PS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thermal Energy, Olfactory Bulb, Peripheral Nervous System
Document Summary
Absolute threshold: minimum amount of stimulation an organism can detect 50% of the time. Just noticeable difference: smallest detectable difference in the amount of stimulation: governed by weber"s law (jnd is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus) Fechner"s law: how much you perceive is a function of # jnds above absolute threshold. Signal detection theory: detection involves sensation and decision. Highest number of cones: bright light, colour. As you move to the periphery, number of cones decrease, rods increased: rods are sensitive to dim light but not colour, ganglion = optic nerve-> brain. Phase 1: center - surround arrangement (firing) (inhibited: so if one cell is firing, the other is inhibited (vice versa) Can go to thalamus or superior colliculus. They process specific widths widths, angles and positions complex cells. Perceive a variety of angles, and positions. Responsible fro understanding, for perceiving and putting patterns together.
