PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 33: Psychophysics, Action Potential, Thalamus

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Curtis

Document Summary

The absolute threshold is the minimum stimulus intensity needed to be detected 50% of the time. Difference threshold:the smallest difference in stimulus intensity that a specific sense can detect. Also known as just noticeable difference (jnd) Weber"s law: the size of a just noticeable difference is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus. Signal-detection theory the detection of stimuli involves decision. Processes, along as sensory processes, which are both influenced by a variety of factors besides stimulus intensity. Stimulus event: neural activity , comparison with personal standard, action. Predicts when we will detect a weak stimulus amid background noise. Detection partially depends on experience, expectation, motivations and fatigue level. Sensation: an early stage of perception in which neurons in a receptor create an internal pattern of stimulus that represent the conditions that stimulated it, either inside or outside the body. Perception: make sensory patterns meaningful and elaborate.