Experiencing Sensation and Perception Chapter 2

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Chapter 2 Psychophysics
Chapter Outline: I. What is Psychophysics a. Basic Questions i. Detection ii.Discrimination b. enera! "pproach to Psychophysics i. What is an experiment ii.#o$ psychophysics does experiments. II. C!assica! Psychophysica! %ethods a. %ethod o& 'imits b. %ethod o& Constant Stimu!i c. %ethod o& "d(ustment III. %odern %ethods a. )orced Choice *echni+ues b. Signa! Detection *heory I,. Psychophysica! 'a$s a. Webers 'a$ b. )echner-s 'a$ c. Ste.ens- 'a$ i. %agnitude Estimation ii.*he 'a$ that arises.

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Chapter 2 Pychophysics What is Psychophysics Be&ore a researcher can begin to study sensation and perception/ the researcher must examine se.era! important +uestions about ho$ one goes about doing research in this area. Some o& these +uestions might be0 What are important research +uestions1 What +uestions do you as2 the participants so that the resu!ts $i!! ma2e sense1 What research techni+ues do you use1 In sensation and perception/ !i2e many areas o& psycho!ogy/ the researcher does not ha.e direct access to $hat is being studied/ because most sensation and perception is an acti.ity that occurs in the mind. 3ou ha.e probab!y heard or as2ed the +uestion 4Is $hat I describe as the co!or green the same green that other peop!e see as green15 *his +uestion is important and e.en daunting but it does not prec!ude our abi!ity to do research. Since )echner 61789:1;88</ as $as noted in Chapter 1/ researchers ha.e been de.e!oping $ays to !earn about ho$ our sensory systems operate. Some important ans$ers to the +uestions !isted at the beginning o& this chapter ha.e been &ound that ha.e granted researchers many sensiti.e techni+ues to in.estigate our sensory and perceptua! systems. *his chapter co.ers basic +uestions and techni+ues used by researchers to disco.er ho$ human sensory systems $or2/ thus &ocusing on the second and third o& those +uestions. When a researcher re&ers to their techni+ues/ they usua!!y use the term 4research method5 and &or sensation and perception the methods used to study norma!!y beha.ing humans &a!! under the heading o& psychophysics [to glossary]. Simp!y psychophysica! methods in.o!.e presenting a care&u!!y contro!!ed stimu!us to a participant/ and as2ing a +uestion direct!y o& the participant that a!!o$s the ans$er to be +uanti&ied= that is/ turned into a number. )rom these direct +uestions/ it is hoped to indirect!y understand the $ay the mind $or2s to accomp!ish sensation and perception. *hese methods $i!! be used throughout the boo2/ as you $i!! use them in many o& the demonstrations and experiments that are contained in the media portion o& this boo2. It is important to note that these are not the on!y methods used in sensation and perception. >esearchers a!so use methods &rom neuroscience 6see "ppendix< and other areas o& psycho!ogy. #o$e.er/ psychophysics is gi.en specia! attention here &or se.era! reasons0 61< much o& $hat is 2no$n and is co.ered in this boo2 has been disco.ered using this method/ 62< it is a ma(or methodo!ogica! contribution by sensation and perception to psycho!ogy/ and 6?< these methods are distinct!y di&&erent &rom other methods in psycho!ogy. Basic Questions and Measures *o begin the discussion o& psychophysics/ a concrete examp!e $i!! be used so that the discussion does not get too abstract and etherea! and thus ma2e no sense $hatsoe.er. @o$ it is important to rea!iAe that no sing!e experiment can study a!! aspects o& any topic. In &act/ experiments as2 .ery &ocused +uestions to go a!ong $ith their tendency to try to simp!i&y any prob!em to ma2e it easier to understand. Especia!!y at &irst/ start $ith the most basic +uestion about $hat you are studying. Based on $hat is !earned &rom the simp!e situations/ more comp!ex situations can be studied using $hat has a!ready been unco.ered. *hese simp!e situations are the 2eys to understanding more comp!ex situations. "s the &irst step in &ocusing/ the research +uestion $i!! be narro$ed to a +uestion about motion. *o assist $ith the discussion and to 2eep it concrete bring up Interactive Illustration 2. ! Basic Ideas [lin" to #edia]. 3ou $i!! see a &uAAy region co.ering most o& the screen. *his &uAAy region is a grating [to glossary] $hich $i!! be described in more detai! !ater and it is a common type o& .isua! pattern or stimu!us used in .ision research. *his grating is $hat is going to mo.e in this examp!e to he!p ma2e sense o& psychophysics. So to start an experiment/ the researcher begins $ith a stimu!us. *he next step is to determine the +uestion to be as2ed using the stimu!us in +uestion. $etection. Bne o& the most basic +uestions concerning any stimu!us that might be as2ed is/ 4ho$ strong does the stimu!us ha.e to be &or a person to be ab!e to percei.e the stimu!us15 *his is the +uestion o& detection [to glossary]. C!ic2 on the Move button that is at the top o& the screen. %a2e sure the Movement Size s!ider is at the bottom o& the screen in his p!ace at 1. Bne ha!& o& the times you press the Move button/ the grating $i!! mo.e on your screen to either the right or the !e&t. *he other ha!& o& the time it $i!! not mo.e at a!!. "&ter the grating mo.es a sma!! $indo$ $i!! popCup as2ing you i& you ha.e seen it mo.e. "ns$er the +uestion and it $i!! gi.e you &eedbac2 on i& you $ere correct or not. *ry it 19 to 29 times and see i& you can consistent!y determine i& the grating mo.ed.

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I& you are !i2e most peop!e that ha.e tried this !itt!e demonstration/ you $i!! not be consistent!y correct. 3ou are not consistent because you are not ab!e to detect the mo.ement o& this grating that is this sma!!. @o$ mo.e the Movement Size s!ider to D1. *his s!ider ad(usts the siAe that the pattern on the screen $i!! shi&t $hen it mo.es. *he mo.ement is no$ much !arger $hen you press the Move button. @o$ try the !itt!e experiment again and see i& you are mo.e accurate in noticing $hen the grating mo.ed. 3ou shou!d &ind that this tas2 is a great dea! easier. So the detection +uestion about motion cou!d be phrased/ 4ho$ big does the stimu!us motion ha.e to be &or a person to be ab!e to re!iab!y detect that the stimu!us has mo.ed15 *o ma2e the ans$er more meaning&u! $e $ant to assign a number/ in our examp!e some$here bet$een 1 and 51 that $i!! gi.e us our ans$er &or ho$ big o& a motion it ta2es consistent!y to percei.e that motion has occurred. *his process o& assigning numbers to the outcome o& an experiment re&ers to the process o& measurement. *his use o& +uantitati.e measures great!y &aci!itates the comparison o& resu!ts &rom di&&erent situations and researchers. In this case/ the measurement that is $anted is a measure o& the sma!!est mo.ement that can be re!iab!y detected. *his particu!ar measurement is ca!!ed the a%solute threshold [to glossary]. *he abso!ute thresho!d is one type o& sensory threshold [to glossary]. " thresho!d is a type o& sensory !imit $hich dra$s on the ana!ogy o& the thresho!d to a room. "s you enter a room you cross the room-s thresho!d/ e.g./ the tradition o& the groom carrying the bride across the thresho!d. Bnce you cross the thresho!d you are in the room. Bn the other side o& the thresho!d you are outside o& the room. So depending on $hich side o& the thresho!d you are on you are either in or out o& the room. In a sensory thresho!d/ i& the stimu!us is too $ea2 it is be!o$ thresho!d and not percei.ed. I& it strong enough it is abo.e thresho!d and can be percei.ed. 'et us examine this issue o& the abso!ute thresho!d a !itt!e more c!ose!y. o to & peri#ent 2. ! '%solute (hreshold [lin" to #edia]. 3ou $i!! see the same grating again but there $i!! not be the s!ider as the bottom o& the screen but the button no$ says Start Experiment. When you press this button/ the button $i!! disappear/ and about a second !ater the grating $i!! mo.e some distance and then a box $i!! appear that $i!! as2 Did you see the grating move? C!ic2 on the Yes button i& you sa$ it mo.e or on the No button i& you did not see it mo.e. *his is one tria! in the experiment. *here $i!! be 2D tria!s tota!/ &i.e tria!s &or each o& &i.e mo.ement siAes. "&ter you are done/ the resu!ts o& your experiment $i!! be presented on a graph. Bn the xCaxis o& the graph $i!! be the siAes o& the mo.ements in pixe!s 6screen dots< and on the yCaxis $i!! be the percentage o& times you $ere ab!e to detect that mo.ement. [)ote to #edia develop#ent! I *ould li"e to have this data collected in a central data%ase]. o run the experiment at this time and come bac2 to the boo2 $hen you ha.e your data. I& your resu!ts are !i2e most peop!e $ho ha.e run this experiment/ you $i!! &ind that the sma!!er mo.ements $ere not detected as o&ten as the !arger mo.ements. It is possib!e that you did not see the sma!!est mo.ement at a!! and sa$ the !argest mo.ement a!! o& the time and there may be some mo.ement siAes you sa$ some but not a!! o& the times. 3ou can see an idea!iAed .ersion o& the graph in )igure 2.x. 3our graph may ha.e more bumps in it than the idea!iAed graph but then you did not do many tria!s and this is one o& your .ery &irst times co!!ecting data in a psychophysica! experiment. [It would be appreciated if you would share your data with other students. If you are online you can press the Send button at the bottom of the data page. After you have done that the button will change to View All Data. If you clic on that button you will be ta en to a web page which will have the all the data from all of the people that have done this study. !ere you will see a curve that is much more li e the ideali"ed curve. #nly if I get the submit button to wor $ *here are some important conc!usions that can be made based upon these data. Bne important obser.ation &rom your data and the idea!iAed data is that sensory thresho!ds are not +uite !i2e door$ays. It is not the case that there is a stimu!us intensity $here sudden!y you can percei.e the stimu!us a!! o& the time. "s intensity increases the abi!ity o& a person to detect a stimu!us gro$s gradua!!y and not in a sudden step. *hus/ researchers ha.e to ma2e a decision. In this case/ the decision is $hat percentage o& times that a stimu!us is detected constitutes re!iab!e detection. *he exact percentage o& the time that a stimu!us can be percei.ed &or it to be considered at thresho!d depends on the method as discussed !ater in this chapter/ but in this case/ it is o&ten ta2en as the point $here the stimu!us can be percei.ed D9E o& the time. *o be concrete/ the siAe o& mo.ement in our experiment $here you cou!d detect the mo.ement D9E o& the time $ou!d be the abso!ute thresho!d &or mo.ement perception &or this stimu!us.

