PSYC 110 - Sensation and Perception

Terms in this set (40) Sensation Process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment; Detection of info by senses and transmission of this info to your brain Perception Process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognise meaningful objects and events; process by which your brain organizes and interprets sensory input; if selectively impaired for faces, this would allow you to recognise people from their hair, gait, voice, or particular physique, but just not their face Brainpower Read More Transduction Conversion of one form of energy into another; In sensation, this is the transforming of stimulus energies such as sights, sounds, and smells into neural impulses our brain can interpret Absolute threshold Minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 % of the time; Would be tested for if a hearing specialist exposed each of your ears to varying sound levels and, for each tone, the test defined where half the time you could detect the sound and half the time you could not Difference threshold Minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time; Also known as the just noticeable difference (jnd) Weber's law Principle that, to be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by a constant minimum % (rather than a constant amount); law that accounts for the fact that if you add 1 oz to a 10 oz weight then you will detect the difference, but if you add 1 oz to a 100 oz weight then you probably will not; States that 2 light objects must differ in weight by 8% for an avg person to perceive the difference; states 2 objects must differ in weight by 2% in order for an avg person to perceive the difference; states 2 tones must differ in frequency by 0.3% in order for an avg person to perceive this difference Sensory adaptation Diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation; Although it reduces sensitivity, it offers an important benefit: freedom to focus on info changes in environment without being distracted by background chatter; occurs if, after standing several minutes in a smelly room, you no longer notice the smell Perceptual se