Lecture 1: Intro + Perception
Democritus (460–370 BCE):
Sensory transducer:
A receptor that converts physical energy from the environment into neural energy
Sensation
Perception
Signal detection theory:
a psychophysical theory that quantifies the response of an observer to the presentation of a signal in the presence of noise
Monism
The idea that the mind and matter are formed from, or reducible to, a single ultimate substance or principle of being
Materialism
Mentalism:
Mind–body dualism:
Perception and your sense of reality are the products of
evolution
Adaptation:
Nativism:
Dualism:
both mind and body exist and are separate entities
René Descartes (1596– 1650)
Empiricism
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1678)
John Locke (1632–1704)
George Berkeley (1685–1753)
Thresholds:
Finding the limits of what can be perceived.
Scaling:
Measuring private experience.
Signal detection theory:
Measuring difficult decisions.
Sensory neuroscience:
The biology of sensation and perception.
Neuroimaging:
An image of the mind
Development:
Change across the lifespan.
Gustav Fechner (1801–1887)
Psychophysics:
The science of defining quantitative relationships between physical and psychological (subjective) events
Dualism:
Materialism:
Panpsychism:
Psychophysics adopted several new concepts for understanding sensation and perception.
Two-point threshold:
Just noticeable difference (JND):
Absolute threshold:
Ernst Weber (1795–1878)
Fechner’s law:
Method of constant stimuli
Method of limits:
Magnitude estimation:
Cross-modality matching:
The participant matches the
intensity of a sensation in one sensory modality
with
the intensity of a sensation in another
Signal detection theory:
Four possible stimulus/response situations
Four possible stimulus/response situations: HIT
Four possible stimulus/response situations: MISS
Four possible stimulus/response situations: FALSE ALARM
Four possible stimulus/response situations: CORRECT REJECTION
Receiver operating characteristic:
Stevens’ power law:
Cranial nerves:
Sensory information nerves
Muscles that move the eyes nerves
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894)
Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934)
Synapse:
The junction between neurons that permits information transfer
Neurotransmitter:
A chemical substance used in
neuronal
communication at synapses
Detection types
Discrimination
Scaling
Indentification
two point threshold
the minimum distance at which 2 stimuli can be distinguished
reciever operating characteristic (ROC)
Sensitivity
Criterion
Doctrine of specific nerve energies