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*here are !ots o& di&&erent types o& abso!ute thresho!ds. >esearchers ha.e determined many di&&erent types o& abso!ute thresho!ds &or each o& our senses= &or examp!e/ there can be abso!ute thresho!ds &or the intensity o& a stimu!us. *hat $ou!d be the abso!ute dimmest !ight/ so&test sound/ !ightest pressure/ sma!!est amount o& odor that cou!d be detected re!iab!y. In addition/ as in & peri#ent 2. ! '%solute (hreshold! $here $e co!!ected the data to demonstrate an abso!ute thresho!d/ there is an abso!ute thresho!d &or the degree o& mo.ement. *here are se.era! types o& thresho!ds &or e.ery sense/ and throughout the course o& the boo2 you $i!! encounter many o& them as they re.ea! something about ho$ that sensory system $or2s. $iscri#ination. *he abi!ity to detect the presence o& a stimu!us is an important abi!ity but it represents on!y the &irst step in a use&u! sensory system. %oreo.er/ most stimu!i are su&&icient!y abo.e our abso!ute thresho!ds that they are easy to detect/ so understanding the !imits such as described in abso!ute thresho!d does not necessari!y he!p us in understanding much about these more intense stimu!i. " much more common perceptua! tas2 is that o& discri#ination [to glossary]. In discrimination/ the person-s tas2 is to determine i& t$o stimu!i are the same or di&&erent. )or examp!e/ determining i& t$o co!ors o& paint or &abric are identica! or not is a discrimination tas2. *hus/ it becomes important to determine the discri#ination threshold [to glossary]. Gust as the abso!ute thresho!d is the minimum !e.e! o& a stimu!us that can be detected re!iab!y/ so the discrimination thresho!d is the minimum di&&erence bet$een t$o stimu!i that can be detected re!iab!y. "nother name &or this thresho!d is the +ust )oticea%le $i,,erence or +)$ [to glossary]. *ry an examp!e using & peri#ent 2. ! $iscri#ination (hreshold or +)$ [lin" to #edia ,igure]. *his is an experiment .ery much !i2e the experiment &or the abso!ute thresho!d/ on!y &or each tria! there $i!! be t$o mo.ements/ not one. 3our tas2 is no$ to determine i& the second mo.ement is !arger than the &irst mo.ement. Press Start Experiment and gi.e it a try. *he resu!ts $i!! be p!otted in an identica! &ashion to the data &rom the abso!ute thresho!d experiment. *here are se.era! obser.ations to be made about these data. )irst/ you shou!d see a cur.e much the same shape as you did !ast time/ a gradua! increase in the percentage o& times that you sa$ the mo.ement. )rom pre!iminary tria!s $ith this data/ it apparent that this s!ope is probab!y more gradua! than that &or the abso!ute thresho!d experiment but the genera! shape is the same. #o$e.er/ (ust as $ith the data &rom the abso!ute thresho!d experiment/ researchers need to ta2e a point on this cur.e to determine the discrimination thresho!d. Hsing this method as $ith the abso!ute thresho!d experiment/ the D9E .a!ue is o&ten ta2en to be the G@D. Second/ most o& you $i!! &ind this tas2 more di&&icu!t than the pre.ious tas2. 'oo2 at the .a!ues on the xCaxis. In the abso!ute thresho!d case/ the x axis represented the siAe o& the mo.ement. In this case/ it represents ho$ much !arger the second mo.ement $as than the &irst mo.ement. So in some $ay these .a!ue can be compared to each other. In the discrimination experiment/ these x axis .a!ues are much !arger than they $ere &or the abso!ute thresho!d experiment. I& you ha.e the data &rom the abso!ute thresho!d experiment handy/ notice that the data &rom the discrimination thresho!d experiment crosses the D9E !ine at a much !arger .a!ue than &or the abso!ute thresho!d experiment. Gust use your eye &or no$/ that $i!! be good enough &or the point I am trying to ma2e. *he most important point &or no$ is that it is not possib!e to predict a discrimination thresho!d direct!y &rom a detection thresho!d. *hus/ it is important to measure both types o& thresho!ds. *here are many other types o& +uestions than can be as2ed in research/ and se.era! $i!! be encountered in this text. #o$e.er/ $ith these t$o +uestions $e can begin to discuss the methods used to measure abso!ute and discrimination thresho!ds. -eneral 'pproach to Psychophysics *here is a &undamenta! prob!em in doing an experiment in sensation and perception. We $ant to as2 the participant $hat is going on in their head. What are they experiencing1 *he researcher does not ha.e any direct access to $hat the participant-s experience so it ta2es c!e.er/ and o&ten timeCconsuming/ methods to conduct experiments that a!!o$ researchers to gather in&ormation about human senses that can be interpreted in a meaning&u! $ay. *his section o& the chapter $i!! &irst re.ie$ the genera! concept o& $hat an experiment is and then ho$ an experiment is carried out in psychophysics. What is an e peri#ent. 3ou may reca!! some o& the basic &acts about $hat ma2es a research study an experiment &rom your introductory psycho!ogy course. "n experiment is the most important o& a!! o& the research methods in science because/ $hen done precise!y/ it a!!o$s the necessary contro! o& a situation to determine exact!y $hy an obser.ed phenomenon happens. In other $ords/ an experiment a!!o$s researchers to determine causation. In sensation and perception/ it is the goa! o& researcher u!timate!y to 2no$ $hy peop!e percei.e the $or!d in the $ay that they do. So researchers see2 to

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understand $hat &eatures o& the physica! $or!d cause $hat sensory and perceptua! experiences in human minds. 'et us use a simp!e examp!e to re.ie$ the parts o& an experiment and the !ogic o& an experiment. In order c!ear!y to say $hat it is that causes us to experience/ &or examp!e/ the co!or red/ the researcher needs to care&u!!y construct the experiment. *he most important &eature o& an experiment is the independent varia%le [to glossary]. *he independent .ariab!e/ o&ten abbre.iated I,/ is the .ariab!e that is contro!!ed or manipu!ated by the researcher. Simp!y put/ the researcher sets the !e.e! o& this .ariab!e &or the experiment. In the examp!e experiment/ the independent .ariab!e might be the di&&erent $a.e!engths o& !ight that can be gotten by passing $hite !ight through a prism as @e$ton did 6see Chapter ?<. *here can be any number o& .a!ues or !e.e!s o& the independent .ariab!e used in an experiment. In introductory psycho!ogy you $ere probab!y taught that there $ere t$o conditions o& an experiment/ either the independent .ariab!e $as present or it $as not. #o$e.er/ it is possib!e to ha.e many di&&erent !e.e!s o& the independent .ariab!e and compare them to each other. It is e.en possib!e to ha.e more than one independent .ariab!e in an experiment. It is the presence o& the independent .ariab!e that is the de&ining &eature o& an experiment. *he second &eature o& the experiment is the dependent varia%le [to glossary]/ o&ten abbre.iated D,. *he dependent .ariab!e is the .ariab!e that is measured and is based on the participant-s responses. *his is the .ariab!e that $i!! be used to determine the e&&ects o& the independent .ariab!e. In this !itt!e examp!e/ our dependent .ariab!e might be the number o& times that the $ord red is said by the participants in response to each o& the di&&erent $a.e!engths that is presented to the participant. *he third and .ita! e!ement o& an experiment is the contro! o.er a!! other &actors in the en.ironment $here the experiment is ta2ing p!ace. It is .ita! that the on!y di&&erence bet$een t$o conditions o& an experiment is the !e.e! o& the I,. Consider this situation0 the researcher is changing the $a.e!engths &or the di&&erent conditions/ but the intensity o& the di&&erent $a.e!engths a!so change. #o$ can the experimenter 2no$ $hether it is the intensity or the $a.e!ength that caused the responses o& red &rom the participant1 *he experimenter cannot be sure. Without contro!/ the $ho!e purpose o& the experiment is !ost. "ny other .ariab!e that .aries $ith the independent .ariab!e/ in this case the intensity o& the !ight/ is ca!!ed a con,ound varia%le [to glossary]. /o* Psychophysical & peri#ent are $one. Science proceeds by ha.ing data that can be agreed upon by a!! o& the scienti&ic community. *his &act does not re+uire that a!! scientists &rom a!! p!aces and times ha.e to be present at the experiment/ but it does mean that di&&erent scientists doing the same study at di&&erent times and !ocations ha.e to be ab!e to get comparab!e resu!ts. "s an examp!e/ consider a de.ice &rom the study o& !earning you probab!y ha.e heard about. Part o& the importance o& the piece o& e+uipment $e no$ ca!! the S2inner box is that it is easy to obtain resu!ts that other researchers can a!so &ind 6>E)<. I& a rat is used/ researchers mere!y record $hen each bar press occurs. *he patterns o& data obser.ed are easi!y compared $ith the patterns o& bar presses that other researches &ound. *he data has been made ob(ecti.e and re!iab!e. >emember that in sensation and perception/ $e are interested in psycho!ogica! experiences that are not direct!y obser.ab!e. So ho$ can $e de.e!op data that can be agreed upon by di&&erent scientists1 *he basic approach used by psychophysica! methods has three e!ements that are 2ey to understanding0 1< simp!e responses by the sub(ect/ 2< extensi.e data co!!ection &rom each sub(ect/ and ?< the independent .ariab!es come &rom precise manipu!ations o& the stimu!i. *he use o& simp!e responses is especia!!y important to de.e!op ob(ecti.e measures that other scientists can agree upon. 'et me be .ery speci&ic about $hat it means to as2 a simp!e +uestion. *ry Interactive Illustration 2. ! 's"ing Questions [lin" to #edia] . *his simp!e demonstration is a s!ight modi&ication o& the .ery &irst i!!ustration that $as used in this chapter. When you press the button that says Move at the top o& the screen/ you $i!! be as2ed t$o di&&erent types o& +uestions. *he &irst time you press the button you $i!! be as2ed a .ery generic What did you see? type o& +uestion and gi.en a box to type your ans$er in. *he grating $i!! a!$ays mo.e be&ore the +uestion is as2ed. *he next time you press the Move button/ the grating has a D9E chance o& mo.ing. 3ou $i!! be as2ed i& the grating mo.ed or not. *ry both types o& +uestions and respond as $e!! as you can to each. *he &irst +uestion is rather !i2e the type o& introspecti.e +uestions as2ed by Wundt and his &o!!o$ers in the ear!y days o& psycho!ogy as a &orma! discip!ine 6Bringmann/ Bringmann/ I Hngerer/ 1;79<. Wundt as2ed +uestions some$hat !i2e this one. *he +uestions and situations $ere more structured and he trained his sub(ects. Hsing these techni+ues he hoped to get the ob(ecti.e and repeatab!e data

