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Perception as interacting psychophysical functions. Could the configuring of features replace a specialised receptor?

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posted on 2023-06-08, 19:54 authored by David A Booth, Richard P J Freeman, Melanie Konle, Clare J Wainwright, Oliver Sharpe
This paper illustrates how perception is achieved through interactions among the psychophysical functions of judged features of an object. The theory is that the perceiver places processed features in a multidimensional space of discriminal processes. Each dimension is scaled in units of discrimination performance. The zero coordinate of each feature is its level in an internal standard (norm) established by previous experience of that category of object in context. Experiments are reported which show that one, two, or three concurrent single-featured objects matched the multiple features of another object in two ways. Either stimulation from the two objects had discrimination distances from norm that added, or the stimulation by one object was processed through a concept describing stimulation by the other object. It follows that, in this case, perception via a receptor for the multi-featured object can be replaced by a point of balance among receptors for each single feature. The object with its own receptor is the gustatory stimulant L-glutamic acid as its monosodium salt. The features that stimulate diverse gustatory receptors of their own are sodium chloride, citric acid, sucrose, and caffeine. A more complex approach to dimensional coding was developed earlier for photoreceptors in colour judgments. The present approach is modality independent, mathematically simple, and economical in experimental data.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Perception

ISSN

0301-0066

Publisher

Pion

Volume

40

Page range

509-529

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-02-02

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2015-02-02

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2015-02-02

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