PSY100Y5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Basilar Membrane, Gustav Fechner, Cochlea
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PSY100Y5 Full Course Notes
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People generally rely on three type of cues to know which way is up: visual, gravity and body direction. Sensation is the stimulation of sense organs: absorption of energy (light/sound waves) by sensory organs. Perception is the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input: organizing and translating sensory input into something meaningful. Psychophysics: the study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience: gustav fechner was a key contributor (1860) Threshold: is a dividing point between energy levels that do and do not have a detectable effect i. e. what amount of light is necessary to be seen. Absolute threshold: for a specific type of sensory input is the minimum amount of stimulation that an organism can detect: not actually absolute as stimulus intensity increases subjects probability of responding to stimuli gradually increases. A just noticeable difference (knd) is the smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect.