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needed by science. #o$e.er/ his +uestions $ere open ended !i2e this examp!e. [to develop#ent: can I collect so#e ans*ers to this 0uestion and have the students re,er to so#e sa#ple ans*ers.] . "s you can imagine/ the ans$ers by di&&erent participants to these open ended +uestions can be +uite .aried. It $ou!d be hard to reach agreement regarding any research +uestion except in the simp!est 2ind o& situation. *he second +uestion 4Did the grating mo.e5 is .ery basic and simp!e. *he on!y possib!e ans$ers are 43es5 and 4@o5. It can be .ery c!ear to the researcher $hat the ans$ers to those +uestions mean. Whi!e that may seem an ob.ious statement/ it is precise!y this &eature o& the +uestion that ma2es it so good &or getting ob(ecti.e resu!ts. In addition/ it can be .ery easy to get agreement both across participants and other researchers per&orming !i2e experiments. I& one researcher &inds that most peop!e see this mo.ement so shou!d other researchers. [to develop#ent: could I get a running percentage o, all students that have reported seeing the #ove#ent in this illustration.] With this examp!e/ i& you did not change the siAe o& the mo.ement 6using the s!ider at the bottom o& the page !i2e &rom the &irst &igure</ you $i!! probab!y ha.e been .ery accurate and seen it $hen it did occur and $hen it did not occur. Such agreement is necessary to be ab!e to bui!d upon pre.ious &indings. *hese simp!er +uestions he!p psychophysics &orm a sound basis &or the de.e!opment o& science and theories o& ho$ sensation and perception $or2. Whi!e the use o& simp!e +uestions a!!o$s the resu!ts to be re!iab!e/ $hat has been !earned by this one tria!1 @ot much. I& you (ust use the data &rom this one tria!/ $e 2no$ that &or one siAe mo.ement/ you either sa$ it or you did not. E.en i& $e repeat this tria!/ [to develop#ent 1 can *e collect su##ary data across students on this trial] $e ha.e not !earned much. We probab!y $ou!d not e.en be ab!e to determine the abso!ute thresho!d un!ess it (ust happened that the mo.ement siAe &e!! on the point $here you $ere ab!e to detect the stimu!us D9E o& the time. Compare this sing!e tria! to the simp!e experiments $e did to determine the abso!ute thresho!d and G@D &or motion. *here you had 2D tria!s across &i.e di&&erent siAes o& mo.ements. *hese experiments $ere sti!! .ery brie& and $hi!e the data $as readab!e/ in most cases your data is sti!! rather hard to read. *he percentages $ou!d increase and decrease on!y to increase again. *he a.erage data &rom a!! participants $ho ha.e used this boo2 !oo2ed a !ot smoother [to develop#ent: can there %e a lin" here to a page *ith their results and the average results su##ari2ed as a ,igure ,or re,erence.]. "s a resu!t/ to accurate!y determine a sing!e participant-s thresho!d o&ten re+uires a !ot more data than $e ha.e co!!ected in our !itt!e studies. E.en a&ter the thresho!d has been determined/ there is sti!! a !ot more in&ormation about our sensory abi!ities that $ou!d interest a researcher. )or examp!e/ ho$ $ou!d the thresho!d change i& the grating $ere dar2er or !ighter/ or in other co!ors/ or the bars $ere narro$er1 *he researcher $ou!d pic2 one or se.era! o& these .ariab!es/ $hich become the independent .ariab!es o& the research/ and see ho$ the thresho!d/ either abso!ute or G@D/ changes as a resu!ts o& changes in these independent .ariab!es. "s you can see/ a psychophysica! study o&ten re+uires an intensi.e data co!!ection &rom indi.idua! sub(ects. Because o& the intensity o& the data co!!ection on sub(ects/ many c!assic studies $i!! run on!y .ery &e$ sub(ects 6see B!a2emore I Sutton/ 1;8;/ $hich on!y had t$o sub(ects<. *hese studies $i!! o&ten appear .ery di&&erent &rom psycho!ogica! studies in other areas/ $ho emphasiAe using groups to get a re!iab!e measure on the data. @ot e.ery study uses such sma!! groups/ but in many psychophysica! studies/ it is +uite permissib!e. *he third &eature o& psychophysica! research comes right out o& the &irst t$o &eatures o& the study. *he need &or care&u! contro! o& stimu!i is the resu!t o& both the simp!e +uestions as2ed o& the sub(ects/ and the intensi.e studies. *o be ab!e to rea!!y understand $hat a sub(ect-s set o& responses means/ the I, must be .ery care&u!!y contro!!ed. In these samp!e studies/ the mo.ement $as in terms o& pixe!s/ but that rea!!y is not su&&icient contro!. #o$ big o& a mo.ement that 19 pixe!s seems to you depends upon the siAe o& your monitor/ the siAe o& its pixe!s/ and e.en ho$ &ar you are &rom the screen. *ry Interactive Illustration 2. ! &,,ect o, $istance [lin" to #edia]. In this simp!e !itt!e &igure you can ad(ust the thic2ness o& the bars o& the grating. 3ou cou!d ma2e the bars .ery thin. *hen mo.e a$ay &rom the screen/ and e.entua!!y you $i!! reach a p!ace $here you cannot see these bars. Br you cou!d ma2e the bars .ery !arge= and i& your screen is !arge/ i& you put your &ace up to the screen they $i!! again become in.isib!e. #ere/ the thresho!d &or seeing these bars depends upon ho$ &ar a$ay you are &rom the screen. *hese issues o& distance &rom the screen and monitor and pixe! siAe $ere ignored here because these $ere (ust examp!e studies/ but in some o& the studies !ater in the boo2 you may be as2ed to be a certain distance &rom your screen. Classical Psychophysical Methods Method o, 3i#its *he #ethod o, li#its [to glossary] is perhaps the simp!est o& the c!assica! psychophysica! methods de.e!oped as a resu!t o& )echner-s boo2 on psychophysics. *o describe this method/ imagine

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trying to determine the thresho!d &or detecting a dot against a !ight bac2ground. *his is a type o& G@D. *o try this experiment/ bring up & peri#ent 2. ! Method o, 3i#its [lin" #edia ,igure]. *he &irst screen o& this !itt!e experiment is a $indo$ $here you can set up the .a!ues that $i!! ad(ust ho$ your method o& !imits experiment $i!! run. *he &irst item as2s you to determine the number o& !e.e!s to test. *he number o& !e.e!s re&ers to the number o& intensity steps in the independent .ariab!e that $i!! be tested. In the method o& !imits/ the researcher hopes to pic2 an extreme .a!ue that is readi!y detected and a !e.e! that is ne.er detected and then se.era! !e.e!s bet$een. )or this experiment/ do not ad(ust the s!ider but (ust use the de&au!t .a!ues. *he next +uestion is the number o& staircases to run. " staircase is the term I am using in this text/ another common term is series/ to re&er to ho$ the !e.e!s o& the independent .ariab!e is presented to the sub(ect. In a descending staircase [to glossary]/ the experimenter presents the most intense !e.e! that is easi!y seen and as2s the sub(ect is they can see the stimu!us. I& the sub(ect can see this stimu!us/ and the researcher &er.ent!y hopes that the sub(ect can/ then the next/ !ess intense !e.e! o& the stimu!us is presented. "&ter each stimu!us is presented/ the sub(ect is as2ed i& they can see the stimu!us. In a proper!y designed descending staircase/ the sub(ect starts by reporting that they can see the stimu!us. *he staircase continues unti! the participant reports that they cannot see the stimu!us. *his .a!ue $here they changed their response &rom 43es/ I can see the stimu!us5 to 4@o/ I cannot see the stimu!us5 is recorded and $i!! be used to ca!cu!ate the thresho!d. *he descending staircase is then &o!!o$ed by an ascending staircase [to glossary]. In the ascending staircase/ the !o$est intensity is presented &irst/ and again the participant is as2ed i& they can see the stimu!us. #ere/ i& the staircase is designed correct!y/ the sub(ect shou!d not be ab!e to see the stimu!us. *hen the next !east intense stimu!us is presented unti! the participant can see the stimu!us. "gain/ this !o$est intensity $here the participant reports seeing the stimu!us is recorded and used to determine the thresho!d. *he 4number o& staircases5 +uestion as2s the number o& these descending:ascending pairs o& staircases to run. 'ea.e it at D &or this examp!e. *he third +uestion as2s about the type o& %ethod o& 'imits to run. 'ea.e it at traditiona!/ $hich is $hat has been described so &ar. I& you ha.e shi&ted .a!ues c!ic2 on the estore De!au"ts button to go to the .a!ues that $ere present $hen you &irst entered this $indo$. In this experiment/ a red cross $i!! be present in the midd!e o& the screen. *his is a &ixation mar2. 3ou are to stare at the cross the entire time. *here $i!! be a dim &!ash abo.e that cross. "&ter the &!ash has appeared you $i!! be as2ed at the bottom o& the page i& you sa$ the &!ash. I& you sa$ the &!ash/ press the Yes button and/ i& you did not see the &!ash/ press the No button. With these instructions you are no$ ready to run this experiment/ so no$ c!ic2 on the Done button at the bottom o& the page. "&ter you are done your resu!ts $i!! be disp!ayed and then re&er bac2 to this page. *he graph o& your resu!ts is a p!ot intensity disp!ayed as a &unction o& the tria!. By that I mean that the intensity o& the &!ashes is p!otted on the yCaxis and the tria! number is p!otted on the xCaxis. So on the &irst tria! the most intense stimu!us 6#5< $as disp!ayed. Since that stimu!us is easi!y seen/ your response $i!! most !i2e!y ha.e been 43es5 and on the next tria! the next !ess intense stimu!us is presented. *his is a descending staircase. E.entua!!y/ there $i!! be a tria! $here you $i!! not be ab!e to detect the stimu!us and you $i!! respond 4@o5/ this stimu!us is indicated $ith a green dot. *he next stimu!us presented is the !east intense stimu!us 61< and an ascending staircase is begun. Each o& the green dots indicates the end o& a staircase $here your response changed. *he thresho!d is ta2en as the a.erage intensity o& the stimu!i presented on these tria!s. I& you press the Sho$ %hresho"d button on the bottom o& the screen/ this a.erage $i!! be disp!ayed to you. Bring bac2 up & peri#ent 2. ! Method o, 3i#its [lin" to #edia ,igure]. *he type o& %ethod o& 'imits that $as run !ast time is a traditiona! .ersion/ and each staircase begins either at the beginning o& the staircase or at some standard point. *his method $i!! $aste a !ot o& tria!s getting responses that can easi!y be predicted. *ry the experiment again but instead o& the traditiona! method/ change the %ype o! M&' to Stair(ase) 1*up) 1*do$n and again run the study. In the traditiona! method/ each time your response changes/ say &rom 43es/ I sa$ it5 to 4@o/ I did not see it5 the next stimu!us is ta2en &rom the beginning o& the next staircase. In this staircase method/ i& the stimu!us becomes so $ea2 that a 4@o5 response is gi.en by the participant/ the next stimu!us presented is the next most intense stimu!us instead o& going to the beginning o& the ascending staircase. *his method &!o$s in +uic2!y on the region o& the staircase and does not $aste as many tria!s 6Corns$eet/ 1;82<. >un this experiment and examine the

