PSY 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Detection Theory, Neural Adaptation, Synesthesia

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 102
• Professor: Paul Brunet

Document Summary

Illusion: they way the stimuli is perceived doesn"t match its physical reality. Perception: the brains interpretation of these raw sensory input, perception give it meanings, taking the sensory input and organizing it, look with your eyes, see with your brain. Sensation allows us to pick up the signals in our environment, while perception allows us to assemble the signals into something useful. Psychophysics: is the study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics. Absolute threshold: is the lowest level of stimulus we can detect on 50 percent of the trials when no other stimuli of that type is present. Specific nerve energies: states that even though there are many types of stimulus energies (light, sound, touch) the sensation we experience is determined by the nature of the sense receptor, not the stimulus. Synaesthesia: a condition in which people experience cross modal sensations, e. g. like hearing a sound and seeing a specific colour.