Psychophysics

Your answers to the questions should be 1-2 sentences long.

Follow this link: https://oup-arc.com/access/content/sensation-and-perception-5e-student-resources/sensation-and-perception-5e-activity-1-1?previousFilter=tag_chapter-01

Complete the Sensation & Perception 5e Web Activity 1.1 – Psychophysics.

1. Read all of the parts of the activity and run at least 30 trials. Record your correct rejection rate and the hit rates for 3° and 1° misalignments. Include these data points in your response thread.

2. Once you complete at least 30 trials, draw the signal and noise distributions for trials with 3° and 1° misalignment (you should have 2 separate distributions: one with noise and 3° misalignment signal and the other with noise and 1° misalignment signal). Even if you did not get many 1° trials (you can always do more!), you still will have an idea of the differences in the number of hits between 3° and 1° trials. This should inform your decision about the overlap between the signal and the noise distributions, and the criterion position for 3° and 1° trials.

3. Take a high-resolution well-lit picture of your drawing (make sure the drawings fit on one page; are clear and neat) and attach it to your answer. On the drawings, please, indicate the area of HITS, FALSE ALARMS, CORRECT REJECTIONS and MISSES. Use different colors to color those in. Do not forget to include the data points from your trials.

4. Answer, what conclusions you can draw about your ability to discriminate noise from signal, given the differences in the alignment of the lines?

Complete the Sensation & Perception 5e Web Activity 1.4 – Neurons – https://oup-arc.com/access/content/sensation-and-perception-5e-student-resources/sensation-and-perception-5e-activity-1-4?previousFilter=tag_chapter-01

Read all of its parts carefully for understanding. If this information is not enough, refer to the textbook or YouTube videos on neuronal signal transduction (for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZG8M_ldA1M&t=216s )

Post your answers to the following questions (please, number each of your answers with the same number as the question you are answering):

1. What makes the flow of an electrical current though a neuron possible?

2. What is an action potential?

3. What is the resting firing rate?

4. Why will the firing rate of a neuron increase if you tap a finger on a desk?

5. Why will the firing rate of a neuron increase even more if you tap it harder?

6. How do action potentials change in response to an increase in the strength of a stimulus? Do they increase in an amplitude?

7. What is the difference between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters?