PS101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Dominant Wavelength, Occipital Lobe, Subjective Constancy
Document Summary
Psychophysics is the study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience. Sensation begins with a stimulus, any detectable input from the environment. A threshold is a dividing point between energy levels that do and do not have a detectable effect. An absolute threshold for a specific type of sensory input is the minimum amount of simulation that an organism can detect. Absolute thresholds define the boundaries of an organism"s sensory capabilities. A candle flame seen at 50 km on a dark clear night. The tick of a watch under quiet conditions at 6m. 5mm of sugar in 7. 5 l of water. One drop of perfume diffused into the entire volume of a six- room apartment. The wing of a fly falling on your cheek from a distance of 1 cm. A just noticeable difference(jnd) is the smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect.
