Sensation Flashcards
Distal Stimlulus
An object or even in the outside world
Proximal Stimulus
The energies from the outside world that directly reach our sense organs.
Psychophysics
an approach to perception that relates the characteristics of physical stimuli to the sensory experiences they produce.
Absolute threshold
The smallest quantity of a stimulus that an individual can detect at least 50% of the time.
Difference threshold
The smallest amount that a given stimulus must be increased or decreased so that individual can detect the difference.
Just-noticeable difference(jnd)
The smallest difference that an organism can reliably detect between two stimuli.
Weber’s Law
The observation that the size of the difference threshold is proportional to the intensity of the standard stimulus.
Can we compare JND directly across modalities?
No, but with Weber’s law we can.
What is the ranking of the Senses in terms of Weber Fraction
- Vision (most sensitive
- kinesthesia
- Pain (thermal skin)
- Hearing
- Touch
- Smell
- Taste
Perceptual sensitivity is
An organisms ability to detect a signal
Decision criteria are?
An organism’s rule for how much evidence it needs before responding.
What is signal detection theory?
The theory that perceiving ior not perceiving a stimulus is actually a judgment about whether a momentary sensory experience is due to background noise alone or to the background noise plus a signal.
What is a hit:
Signal is present and the person records a yes
What is a miss?
Person gives no signal, but signal is present.
What is a false alarm
Person says yes, but no signal is present
What is a correct negative.
Saying no, when their is no signal response
What is the payoff matrix
The pattern of benefits and costs associated with certain types of responses.
What have people used signal detection theory for?
Memory effects of hypnosis, decisions made by college admissions, medical diagnosis.
Why is signal detection theory important?
Because we often make decisions with imperfect information.
Sensory coding is
The process through which the nervous system represents the qualities of the incoming stimulus–whether auditory or visual, for example or whether a red light or a green light or a sweet tasted.