Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Fovea Centralis, Visual Cortex, Optic Nerve

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Mark Cole

Document Summary

Sensation stimulus-detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses. Perception making sense of what our senses tell us through the active process of organizing this stimulus input and giving it meaning. The only reason we can contact with the outer world in our brain is because certain neurons have developed into specialized sensory receptors that transform the energy forms into code for the nerve impulses. Sensory equipment of any species is an adaptation to the environment where it lives. Energy must be converted into nerve impulses. Transduction the process where the characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses. Psychophysics studies relations between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensory capabilities. It concerns: absolute limits of sensitivity, differences between stimuli. Absolute threshold the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected correctly half the time (50%) No such thing as a fixed absolute threshold.