Chap 4 Flashcards
(32 cards)
only sources of information about the world and our own bodies
Sense
True or False: o build up our behavior, there is a cooperation of all the senses.
True
part of the process by which information about the world is registered by the senses and transmitted to the brain.
Sensation
Two stages of sensation
Physical and Physiological
that part of the process by which sensations are organized into a meaningful pattern and concept. It is the interpretation of the sensation
Perception
Perception consists of the psychological stage;
The arousal to consciousness of the sensation
sensation refers to the action of some physical stimulus
on a sense organ.
Physical stage
For each type of sensation, there is a specific stimulus, that is, one, which is naturally ordained to activate a particular receptor
TRUE OR FALSE
True
Dark will activate the eyes; sound will activate the ears, etc.
False
is that branch of psychology that studies this relationship between the physical nature of stimuli and a person’s sensory responses to them.
Psychophysics
played a central role in the development of the field of psychology, because psychophysics bridges the physical world outside and the psychological world within.
Psychophysics
Favorite topics in psychophysics
Stimulus threshold and sensory adaptation
is the smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be present to it to be detected
Absolute threshold
Sight?
Hearing?
Taste?
Smell?
Touch?
30mins
20feet
Sugar in 20galloons of water
Three-room apartment
Bee’s wing
■ It is the maximum physical energy, which can still be detected by a sense organ, and beyond which there will be no more sensation, or a sensation of a different modality.
Terminal threshold
It is the minimum amount of stimulus energy necessary to
recognize the difference between two stimuli.
The differential threshold
It refers to the reduction of sensitivity to stimulation as stimulation persists through time, and to increase in sensitivity with lack of stimulation. Example: at night when there is a brownout, the darkness is at first ‘very dark’ because the eyes were light adapted (hence increased sensitivity to darkness), but after a while the darkness becomes ‘less dark’ because the eyes become dark adapted (hence reduced sensitivity to darkness).
Sensory adaptation
process serves as good purpose for people working or residing in environments with unpleasant sensory stimuli, like smell
Sensory adaptation
This stage refers to the physiological process that start with the action of the stimulus on a receptor, which then triggers a flow of nerve impulses from the receptor to some terminal point in the nervous system.
PHYSIOLOGICAL STAGE of the SENSATION
refers to the different categories of a sensation making, for instance a visual (colors) sensation different from an auditory (sound) sensation.
Modality
refers to the different experiences within the same modality. A sensation of blue is different from
red, and sweet is different from salty.
Quality
refers to a distinction in degree within the same quality.
Intensity
indicates the length of time a sensation lasts in the consciousness.
Duration
refers to the time interval between the application of a sensory stimulus on a sensory receptor and the recognition of this sensory experience is manifested in a reaction by the subject.
Reaction time