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resu!ts. See ho$ the intensities tested are grouped around the thresho!d/ and there are &ar &e$er tria!s tested that are &ar &rom the thresho!d. Method o, Constant 4ti#uli *he #ethod o, constant sti#uli [to glossary] is .ery simi!ar to the method o& !imits. *ry & peri#ent 2. ! Method o, Constant 4ti#uli [lin" to #edia ,igure]. Bn the &irst screen you $i!! be ab!e to ad(ust the parameters o& the method. 'i2e in the method o& !imits/ the experimenter preCse!ects a number o& stimu!us intensities to present to the participant. #o$e.er/ instead o& presenting the stimu!i in any particu!ar order/ the stimu!i are presented in a random order. *hus/ the experimenter does not determine the number o& staircases/ to run but the number o& times each stimu!us is to be presented. Do not change the de&au!t .a!ues as on the !ast experiment/ and you $i!! ha.e 2D tria!s 6D !e.e!s K D repetitions<. *his is the &irst experiment that $i!! use sound as a stimu!us. *o ma2e this experiment $or2/ you $i!! need to ad(ust the .o!ume o& a cali%ration [to glossary] tone so that you can (ust hear it. Because $e a!! ad(ust our computer spea2ers to our &a.orite intensities/ the sounds &rom your spea2ers may be too !oud or too so&t &or the purposes o& this experiment. When pic2ing the !e.e!s in a method o& !imits or method o& constant stimu!i experiment/ it is best to pic2 .a!ues that are both be!o$ and abo.e thresho!d. So i& your .o!ume is too !oud our so&t you might hear a!! or none o& the tones. So this minima! ca!ibration is necessary to ma2e this experiment $or2. *he second screen o& this experiment does not start the experiment/ but is a ca!ibration $indo$. It sometimes ta2es this second screen a$hi!e to appear/ especia!!y on o!der computers/ but it $i!! appear. When the second screen appears/ you $i!! see three buttons across the top o& the $indo$. *hey are +"ay/ Stop/ Done. Press the p!ay button to start the sound. "d(ust your .o!ume on your spea2ers so that you can (ust hear the sound. It $i!! 2eep p!aying unti! you press either Stop or Done. When you ha.e comp!eted the ca!ibration/ the experiment begins. 3ou $i!! be as2ed i& you heard the tones. "t the end o& the experiment your data $i!! be presented. *ry the experiment at this point. 3ou shou!d &ind this experiment and the data p!ot .ery &ami!iar. *his is the same method that $as used &or p!otting the data &rom the abso!ute and di&&erence thresho!d experiments 6see Experiment 2.x0 "bso!ute *hresho!d and Experiment 2x0 Di&&erence *hresho!d or G@D<. *hat is because both o& these experiments used the method o& constant stimu!i to co!!ect their data. *he graph shou!d be a gradua! increase o& the proportion o& times that you heard the tone/ (ust as $ith the &irst t$o experiments. *here is one ne$ &eature to the graph. *here are t$o green !ines on the graph that intersect some$here on the red !ine that connects t$o o& the dots. *his point $here the green !ines intersect $ith the red !ine is the thresho!d. It is $ith the method o& constant stimu!i that the de&inition o& a thresho!d as detection or discrimination o& D9E arises. #o$e.er/ it is rare that the experimenter $i!! pic2 an actua! intensity o& the stimu!us that the participant $i!! detect D9E o& the time. So some method o& estimating $hat the actua! intensity that $ou!d gi.e a D9E detection !e.e! is needed. *here are many di&&erent $ays/ but a discussion o& these methods is not necessary 6Engen/ 1;J1= ui!&ord/ 1;DF= 'uce/ Bush/ I a!nter/ 1;8?<. We need a simp!e $ay to i!!ustrate the basic idea o& $hat is being done to estimate the actua! thresho!d. *he simp!est/ though o&ten not the best/ $ay is i!!ustrated on your graph. *his method is ca!!ed linear interpolation [to glossary]. In simp!e terms/ this method uses the !ine e+uation you !earned in "!gebra I/ y L mK M b/ to estimate $hat stimu!us intensity $ou!d be detected D9E o& the time 6Engen/ 1;J1<. *hat is $hy the intersection o& the t$o green !ines &a!!s on the red !ine connecting the t$o points. Hsing this method/ you can read your thresho!d &or this experiment &rom $here the green !ine intersects the K axis. [Question ,or editor: I could %uild a s#all progra# 5already in visual %asic6 to allo* the students to #a"e this calculation. What do you thin". I could also calculate it ,or the# and si#ply give it to the# as in the Method o, 3i#its.] Method o, 'd7ust#ent *he most direct o& the c!assic psychophysica! methods is the #ethod o, ad7ust#ent [to glossary]. In this method/ either the participant or the sub(ect direct!y contro!s the stimu!us and ad(usts it to the thresho!d !e.e!. Hsua!!y this tas2 is repeated se.era! times. *his method can be a bit a$2$ard to use &or thresho!d/ because manua!!y ad(usting a stimu!us unti! you can (ust percei.e it is a di&&icu!t tas2. #o$e.er/ it is .ery use&u! &or matching one stimu!us to another to determine the point o, su%7ective e0uality or P4& [to glossary]/ another psychophysica! measure that you $i!! run into in this boo2. *he PSE is exact!y as the name imp!ies/ the settings o& t$o stimu!i $here the sub(ect experiences them as identica!. )inding this .a!ue may not sound .ery interesting/ but !et us try an experiment that $i!! both i!!ustrate the method and i!!ustrate the PSE.

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o to & peri#ent 2. ! Method o, 'd7ust#ent [lin" to #edia ,igure]. *his &igure $i!! open a $indo$ $here you can set the parameters &or ad(usting the method o& ad(ustment prior to running this experiment. *his method has t$o important settings/ one is the Num,er o! %ria"s and the other is the ange o! -ariation. *he number o& tria!s is the number o& times you $i!! repeat the measurement. *he range o& .ariation re&ers to ho$ much the initia! .a!ue o& the comparison stimu!us/ the one you $i!! be ad(usting/ .aries o.er the entire possib!e range o& .a!ues &or that stimu!us. *he reason an experimenter $ants the initia! .a!ue to .ary &rom tria! to tria! is that the participant $i!! ha.e to ma2e each (udgment on their perceptions instead o& simp!y repeating their ad(ustment &rom ear!ier tria!s. Hse the de&au!t .a!ues and c!ic2 on the Done button at the bottom o& the screen. *he next screen $i!! ha.e t$o !arge circ!es/ each $ith t$o sma!!er circ!es inside. *he standard/ or unchanging stimu!us/ is on the !e&t and it is a b!uish outer circ!e $ith a greenish inner circ!e. *he comparison stimu!us has a ye!!o$ish outer circ!e $ith an inner circ!e that $i!! .ary $ith ho$ b!ue the stimu!us is. 3our tas2 is to ad(ust the comparison-s inner circ!e so that it matches the hue or co!or o& the inner circ!e o& the standard on the !e&t. 3ou use the s!ider on the right side o& the screen. *his s!ider $i!! ad(ust ho$ b!ue the comparison-s inner circ!e is. @o$ the t$o circ!es may not be the same brightness/ that is/ one may be a bit dar2er than the other. Do not $orry about that/ concentrate on matching the co!or. *hin2 o& it as ma2ing the t$o inner circ!es ha.e the same amount o& b!ue. When you ha.e made your match/ c!ic2 on the match button at the bottom o& the screen. *his experiment shou!d remind you o& the .ery &irst &igure in the text/ Interactive Illustration 8. ! M9ller:3yer Illusion [lin" to the #edia] in the boo2. *hat &igure used the method o& ad(ustment as you ad(usted the !ength o& the sha&t o& the comparison. Since you match the !ength o& t$o stimu!i/ you determined your PSE bet$een the !engths o& the t$o !ines as $e!!. It is $ith i!!usions and simi!ar sorts o& phenomena $here one stimu!us may appear in some$ay di&&erent &rom usua! that the PSE is a good measure. >eturning to the current experiment/ $hen you ha.e &inished the experiment/ t$o things $i!! happen. )irst/ the outer circ!es are remo.ed and the comparison-s inner circ!e is ad(usted to your a.erage setting. I& you are typica!/ the t$o circ!es shou!d not appear the same. In &act/ your comparison circ!e on the right shou!d be !ess b!ue than the standard circ!e $hich $i!! ma2e it appear a !itt!e more green. In addition/ the a.erage di&&erence in the settings o& the t$o circ!es is sho$n in a $indo$ in the midd!e o& the screen. *his .a!ue is the di&&erence in the computer settings te!!ing the monitor ho$ much b!ue to ha.e in the t$o circ!es. 3ou shou!d see a negati.e .a!ue. *he method o& ad(ustment may not be as precise as the method o& constant stimu!i/ but it is &ast and can be .ery re!iab!e &or determining the PSE !i2e $e did in our experiment. Modern Methods Whi!e the c!assica! methods ha.e pro.en .ery po$er&u! indeed/ certain prob!ems $ere percei.ed $ith the type o& in&ormation that can be gotten &rom them. Some more modern methods ha.e been de.e!oped to dea! $ith some o& these percei.ed di&&icu!ties. ;orced Choice (echni0ues Bne o& the potentia! di&&icu!ties that arise $ith the traditiona! methods is that the participant might be decei.ing the experimenter. Perhaps the participant $ants to impress the experimenter $ith their extraordinary sensory abi!ities. In a!! o& the methods described so &ar it $ou!d be easy to do/ you cou!d simp!y report that you see or hear the stimu!us on tria!s $hen you don-t. Since the stimu!us is a!$ays present/ the experimenter cannot 2no$ i& the participant is being truth&u! or not. Bne o!der techni+ue emp!oyed $as to use catch tria!s. " catch tria! is a tria! $here the stimu!us is not presented. It is easy to insert these tria!s as chec2s on the participant-s accuracy and honesty. #o$e.er/ this method adds tria!s and is sti!! re!ati.e!y easy to get around. *he ,orced:choice #ethod [to glossary] $as de.e!oped to get around this di&&icu!ty 6B!ac2$e!!/ 1;D?= Gones/ 1;D8<. Bn e.ery tria! the sub(ect either has to say $hen the stimu!us occurred or $here it occurred. *o i!!ustrate this method/ open & peri#ent 2. ! ;orced Choice [lin" to Media ;igure 2. : ;orced Choice]. *he &irst thing to note about the &igure is the !ac2 o& a method $indo$. )orcedCchoice method is actua!!y a di&&erent $ay o& doing the methods $e ha.e discussed so &ar. In this case/ the &orcedC choice method $i!! ha.e the stimu!ui presented in a order determined &rom the method o& constant stimu!i. Since you 2no$ ho$ to set up a method o& constant stimu!i/ the method $indo$ is s2ipped in this instance to sa.e some time. So you start $ith the ca!ibration $indo$ that you ha.e seen be&ore. In this method/ your tas2 $i!! be to discriminate bet$een t$o &re+uencies. *he experiment $i!! measure your G@D &or detecting the di&&erence bet$een t$o &re+uencies/ $hen the standard &re+uency is 1299 /ert2 or /2 [to

