PSYC 305 Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Document Summary
Chapter 10: psychophysics and the formal founding of psychology. Psychophysics: study of the relationship between physical properties of stimuli + psychological/ subjective impressions of those stimuli. Began as informal speculation about nature of the relationship between objects in the world + our perception of those objects. In limited + modest way early studies in psychophysics challenged naive realism + solipsistic claims. Involves study of properties of stimuli as measured by physical scale + psychological impressions of those stimuli. Ex: can measure a series of tones in terms of vibrations/ frequencies. Tones average young person hears between 20 hz - 20 000 hz lower + upper threshold. Part of early works for psychophysics = investigating lower + upper thresholds for varieties of stimuli in all sensory modalities. Thresholds: defined operationally as minimal or maximal stimulus intensity that is detected 50% of the time. Difference threshold: minimal stimulus difference that is detectable 50% of the time.