PSYC 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Detection Theory, Absolute Threshold, Psychophysics

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Rebecca Jubis

Document Summary

The process where by our sensory organs gather info from the outside world. The process whereby the brain organizes and interprets these sensations. The study of how physical stimulus are translated into psychological experience. Example of questions this field would look at: How much of a stimulus is necessary for you to detect it (how much light does it take for you to notice there is light) The point at which, a person can detect the lowest intensity of light, just 50% of the time. A particular point at which, anything below that is too dim to be detected, and anything above would be perceived. Ex for the visual system, the absolute threshold, is being able to view a candle flame 48 km away on a clear dark night. The problem with this method is that people tend to be inconsistent across trials in terms of when they say have perceived the stimuli.