PSYCH 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Absolute Threshold, Psychophysics, Detection Theory
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PSYCH 101 Full Course Notes
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Sensory systems are designed to extract the information we need to function and survive. Transduction: converting the characteristics of a stimulus into nerve impulses o. Psychophysics: studies relationship between physical characteristics of stimuli and our sensory capabilities o. Physical characteristics in our world and how we sense them. Absolute threshold: the lowest intensity where a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time. The lower your threshold, the greater your sensitive notice. Its not going to take as much energy for you to be aware of it. The least amount of pressure put onto you where you can. Decision criterion: how certain a person must be that a stimulus is present before they will say they detect it. A lot of influences into your decision criterion. I"ll give you a dollar for every correct answer you get --> shift in decision criterion --> you raise your hand even if you have some doubts.
