PSY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ganglion Cell, Absolute Threshold, Longcase Clock
Document Summary
Sensation- a process of detecting stimulus energy and activating sense organs (eyes, ear, skin, tongue, nose) Transduction- organ receptor cells convert stimulus energy into neuroenergy/ neuroimpulses. Stimuli- any environmental energy that affects us (sights, sounds, tastes) Receptors- the cells that convert environment energy into neural energy (exp. - taste buds on tongue, rods and cones in eyes) Absolute threshold- the minimum stimulus energy needed for a sensation; if it doesn"t reach minimal threshold, you won"t have a reaction (can"t feel mites on eyelashes, women have lower absolute threshold for smell) Difference threshold (just noticeable difference)- the minimum difference between two stimuli necessary to notice a difference between the two stimuli (kid and grandpa watching tv, turn up sounds; kid has a lower difference threshold) Weber"s law- 2 stimuli must differ by a constant percentage of the original (exp. - 2% for weight, 8% for light)
