Abstract
In the most general sense, animal psychophysics can be defined as an area of research in which the primary concern is with the behavioral analysis of sensory function. The basic data are the conditioned responses of the awake, intact organism to sensory stimulation. The properties of a sensory system—that is, its qualifications as a detector of environmental energy—are evaluated by reference to these overt behavioral responses.
Preparation of this chapter was partly supported by grants (NS 05077 and NS 05785) from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke. I am indebted to Dr. R. N. Lanson for his contributions to an earlier version of the chapter and to Drs. G. Gourevitch, D. B. Moody, and J. G. Sherman for their suggestions and criticism which led to this, the final version.
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Stebbins, W.C. (1970). Principles of Animal Psychophysics. In: Stebbins, W.C. (eds) Animal Psychophysics: the design and conduct of sensory experiments. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4514-6_1
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