PSY 105 Midterm: Midtem Review

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 105
• Professor: Skye Fitzpatrick

Document Summary

Lecture 4: sensation and perception (smell & taste) // chapter 4. Sensation: the act of using our sensory systems to detect environmental stimuli: ex. Perception: recognition and identification of a sensory stimulus: ex. Raw sensory data: vision light waves, hearing sound waves, smell airborne chemicals, taste food chemicals, touch pressure. We need sensory receptor cells to process raw sensory data so our brain understands. Sensory receptor cells: specialized cells that convert a specific form of environmental stimuli into neural impulses; like translator from one language to another. Sensory transduction: process of converting a specific form of sensory data into a neural impulse our brain can read. Absolute threshold: minimum stimulus necessary for detection ex. dimmest light you can see. We need thresholds because receiving too much information will overwhelm the senses and you won"t be able to function and focus on what"s important. Difference threshold of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the stimulus intensity.