Psychology – Oct 13
Lateralization of Function in the Intact Brain
Left
First language
Second language mostly/partially/probably
Sensation and control of right side of the body
Right
Visual spatial skills
Sensation & control of the left side of the body
Emotional perception
Chapter 6: Sensation & perception
Sensation: The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive & represent stimulus energies from the environment
Perception: the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Bottom-up processing: analysis that begins with the sensory receptors & works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
Top-down processing: information guided by higher level mental processes that impose a framework on sensory information
Absolute threshold: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.
Signal detection theory (modern): a theory that says that there is a sliding threshold for stimulus detection depends on multiple factors including experience, alertness, expectations and motivation
Signal Detection
2 ways to be right
2 ways to be wrong
Is it a shark or a bomb? Bomb (Hit/miss) Shark (false alarm/correct rejection)
Signal detection theory
Performance rapidly decreases, on the order of minutes
Rest breaks help
Exercise help
Time of day matters
Experience is important
Subliminal Stimulation
Subliminal: below the absolute threshold for conscious awareness
Q: are we affected by stimuli that we are not aware of?
A: Yes. Sort of.
The history of subliminal messages is really about the development of modern advertising
Pioneered in Fort Lees New Jersey
During the film a tachistoscope flashed one of two messages every 5 seconds “Drink Coca Cola” or “Hungry? Eat popcorn”
Claim is that vending sales increased
“study” was run by the Subliminal Projection Company

Under laboratory conditions, it is difficult to produce an effect
If they exist,