PS 222- EXAM 1questions and
answers.
Sensation - answer ✔✔-physical features (stimuli) are converted into electro chemical signals
Senses - answer ✔✔-physiological functions for converting particular environmental features
into electrochemical signals
Perception - answer ✔✔-where sensory signals are used to represent objects and events so
they can be identified, stored in memory, and used in thought and action
Representation - answer ✔✔-information in the mind and brain used to identify objects and
events, store them in memory, and support thought and action
Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) - answer ✔✔-German experimental psychologist who
demonstrated that mental processes can be measured in two ways
- Investigation of thresholds of perceptual experience
- Investigation of scaling of perceptual experience
Ernst Weber (1795-1878) - answer ✔✔-experimented to estimate the JND for different
intensities of standard stimuli for different perceptual dimensions
Weber's Law - answer ✔✔-relationship between the intensity of a standard stimulus and the
size of the just noticeable different (JND=ki)
- I is the intensity of the standard stimulus
, - k is a constant that depends on the perceptual dimension being measured (Weber's fractions)
Johannes Müller (1801-1858) - answer ✔✔-- perceptual based on neural activity
- "Law of Specific Nerve Energies" states that kinds of perception are dependent on which
neurons are activated, not what are activating them
Psychophysics - answer ✔✔-a field of study concerned with relating psychological experience to
physical stimuli
Bottom-Up Information - answer ✔✔-the information contained in neural signals from
receptors
- without experience
Top-Down Information - answer ✔✔-observer's knowledge, expectations, and goals, which can
affect perception
- with experience
Method of Adjustment - answer ✔✔-participant adjusts the knob to control the intensity of
light
Method of Constant Stimuli - answer ✔✔-participant is presented with a set of stimuli covering
a range of intensities in a random order
Staircase Method - answer ✔✔-participant is presented with a stimulus, and indicates if it is
detected and if it was a step down or step up in intensity to the previous one
Psychophysical Scaling - answer ✔✔-a process of measuring how changes in stimulus intensity
relate to changes in the perceived intensity
answers.
Sensation - answer ✔✔-physical features (stimuli) are converted into electro chemical signals
Senses - answer ✔✔-physiological functions for converting particular environmental features
into electrochemical signals
Perception - answer ✔✔-where sensory signals are used to represent objects and events so
they can be identified, stored in memory, and used in thought and action
Representation - answer ✔✔-information in the mind and brain used to identify objects and
events, store them in memory, and support thought and action
Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) - answer ✔✔-German experimental psychologist who
demonstrated that mental processes can be measured in two ways
- Investigation of thresholds of perceptual experience
- Investigation of scaling of perceptual experience
Ernst Weber (1795-1878) - answer ✔✔-experimented to estimate the JND for different
intensities of standard stimuli for different perceptual dimensions
Weber's Law - answer ✔✔-relationship between the intensity of a standard stimulus and the
size of the just noticeable different (JND=ki)
- I is the intensity of the standard stimulus
, - k is a constant that depends on the perceptual dimension being measured (Weber's fractions)
Johannes Müller (1801-1858) - answer ✔✔-- perceptual based on neural activity
- "Law of Specific Nerve Energies" states that kinds of perception are dependent on which
neurons are activated, not what are activating them
Psychophysics - answer ✔✔-a field of study concerned with relating psychological experience to
physical stimuli
Bottom-Up Information - answer ✔✔-the information contained in neural signals from
receptors
- without experience
Top-Down Information - answer ✔✔-observer's knowledge, expectations, and goals, which can
affect perception
- with experience
Method of Adjustment - answer ✔✔-participant adjusts the knob to control the intensity of
light
Method of Constant Stimuli - answer ✔✔-participant is presented with a set of stimuli covering
a range of intensities in a random order
Staircase Method - answer ✔✔-participant is presented with a stimulus, and indicates if it is
detected and if it was a step down or step up in intensity to the previous one
Psychophysical Scaling - answer ✔✔-a process of measuring how changes in stimulus intensity
relate to changes in the perceived intensity
