PSYCH-UA 1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5-5.2: Detection Theory, Visual Cortex, Optic Chiasm
Document Summary
These affect our judgment and attention: signal detection theory (sdt): theory that detection of a stimulus requires judgment (not an all-or-nothing process). If a stimulus is presented continuously, the responses of sensory systems tend to diminish over time. If a stimulus stops suddenly, we respond strongly: the brain constructs stable representations, our conscious experience emerges from communication between neurons inside the skull. From the primary sensory areas we start the perceptual process. The eyes can be completely normal, but damage to visual cortex will impair vision: process: light passes through the cornea, which focuses it into the lens. Then it is bent inward and focused to form an image in the retina: thin, inner surface of the back of the eyeball: the retina contains sensory receptors that transduce light into neural signals. It is the only part of the brain that is visible from outside skull: lens are adjustable, cornea is not.