01:830:101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Detection Theory, Response Bias, Railways Act 1921

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: 01:830:101
• Professor: Dr. Brynildsen

Document Summary

Sensation: process by which sense organs gather information about the environment and transmit it to the brain. Perception: process by which the brain selects, organizes, and interprets sensations. Transduction: translation of physical energy into electrical signals. Bottom-up processing: starts with raw sensory data that feed up to the brain. Top-down processing: starts with observer"s expectations and knowledge. Absolute threshold: minimal amount of stimulation that can be detected. Occurs when person can detect signal 50% of the time. Difference threshold: lowest level of stimulation required to sense that a change in stimulation has occurred. Just noticeable difference (jnd): smallest difference in intensity between 2 stimuli that person can detect (same as difference threshold) Weber"s law (fraction): for 2 stimuli to be perceived as different in intensity, the second must differ from the first by a constant proportion. Experiencing a sensation means making a judgement. Response bias: person"s readiness to report detecting a stimulus.