PSY 252 Lecture 2: September 12th psy 252 psychophysics pt 1 of 2
Document Summary
** steven prime would like to develop full course on psychophysics. Sonar tests: basic psychophysical test, can you detect the sound and how far etc. Bulk barn self weighing to see if you have enough- psychophysical tests. Gustav fechner: developed psychophysics field: foundations of psychophysics psychology is the birth of philosophy and neurophysiology. Stimulus intensity: arbitrary units of how bright or loud something is. When the stimulus is very low you may not be able to detect it despite the fact that it is there: absolute threshold is the lowest level that still allows the stimulus to be detected. As stimulus gets turned up slowly, the change may not always be detected: the point where one can detect the difference is called the difference threshold. Psychophysics is trying to solve 3 major problems: Detection: how well do you detect the stimulus (light being visible)
