Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Vestibular Duct, Cochlear Nerve, Optic Nerve

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

The stimulus-detection process by which our sense organ respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain. Making sense of what our senses tell us. The active process of organizing this stimulus input and giving it meaning. Interpretation, or perception, of the characters is influenced by their context. The process whereby the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses. The study of the relations between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory capabilities. Concerned with 2 types of sensitivity: the absolute limits of sensitivity, differences between stimuli. The lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected correctly 50% of the time. The lower the absolute threshold, the greater the sensitivity. The concept of a fixed absolute threshold is inaccurate because there is no single point on the intensity scale that separates nondetection from detection of a stimulus.