CAS PS 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Visual Cortex, Sensory Neuron, Psychophysics

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Barak Caine

Document Summary

Psychophysics the relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and our perception of those stimuli. Retina with rods (peripheral and dim) and cones (color) Lateral geniculate nuclei of the thalamus (releases neurotransmitters into your body by absorbing sensory information) Left visual field connected to visual area of right hemisphere and vice versa gives more equilibrium. Special cells unique to each sensory organ. Physical energy is converted to a neural signal. Absolute: the smallest, weakest, least intense stimulus that is detected 50% of the time (50% correct, 50% wrong) Difference: detecting smallest change that is detected 50% of the time ( just noticeable difference, jnd) Weber"s law: the jnd increases as the stimulus intensity increases. Perception of a stimulus increases at weber"s constant. You can use jnd of one intensity to measure the other intensity jnd is greater for the greater intensity: 5->10 is easier to detect than 25->30. No change in stimulus or sensory organs, despite a change in our response.