PSYC 1010 Lecture Notes - Detection Theory, Psychophysics, Retina

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

Document Summary

Sensation: the process whereby our sensory organs gather information from the outside world. Perception: the process whereby the brain interprets and organizes these sensations. The study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience. Absolute threshold: the point at which a person can detect the lowest intensity of light 50% of the time. Difference threshold (jnd): is the smallest difference in stimulation required to discriminate 1 stimulus from another, 50% of the time. People are able to perceive very small changes if the magnitude of reference stimulus is small, but as that magnitude increases, a greater change is necessary before one can perceive a difference. Proposes that the detection of stimuli is based on: the actual intensity of the stimulus, noise , decision-process or response-criterion. 3 types of perceptual organization: depth & distance perception. Monocular cues: form perception, perceptual constancies.