PSYC 100A Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Subliminal Stimuli, Detection Theory, Absolute Threshold

• School: University of Victoria
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100A
• Professor: Martin Sherer Smith

Document Summary

Sensation: the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. Perception: the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. Our bottom-up processing starts at the sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing (hard-wired) Our top-down processing constructs perceptions from the sensory input by drawing on our experience and expectations (explains visual illusions) Every second of every day, our sensory systems perform an amazing feat: they convert one form of energy into another. Hearing processes soundwaves: all of our senses receive sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells, they transform that stimulation into neural impulses, deliver the neural information to our brain. The process of converting one form of energy into another that our brain can use is called transduction. The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular light, sound, pressure, taste, or odor about 50 percent of the time.