PSYC 230 UIUC ACTUAL EXAM PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS
WITH ANSWERS GRADED A+
● Perception. Answer: the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information,
enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
● Are there really 5 senses?. Answer: No, there are from 7-12 different senses
● neural transduction. Answer: receptors, transduction and neural response
● Sensation. Answer: activation of sensory receptors due to a stimulus in the environment
(physical stimulus---->neural signal)
● Phenomenology. Answer: internal experience that everyone has of the external world
around them
● Aristotle and the Five senses. Answer: Aristotle said there were five senses - smell, sight,
touch, taste, and hearing - but science suggests there are many more than that
● Thomas Young. Answer: showed that light, like waves, could be diffracted, color recptors
● Johannes Mueller. Answer: doctrine of specific nerve energies (distinct senses)
● Von Helmholtz. Answer: perception is constructed from both senses and cognitive
processes, unconscious inference, three basic color receptors
● Hering. Answer: colors are perceived through 2 pairs of opposing colors (four primary
colors, not three)
● Weber's Law. Answer: the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is based on a
proportion of the original stimulus rather than on a fixed amount of difference
● Fechner. Answer: father of psychophysics, the study of the relation between physical
stimuli and the perception they elicit
● Fechner's Law. Answer: sensation is a logarithmic function of physical intensity
● Gestalt Psychology. Answer: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
, ● Law of Proximity (Gestalt). Answer: elements close to one another tend to be perceived
as a unit
● Law of Common Fate (Gestalt). Answer: visual elements that move in the same speed
and/or direction are parts of a single stimulus
● law of closure (gestalt). Answer: we tend to see complete figures even when part of the
information is missing
● Law of Similarity (Gestalt). Answer: objects that are similar tend to be grouped together
● Law of Good Continuation (Gestalt). Answer: elements that appear to follow the same
pathway tend to be grouped together
● Gibson and Direct Perception. Answer: sensation is perception, what you see is what you
get
● Information Processing Approach. Answer: a perspective on understanding cognition
that divides thinking into specific steps and component processes (LIKE A COMPUTER)
● computational approach. Answer: Describes the problem the system is trying to solve
and the constraints it uses in order to solve it, most abstract
● microelectrode. Answer: a very fine electrode, generally used to record activity of
individual neurons
● Neurophysiology. Answer: explains the workings of the nervous system
● Agnosia. Answer: the inability to recognize familiar objects
● Prosopagnosia. Answer: inability to recognize faces
● EEG (electroencephalogram). Answer: shows brain's electrical activity by positioning
electrodes over the scalp
● fMRI (functional MRI). Answer: A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain
activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function
● Psychophysical Scale. Answer: a scale that measures the relationship between human
reactions and the physical stimuli causing these reactions
● absolute threshold. Answer: the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before
you experience a sensation
WITH ANSWERS GRADED A+
● Perception. Answer: the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information,
enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
● Are there really 5 senses?. Answer: No, there are from 7-12 different senses
● neural transduction. Answer: receptors, transduction and neural response
● Sensation. Answer: activation of sensory receptors due to a stimulus in the environment
(physical stimulus---->neural signal)
● Phenomenology. Answer: internal experience that everyone has of the external world
around them
● Aristotle and the Five senses. Answer: Aristotle said there were five senses - smell, sight,
touch, taste, and hearing - but science suggests there are many more than that
● Thomas Young. Answer: showed that light, like waves, could be diffracted, color recptors
● Johannes Mueller. Answer: doctrine of specific nerve energies (distinct senses)
● Von Helmholtz. Answer: perception is constructed from both senses and cognitive
processes, unconscious inference, three basic color receptors
● Hering. Answer: colors are perceived through 2 pairs of opposing colors (four primary
colors, not three)
● Weber's Law. Answer: the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is based on a
proportion of the original stimulus rather than on a fixed amount of difference
● Fechner. Answer: father of psychophysics, the study of the relation between physical
stimuli and the perception they elicit
● Fechner's Law. Answer: sensation is a logarithmic function of physical intensity
● Gestalt Psychology. Answer: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
, ● Law of Proximity (Gestalt). Answer: elements close to one another tend to be perceived
as a unit
● Law of Common Fate (Gestalt). Answer: visual elements that move in the same speed
and/or direction are parts of a single stimulus
● law of closure (gestalt). Answer: we tend to see complete figures even when part of the
information is missing
● Law of Similarity (Gestalt). Answer: objects that are similar tend to be grouped together
● Law of Good Continuation (Gestalt). Answer: elements that appear to follow the same
pathway tend to be grouped together
● Gibson and Direct Perception. Answer: sensation is perception, what you see is what you
get
● Information Processing Approach. Answer: a perspective on understanding cognition
that divides thinking into specific steps and component processes (LIKE A COMPUTER)
● computational approach. Answer: Describes the problem the system is trying to solve
and the constraints it uses in order to solve it, most abstract
● microelectrode. Answer: a very fine electrode, generally used to record activity of
individual neurons
● Neurophysiology. Answer: explains the workings of the nervous system
● Agnosia. Answer: the inability to recognize familiar objects
● Prosopagnosia. Answer: inability to recognize faces
● EEG (electroencephalogram). Answer: shows brain's electrical activity by positioning
electrodes over the scalp
● fMRI (functional MRI). Answer: A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain
activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function
● Psychophysical Scale. Answer: a scale that measures the relationship between human
reactions and the physical stimuli causing these reactions
● absolute threshold. Answer: the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before
you experience a sensation
