PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Thalamus, Sound Pressure, Cochlea

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Kenneth Campbell

Document Summary

We all seem to have the same sensory receptors. Yet what you and i call the experience or consciousness of the sensation seems to be quite different. Transduction receptor translates (or transduces ) the physical energy. Processing (presumably) takes place at a higher level. Location (where is it in space, spatial location) Minimum amount of energy required to detect the stimulus on 50% of trials) The magnitude that a stimulus has to be increased (or decreased) in order for a change to be detected is a constant proportion) (note not constant addition) The absolute threshold may vary for reasons that have nothing to do with sensitivity . Subjects might be more or less willing to indicate that they have detected a low intensity stimulus. Thus, on some trials, a no-stimulus catch trial is included. If the subject answers yes to this stimulus, it is considered a false alarm .