PSYC 100A Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Detection Theory, Gustav Fechner, Absolute Threshold

• School: University of Victoria
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100A
• Professor: Martin 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. Sensation is the bottom-up process by which our sensory receptors and our nervous system receive and represent stimuli. Perception is the top-down process in which our brains create meaning by organizing and interpreting what our senses detect. In our everyday lives, sensation and perception blend into one continuous process: Bottom-up processing: analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain"s integration of sensory information. Allows our sensory system to detect the lines, angles, colours, form of the ower and the leaves. Top-down processing: information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. Transduction: conversion of one form of energy to another. Receive sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells.