BioAppreved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002-2 3. SENSTTIVITY (ND VESPONS TO ceRIM Me: vacrioug vhonomensa cuch «s “olowethy, eluirvovenes and »re- cognition aro eclled ONPG sensory OL contions oy osychic researchers orimerily in Vestewn Burov. end North Amoriea, whore s the some »vhe- nomens. is as od bio-infovmetion vrimorily in Best Burono and the ooviet Union. In part, the study of ths vhonomena has beon influonced by what it hea boon called, Although Purton in 1870 uses the toiminology “oxtra-sonsuous per- covtion’, its »vresont moaning, as vovuls: ‘rly understood, is coincd by J?Rhino to describo nevehic oh cnomona as non-sonsory and anoyvsical, At the time, Rhine included the nossibility of tho »vheonomona being sonsed by on as yot unknown sensory vercontion; uvon other consider~ ations ho rojects eny "sixth sens som hvnothoses. _ Clearly hoover, before any vhenonena may be charccterized as HoOn-Sonsory or okure-consorvy, en exeninetion of sensory vorcootion vor so must show thet sourory vercontion is inacdaucte. This is vyory invortent since the quotstion oat tho introcuction of this nonogr wh sugezcsts that sonsory ag well an oxtra-cone Ory vorcoptions mooear to beheve oliko in tho region of marginal sonsitivity., It she 11 bo shown in this chenter thet not only sro there cevoral rocontore csmaple of resmonae to electron genetic energios, tho anolicetions of classical ysychovhvsicsa Foverl teveral normal modes of ae 80.7 voreention which facilitrte the osloctromasnctic reanonses, The rolat Ponstt in betwoon the intonsity of = stimulus and the subjoetive intonsity of resyonce wae initioslly invostisater br Veber end Bochner in th ninotoonth contury. In roneral, as oxoeetod, tho monse tion inereased as the inten: Liv of tho etinuluc inercased, The corallary of this lav statos that tho jus st-noticsablo-differenea in stimuli wes © constont numoricecl veluc Tor a gsivon invut intensity. (3.1) aR = (jnd) (Vober's Tar) : R » (3.2) 5 = k log - By (Fechnor!s Lar) where k,a = constants R = stimulus (Reiz) r al lLiminel voluec of stimul«s S es sonsation Coroful considorstion of the logcrithmic roletionshin botwoon stimulus end rosrconso indieaters that 1) thors in no such »honomena as & 7ero-intensity stimulus, and 2)eonsation below tho linen (thros- hold) is thooreticrlly ynossinle. Such sub--conscious as sublimincl cone itioning, ar voll ss momory of ovonts coneciously unattendsd to ic carssical xaveholocie=1 FOOT 9 eee © wo Fig 2.1 Feehnor's Law ) Ut | 3 a ~ 1" ra 5 F ok log. = a / rs a . Apprdved For Release 2000/08/07 + CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002-2
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96- 00787R000500230002- 2 B OPEYCTOS GHNERAT, PURC GPT ION oy fofinition, the roletive throshol¢ is thet etimilus intensity which ovokes roesooncoe 50% or sore of the timo. “iwilerlvy, the »bsolutec throshold is thet stimulus intonsity mien frile to evoke resoonse in 99% of the tent trisls. However, the ebsoluten ss of these threholds ern be enlled into question duc to a Gouneicn distribution of individ- ucl's sensitivities. Vericus studies show thet in individuals the thresholds mor vory from es much 2 5 to 15 db frow the collective threshold et-ndsrds. In vaseing wo note thet the »voscessor's of some yevehic ebilitics cre sometines referrod, to 7s ‘sonsitives.,+" In addition to the intonsitvy of « stimulus, tho threshold of sonsetion ia clso = function of the curation or novolty of tho stim ulus. In sonor-l, incro“cing the durotion of the stimulus lowers the threshold for sensation; however, there is a noint, erlled LE reo. basa, beyond which ineroo@ing the durstion loworg tho threshold further. The combined offoets of diffe: cnticl sensitivity ond the duration threchold nhonomone reroly contribute hovwover to meko more then 5-15 db goin in sonsitivity of eny sivon indivicurl. Tho it should be cddod thet thet cmount of ecin is sufficicont to moke the dif orones moaningtul. 