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glossary]. " #ertA is a unit o& &re+uency that means cyc!es or repetitions per second. *hus the .ibrations in the air that you $i!! be hearing &or the base &re+uency $i!! be going at a rate o& 1299 times a second. "!! o& the comparison or test &re+uencies $i!! be higher than the standard. In a standard method o& !imits experiment/ the standard &re+uency $ou!d occur &irst and the higher comparison tone $ou!d occur second/ and you $ou!d be as2ed i& the second tone sounded higher. In a &orcedCchoice experiment/ the order o& the t$o tones $i!! be random. Bn ha!& o& the tria!s the standard $i!! occur &irst and on ha!& the standard $i!! occur second. 3our tas2 $i!! be to say $hen the comparison tone occurred. 3ou $i!! not be gi.en the option o& 4I don-t 2no$.5 I& you cannot te!! the di&&erence bet$een the t$o tones you ha.e to guess $hen the comparison occurred. It is this &eature o& the experiment that ma2es it a 4&orcedCchoice5 experiment. In this particu!ar case the $ay that the +uestion $i!! be phrased is 4Which sound had the higher pitch15 I& you heard the higher pitch &irst o& the t$o tones/ then press the button !abe!ed .irst and press the button !abe!ed Se(ond other$ise. @o$ run the experiment and come bac2 here $hen your resu!ts ha.e been presented. *he &irst thing to notice about your resu!ts is that you $i!! tend to be about D9E correct. 3ou can do this $e!! because $hen you rea!!y do not 2no$ $hen the comparison occurred you $i!! be guessing/ and you $i!! ha.e the same chance o& being correct as o& guessing $hich side o& a &!ipped coin $i!! come up. "s the di&&erence bet$een the comparison and standard increases/ you $i!! be correct a greater percentage o& the time. *he &act that participants are correct D9E o& the time $hen they are guessing !eads to an issue that needs to be reso!.ed. I& the participant is correct D9E o& the time $hen they are guessing/ it does not seem a good idea to say that $hen the participant is correct D9E o& the time that they ha.e reached thresho!d. " ne$ .a!ue needs to be chosen. Since JDE &a!!s ha!& $ay bet$een guessing and per&ect as D9E &a!!s ha!& $ay bet$een ne.er detecting a stimu!us and a!$ays detecting the stimu!us/ the JDE point has been used. *his particu!ar type o& &orcedCchoice method has be $hat is ca!!ed a te#poral ,orced:choice [to glossary] method. It is a!so possib!e/ particu!ar!y in tacti!e and .isua! experiments/ to do a spatial ,orced: choice [to glossary] method. In your experiment/ the standard and comparison $ere presented at di&&erent times. 3ou determined $hen the comparison occurred. In a spatia! &orcedCchoice method/ both the standard and comparison are presented at the same time but in di&&erent !ocations. In this case/ the decision is $here the comparison $as presented. See )igure 2.x &or ho$ such an experiment might be !aid out. 4ignal $etection (heory 3ou ha.e no$ been in se.era! thresho!d type situations/ and you ha.e experienced some o& the uncertainty associated $ith detection and discrimination at thresho!d. In these cases/ $e ha.e &ound a range o& stimu!us .a!ues $here you as the participant cannot be sure i& you percei.ed the stimu!us or not. Considerations o& this situation &rom the perspecti.e o& 4ignal $etection (heory [to glossary] ha.e !ed to an entire!y di&&erent $ay o& considering this situation 6 reen I S$ets/ 1;88<. Consider the &o!!o$ing situation0 3ou are dri.ing do$n the road and you thin2 you heard a sound that might ha.e come &rom the engine. Say it sounded 2ind o& !i2e a c!un2. @o$/ you ha.e your stereo going and there are sounds &rom the road so you are not sure. I& you car is re!ati.e!y ne$ and has a history o& smooth running/ perhaps you $i!! decide that you didn-t rea!!y hear anything. 3our hearing is 4p!aying tric2s5 on you. Perhaps instead o& the &ine automobi!e described abo.e you are dri.ing an o!d car that has a history o& spending near!y as much time in the shop as on the road. In this case you might decide that you did hear something and head to the nearest ser.ice center. What is important in this examp!e is that e.en in this .ery basic sensory discrimination/ there is a cogniti.e decision ma2ing e!ement that needs to be ta2en into account. Signa! detection theory attempts to understand the ro!e that decision ma2ing p!ays in these situations. Examine the situation abo.e a !itt!e more care&u!!y. "!! the possib!e outcomes are sho$n in *ab!e 16a<. In the rea! $or!d/ the stimu!us e.ent does not a!$ays occur. So it is possib!e that the c!un2 either occurred or did not. *hese t$o possib!e stimu!us e.ents are indicated across the top o& the tab!e. In either case/ and to some extent independent!y/ o& $hether the c!un2 happened or not/ you can decide that you heard the c!un2 or not. *hese possib!e (udgments on your part are sho$n on the !e&t hand side o& the tab!e. *he &our ce!!s o& the tab!e are the possib!e outcomes. )or examp!e/ the c!un2 cou!d ha.e happened and you cou!d decide that you heard the c!un2 and so you go get the car ser.iced. *hat outcome is in the upper !e&t hand ce!! o& the tab!e. *hus/ t$o o& the outcomes/ deciding the sound occurred $hen it did and deciding the sound did not occur $hen it did not/ are correct responses and ha.e positi.e outcomes= the

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other t$o outcomes represent incorrect decisions and ha.e negati.e outcomes. It is o& course in your best interest to maximiAe the positi.e outcomes $hi!e minimiAing the negati.e outcomes. *ab!e 16a< Signa! Detection *heory Possib!e Situations *he c!un20 3ou decide that the c!un20 #appened Did not happen #appened 3ou get needed ser.ice 3ou brea2 do$n on the road Did not happen 3ou pay an unneeded ser.ice .isit 3ou go happi!y on your $ay

*ab!e 16b< Signa! Detection *heory Possib!e Situations *he Signa! is0 *he Participants Gudgment0 Present "bsent Present #it %iss "bsent )a!se "!arm Correct >e(ection

*ab!e 16b< gi.es the genera! terms to $hat has been described. *he c!un2 in our origina! examp!e is no$ ca!!ed the signa!. *he signa! is simp!y $hat $e ha.e been ca!!ing the stimu!us in a!! o& our ear!ier examp!es. It is the e.ent in the $or!d that a person is trying to detect. *he reason &or the di&&erent term is due to the &act that Signa! Detection *heory comes to psycho!ogy &rom engineering/ $here the termino!ogy $as a!ready estab!ished 6 reen I S$ets/ 1;88<. *he on!y other ne$ terms that are used in *ab!e 16b< are terms to describe the &our possib!e outcomes. I& the signa! is present and you (udge it to be present/ it is a hit= i& the signa! is present but you (udge it to be absent/ it is a miss= i& the signa! is absent and you (udge it to be present/ that is a &a!se a!arm= &ina!!y/ i& the signa! is absent and you (udge it to be absent that is a correct re(ection. E.erything e!se &rom the examp!e ho!ds. @o$ try an experiment and co!!ect some data. Bring up & peri#ent 2. ! 4ignal $etection & peri#ent [lin" to the #edia]. In this experiment/ you $i!! be searching &or a Y among a string o& /-s. *he Y $i!! not be present on e.ery tria!/ on!y some o& the time. 3ou are to search the string and indicate $hether you sa$ the Y or not. "t the end o& the experiment/ the proportion o& hits/ misses/ &a!se a!arms/ and correct re(ections $i!! be presented to you. o ahead and run the experiment no$ but do not change the de&au!t .au!es. *he &irst thing to notice about the data is the $ay that the percentages are ca!cu!ated. *he hits/ in the upper right hand ce!! o& the tab!e/ are the percentage o& hits out o& a!! o& the times that the stimu!us $as present/ not the percentage o& hits out o& a!! o& the tria!s. *he misses sho$ the percentage o& misses out o& a!! o& the tria!s $hen a signa! $as present. *hus/ the percentages o& hits and misses add up to 199E. *he same situation ho!ds &or &a!se a!arms and correct re(ections/ but in this case they re&er to the tria!s $here the signa! $as not present. *his $ay o& representing the data has some nice &eatures. Bne o& the nice &eatures o& representing the data this $ay is that you can reconstruct the entire tab!e &rom (ust 2no$ing the proportions re!ated to hits and &a!se a!arms. %isses are e+ua! to 199 C hits/ and correct re(ections are e+ua! to 199 N &a!se a!arms. Chec2 your tab!e &or yourse!&. @o$ $e come to ho$ the signa! detection theory tries to exp!ain $hat is going on during the detection o& a stimu!us. )irst/ c!ose your eyes and 2eep them c!osed &or a minute or t$o. I& the room is dar2 enough you might see some sma!! &!ashes o& !ight/ e.en though there are not any sma!! &!ashes out in the rea! $or!d. E.en $hen no stimu!us is present/ the ner.ous system is sti!! &iring random!y and at a !o$ !e.e!. *his !o$ !e.e! o& &iring rate constitutes part o& $hat signa! detection theory ca!!s noise [to glossary]. Bpen the Interactive Model 2. ! 4ignal $etection (heory [lin" to the #edia]. When the &igure opens/ the main action $i!! ta2e p!ace on the graph. *he xCaxis o& the graph is ca!!ed Sensory Signa" Strength. *he xCaxis o& this graph indicates ho$ strong!y the ner.ous system is signa!ing to the brain. Bne $ay to thin2 o& the xCaxis/ is ho$ &ast neurons are &iring or ho$ many neurons are &iring. oing bac2 to the c!osed eye examp!e mentioned ear!ier/ the more &!ashes you noticed/ the higher up on this sensory signa! !e.e! axis $ou!d you be. *he yCaxis o& the graph is the probabi!ity or !i2e!ihood o& getting a gi.en

