Stimuli links our perception of light

Machael Wade

Jour 271

D. Jackson

Beat- Psychology

2/19/13

        Researches have found a new way for people to see faster and more observant than others. A study relating perception and stimuli make this possible by linking them with light on a computer monitor. 

       Dr. Prins a psycho-physicist at the University of Mississippi has began adaptive testing to see how the stimulus (an object) intensifies. His study is to test the relationship between the physical characteristics of a visual stimulus and how we perceive it as a result. The perceptual process allows us to experience the world around us (About Psychology).

      “My study will hopefully benefit the public by making better tools for science that will result in cures and better products all around the world,” Prins said.

In doing this research he hopes to create a tool that is more efficient in detecting a stimuli and how we         as people perceive that object. 

        Dr. Prins study begins by putting a faint spot of light on a computer monitor and asking his research students if they can see the object. He has found the brighter the spot is on the screen the better a person can perceive where it is and what it is and vice-versa. A stronger stimulus is more likely to be perceived, such as a flashing light is more noticeable than a dim constant light (Perception of Stimuli).    Therefore, instead of using easy to see objects or really hard to see objects, Prins has chosen to perform his new tests differently. 

       Prins is improving a technique that is used to find how a stimulus intensifies the participant and how it can preform the test. Such as whether or not it is to hard or to easy. Which he then can present upcoming stimuli at that new intensity, so we can further our learning of how we see objects by light. 

In doing this research Prins gets to write computer games that pretend to be human participants in an experiment. Dr. Prins said he likes doing research because of these computer games. Also the research involves a lot of math which he enjoys doing. 

    “My ultimate goal is to improve the tool that psycho-physicists use in their research to learn new things to further our understandings,” Prins said.

     Brittany Bennett, 20, a psychology major at the University of Mississippi has taken Dr. Prins class. From her classes she has done her own research on Dr. Prins study of the stimuli. She has watched the lighting on the computer monitor and figured out how different aspects of her brain works from Prins recent studys. “Dr. Prins studies are very interesting and they are going to pave a path for how we perceive objects that no one knew existed,” Bennett said. 

     Dr. Prins study is on going and hopefully more will be found, but also has already accomplished this aspect of perception with the stimulus and light.
http://uppua.org/pdfs/CW%20II%20Handouts/HO_5_Perception_of_Stimuli.pdf
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/ss/perceptproc.htm
Dr. Prins email: nprins@olemiss.edu
Brittany Bennett : 9495257225