Problems Relating Psychological and Electro-physiological Observations in Sensory Perception

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PERSPECTIVES IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE Volumen · Number 2 · Winter 1968 PROBLEMS RELATING PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVAnONS IN SENSORY PERCEPTION* CEORG VONBEKESY^ A new scientific law or experimental result is automatically checked for more and more different situations. In general as time goes on discrepancies between the law and experiments arefound. These discrepancies determine the range ofvalidity ofthe law. Frequently, a new type ofdiscrepancy is found when the precision is investigated. Sometimes precise checks can change the whole picture. Discrepancy, Recognition, andProgress Today, paralleling overpopulation, there is a huge productivity in papers. Some ofthem are very optimistic and tend to mask discrepancies which might otherwise be noticed. I would like to show some ofthe incongruities present in our daily research, sincethis uncovering and recognition are main stimulants to the further development ofresearch. The basis ofnew important discoveries is, in many cases, a well-defined repeatable difference in experiments or opinions; when they are treated scientifically, they become constructive. Newton's law ofgravity was so preciseanditsextensionintoCoulomb'slawfor electricity sosuccessful that it stopped further progress in this field for several decades. When I was a graduate studentattheUniversity ofBudapest, it was suggested to methat I should elaborate on the gravity measurements done by Professor Eotvös * Sigma Xi lecture given at the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles onJune 13, 1967. t Laboratory of Sensory Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822. Research was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant GB-5768; the Institute ofNeurological Diseases and Blindness, USPHS, grant NG-06890-01; and the American Otological Society grant M-14. I79 in such a successful way. I asked his assistant what was the deviation ofthe exponent 2 in Newton's and Coulomb's laws ofattraction. When I was told that the exponent was exactly 2 with the precision ofabout io~6, 1 became convinced that little further progress was left for me in that field. It was quite a while before the relativity theory broke the spell. In religion we find a comparable situation. Many centuries can go by without any change occurring, if a specific religion satisfies a group of people. I like to collect art objects, and it is quite frustrating to find out, for instance, that in Byzantine art from the fourth to the tenth century, there were almost no changes. Dating is, therefore, extremely difficult. A similar lack ofchange can be found in Buddhism when examining gilded bronze statuettes from Nepal. It is again difficult to discriminate between the eleventh and the seventeenth centuries. The only variation noted was that in the earlier centuries the usual gold bracelet on the armwaswornnear the shoulder and, in later times, near the elbow. The reason for this change was probably that in the later period larger statues were cast, and the hands had to be cast separately and fitted to the body near the elbow. Psychology andElectrophysiology The problem of relating psychological observations to electrophysiological recordings seems to be a good subject for demonstrating that discrepancies may contribute to the further development ofscience. Psychology is a relatively old science. Lately, it has developed in new directions and has become much more precise in its statements than itwasa few decades ago. Electrophysiology, on the other hand, is a new field. The use ofamplifiers has generated overwhelming progress. There was a time when it looked as if electrophysiology would replace psychology in the field ofsensory perception. Comparing psychology with electrophysiology is almost like comparing one generation with the next. Disagreements in their findings and beliefs are unavoidable. The tremendous progress on neurophysiology forces us to check the manner by which new results relate to earlier findings in psychology. Unfortunately , there are many instances in which they do not fit or may even contradict one another. A few decades ago, when I first asked my professor of experimental physics to permit me to do some research on the loudness ofnoise, he did not like the idea. He made it clear to me that loudness-of-noise measure180 Georg von Békésy · Sensory Perception Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Winter 1968 ments are subjective and that in his department the methods ofresearch were objective. It was very difficult to state what was really meant by...

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