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4-Characteristics of Sensation - Absolute Thresholds and Difference Thresholds-22!01!2024

This document discusses sensation and perception. It defines sensation as the process by which our five senses take in information which is then experienced and interpreted by the brain. Sensation follows three steps - sensory stimuli are absorbed, converted to neural impulses, and transmitted to the brain. Characteristics of sensation include quality, intensity, duration, and extensity. There are absolute and difference thresholds for detecting stimuli. Weber's law states that the just noticeable difference in stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus value.

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17 views11 pages

4-Characteristics of Sensation - Absolute Thresholds and Difference Thresholds-22!01!2024

This document discusses sensation and perception. It defines sensation as the process by which our five senses take in information which is then experienced and interpreted by the brain. Sensation follows three steps - sensory stimuli are absorbed, converted to neural impulses, and transmitted to the brain. Characteristics of sensation include quality, intensity, duration, and extensity. There are absolute and difference thresholds for detecting stimuli. Weber's law states that the just noticeable difference in stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus value.

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abhissunita763
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sensation and Perception

Dr. Tanu Kukreja


Assistant Professor Senior Grade II
School of Social Sciences and Languages (SSL)
Vellore Institute of Technology
Sensation
Sensation is the process that allows our brains to take in information via our
five senses, which can then be experienced and interpreted by the brain.
Sensation occurs due to our five sensory systems: vision, hearing, taste,
smell and touch.
The word sensation is derived from the Latin sensus in 1640, which means
the faculty of perceiving
Sensations follow a procedure of three steps:
Sensory stimuli are absorbed
Converted into neural impulses
Then transported the neural information to the brain.
Characteristics of Sensation

Quality − The quality of sensation differs. Sensations of


sound, color, smell, taste, cold, and heat differ; they have
different sense organs and produce distinct stimuli.
Intensity − Sensations of the same quality may sometimes
differ in intensity. All sensation differs in intensity and
varies from very weak to very intense. The greater
intensities of stimulus produce greater intensities of
sensation.
Duration − Every sensation has a duration, and a sensation may stay in mind
for a particular period, and duration is also called propensity. Even if the
sensations are the same in quality and intensity, they may differ in duration.
Extensity − visual and tactual sensation has extensity. Extensity is the
attribute of sensation because of the area of the sensitive surface stimulated
by the stimulus, and Extensity is different from intensity.
Example: Look at the moon and then at a star. You have two visual sensations.
The first visual sensation has greater extensity than the second. Touch a book
with a finger-tip, and then with your palm.
Thresholds
A threshold (or limen), is the point of intensity at which
the participant can just detect the presence of, or
difference in, a stimulus. Stimuli with intensities below the
threshold are considered not detectable, however stimuli
at values close to threshold will often be detectable some
proportion of the time. Due to this, a threshold is
considered to be the point at which a stimulus, or change
in a stimulus, is detected some proportion p of the time.
There are two kinds of
thresholds: absolute and difference.
Absolute threshold
An absolute threshold is the level of intensity of a
stimulus at which the subject is able to detect the
presence of the stimulus some proportion of the
time (a p level of 50% is often used). An example of
an absolute threshold is the number of hairs on the
back of one's hand that must be touched before it
can be felt - a participant may be unable to feel a
single hair being touched, but may be able to feel
two or three as this exceeds the threshold.
Difference threshold

A difference threshold is the magnitude of


the difference between two stimuli of differing intensities
that the participant is able to detect some proportion of
the time (again, 50% is often used). To test this threshold,
several different methods are used. The subject may be
asked to adjust one stimulus until it is perceived as the
same as the other, may be asked to describe the
magnitude of the difference between two stimuli, or may
be asked to detect a stimulus against a background.
Weber's Law

The Difference Threshold (or "Just Noticeable


Difference") is the minimum amount by which stimulus
intensity must be changed in order to produce a
noticeable variation in sensory experience.
Ernst Weber a 19th century experimental psychologist,
observed that the size of the difference threshold
appeared to be lawfully related to initial stimulus
magnitude. This relationship, known since as Weber's
Law
Weber's Law, more simply stated, says that the size of the just
noticeable difference (i.e., delta I) is a constant proportion of the
original stimulus value. For example: Suppose that you presented two
spots of light each with an intensity of 100 units to an observer. Then
you asked the observer to increase the intensity of one of the spots
until it was just noticeably brighter than the other. If the brightness
needed to yield the just noticeable difference was 110 then the
observer's difference threshold would be 10 units (i.e., delta I =110 -
100 = 10). The Weber fraction equivalent for this difference threshold
would be 0.1 (delta I/I = 10/100 = 0.1).
Thank you

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