Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5-7: Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis, Color Blindness, Noxious Stimulus

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

Sensation: stimulus detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses. Perception: making sense of what our senses tell us; organizing input and giving it meaning. Same sensory input may be perceived different ways at different times; perception is influenced by context. Transduction: process whereby characteristics of a stimulus are converted into nerve impulses. Psychophysics: study of relation between physical stimulus and psychological response/experience. Absolute threshold: the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected (detected 50% of the time) Studies found that people"s sensitivity can fluctuate a lot; concept of fixed threshold is inaccurate. Decision criterion standard of how certain a person must be that a stimulus is occurring before they will tell you (a researcher) Signal detection theory is concerned with the factors that influence sensory judgements. Difference threshold: smallest difference between two stimulus that a person can perceive (50% of the time); known as a jnd .