PSY 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Detection Theory, Change Blindness, Mental Chronometry
Document Summary
Sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin transduce neural signals to various parts of the brain to create sensory experiences. Absolute thresholds- the minimum amount of stimulation necessary to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time. Weber"s law- the stronger the stimulus, the bigger the change needed for a change in the stimulus to be noticeable. Sensory adaptation- sensitivity to stimuli can diminish as a consequence of constant stimulation. Signal detection theory- how stimuli are detected under different conditions. Reaction time- our ability to quickly detect a stimulus affects our ability to react to that stimulus. Perceptual sets- environmental conditions, experiences, expectations, motivation and alertness affect what we sense. Bottom-up processing- first we sense, then assign meaning. Top- down processing- our experiences frame what we sense. Selective attention- conscious awareness is focused only on a very limited aspect of all that you experience.