fritsch, discovered motor areas on the cortex by directly stimulating the exposed cortex of a dog
Christine Ladd-Franklin
Proposed a theory of color vision based on evolutionary principles
François Magendie
Discovered, in modern times, the distinction between sensory and motor nerve
Johannes Müller
Expanded the Bell–Magendie law by demonstrating that each sense receptor, when stimulated, releases an energy specific to that particular receptor. This finding is called the doctrine of specific nerve energies
Ernst Heinrich Weber
Using the two-point threshold and the just noticeable difference, he was the first to demonstrate systematic relationships between stimulation and sensation
Absolute threshold
The smallest amount of stimulation that can be detected by an organism
Adequate stimulation
Stimulation to which a sense modality is maximally sensitive
Bell-Magendie Law
There are two types of nerves: sensory nerves carrying impulses from the sense receptors to the brain and motor nerves carrying impulses from the brain to the muscles and glands of the body
Broca’s area
The speech area on the left frontal lobe side of the cortex (the inferior frontal gyros)
Clinical method
The technique that Broca used. It involves first determining a behavior disorder in a living patient and then, after the patient had died, locating the part of the brain responsible for the behavior disorder
Differential threshold
The amount that stimulation needs to change before a difference in that stimulation can be detected
Doctrine of specific nerve energies
Each sensory nerve, no matter how it is stimulated, releases an energy specific to that nerve
Formal discipline
The belief that the faculties of the mind can be strengthened by practicing the functions associated with them.Thus, one supposedly can become better at reasoning by studying mathematics or logic
Just noticeable difference (jnd)
The sensation that results if a change in stimulus intensity exceeds the differential threshold
Kinesthesis
The sensations caused by muscular activity
Method of adjustment
An observer adjusts a variable stimulus until it appears to be equal to a standard stimulus
Method of constant stimuli
A stimulus is presented at different intensities along with a standard stimulus, and the observer reports if it appears to be greater than, less than, or equal to the standard
Method of limits
A stimulus is presented at varying intensities along with a standard (constant) stimulus to determine the range of intensities judged to be the same as the standard
Negative sensations
According to Fechner, sensations that occur below the absolute threshold and are, therefore, below the level of awareness
Panpsychism
The belief that everything in the universe experiences consciousness
Perception (Helmholtz)
According to Helmholtz, the mental experience arising when sensations are embellished by the recollection of past experiences
Personal equations
The idea that different observers have different reaction times, which can introduce biases when it comes to the measurements and observations
Phrenology
The examination of the bumps and depressions on the skull in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of various mental faculties
Physiognomy
The attempt to determine a person’s character by analyzing his or her facial features, bodily structure, and habitual patterns of posture and movement
Principle of conservation of energy
The energy within a system is constant; therefore, it cannot be added to or subtracted from but only transformed from one form to another
Psychophysics
The systematic study of the relationship between physical and psychological events.
Reaction time
The period of time between presentation of and response to a stimulus
Resonance place theory of auditory perception
The tiny fibers on the basilar membrane of the inner ear are stimulated by different frequencies of sound. The shorter the fiber, the higher the frequency to which it responds
Sensation
The rudimentary mental experience caused when sense receptors are stimulated by an environmental stimulus
Two-point threshold
The smallest distance between two points of stimulation at which the two points are experienced as two points rather than one
Unconscious inference
According to Helmholtz, the process by which the remnants of past experience are added to sensations, thereby converting them into perceptions
Vitalism
Vitalism is the belief that living organisms possess a unique life force or vital force that distinguishes them from non-living matter. It suggests that this force is responsible for the characteristic properties of life and cannot be fully explained by physical and chemical principles alone. While historically influential, vitalism is no longer widely accepted in modern scientific thought.
Weber’s law
Just noticeable differences correspond to a constant proportion of a standard stimulus
Young-Helmholtz theory of colour vision
Separate receptor systems on the retina are responsive to each of the three primary colors: red, green, and blue–violet. Also called the trichromatic theory
