PSYC 2510 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, Cochlea, Receptive Field

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2510
• Professor: Agnieszka Kopinska

Document Summary

Sensation-- the stimulation of sense organs (e. g. , ear, taste bud) Perception-- the selection, organization, & interpretation of sensory info. Threshold-- the point at which a stimulus can first be detected. As stimulus intensity increases, probability of responding to stimulus gradually increases. Absolute threshold-- the intensity level at which the probability of detecting stimulus is 50% (50% of the time) Just noticeable difference (jnd)-- the smallest difference that can be detected between 2 intensity levels of a stimulus. Weber"s law-- the change in stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus. Does not always hold for stimuli of extreme intensity. Weber fraction for perception of weight is 1/30. Jnd is 10g for a 300g weight (300*1/30=30g) Jnd for a 900g weight is 30g (900*1/30=30g) instead of 10g. Fechner"s law-- the magnitude of a subjective sensation increases proportionally to the stimulus intensity, but only to a certain point.