psychophysics what is psychophysics? classical psychophysics thresholds signal detection theory...
Post on 19-Dec-2015
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PSYCHOPHYSICS• What is Psychophysics?• Classical Psychophysics• Thresholds• Signal Detection Theory• Psychophysical Laws
What is Psychophysics?• Study of the relationship between physical
properties and psychological experience
Classical Psychophysics
• Assumption is that there is an absolute threshold - point above which a stimulus can always be detected and below which it can never be detected
Method of Limits
• Increase the intensity until the observer reports detection (ascending series)
• Decrease the intensity until the observer no longer reports detection (descending series)
• Look for an average over a number of series
Method of Adjustment
• Observer adjusts intensity until the stimulus is just detectable
• Can be done quickly, but results tend to be variable
Method of Constant Stimuli
• A range of intensities is selected and presented in random order; observer responds “Yes” or “No”
• Include “catch trials” on which no stimulus is presented
Do Absolute Thresholds exist?
• Gradual change from no detection to detection
• By convention, the threshold is the stimulus intensity at which the stimulus is detected 50% of the time
Difference Threshold
• Smallest difference between stimuli that can be detected
• Standard stimulus is compared to comparison stimulus
Signal Detection Theory
• How can we do psychophysics without absolute thresholds?
• Assumes that responses are a product of making decisions about signals embedded in noise
What Determines Responses in SDT?
• sensitivity - ability to detect stimuli• criterion - strategy for deciding how to
respond
Psychophysics the SDT Way• Present trials with the stimulus present and
with the stimulus absent• Observer can respond yes or no on each trial• Sensitivity and criterion can be measured
Measuring Sensitivity
• When sensitivity is higher, there should be more hits and fewer false alarms
• d-prime (d’) is the standardized difference between the signal-present and signal-absent distributions
Measuring the Criterion
• The criterion () is the level of intensity at which the observer chooses to switch from “No” to “Yes” responses
Weber’s Law
• Describes how much of a physical difference is needed between two stimuli before people can just tell the difference (difference threshold or “just noticeable difference”)
• Works very well except at extremely low or high intensities
Example of Weber’s Law
• If a standard stimulus weighs 10 pounds, how much different would another stimulus have to be for the difference to be noticeable?