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sensory signa! !e.e!. When the &igure &irst opens up you $i!! see one cur.e/ dra$n in red on the graph/ and it is !abe!ed the noise cur.e. *he red cur.e is the probabi!ity cur.e re&erring to $hat happens in the sensory system $hen there is no signa!/ but on!y noise. *he theory uses the o!d and shou!d be &ami!iar norma! cur.e to describe ho$ !i2e!y you are to ha.e di&&erent sensory signa! !e.e!s $hen no signa! is present. *he higher the cur.e/ the more !i2e!y you $i!! experience that sensory signa! !e.e! $hen there is not a signa!. *o use our c!osed eye examp!e/ there usua!!y are some &!ashes in our eye/ that $ou!d be the midd!e o& the noise cur.e and represent the a.erage intensity experienced/ and it is the most common signa! !e.e! experienced $hen on!y noise is present. Sometimes there are &e$er &!ashes and that $ou!d occur to$ards the !e&t o& the mean o& the cur.e/ c!oser to the yCaxis/ $here the cur.e is not as ta!! so they $ou!d not occur as o&ten. Sometimes there are more &!ashes in your eye than norma! and that is to the right a$ay &rom the yCaxis &rom the mean. *hese a!so are not as common/ as can be seen by the &act that that part o& the cur.e is not as ta!!. C!ic2 on the Sho$ Signa" and the emove Noise buttons on the right hand side o& the $indo$. *his action $i!! sho$ ho$ the Signa! Detection *heory exp!ains $hat happens $hen the signa! is present. )irst/ notice that the cur.e is ca!!ed Signa"0Noise not (ust a Signa" cur.e. *hat is because the noise in your ner.ous system does not go a$ay. It is a!$ays there. *he signa!/ in essence/ simp!y mo.es the cur.e to a p!ace $here there is/ o.era!!/ a higher !e.e! o& acti.ity in the sensory system. #o$e.er/ the !e.e! o& acti.ity is not constant. Sometimes there is more acti.ity/ and sometimes there is !ess. *he height o& the b!ue cur.e at any point indicates the !i2e!ihood o& any gi.en !e.e! o& acti.ity $hen the signa! is present. @o$/ the emove Noise button has turned to a Sho$ Noise button. C!ic2 on it so that both the noise a!one cur.e and the signa! p!us noise cur.es are present. I& you ha.e mo.ed the signa! cur.e using the s!ider a!ong the bottom o& the screen/ mo.e it bac2 to a !e.e! o& about 1 on the s!ider-s sca!e. @otice that the cur.es o.er!ap. With this o.er!ap/ $e can no$ begin to see ho$ hits/ misses/ &a!se a!arms/ and correct re(ections happen. What that means is that &or those .a!ues o& sensory acti.ity $here the t$o cur.es o.er!ap/ during a signa! detection situation or experiment/ that !e.e! o& sensory acti.ity cou!d be caused by either the signa! or the noise $hen the signa! is not present. Imagine being in a dar2 room and expecting a .ery dim and brie& !ight. )rom the eyes c!osed examp!e/ it is c!ear that you $i!! see some &!ashes caused by the random acti.ity o& the ner.ous system. I& the stimu!us is simi!ar in characteristics to the &!ashes/ then you might see the stimu!us but con&use it &or a &!ash/ or see a &!ash &rom the ner.ous system and con&use it &or the stimu!us. C!ic2 on the Sho$ &ver"ap button a!ong the right side o& the $indo$ to see the region o& o.er!ap bet$een these t$o cur.es. When pressed/ this button $i!! cause a s+uare to be dra$n to indicate the region a!ong the sensory signa! strength axis/ to sho$ those !e.e!s o& acti.ity that cou!d be caused by either the noise a!one or $hen the signa! occurs. @o$ the degree o& o.er!ap is re!ated to $hat is ca!!ed by Signa! Detection *heory sensitivity [to glossary]. *he sensiti.ity is ho$ &ar apart the signa!Mnoise cur.e is &rom the noise cur.e. *he most common measure o& sensiti.ity is d< [to glossary]. *he d- measure is the distance bet$een the t$o means in the number o& standard de.iations. In &act/ the sca!e !abe!ed sensiti.ity on the graph is in d-. C!ic2 on the Sho$ d1 to graphica!!y see d-. 3ou can ad(ust the sensiti.ity/ and as a resu!t the d-/ by using the s!ider at the bottom o& the screen. "s the sensiti.ity is !arger and d- gro$s/ the amount o& o.er!ap is sma!!er. It is possib!e &or there to be no o.er!ap bet$een the noise and the signa! p!us noise cur.es. @o$ mo.e the s!ider bac2 to about a d- o& 1 and examine the imp!ication o& the o.er!ap &or signa! detection. *he person detecting the signa! on!y 2no$s the !e.e! o& sensory acti.ity that occurred. I& the acti.ity occurred a!ong the range o& sensory acti.ity indicated by the rectang!e/ then the person cannot 2no$ i& the acti.ity occurred as a resu!t o& noise or the signa!. So the person $i!! ha.e to ma2e a decision as to $hat caused that acti.ity !e.e!. 'et us no$ see ho$ the &our decisions discussed ear!ier= hits/ misses/ &a!se a!arms/ and correct re(ections/ can be represented by Signa! Detection *heory. o to Interactive Model 2. ! $ecisions in 4$( [lin" to the #edia]. *he &igure is .ery simi!ar to the !ast media &igure in that it sho$s both the noise and the signa! p!us noise cur.e on the same graph as be&ore. *he sensiti.ity or d- is sho$n by the orange bar connecting the means o& the t$o cur.es. 3ou can ad(ust sensiti.ity by ad(usting the s!ider !abe!ed 4Sensiti.ityCd-5 be!o$ the xCaxis. In addition/ there is a .ertica! ye!!o$ !ine. *his !ine is the !ast component o& signa! detection theory/ the criterion [to glossary]. Signa! Detection *heory proposes that the person chooses a !e.e! o& the sensory acti.ity= and any sensory acti.ity abo.e that !e.e! the person $i!!

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ma2e the (udgment that the signa! $as present and any acti.ity be!o$ that !e.e! the sub(ect $i!! (udge the signa! to be absent. @o$ $e ha.e the &our outcomes in the theory that match the possib!e e.ents &rom a detection experiment sho$n in *ab!e 16b<. *he t$o cur.es describe $hat is going on $ith the signa! and $ith noise. I& you !oo2 to the right o& the &igure/ you $i!! see a tab!e that describes these outcomes. Instead o& the !abe!s hits/ misses/ and the rest/ there are percentages o& tria!s that $i!! &a!! in that category. So ho$ do $e get &rom the &igure to the tab!e1 *he noise cur.e describes our experience $hen the signa! is absent and the signa! p!us noise cur.e describes $hat is going on $hen the signa! is present. *he criterion no$ describes ho$ $e ma2e our (udgments/ particu!ar!y $hen the t$o cur.es o.er!ap. Press the Sho$ 2its button. *his and the rest o& the buttons are &ound in a tab!e be!o$ the outcomes tab!e $ith the buttons in the corresponding ce!!. *he portion o& the signa! p!us noise cur.e abo.e the criterion is shaded. Since the entire cur.e represents a!! o& the times the signa! is present/ the shaded portion o& the cur.e represents the percentage o& hits/ $hich is sho$n in the tab!e at the bottom o& the &igure. Pressing the Sho$ Misses button $i!! shade that portion o& the cur.e that is be!o$ the criterion. *his is the region o& sensory acti.ity $hen the signa! is present that &a!!s be!o$ the person-s criterion/ and thus the person ma2ing the signa! detection (udgment $i!! say the signa! not present and thus miss it. Press the emove 2its and emove Misses buttons. @o$ that the &igure is c!eared/ press the Sho$ .a"se 3"arms and the Sho$ 4orre(t e5e(tion buttons to sho$ ho$ these are represented in Signa! Detection *heory. )or both o& these decisions/ re&erring bac2 to *ab!e 16b< $i!! sho$ that they are the resu!t o& the signa! being absent/ so they re&er to the noise cur.e. *he noise on!y sensory acti.ity that is abo.e the criterion $i!! !ead the person to ma2e a (udgment that the signa! is present and thus ma2e a &a!se a!arm. *he green shading under the noise cur.e sho$s the &a!se a!arms. *he percentage o& noise on!y tria!s that !ead to &a!se a!arms is the same as the percentage o& the cur.e abo.e the criterion and is sho$n in the tab!e be!o$ the cur.es. *he correct re(ections re&er to the portion o& the noise cur.e that is be!o$ the criterion and is sho$n by the dar2 red shading and the percentage in the tab!e. @o$ the sensiti.ity is determined by the sub(ect-s sensory abi!ities to detect that signa! and the strength o& the signa!/ but the criterion is under the person-s contro!. Hsing the bottom s!ider/ ad(ust the criterion to about &our on the s!ider sca!e. *his is a strict criterion/ $here the sub(ect $ants to minimiAe the &a!se a!arms. "s a resu!t/ though/ the number o& hits goes $ay do$n as $e!!/ sho$n in the tab!e at the bottom o& the screen. #o$e.er/ this might at times be a good decision. Say you ha.e (ust gotten into a nice $arm bath and the house is co!d and you thin2 you heard the phone. 3ou are not expecting an important ca!! and you ha.e an ans$ering machine. It might be $ise to stay $arm instead o& c!imbing out o& the tub/ getting co!d/ and ris2 s!ipping on the &!oor to get a ca!! &rom $hat might be a te!emar2eter. @o$ ad(ust the criterion to about 1 on the criterion s!ider. @o$ you ha.e minimiAed the chance o& a miss. *his is ca!!ed a !ax criterion. *here are times $hen this might be a good decision as $e!!. oing bac2 into the bath/ no$ change the situation so that you are expecting an important phone ca!!/ say &rom a signi&icant other or potentia! emp!oyer or your parents and your ans$ering machine is bro2en. It might be $orth the discom&ort to get out o& the bath and get the ca!!. *he point is that regard!ess o& the decision/ it is under the contro! o& the obser.er ho$ they p!ace their criterion and they $i!! ad(ust their criterion to $or2 best as they see the situation. )or any gi.en sensiti.ity/ d-/ there is a range o& possib!e outcomes according to Signa! Detection *heory. )or examp!e/ set d- to 1. @o$ ta2e the criterion to its !o$est !e.e! and notice the !e.e! o& hits and &a!se a!arms. "d(ust the criterion to successi.e!y !arger .a!ues and see a!! the di&&erent .a!ues &or hits and &a!se a!arms. *o simp!i&y seeing a!! o& the possib!e outcomes &or a gi.en signa! strength/ researchers ha.e de.e!oped a $ay to summariAe a!! o& the possib!e outcomes &or this situation across a!! possib!e criterions. *his summary is ca!!ed the receiver operating characteristic or =OC curve [to glossary]. Bpen Interactive Model 2. ! =eceiver Operating Characteristic [lin" to the #edia] . *his &igure sho$s the noise and signa!Mnoise cur.e on the same graph that $as sho$n in the !ast t$o &igures. "t the bottom o& the screen is a tab!e sho$ing the proportion o& signa! tria!s that $i!! be hits/ and the proportion o& noise tria!s that $i!! be &a!se a!arms. In addition/ in a pane! to the right is another graph that p!ots the proportion o& &a!se a!arms on the xCaxis and the proportion o& hits in on the yCaxis. *he du!! ye!!o$ cur.e is the recei.er operating characteristic or >BC. It represents a!! the possib!e combinations o& proportions o& hits and &a!se a!arms &or any gi.en sensiti.ity &or a!! possib!e .a!ues o& the criterion that can be set. *he bright ye!!o$ dot is the current proportions o& hits and &a!se a!arms &or the current criterion. Drag the criterion s!ider around and $atch ho$ the ye!!o$ dot mo.es a!ong the >BC.

