PSYC 2390 Lecture 2: Psychophysics, Week 2

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2390
• Professor: Lana Trick

Document Summary

Signal detection: physics of the stimuli, relation between the intensity and our psychological reaction to it. When you have a diff. threshold, you need two things: standard, comparison. Take the standard, find the comparison that the person just notices the difference. Method of limits (up and down until difference is seen) Method of adjustments (one thing going on, adjust another until it sounds different) method of constants (for difference threshold) Method of constants is most precise way because out of all the trials, every response is recorded. Makes it the most time consuming take the: weight of comparisons intense) % of the time comparison is judged heavier (more. Difference threshold = intensity judged heavier 75% of the time - intensity judged heavier 25% of the time / 2. People tend to underestimate the intensity of experiences that are more distant in time. The larger the standard, the larger the just noticeable difference will be.