Psych Exam II Questions And Answers
2026 Update!!!
Physiological detection (senses receive info)
Sensation Detection of external energy by our sense
organs
Pyschological, interpretation of sensory info,
active integration process
Perception
involves combination of bottom up (stimulus
driven) and top down (knowledge driven) info
Conversion of external energies or substances
Transduction (sensation) into a nervous system signal (inhibition or
excitation)
You stop noticing something
response strength decreases with
Sensory adaptation continued stimulation
helps conserve our resources
PTSD is when sensory adaptation fails
Stimulus Driven
Bottom-up Processing Building up a whole stimulus from its
parts
Knowledge Driven
Perceives expectations, theories, or
concepts which guide the selection and
Top-down Processing
combination of the information that
gives rise to a concept
We see what we expect to see
, Gestalt Psychology The subjective way in which an object appears in
peoples’ minds
Using prior info to interpret the outside
world
The whole is DIFFERENT than the sum of
the parts
2026 Update!!!
Physiological detection (senses receive info)
Sensation Detection of external energy by our sense
organs
Pyschological, interpretation of sensory info,
active integration process
Perception
involves combination of bottom up (stimulus
driven) and top down (knowledge driven) info
Conversion of external energies or substances
Transduction (sensation) into a nervous system signal (inhibition or
excitation)
You stop noticing something
response strength decreases with
Sensory adaptation continued stimulation
helps conserve our resources
PTSD is when sensory adaptation fails
Stimulus Driven
Bottom-up Processing Building up a whole stimulus from its
parts
Knowledge Driven
Perceives expectations, theories, or
concepts which guide the selection and
Top-down Processing
combination of the information that
gives rise to a concept
We see what we expect to see
, Gestalt Psychology The subjective way in which an object appears in
peoples’ minds
Using prior info to interpret the outside
world
The whole is DIFFERENT than the sum of
the parts
