COGS 101A Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Power Law, Pineal Gland, Absolute Threshold
● Measuring Perception...cont.
○ David Marr’s levels
■ Computational
■ Algorithmic
■ Implementation
○ Perception
■ A: Behavior and stimulus
● Perception and recognition > action > stimulus in environment
● Physical properties of a stimulus affects our minds
● Mind-body problem
○ What is the relationship between mental and physical
realm
○ Mind-body problem
■ What is the relationship between mental and physical realm
■ Dualism
● Humans have both mind (non-physical), and a body
● Plato; pineal gland connects the separate entities of mind and
body
■ Monism
● Mind and matter are formed from the same underlying substance
● Materialists
○ Matter is the only reality, the mind is the brain
■ Psychophysics
● Study of defining quantitative relationships between mental
experience and physical events
● Goal: formalize relationship through
■ Detection
● Recognizing differences
● Absolute threshold: bare minimum amount that you can detect
something, assuming all other senses of of the same kind of none
○ Method of Limits
■ Introducing stimulus then lowering or increasing the
amount of it, taking the average of the crossover
point
○ Method of adjustment
■ People change the amount of stimulus on their own
until it is detectable
○ Method of constant stimulus
■ Measures the threshold at which the participant
reports seeing the stimulus 50% of the time
○ Adaptive staircase Method
Document Summary
Perception and recognition > action > stimulus in environment. Physical properties of a stimulus affects our minds. What is the relationship between mental and physical. What is the relationship between mental and physical realm. Humans have both mind (non-physical), and a body. Plato ; pineal gland connects the separate entities of mind and body. Mind and matter are formed from the same underlying substance. Matter is the only reality, the mind is the brain. Study of defining quantitative relationships between mental experience and physical events. Absolute threshold : bare minimum amount that you can detect something, assuming all other senses of of the same kind of none. Introducing stimulus then lowering or increasing the amount of it, taking the average of the crossover point. People change the amount of stimulus on their own until it is detectable. Measures the threshold at which the participant reports seeing the stimulus 50% of the time.
