There are four different factors that can influence our perception:
1) Absolute Threshold
2) Difference Threshold
3) Signal-Detection Theory
4) Sensory Adaptation
Can you provide a real-life example of one of these and explain this? For example, when someone who is obese gains 10 pounds, we are not likely to notice. But when someone who is very thin gains 10 pounds, we are much more likely to notice. This is due to the concept of Weber's Law (thanks Shannon D!!!)
There are other examples that we could become aware of each and every day. Your job is to identify only one and explain it for our friendly neighborhood bloggers!
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7 comments:
Signal-Detection Theory
An example of this is the men selling cell phones at the Monroeville Mall. When they are open and offer to sell a cell phone to you and you want one then that’s a hit. If they want to sell and you’re not interested then that would be a false alarm. If the guys at the store are closing down for the day and you want a cell phone and they won’t sell one then that would be a miss. If they are closed and no one is there to buy one, then that’s a correct rejection.
-odell
There are probably hundreds of examples of Sensory Adaptation. One example is when your outside on a very sunny day (for just a couple minutes) and walk inside to a room, it takes a while to see the things in the room. This is because when you were outside, there was too much light and your pupil got smaller to let in less light, then walking inside to a darker room, your pupil needs to get bigger to adjust to the darker room to see everything normal again.
Difference Threshold
This idea may be applied to cooking. Say, for instance, that your family is Italian, and every Tuesday, your mother makes a fresh batch of spaghetti with homemade sauce. The sauce follows a very specific recipe, with four pinches of oregano. If half a pinch is added to the pot of sauce, then it is very possible that nobody will be able to taste the difference. However, if a whole extra pinch (or more) is added, then certainly somebody will be able to taste the difference.
Difference threshold
You pumping some iron and your benching 100 lbs,if your spotter adds 2 lbs you wouldn't notice as much as if 5(or more)lbs were added.
-kim
I think its interesting how many people are very pick about their physique. Mostly these people are very skinny not only because they want to be skinny, but because they are able to tell the difference when just a little bit of weight is added. On the other hand, a person who is picky about their physique, but who might not be as large will be much more lenient with their fluctuation of weight because the difference isn't as noticable. This concept demonstrates the difference threshold.
Signal Detection Theory
Well, I work at busy beaver, and we are required to say hi to every customer as they enter the door. We also have to follow a certain routine when checking them out. To ensure that we follow the rules, a buzzer goes off every time someone opens the door. We have been trained by a signal to do something until it becomes a habit. If i heard that tone somewhere besides work i would probably turn around and say hi without anyone being there. Some people still just don't care and won't say hi when they hear the tone. However, now that we have "secret-shoppers" and a cashier has the risk of losing their job if they do not say hi to that random person, almost 100% of the time we say hi. The signal-detection theory depends on sensitivity to a stimuli, but it also depends on one's willingness to respond to a stimulus (response criterion).
I was trying to think of examples while coming home from iceskating today. Then it hit me; iceskating itself actually had tons of sensory adaptations. When you first step onto the ice, the freezing temperature affects your body. However, after skating for a while, your body adapts to the colder temperature... The other story that exemplified sensory adaptation was not my favorite part of the night. The bus driver happened to be smoking before we all returned to the bus. At first, the disgusting smoke shocked us into coughing and doing the usual "ewww what's that smell" routine. Then eventually all the smoke diffused throughout the bus and no one seemed to pay attention or complain any longer. I'm just glad our "senses adapt" to our surroundings. Otherwise, iceskating and the bus ride would not have been fun.
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