PSYC 1010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Detection Theory, Absolute Threshold, Subliminal Stimuli

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Rebecca Jubis

Document Summary

Perception- the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input. Involves organizing and translating sensory input into something meaningful. Psychophysics- the study of how physical stimuli is translated into psychological experience. Threshold- a dividing point between energy levels that do and do not have detectable effect. Absolute threshold- for a specific type of sensory input is the minimum amount of stimulation that an organism can detect. Defines the boundaries of an organism"s sensory capabilities. Just noticeable difference [jnd]- the smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect. Weber"s law- the size of a just noticeable difference is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus. As stimuli increase in magnitude, the jnd becomes larger. Fechner"s law- the magnitude of a sensory experience is proportional to the number of jnd"s that the stimulus causing the experience is above the absolute threshold.