The Mechanism of Sensory Processes in Signal Detection by Schizophrenics

The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanisms of sensory responses and their relation to the criterion for making a voluntary decision. In principle, sensory responses may be described by a statistical model of the observer. By "observer" we mean a person following a system of signals that occur against a background of external interference. In the present report we shall examine one particular type of task performed by the observer, namely, signal detection. In signal detection the observer must choose between two alternatives: he must decide whether an observation belongs to the category "signal plus noise" or to the category "noise." Other authors who have studied this problem (1, 2) have placed their main emphasis on the statistical properties of signals and noise. In our investigation, on the other hand, the stimuli were followed by poly graphically recording the responses. Hence we were able to deal not only with the statistical properties of the signals but also with the statistical properties of the neural responses (3). The stimulusresponse relationship is characterized by the probability of a response given the occurrence of a stimulus and by the probability of a false alarm (that is, the presence of a response when a stimulus is absent)

Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Mechanism (biology) · Sensory system · SIGNAL (programming language) · Communication · Computer Science · EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology

• The psyche in psychophysics

  W Crawford Clark•Psychological Bulletin•1966

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