Proximal stimulus

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Proximal stimulus , also called proximal stimulus or near stimulus , describes in psychology the totality of the measurable physical or chemical effect of a distal stimulus on the respective sensory cells of a sensory organ within the scope of perception .

Often only the retinal image or the pattern of the sensory input in the eye of the observer is referred to as a proximal stimulus, i.e. the distribution of electromagnetic energy on the retina .

The proximal stimulus is always linked to a specific observer, in contrast to the distal stimulus.

The terms "distal stimulus", "proximal stimulus" and "percept" were coined by Gustav Theodor Fechner to describe a causal relationship between the properties of the stimulus object (distal stimulus) and the stimulus processes occurring in the sensory organ (proximal stimulus).