Psychology Text Notes pg.193-199 - Mason

sensation – the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

perception – the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

bottom-up processing – analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information

top-down processing – information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

psychophysics – the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience to them

absolute threshold – the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus fifty percent of the time

signal detection theory – a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (“signal”) amid background stimulation (“noise”); assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue

subliminal – below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

difference threshold – the minimum difference between the two stimuli required for detection fifty percent of the time; we experience the difference threshold as a just noticeable difference; also called just noticeable difference or jnd.

Weber’s law – the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)