PSYC 450 EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT WELL
DETAILED ANSWERS
What are the seven steps of the perceptual process? - ✔✔Distal stimulus
Creation of proximal stimulus
Receptor processes
Neural processing
Perception
Recognition
Action
Knowledge
Distal stimulus - ✔✔In perception, it is the actual object or event out there in the world, as opposed to
its perceived image.
Creation of proximal stimulus - ✔✔Includes the principle of transformation (stimulus being transformed
between environment and perception) and the principle of representation (Perception is based
representations of stimuli)
proximal stimulus - ✔✔In perception, it is the information our sensory receptors receive about the
object.
Receptor processes - ✔✔Includes the sensory receptors, which are specialize to respond to
environmental energy. The process of transduction occurs
Neural processing - ✔✔Allows us to process in more complex ways
The cerebral cortex has four lives- frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital
Primary receiving area- In the occipital lobe. It's the area of the cortex that first receives signals from a
sense's receptors
,Perception - ✔✔Our conscious awareness of the stimulus
Recognition - ✔✔Being able to give our perception a label, or put it into a memorable category
Action - ✔✔Your response to the recognition, behavioral responses
Knowledge - ✔✔The pre-existing information that you have that will affect the way you see the things
around you
Top down and bottom up processing
Top-down processing - ✔✔processing that starts with the analysis of high level information, such as the
knowledge a person brings to a situation
Bottom-up processing - ✔✔Processing that is based on the information on the receptors
Principle of Transformation - ✔✔stimuli and responses created by stimuli are transformed, or changed,
between the environmental stimulus and perception
Principle of representation - ✔✔everything a person perceives is based not on direct contact with stimuli
but on representations of stimuli that are formed on the receptors and on activity in the person's
nervous system
Sensory receptors - ✔✔Specialized cells unique to each sense organ that respond to a particular form of
sensory stimulation; cells specialized to respond to environmental energy
Transduction - ✔✔The process of converting outside stimuli, such as light, into neural activity; The
transformation of environmental energy to electrical energy
Frontal lobe - ✔✔reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving
Parietal lobe - ✔✔touch, temperature, pain
, Occipital lobe - ✔✔The primary receiving for vision
Temporal lobe - ✔✔hearing, memory, language
Prosopagnosia - ✔✔inability to recognize faces
Visual form agnosia - ✔✔inability to recognize objects or drawings of objects
top-down processing - ✔✔the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified
whole
bottom-up processing - ✔✔analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's
integration of sensory information; the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete
perception
oblique effect - ✔✔people can perceive horizontals and verticals more easily than other orientations
(read on this)
absolute threshold - ✔✔the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of
the time; the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you experience a sensation
What are Fechner's three methods? - ✔✔Method of limits, method of adjustment, and method of
constant stimuli
Method of limits - ✔✔the experimenter presents multiple sequences of stimuli in both ascending and
descending order
Method of adjustment - ✔✔The participant adjusts the stimulus intensity continuously until he or she
can just barely detect the stimulus
DETAILED ANSWERS
What are the seven steps of the perceptual process? - ✔✔Distal stimulus
Creation of proximal stimulus
Receptor processes
Neural processing
Perception
Recognition
Action
Knowledge
Distal stimulus - ✔✔In perception, it is the actual object or event out there in the world, as opposed to
its perceived image.
Creation of proximal stimulus - ✔✔Includes the principle of transformation (stimulus being transformed
between environment and perception) and the principle of representation (Perception is based
representations of stimuli)
proximal stimulus - ✔✔In perception, it is the information our sensory receptors receive about the
object.
Receptor processes - ✔✔Includes the sensory receptors, which are specialize to respond to
environmental energy. The process of transduction occurs
Neural processing - ✔✔Allows us to process in more complex ways
The cerebral cortex has four lives- frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital
Primary receiving area- In the occipital lobe. It's the area of the cortex that first receives signals from a
sense's receptors
,Perception - ✔✔Our conscious awareness of the stimulus
Recognition - ✔✔Being able to give our perception a label, or put it into a memorable category
Action - ✔✔Your response to the recognition, behavioral responses
Knowledge - ✔✔The pre-existing information that you have that will affect the way you see the things
around you
Top down and bottom up processing
Top-down processing - ✔✔processing that starts with the analysis of high level information, such as the
knowledge a person brings to a situation
Bottom-up processing - ✔✔Processing that is based on the information on the receptors
Principle of Transformation - ✔✔stimuli and responses created by stimuli are transformed, or changed,
between the environmental stimulus and perception
Principle of representation - ✔✔everything a person perceives is based not on direct contact with stimuli
but on representations of stimuli that are formed on the receptors and on activity in the person's
nervous system
Sensory receptors - ✔✔Specialized cells unique to each sense organ that respond to a particular form of
sensory stimulation; cells specialized to respond to environmental energy
Transduction - ✔✔The process of converting outside stimuli, such as light, into neural activity; The
transformation of environmental energy to electrical energy
Frontal lobe - ✔✔reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving
Parietal lobe - ✔✔touch, temperature, pain
, Occipital lobe - ✔✔The primary receiving for vision
Temporal lobe - ✔✔hearing, memory, language
Prosopagnosia - ✔✔inability to recognize faces
Visual form agnosia - ✔✔inability to recognize objects or drawings of objects
top-down processing - ✔✔the use of preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into a unified
whole
bottom-up processing - ✔✔analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's
integration of sensory information; the analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete
perception
oblique effect - ✔✔people can perceive horizontals and verticals more easily than other orientations
(read on this)
absolute threshold - ✔✔the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of
the time; the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you experience a sensation
What are Fechner's three methods? - ✔✔Method of limits, method of adjustment, and method of
constant stimuli
Method of limits - ✔✔the experimenter presents multiple sequences of stimuli in both ascending and
descending order
Method of adjustment - ✔✔The participant adjusts the stimulus intensity continuously until he or she
can just barely detect the stimulus