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@o$/ ho$ bo$ed the >BC is depends upon the sensiti.ity o& the sub(ect to the signa!. "d(ust the sensiti.ity so that it is a d- o& Aero. *he signa! p!us noise cur.e no$ !ies on top o& the noise cur.e/ $hich means that the person has no sensiti.ity and the >BC is no$ $here the gray diagona! !ine is. )or a!! criteria/ the proportion o& hits e+ua!s the proportion o& &a!se a!arms. *ry changing the criterion and $atch the tab!e sho$n in the bottom right corner. "&ter this/ change the sensiti.ity and $atch ho$/ as the sensiti.ity increases/ the >BC becomes more bo$ed and mo.es to$ards the outer !ines. "s sensiti.ity increases/ it is easier to &ind a criterion $here you can ha.e per&ect hits and no &a!se a!arms 6the upper !e&t corner o& the >BC cur.e<. *ry it. I need a study that uses signal detection theory and the =OC curve to illustrate *hy this *ould %e a good thing to study. Psychophysical 3a*s Science !oo2s &or patterns in the data that it disco.ers. " summary o& these patterns that a!!o$s one to determine one outcome &rom another is ca!!ed a !a$/ such as @e$ton-s !a$s o& motion. Hsing these psychophysica! methods/ researchers ha.e tried to determine i& there are simi!ar patterns that can become !a$s in our sensory and perceptua! systems. )or examp!e/ you measure a G@D &or a sound intensity o& say 19 units at it is 1 unit. @ext/ you measure the G@D &or a sound intensity o& 199 units and it is 19 units. @ext/ you measure the G@D &or a sound intensity o& 1999 units and it is ? units. 3ou 2eep measuring G@D-s and there is not apparent pattern to your resu!ts. *his situation $ou!d mean an immense amount o& memoriAation o& di&&erent .a!ues that $ou!d try e.eryone-s patience and you $ou!d probab!y not be reading this boo2. Scientists $ou!d ha.e pac2ed in this sub(ect !ong ago. *his !ast section $i!! discuss some o& the important !a$s that ha.e been proposed &or sensation and perception. We%er<s 3a* Weber-s !a$ dates bac2 to $'(& 6>E)/ KKKK</ $hen @"%E Weber noticed something interesting about G@D-s. )irst/ he noticed that not a!! G@D-s are the same siAe. 'et us use the same examp!e that $as to i!!ustrate G@D-s abo.e. 'et us ca!! the base mo.ement I. *he G@D represents ho$ much a mo.ement has to be increased to be discriminated as being a !arger mo.ement. 'et us ca!! this increase in mo.ement siAe OI 6pronounced de!ta I<. *he de!ta stands &or the di&&erence. Bne expectation that might be had about G@Ds is that they might a!! be the same siAe. *his statement cou!d be $ritten as 2L OI. *he !etter 2 represents a constant/ a .a!ue that does not change. *his $ou!d be a nice easy !a$/ but as you can probab!y guess/ it does not $or2 that $ay. )or di&&erent siAes o& mo.ements/ the G@D-s are di&&erent siAes. #o$e.er/ they can sti!! be described by a nice easy re!ationship0 2 L OI :I 61< *his e+uation can be trans!ated as &o!!o$s0 the G@D is a constant proportion o& the stimu!us. So i& &or a mo.ement o& 15/ the G@D turns out to be a mo.ement 1.15. *hat is a OI o& .1 and a 2 L .1:1 L .1. So i& the mo.ement is increased to 195 I can no$ predict $hat the siAe o& the G@D $i!! be. *he 2 stays the same 6.1< $hich means I need to so!.e the e+uations .1 L x:19 to get the increase in mo.ement siAe needed to get to the G@D. *his x is ob.ious!y 1 and no$ a mo.ement siAe o& 115 is needed to reach the discrimination thresho!d. Bne interesting imp!ication o& Weber-s !a$ is that as stimu!us intensity increases/ sensory systems !ose sensiti.ity to stimu!us changes. Bpen up Interactive Illustration 2. ! We%er<s 3a* [lin" to #edia]. Bn the screen/ there are t$o graphs $ith a s!ider on the right side o& the screen. *he !e&t hand graph is a p!ot o& t$o stimu!i against a bac2ground. *he xCaxis is a p!ot o& 'o(ation and the yCaxis is a p!ot o& 6ntensity. Imagine that the graph is a p!ot o& t$o !ights against a bac2ground !ight !e.e!. *he t$o !ights sho$ up as the t$o higher points on the graph and the bac2ground is the !o$er !e.e! that co.ers the rest o& the graph. *he s!ider ad(usts the intensity o& the bac2ground !ight !e.e!. *he t$o stimu!i $i!! beha.e di&&erent!y as the bac2ground changes. *he stimu!us on the !e&t $i!! a!$ays be the same abso!ute amount more intense than the bac2ground/ that is/ its OI $i!! not change. )or examp!e/ i& the bac2ground is D9 units o& !ight and the stimu!us is 199 units o& !ight/ then $hen the bac2ground is D99 units o& !ight the stimu!us $i!! be DD9 units o& !ight. *he di&&erence is a!$ays D9. *he right hand stimu!us is a!$ays a constant proportion o& the bac2ground/ that is/ its OI is a constant 2 o& I !i2e in Weber-s !a$. I& the bac2ground is D9 and the stimu!us is 199/ then $hen the bac2ground is D99/ the stimu!us $ou!d be 1999. *he ratio $ou!d a!$ays be 2. *he right hand graph is a p!ot o& OI :I &or the t$o stimu!i. *he !e&t bar is &or the !e&t hand stimu!us and the right bar is &or the right hand stimu!us. In this examp!e/ assume that the right hand stimu!us is actua!!y at thresho!d. "s you increase the bac2ground intensity/ the right hand bar is a!$ays the same siAe because the ratio o& the stimu!us to the

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bac2ground is a!$ays the same. #o$e.er/ the !e&t hand stimu!us-s OI :I gets sma!!er. When it is sma!!er than the right hand bar/ it $i!! be be!o$ thresho!d and detectab!e &or !ess than ha!& o& the time. P"DD *#E DISCHSSIB@ B) *#E @BW WEBE>-S '"W EKPE>I%E@* N %"QE SH>E 3BH #",E B@E *#"* WB>QS )I>S*R 'et us ma2e this situation concrete. Weber-s 'a$ exp!ains $hy stars are not .isib!e during the day. *he stars are !i2e the !e&t hand stimu!us on the &igure. *he stars are a!$ays a constant increase &rom the bac2ground/ as their !ight simp!y adds to the !ight in the s2y. During the night/ $hen the bac2ground !ight is !o$/ you can see the stars because they are abo.e the thresho!d. *ry it on the &igure. >educe the bac2ground !e.e! and $atch the star stimu!us/ the !e&t hand stimu!us/ go abo.e thresho!d on the right hand graph. In the day/ $ith the sun out/ the bac2ground !ight !e.e! is high and $e cannot see the stars because they are be!o$ our di&&erence thresho!d &or that !ight !e.e!. *ry it and $atch the 4star5 go be!o$ thresho!d as you increase the bac2ground !ight !e.e!. In this sense/ it can be stated that $e !ose sensiti.ity as $e are stimu!ated by more intense stimu!i. Weber-s !a$ has he!d up $e!! since it $as &irst introduced. Whi!e it does not $or2 &or a!! conditions and a!! stimu!i/ it does $or2 &or a !arge range o& many types o& stimu!ation as the star examp!e i!!ustrates 6>E)/ KKKK<. ;echner<s 3a* Weber-s !a$ dea!s $ith thresho!d stimu!ation/ the G@D in &act. #o$e.er/ in our $or!d $e usua!!y are not around thresho!d stimu!ation. We are usua!!y being stimu!ated by abo.e thresho!d or suprathresho!d stimu!ation. Is it possib!e to be ab!e to use $hat is 2no$n about thresho!ds to determine something about this suprathresho!d experience1 usta. )echner/ the de.e!oper o& psychophysics i& you reca!!/ decided that thresho!ds cou!d predict suprathesho!d perception. #e $as in&!uenced by the success o& Weber-s 'a$ to de.e!op an exp!anation &or suprathresho!d experience. #is !a$ about sensiti.ity to suprathresho!d stimu!i is0 S L 2S'og6I< 62< Where S is the strength o& the person-s interna! sensory experience/ I is the actua! intensity o& the stimu!us and 2 is the constant &rom Weber-s 'a$. )irst/ do you remember your !ogarithms1 *hey are exponents. So the 'og6199</ assuming a base o& 19/ is 2. *he number 19 raised to the po$er o& 2 is 199. 'ogarithms ha.e an interesting beha.ior0 they ma2e big numbers much more manageab!e by ma2ing them much sma!!er/ and the bigger the number the sma!!er the number is made as the Interactive Illustration 2. ! 3ogarith#s [)O( $O)&] sho$s. [I *ill have #ore description here %ut *ould li"e so#e ,eed%ac" on even i, this illustration ought to %e here] *he use o& the 2 &rom Weber-s 'a$ gi.es an interesting interpretation to the imp!ication o& )echner-s 'a$. )echner-s 'a$ imp!ies that the di&&erence in our experience o& the strength o& t$o stimu!i is the same as counting the number o& G@D bet$een the t$o intensity !e.e!s. *ry it on Interactive Illustration 2. ! ;echner<s 3a* and +)$ [line to #edia]. In this &igure/ you $i!! see a graph o& )echner-s !a$ re!ating the physica! intensity o& a stimu!us 6I< to the psycho!ogica! strength o& the sensory experience 6S<. *here is a s!ider to the right o& the screen that $i!! a!!o$ you to ad(ust the constant that $ou!d be obtained &rom Weber-s 'a$ 62<. "t the bottom are t$o s!iders that $i!! a!!o$ you to pic2 t$o points a!ong this cur.e. "s you ad(ust them/ there $i!! be a stepped !ine dra$n on the screen. Each step is one G@D= notice that they get !arger as they go up in intensity 6that is $hat $e $ou!d expect &rom Weber-s 'a$<. *he number o& steps is the di&&erence in the sensory strength o& the t$o intensities that you ha.e chosen. @ext to the G@D is the ratio o& the t$o .a!ues 6both in terms o& S and in terms o& I so you can see ho$ changes in physica! intensity increase much more rapid!y than increases in our sensory experience<. *hus/ )echner-s 'a$ is a big step &or$ard in trying to understand ho$ $e experience sensations beyond thresho!ds. #o$e.er/ it assumes that thresho!d sensory experience is the same as suprathresho!d sensory experience. *his !a$ $or2s reasonab!y $e!! &or many senses/ such as our perception o& brightness and !oudness/ but the +uestion remains $hether it $or2s &or a!! senses. 4tevens< 3a* Whi!e )echner-s 'a$ seemed to $or2 in many situations/ there sti!! appeared some situations that $ere not ade+uate!y exp!ained by the !a$. *a2e our responses to pain&u! stimu!i/ it seems that pain goes up .ery &ast/ and not more and more s!o$!y as expected by )echner-s 'a$. It is possib!e that not a!! senses ha.e the same !a$ &or suprathresho!d experiences/ but science !i2es genera!ity/ so the search $as on &or a more genera! !a$. It is into this situation that the psycho!ogist S. S. Ste.ens steped.