100, \ Fig 2.2 Tyoicel strongth- duretion curve, OF] ear aepeneannen 2. en a MV hen ee ene ee meee te 6.61 0.1 1.0 10.0 Time (mscc) Rel-tive -leo to tho cucstion of sensitivity is tho obse« rvption thet the “vility to veresive > given cienel which is immersed in nois incresscs os the scuar: root of the numbor of observationgof that sigenel., Altho this doos not incrosse the threshold of sonsitivity bovrone its relative or -bsolute voluo, svaticl eurmtion, ac the nhenomonc is enllo’, inédicrtes thet vrovidec = stimulus is suprn- threshold, the nore frooucntly.a vhenomone. hes boon observec. hefore, tho ossier it is to Gotect vwhon imbedded in noise or distortion, - 4 (3.3). Gog = 10 3ogie n® where Gee = Gain in decibels (db) so-biel summation n = fotel numbor of obsorvations Tor oxaiplic, consider t ot there sre 31 million soconds por year. “het is the theorctic:l g-in for sneticl summetion for 2% twe onty yoar old adult for « 10 Hz signel. (D 3.1) no= 3.l1.10! sce * 20 yerrs = 62+ 108 sce 69.108 = x 6.217% soet = 6,2-109 wove forns., 4 20 years 20 years n” = Approved ForRéléase 3000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002- 2
a? an . Appr ed For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002-2 3 PREG! GEPeERAT. PERC SP" ION 13 larly, whet is the enstisl sumction gain for th: some ~ 6 8 pO copnPawsafenn = (9 3,2 n = 6.2° 10° soe * 10" ~sxvoforns/soc = L 6.2 19L6 waverto ns nN” = 2.5+ 108: Gon = B4 db- “a, 3.3 tnercfors, is one of tho cquations which relate: nor— cootion to lecrning. Rolcovrnt to telopathy, syoticl goin allows the vercontion of signals when imboddod in noise auc to crores or noises crovted by nebur’l or artifiesl sisensl gonerstors having ficld strengths substentiolly ere-ter then that uvon tho seme carrior frequoney. Soetial surection then cts like memory, one in fact is one of ths sub-vhonomons. which mekes un the goncrel nhonomena of memory, therefore, the throsholéd of sonsstion cannot be ga id be bo A cut- ond-dried matter of a svceifie numcrical value of stimulus. For it is not only truc thet thse voluc of the throsholé ney chengo dotondent unon the loneth of present tion, dt will vorvy ca woll devondent unon the feniliarity eainad by orevious nrucontation. In sddition, thore cre some “~honomeons. which cro vnercenivod solely boccuse thoy represent > Singlo discrete ovent. Prosont-tion of the same ctimuli in © sorics somotimos doos not o-voke anv ronvonss. “cfore we Lowe this introduction to percootion nor so, it bears rovestod emphasis thet the thols neoture of | hresholds ond vorcontions includes tho vhenomone of sublininel conditioning. For it is of greot invortence thet. subconscious resvonse ‘occurs to sublimin-1 stimuli. If ve romomber thet the nature of throsholés is ofton determined by the ver™<1l resnonse of = subject, tho neturc of the threshodd is co» termined not by vhother or not the s bjoct is offeetod by the stinulus, but rothor, if ho is conseious of it. It is now wicvly secovted that much of men's behavior is subconscious, he is not avere generslly of how he dovs whet he doos, Conselousnoss renrosonts only the tiv of the iceberg. The vroblens e-usos Sorokin t6 noto het there are two schools of thought, one thet seos consciousness «s the maetcr of beings, the other to seo conseiousnos:: s= tho servent of voing. lastly, as far as this general introduction to sensation and per- ception is concerned, it must be noted that altho a given stimulus may be objectively classified as to some intensity or quality, the nature of perception is subjective and associative. For example, in one recent televatihy experiment, an image of a farmer with a ovitchfork resembled to the agent who drew it,the mythical figure of "the aevil," however, the »ercipient whose culture differed from the agent's had not in his vocabularv the notion or symbol for ‘devil,", but instead re- ceived the emotional association of somethine religous, and so drew instead a fiseure of onnosite meaning, ie, the tabTets of Moses, still hovever correctly "religous." (Targ ene Puthoftt) Similerlyv, in a study revlic tive of Penfield, Sem--Jacobsen et al had vlaced 2652 electrodes in 82 surgical vatients over a period of ten years, Altho no resvonse vas elicited from 1065 electrodes, about half of the remaining electrodes (805/1587) produced singular and discrete responses. Of interest to us is that of the other half of those elect-- rodes eliciting resnonsen, multinle associations were produced, For Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002-2
we Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002-2 PIOPUYSICS CODING 14 exammle, 104 electrodes elicited visuel resnonses, of which only 42 were uniouels vivual, the remaining 62 resnonses vere visuel, vith the follow ing meltinle associations in order of prevalence; gensory, mood, motor, veratative, carfiovescular anc consciousness. Considering the oft men~ tioned immortance of imasery in »vsi »vhenomena, the onourt vunity for con- fusion ené embisuitv is reecily observed. (Sen- Jecobsen and Styri, LOT7L) Let us also mention, in »assim, the vhenomena of varedoxicel hot and ynaracoxical col’, of which more leter. Therevore, there are ene levels of differentiat ion concerning this »wrocess: first there is sensation, by which wo shall mean the object ifiable »nronerties of intens iby and quality; second there is sens tion, which mav be unconseious or conscious; third, there im vercention, by which we mean bere, the conscious avareness of sensetion; ana fourth, there is internre sation anc. Cecoding.of the yhenomena, 322 SSUSORY CODING Our humon bodies are an ensemble of masses and energies, and: our environment is also an ensemble of masses of various qualities and energies of various frecusncies and intensities. Thus we and the univers are subject to the interactions of masses and energies, according to the lews of nhysics. “Shen ve ere acted unon by the universe ve are im- becded in we say that in the environment is an stimulus, which may nroduce in us, a sensation, which is not necessarily an avareness. Throurh the »iolosical evolution directly Cenendent uron phvsical envi- ronment, seners lized and specielizea 'recentors! have been created in orgenisms, weich thru selection allow an organism to anvropriately resvond to that environment and survive. éltho we shall soon discuss the various recestor vhysiologies and mechanisms, of su»vreme imvortance is that when alt the various mechanisms have Cone their intermediary functions, what is produced by the sense recentors is en information or code which is a may of the stimulus that produced it, Yhat is coced in sensory vrocess is information about wnas kind of stimulus is there and how much. the variable involved in vaste and smell is the concentration of & given ion or molecule, wich on the cuantum biochemical level is essentially electronic and therefore a Pynetion of some electromasnetic frequency. In hearing end touchine, both 'mechanical' senses there are two veriables, the intensit y of the pressure and the frequency of the enancre in toat »vressure, imilarly in electrorecption (BL™,. temmerature (infra-red ana vision)) the stimulus also varies in intensity and. freauency. Now, once a@ scimulus is sunerthreshold, «a current is senerated in that recentor, caller the senerator potential, which is = sraded response to the stimsli. This gradec, that is , varieble potential is then syn~ anted into the arferent nervous system, whose neurons create an all-or- none votential of constent voltecse, (viz Node csins-luxley model) such that what is transmitted by the afferent neurons is a code based upon the frequency of impulses conveved bv the neuron, (and this is suntrenely immorvant for the reader's understanding ,) and not the voltace of that impulse. (te mention this for the variable voltages geen in brain- vave notentisls is she statistical suymation of the constant votential of a varving number of cortical and inter--neurons. ) A bo M4 wo Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500230002-2