Lecture 2 Flashcards

1
Q

who challenged locke

A

david Hume

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2
Q

is david hume an empiricist

A

yes, same with locke

he just pushed Locke’s ideas further

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3
Q

what does Hume agree with locke about

A

Three associative principles that govern the formation of ideas:

basiclaly;
sure and blue are 2 different simple ideas, you combine them and have blue square which is a complex idea and you do this because they happen to be specially combined

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4
Q

what is Three associative principles that govern the formation of ideas:

A

Ressemblance
Contiguity (in space and time)
Cause and effect

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5
Q

what does Hume have an issue with locke about

A

cause and effect

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6
Q

why does Hume have an issue with cause and effect

A

Cause and effect: Empirically, the only thing we can observe is constant conjonctions - uniform associations - but we don’t observe the causal connection

aka you see a man hit the microphone and hear a sound so you associate the 2 together but it is just coincidental there is no proof of the cause (Inference of necessary cause and effect (B has to follow A) relationship is invalid, but psychologically we believe there is cause and effect)

he doesn’t reject it, just says that we cannot find it in our sensory perception

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7
Q

what is Hume’s solution to the cause and effect issue

A

says that sensations are just belief of things happening

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8
Q

what are beliefs caused by (according to hume)

A

psychological «habits» (e.g. the sun has risen every morning so far, we should expect it to rise tomorrow again).

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9
Q

what does Immanuel Kant do

A

critique of pure reason

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10
Q

explain what kant attempts to achieve with the critique of pure reason

A

Attempt to reconcile rationalism with empiricism

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11
Q

what is the numenon

A

the thing itself (reality)– we will never know this perfectly according to Kant

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12
Q

what can we know according to kant

A

All we can know is the impression that the noumenon exerts on our senses (Phenoumenon).

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13
Q

can our sense tell us much about reality according to kant

A

no, we cannot infer causation from our sensations

kant says that in order to perceive external reality
Our minds have to contribute innate knowledge in order to make sense of our sensations (space, time, cause and effect).

basically; if we look at a pool table, our raw sensations tell us that there are balls on a table– we need prior knowledge that we can apply to the senerio and give them meaning
time is also something that we need to make sense of

causation is already in our brain

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14
Q

what does perception allow us to do according to kant

A

Perception is extremely rich and reliable and allows us to interact optimally with our environment

Such perception could not have arisen in an environment completely at odds with our sensations (i.e. there has to be an external reality with objects located in space and time and interacting with each other in a cause-and-effects manner).

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15
Q

essentially what does kant say

A

he brings empiricism and rationalisation together; says either one their own is not enough

raw sensations are like water, cannot hold it
reason is an ice cube tray; does nothing on its own

put water in tray and you can make something of it

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16
Q

does kant thing psych can be a science

A

no

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17
Q

why didnt kant think that psych could be a science

A

Empirical approach leads to a collection of facts (historical doctrine of nature), which is below the level of science

Natural science requires rational analysis, axioms and demonstrations.

A proper natural science requires the axioms and demonstrations to be written as mathematical laws

Chemistry isn’t a proper science

so Forget about psychology:

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18
Q

what parts of psych made is not considered a science

A

there is no substance or space in inner observations, only time, i.e. there is nothing to measure (nothing that we can measure, or quantify)
Inner observations cannot be separated and recombined at will (cannot redo the same experiement)
The act of introspection itself changes the content of the mind. (when we introspect we observe thoughts but then that changes our thoughts)
At most psychology can be a historical doctrine of nature. (collect facts and observation; something that resembles the a history doctrine)

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19
Q

who Is Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795 – 1878)

A

sets up foundations for Fechner

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20
Q

what did Weber study

A

recepters
he became fascinated with the Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
aka difference threshold

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21
Q

what is JND

A

What is the smallest weight difference that someone can perceive ?

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22
Q

what did weber find about JND

A

Weber fractions: the JND between the standard and comparison weights is always close to 1/40 (or 0.025) of the standard weight.