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Magnitude &sti#ation. Ste.ens- $or2 begins $ith the de.e!opment o& a ne$ psychophysica! method. Ste.ens- himse!& dates the de.e!opment o& the ne$ method to a moment on an e!e.ator $ith a co!!eague at #ar.ard. In his o$n $ords he describes the situation0 TIt a!! started &rom a &riend!y argument $ith a co!!eague $ho said/ U3ou seem to maintain that each !oudness has a number and that i& someone sounded a tone I shou!d be ab!e to te!! him the number.U I rep!ied/ U*hatUs an interesting idea. 'etUs try it.UT 6Ste.ens/ 1;D8/ p. 2</ It is &rom this con.ersation that the Magnitude &sti#ation [to glossary] $as de.e!oped. *he method is .ery simp!e. *he participant is presented a stimu!us. *hen the participant simp!y assigns a number that indicates the strength o& that stimu!us. Bring up the & peri#ent 2. ! Magnitude &sti#ation [lin" to the #edia ,igure] to try a samp!e o& a magnitude estimation experiment. )irst/ as $ith the other psychophysica! methods/ there comes up a page $here you can set the method parameters. *he parameters &or this method are the number o& steps to be estimated/ the number o& repetitions/ and $hether or not there is a #odulus [to glossary]. In the standard experiment the on!y stimu!us presented is the stimu!us to be (udged. When a modu!us is used/ a second stimu!us is presented that is gi.en a standard number. *he experimenter $i!! pic2 one stimu!us setting and assign it a number such as 199. *hen the participant $i!! assign the .a!ue to the stimu!i in the experiment re!ati.e to the modu!us. I& the modu!us appears t$ice as strong/ then the participant shou!d assign a number o& 299. I& the modu!us appears ha!& as strong/ then the participant shou!d assign a D9. *he modu!us is a good techni+ue &or getting participants to use the same range o& .a!ues/ though it is not re+uired to get good data. *here are $ays o& ad(usting participant-s data to be in the same range e.en i& they do not use the same range. In this experiment/ you $i!! be (udging the !oudness o& a tone and you $i!! ha.e a modu!us. *he modu!us/ as $i!! be indicated on the screen/ $i!! be assigned a .a!ue o& 199. "s in the other auditory experiments/ you $i!! be as2ed to ad(ust the intensity o& a tone unti! it is a com&ortab!e/ moderate intensity. *his is the same ca!ibration step you ha.e done be&ore. *hen on each tria! you $i!! hear the modu!us &o!!o$ed by the tone you are to (udge. *here is a box $here you are to enter a number that indicates your (udgment. Hse on!y $ho!e numbers/ and i& you enter any character other than a number you $i!! be as2ed to reenter the .a!ue. I& you ha.e changed any o& the .a!ues push the eset buttons at the bottom o& the screen and then press the Done button. @o$ that you ha.e done the experiment/ the data is presented on your screen. Bn the xCaxis is the intensity o& the sound p!otted as the proportion o& the intensity o& the !oudest tone. Bn the yCaxis is the a.erage o& your magnitude estimations &or each tone. 3ou ha.e your a.erage o& D magnitude estimations o& 19 di&&erent intensities $ith the !ines connecting bet$een the dots. P$evelop#ent: can *e do this] P!ease submit the data so that it can be co!!ected $ith the data &rom other students. *hen run the & peri#ent 2. ! Magnitude &sti#ation 2 [lin" to the #edia]. *his experiment runs exact!y the same as the !ast except you $i!! be (udging the !ength o& !ines. 3ou $i!! ha.e a modu!us again/ and it $i!! ha.e a .a!ue o& 199 as be&ore. When you get the data &rom this experiment p!ease submit it as $e!!. (he 3a* (hat 'rises. @o$ bring up Interactive Illustration 2. ! $ata ,ro# %oth Magnitude &sti#ation & peri#ents [lin" to #edia ,igure )O( $O)&]. [$evelop#ent: is this ,igure possi%le.] *his &igure $i!! graph on a &igure the resu!ts &rom a!! o& the students $ho ha.e tried this experiment. Hsing these data $e $i!! try to sho$ ho$ )echner-s 'a$ &ai!s and ho$ Ste.ens came up $ith a more genera! !a$. I& you c!ic2 on the chec2box on the !e&t hand side o& the screen/ you $i!! add a !ine representing )echner-s 'a$. *here is a s!ider right be!o$ the chec2 box that $i!! a!!o$ you to ad(ust the .a!ue o& 2 &rom the e+uation. "d(ust it and see i& you can get this e+uation to !ie c!ose to on top o& the data &rom the !oudness magnitude estimation study. It $i!! not !ie on top o& it/ but it shou!d get pretty c!ose to hitting most o& the points. *hus/ )echner-s 'a$ is ade+uate &or !oudness data. @o$ try the same exercise $ith the !ine !ength data. *his data !oo2s a!most !i2e a straight !ine and because )echner-s 'a$ has a !ogarithm in it it $i!! ne.er be a c!ose &it. )echner-s 'a$ cannot describe these resu!ts .ery $e!!. Ste.ens de.e!oped a ne$ e+uation to try to encapsu!ate both types o& data sets. It is ca!!ed Ste.ens- Po$er 'a$ and it is as &o!!o$s0 S L cIb 6?< *he S and I are the same as &rom )echner-s 'a$. *he c is (ust a constant that is used to ma2e the numbers come out to con.enient .a!ues and as such $e can ignore it &or no$. *he b or po$er o& the e+uation is the important number in the e+uation. When b is !ess than one/ you get a cur.e that !oo2s some$hat !i2e )echner-s !ogarithm &unction. C!ic2 on the Ste.ens- 'a$ chec2 box on the &igure. 3ou $i!! ha.e a s!ider $here you can ad(ust b. %a2e it !ess than one and you can ma2e it !ie pretty c!ose to the

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!oudness data (ust !i2e )echner-s 'a$. In &act/ it tends to &it !oudness data e.en a bit better than )echner-s 'a$ 6>E)<. @o$ ad(ust it to 1 and it $i!! be a straight !ine and $i!! &it c!ose!y to the !ine !ength data [I #ay need to add a slider ,or c as *ell to ad7ust the ,it]. 3ou can a!so ma2e b greater than 1. "d(ust it on the &igure. @o$ our sensory experience increases in strength much &aster than the physica! stimu!us. *his pattern can a!so be &ound in nature. "n examp!e is the pain that comes &rom e!ectric shoc2. 3ou might consider $hy this $ou!d be the case. Bpen Interactive Illustration 2. ! ;echner<s 3a* vs. 4teven<s 3a* [lin" to #edia] . In this &igure you can direct!y compare the possib!e re!ationships bet$een sensory intensity and sensation described by these t$o !a$s. *he &igure opens $ith graph $ith one cur.e on it in red. *he graph is a p!ot o& 6ntensity or 6 &or the physica! domain and Sensation or S &or the psycho!ogica! domain. *he &irst cur.e is a graph o& )echner-s 'a$. Bn the !e&t side o& the screen are se.era! contro!s and the bottom s!ider is the 7 s!ider. "d(ust this s!ider to see the e&&ect that 2 has on )echner-s 'a$. *he shape does not change but the cur.e does mo.e. @o c!ic2 on the Sho$ Examp"e 1 chec2 box to add one cur.e &o!!o$ing Ste.en-s 'a$. *he cur.e and the !abe!s &or this !ine are a!! in cyan. I& you mo.e the ,1 s!ider you $i!! change the exponent &or this !ine and the .a!ue &or this exponent is gi.en at the end o& the s!ider. 3ou can ad(ust the b &or this e+uation to a point !ess than on and then ad(ust the 7 s!ider &or the )echner-s 'a$ cur.e and ma2e the t$o !ines be .ery simi!ar. *his is the situation &or brightness and !oudness $here the t$o !a$s both per&orm .ery $e!!. But you can a!so ad(ust the ,1 s!ider so that the b &or the Ste.en-s 'a$ Cur.e is e+ua! to 1. @o$/ the cyan !ine is straight. *his situation is !i2e the !ine !ength (udgments &rom the second magnitude estimation experiment. 3ou can e.en ma2e the ,1 s!ider greater than 1 and no$ the exponent is greater than 1 &or the Ste.en-s 'a$ Cur.e. *he &unction cur.es up$ard/ opposite to )echner-s 'a$. *here are a &e$ psycho!ogica! experiences that &o!!o$ these types o& trends. *he perception o& pain due to e!ectrica! shoc2 is one o& them. In this acti.ity/ you can a!so p!ay $ith the constant &or the Ste.en-s 'a$ cur.e using the (1 s!ider and actua!!y ha.e up to ? Ste.en-s 'a$ cur.es on the screen at one time. In this $ay you can more direct!y compare the .ariety o& re!ationships o& intensity to sensation that Ste.en-s 'a$ can describe. *hus/ Ste.ens- 'a$ co.ers a $ider range o& possibi!ities than )echner-s and has rep!aced his !a$. *he .a!ue o& b has been &ound in a number o& cases. *ab!e 2 gi.es a number o& representati.e .a!ues &or b. 4u##ary In this chapter $e ha.e co.ered the basic $ays that sensory psycho!ogists co!!ect data &rom human sub(ects. %any o& the studies that $i!! be discussed in this boo2 $i!! use these methods or adaptations o& these methods. In addition/ throughout this boo2 you $i!! be as2ed to try a samp!e experiment and $e $i!! use these methods. *hese methods are grouped into the traditiona! methods/ the modern methods/ and magnitude estimation. *hey a!! re+uire simp!e responses &rom the sub(ect and comp!ex manipu!ation o& the stimu!us. *he chapter a!so co.ered the standard measures such as the abso!ute thresho!d/ di&&erence thresho!d or G@D/ and the point o& sub(ecti.e e+ua!ity. *hese methods a!!o$ a !ot o& in&ormation about the !imits and beha.ior o& our sensory systems to be unco.ered. *his beha.ior o& our sensory systems has been summariAed in psychophysica! !a$s. *hese !a$s are Weber-s 'a$ $hich describes the beha.ior o& G@D/ )echner-s 'a$ and Ste.ens- 'a$ $hich attempt to describe our suprathresho!d sensory abi!ities. With this &oundation $e are no$ ready to understand ho$ our sensory systems $or2 and in the next chapter $e $i!! begin the discussion o& the .isua! system. >ey (er#s

Experiencing Sensation and Perception Chapter 2

)igure 2.x. "n idea!iAed response cur.e &rom a thresho!d experiment.

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Experiencing Sensation and Perception Chapter 2

)igure 2.x. " spatia! &orcedCchoice experiment.

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