PSYC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Basilar Membrane, Classical Conditioning, Principles Of Grouping

• School: Towson University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 101
• Professor: John Webster

Document Summary

Psychologists who study sensation and perception are most interested in understanding how we process sensory stimuli such as sights, sounds, and smells. Psychophysics - the study of how the mind interprets the physical properties of stimuli. One of the fundamental questions psychophysicists have sought to answer concerns the limits of human sensory capabilities. Absolute threshold - the minimum intensity of a stimulus at which participants can identify its presence 50% of the time. Difference threshold (just noticeable difference) the minimum change in intensity of a stimulus that participants can detect 50% of the time. Subliminal perception - when the intensity of a stimulus is below the participant"s absolute threshold and the participant is not consciously aware of the stimulus. Extrasensory perception - also known as psi, the purported ability to acquire information about the world without using the known senses, ganzfeld.