Skip to main content
Elsevier

Psychophysics

A Practical Introduction

  • 2nd Edition - January 4, 2016
  • Latest edition
  • Authors: Frederick A.A. Kingdom, Nicolaas Prins
  • Language: English

Psychophysics: A Practical Introduction, Second Edition, is the primary scientific tool for understanding how the physical world of colors, sounds, odors, movements, and shapes tr… Read more

Description

Psychophysics: A Practical Introduction, Second Edition, is the primary scientific tool for understanding how the physical world of colors, sounds, odors, movements, and shapes translates into the sensory world of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell; in other words, how matter translates into mind.

This timely revision provides a unique introduction to the techniques for researching and understanding how the brain translates the external physical world to the internal world of sensation. The revision expands and refines coverage of the basic tools of psychophysics research and better integrates the theory with the supporting software.

The new edition continues to be the only book to combine, in a single volume, the principles underlying the science of psychophysical measurement and the practical tools necessary to analyze data from psychophysical experiments. The book, written in a tutorial style, will appeal to new researchers as well as to seasoned veterans. This introduction to psychophysics research methods will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers within sensory neuroscience, vision research, behavioral neuroscience, and the cognitive sciences.

Key features

  • Presents a large variety of analytical methods explained for the non-expert
  • Provides a novel classification scheme for psychophysics experiments
  • Disseminates the pros and cons of different psychophysical procedures
  • Contains practical tips for designing psychophysical experiments

Readership

Researchers, graduate students, and post-doctorates in perception research in neuroscience, psychology, cognition; optometrists.

Table of contents

  • Dedication
  • About the Authors
  • Preface to the Second Edition
  • Acknowledgments
  • Chapter 1. Introduction and Aims
    • 1.1. What is Psychophysics?
    • 1.2. Aims of the Book
    • 1.3. Organization of the Book
    • 1.4. What's New in the Second Edition?
  • Chapter 2. Classifying Psychophysical Experiments
    • 2.1. Introduction
    • 2.2. Tasks, Methods, and Measures
    • 2.3. Dichotomies
    • 2.4. Classification Scheme
    • Further Reading
    • Exercises
  • Chapter 3. Varieties of Psychophysical Procedures
    • 3.1. Introduction
    • 3.2. Performance-Based Procedures
    • 3.3. Appearance-Based Procedures
    • 3.4. Further Design Details
    • Further Reading
  • Chapter 4. Psychometric Functions
    • 4.1. Introduction
    • 4.2. Section A: Practice
    • 4.3. Section B: Theory and Details
    • Further Reading
    • Exercises
  • Chapter 5. Adaptive Methods
    • 5.1. Introduction
    • 5.2. Up/Down Methods
    • 5.3. “Running Fit” Methods: The Best PEST and Quest
    • 5.4. The Psi Method and Variations
    • Exercises
  • Chapter 6. Signal Detection Measures
    • 6.1. Introduction
    • 6.2. Section A: Practice
    • 6.3. Section B: Theory
    • Further Reading
    • Exercises
  • Chapter 7. Summation Measures
    • 7.1. Introduction
    • 7.2. Part A: Summation Modeled under Signal Detection Theory (SDT)
    • 7.3. Part B: Summation Modeled under High-Threshold Theory (HTT)
    • Further Reading
  • Chapter 8. Scaling Methods
    • 8.1. Introduction
    • 8.2. Discrimination Scales
    • 8.3. Maximum Likelihood Difference Scaling (MLDS)
    • 8.4. Partition Scaling
    • Further Reading
    • Exercise
  • Chapter 9. Model Comparisons
    • 9.1. Introduction
    • 9.2. Section A: Statistical Inference
    • 9.3. Section B: Theory and Details
    • 9.4. Some Alternative Model Comparison Methods
    • Further Reading
    • Exercises
  • Quick Reference Guide
  • List of Acronyms
  • Index

Product details

  • Edition: 2
  • Latest edition
  • Published: January 4, 2016
  • Language: English

About the authors

FK

Frederick A.A. Kingdom

Frederick A. A. Kingdom, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ophthalmology at McGill University. His research focuses on visual perception, encompassing a broad range of topics in human vision and sensory processing. Before joining McGill University in 1990, he studied and held research positions at the Universities of Cambridge, London, and Reading. His work has contributed to the understanding of visual perception across a range of topics, including visual illusions. In 2007, he received first prize in the Neural Correlate Society’s Best Visual Illusion Contest for the Leaning Tower Illusion.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor Emeritus, Department of Ophthalmology, McGill Vision Research, Montreal, QC, Canada

NP

Nicolaas Prins

Nicolaas Prins, PhD, is Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi. His research focuses on visual perception and the application of statistical methods to the design, collection, and analysis of psychophysical data. Before joining the University of Mississippi, he held research positions in Australia and Canada. His work integrates vision science with quantitative methods for psychophysical research.
Affiliations and expertise
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

View book on ScienceDirect

Read Psychophysics on ScienceDirect