PSY 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Parallel Computing, Retina, Optic Nerve

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Nigel Desouza

Document Summary

Thresholds: psychophysics the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. Absolute thresholds: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus (light, sound pressure, taste or odor) 50% of the time. A theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Difference thresholds: the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference (jnd: weber"s law the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount. Vision: transduction conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our brains can interpret.