PSYC 1001 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Absolute Threshold, Neural Adaptation, Somatosensory System
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PSYC 1001 Full Course Notes
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Sensation- what happens when sensory information is detected by a sensory receptor. Transduction- the conversion from sensory stimulus energy to action potential. Absolute threshold- the minimum amount of stimulus energy that must be present for the stimulus to be detected 50% of the time. The sensitivity of a given sensory system to the relevant stimuli can be expressed as an absolute threshold. Subliminal messages- message presented below the threshold of conscious awareness. Just noticeable difference threshold- difference in stimuli required to detect a difference between a stimuli. Unlike the absolute threshold, the difference threshold changes depending on the stimulus intensity. As an example, imagine yourself in a very dark movie theater. If an audience member were to receive a text message on her cell phone which caused her screen to light up, chances are that many people would notice the change in illumination in the theater.