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23
Q

what else did weber study

A

he did the same JND but with other stimuli

24
Q

what is the fraction for other sensors

A

For other types of stimuli, the fraction is different, but there is always a fraction

25
Q

what are the different sensory dimensions

A
Touch (vibration)
Taste
Smell
Loudness
Pitch
Brightness
Length of lines
26
Q

what is the weber fraction (k) for each of the sensory dimensions

A
Touch (vibration) 0.04
Taste 0.2
Smell 0.07
Loudness 0.3
Pitch 0.003
Brightness 0.08
Length of lines 0.001
27
Q

what is the range of weber fractions

A

Loudness 0.3

Length of lines 0.001

28
Q

can we better discriminate between lines or loudness

A

lines

29
Q

what is Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801 – 1887) background

A

Background in medicine and physics and mathematics.
Suffered severe eye damage from gazing to much at the sun while performing his experiments, he then fell into a deep depression.
Then Fechner experiences what he believed to be a miracle when his vision began to recover. He became a very spiritual man and was obsessed with the relationship between mind and matter…

30
Q

what did Fechner discover

A

Each JND is perceptually equivalent !!!

31
Q

what is meant by Each JND is perceptually equivalent !!!

A

The 1 gram difference between 40 and 41 grams is exactly as perceptually salient as the 10 gram difference between 410 and 400 grams.

32
Q

can JND be further fragmented

A

Since the JND is the smallest detectable difference, it cannot be further fragmented, i.e. perceptual «atom».

33
Q

what is fechner’s fraction

A
S = k log(R)
s= subjective perception (y axis)
r= physical stimulus intensity (x axis)
34
Q

What is the role of the k variable? in fechner’s fraction

A

k is closely related (but not identical to) to Weber’s fraction. It allows to account for different slopes of logarithmic functions for different senses

35
Q

define discriminability

A

how easy it is to discriminate two different intensities

36
Q

High Weber fractions means high or low dicriminability?

A

low

.3 is higher than .001 so it is harder to discriminate for the .3

37
Q

High k value in Fechner’s function means high or low discriminability?

A

high

38
Q

Therefore, are Weber’s fraction and k factor positively or negatively related?

A

inversely (so negatively)

39
Q

As k increases, discriminability increases or decreases

A

increases

40
Q

who proves Kant wrong

A

Fechner with his book

but Fechner called it psychophysics and not psychology (discussion of psychology comes later)

41
Q

how many types of thresholds are there

A

4

42
Q

what re the thresholds

A

difference threshold

absolute threshold

43
Q

what is different threshold

A

smallest difference you can perceive

44
Q

what is Absolute threshold:

A

smallest physical intensity you can perceive.
The limit at which a stimulus is « detected» vs. «not detected» is not sharp.
The function has a logistic («S») shape!
The threshold is defined as the sensory intensity at which a stimulus is detected 50% of the time.

45
Q

is the absolute threshold suddenly there or not there?

A

The limit at which a stimulus is « detected» vs. «not detected» is not sharp.
The function has a logistic («S») shape!
The threshold is defined as the sensory intensity at which a stimulus is detected 50% of the time.

46
Q

Why isn’t the threshold sharper?

A

Signal and noise: Because what we subjectively perceive isn’t 100% determined by the «signal» present in the environment, there is also «noise» in the signal.

- attention fluctuates
- criterion for saying «yes» may also fluctuate
- spontaneous activity in the nervous system
- etc.
47
Q

what is means by noise impacting threshold

A

not necessarily sound, but layers of signals coming at us

48
Q

what are the methods of testing for threshold

A

Methods of constant stimuli:
Methods of limits – ascending/descending
Staircase method
Method of adjustment

49
Q

what is Methods of constant stimuli:

A

Several intensities are systematically tested in a random order

50
Q

what is pro and con to Methods of constant stimuli:

A
  • Most accurate, but takes a long time!
51
Q

what is Methods of limits – ascending/descending

A

Ascending/descending cycles; change direction when a «yes» or a «no»

52
Q

what is the pro and con of Methods of limits – ascending/descending

A

quicker but A bit less accurate

Some intensities still don’t contribute much information

53
Q

what is the Staircase method

A

Go back as soon as there is a change in response

this takes out the redundant ness of both other ones

54
Q

what is the pro and con about Staircase method

A

Faster than the method of limits, and almost as accurate

55
Q

what is the Method of adjustment

A

Let the participant increase/decrease intensity in order to identify the threshold

56
Q

what is the pro and con of the method of adjustment

A

Really fast
Not very accurate (participant has too much control and don’t know what their inner criteria is to determine thresholds)