Early Physiology and Psychophysics Flashcards
Empiricism
Knowledge from the sense
Rationalism
Active intellect (uses our senses)
Early reaction time studies
Illustrated importance of discrepancy between objective and subjective reality
Bell-Magendie law
Demonstrated that sensory nerves entre the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the ventral roots (motor and sensory functions)
Charles Bell
Major discovery around nerves
Magendie
Unaware of Bell’s research, also published the same ideas
Doctrine of specific nerve energies
Johannes Muller - demonstrated that each of the five types of sensory nerves results in a characteristic sensation (each nerve has a unique response)
Adequate Stimulation
Each sensory system is maximally sensitive to a specific type of stimulation but may be stimulated by other forms of energy
Consciousness, sensations, and reality
The central nervous system, not the physical stimulus, determines our sensations
Materialism
Life could be explained in terms of physical and chemical processes and thus there is no need to exclude the study of life from the realm of science
Vitalism
Some life forces can’t be captured or explained (only explained by God)
Helmholtz
Disagreed with the concept of vitalism. Through research, able to demonstrate the concept of conservation of energy to living organisms
Rate of nerve conduction
Helmholtz measured the speed of nerve conduction (165-330 feet). Further proved evidence that physical processes are involved.
Theory of perception
Sensations are raw elements of experience and perceptions are sensations after given meaning y the person’s past experience
Theory of colour vision
Helmholtz proposed three types of colour receptors corresponding to the three primary additive colours
Theory of auditory perception
Proposed a resonance place theory of auditory perception in which the pitches of sound we hear are determined to a great extent on where along the basilar membrane the most vibration is occurring in response to a sound vibration
Ewald Hering
Perception is innate, something we are born with. Respiration is caused by receptors in your lungs. Studied after images
Space perception and colour vision
Suggested that receptors in the eye provide information regarding depth. Space perception as an innate characteristic of the eye.
Christine Ladd-Franklin
Proposed a theory of colour vision that was based on evolutionary theory and evolution of physiology of the system. Achromatic vision came first, then blue-yellow sensitivity, and finally red-green sensitivity
Early research on brain functioning
Toward the end of the 18th century, it was believed that a person’s character could be determined by analyzing his or her facial characteristics
Franz Gall
Developed the first cohesive ideas about phrenology - the magnitude of one’s faculties (in the mind) could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on one’s skull
Johann Spurzheim
Popularized the practice of phrenology with books and demonstrations of its uses.
Pierre Flournes
Used the ablation method (destroying part of the brain and noting behavioral consequences) and investigated the localization of function in the brain
(Phineas Gage)
Paul Broca
Broca’s area
- Responsible for speech production
Using the clinical method (observations in the clinical setting), they were able to localize language and communication functions in the brain
Carl Wernicke
Wernicke’s area
Responsible for speech comprehension
- Using the clinical method (observations in the clinical setting), they were able to localize language and communication functions in the brain
Electrophysiology - Gustav Fristch, Eduard Hitzig
Using electrical stimulation of brain neurons, they found:
- The cortex is not insensitive as previously thought
- That when certain area of the cortex is stimulated, muscular movements on the opposite side of the body are elicited, thus discovering the motor cortex
David Ferrier
These findings and observations by other researchers extended the Bell-Magendie law to the brain
Ernst Weber
Investigated the sense of touch and mapped out the sensitivity of touch for the entire body using the two-point threshold. Sensitivity ranged from the most sensitive on the tongue to the least sensitive on the back
Webers Law
Determined that Weber’s law the finding that the amount of change necessary to notice a difference (jnd) is a constant fraction relating the stimuli.
Gustave Fechner
Argued to be the founder of psychology. Wrote the Adventures of Dr. Mises
Psychophysics
Interested in the relationship between the body and the mind. Led him directly to the study of psychophysics. Speculated that for mental sensations to change arithmetically, the physical stimulus must change geometrically
The JND as the Unit of Sensation
The absolute threshold which is the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected
Psychophysical methods
Developed various methods of research including the method of limits, the method of constant stimuli, and the method of adjustment
Charles Sanders Peirce
Peirce conducted psychology’s first blinded repeated measures-random-assignment experiment, in which subjects were randomly assigned to compare weights without them or the experimenter knowing whether they were equivalent or not
