Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Dual Process Theory, Detection Theory, Visual Cortex

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Laura Fazakas- De Hoog

Document Summary

Psychology 1000: chapter 5 sensation and perception. Synesthesia: mixing of the senses: one may experience sounds as colours or tastes as touch sensations. Specific parts of the brain are specialized for different sensory functions. In some ways, sensation and perception blend together so much that they are difficult to separate. Sensation: the stimulus-detection process where sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to brain. Perception: making sense of what our senses tell us. The particular stimuli to which different animals are sensitive vary. Transduction: characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses. Psychophysics: studies relations between physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory capabilities; concerned with two kinds of sensitivity: absolute limits of sensitivity, differences between stimuli. Absolute threshold: lowest intensity at which stimulus can be detected correctly 50% of the time. The lower the absolute threshold, the greater the sensitivity.