PSY 1305 EXAM 2 Test Questions with
All Correct and Verified Answers 2026
Update.
sensation - Answer the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive
and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
sensory receptors - Answer Specialized cells unique to each sense organ that respond to a
particular form of sensory stimulation.
perception - Answer the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information,
enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Bottom-up processing - Answer analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up
to the brain's integration of sensory information
Top-down processing - Answer information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
receive - Answer sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells
transform - Answer that stimulation into neural impulses.
deliver - Answer the neural information to our brain.
transduction - Answer conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the
transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our
brains can interpret.
psychophysics - Answer the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of
stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
What is the rough distinction between sensation and perception? - Answer Sensation is the
bottom-up process by which your sensory receptors and nervous system receives and
represents stimuli. Perception is the top-down process by which your brain creates meaning by
organizing and interpreting what tour senses detect.
,German scientist and philosopher Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) studied - Answer the edge of
our awareness of these faint stimuli, which he called their absolute thresholds
absolute thresholds - Answer the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular
stimulus 50% of the time
Signal detection theory - Answer a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence
of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single
absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations,
motivation, and alertness.
subliminal - Answer below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness
difference threshold - Answer the minimum difference between two stimuli required for
detection 50 percent of the time
Weber's law - Answer the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ
by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount).
Sensory adaptation - Answer diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant
stimulation.
why is it that after wearing shoes for a while, you cease to notice them (until questions like this
draws your attention back to them. - Answer The shoes provides constant stimulation.
Thanks to sensory adaptation, we tend to focus primarily on changing stimuli.
perceptual set - Answer a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Does perceptual set involve bottom-up or top-down processing? Why? - Answer It involves
top-down processing, because it draws on your experiences, assumptions, and expectations
when interpreting stimuli
blindsight - Answer a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without
consciously experiencing it
what is the rapid sequence of events that occurs when you see and recognizes a friend? -
Answer Light waves reflect off the person and travel into your eyes. receptor cells in your
retina convert the light into millions of neural impulses sent to your brain. your brain's detector
cells and work teams process the subdimension
, Our eyes receive - Answer light energy and transduce (transform) it into neural messages
When you look at a bright red tulip, the stimuli striking your eyes - Answer are not particles
of the color red, but pulses of electromagnetic energy that your visual system perceives as red.
wavelength - Answer the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of
the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long
pulses of radio transmission.
Wavelength determines - Answer hue
hue - Answer the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we
know as the color names blue, green, and so forth
A light wave's amplitude, or height, determines its - Answer intensity
Amplitude - Answer Height of a wave
intensity - Answer the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as
brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude
Frequency, the number of complete wavelengths that can pass a point in a given time, depends
on the - Answer wavelength
The shorter the wavelength, the higher the - Answer frequency
Wave amplitude influences the perceived - Answer brightness of colors
Light enters the eye through the - Answer cornea (bends light to provide focus)
The light then passes through the - Answer pupil, a small adjustable opening
Surrounding the pupil and controlling its size is the - Answer iris, a colored muscle that
dilates or constricts in response to light intensity.
The iris responds to your - Answer cognitive and emotional states. Imagine a sunny sky and
your iris will constrict, making your pupil smaller; imagine a dark room and it will dilate
All Correct and Verified Answers 2026
Update.
sensation - Answer the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive
and represent stimulus energies from our environment.
sensory receptors - Answer Specialized cells unique to each sense organ that respond to a
particular form of sensory stimulation.
perception - Answer the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information,
enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Bottom-up processing - Answer analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up
to the brain's integration of sensory information
Top-down processing - Answer information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
receive - Answer sensory stimulation, often using specialized receptor cells
transform - Answer that stimulation into neural impulses.
deliver - Answer the neural information to our brain.
transduction - Answer conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the
transforming of stimulus energies, such as sights, sounds, and smells, into neural impulses our
brains can interpret.
psychophysics - Answer the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of
stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them
What is the rough distinction between sensation and perception? - Answer Sensation is the
bottom-up process by which your sensory receptors and nervous system receives and
represents stimuli. Perception is the top-down process by which your brain creates meaning by
organizing and interpreting what tour senses detect.
,German scientist and philosopher Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) studied - Answer the edge of
our awareness of these faint stimuli, which he called their absolute thresholds
absolute thresholds - Answer the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular
stimulus 50% of the time
Signal detection theory - Answer a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence
of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise). Assumes there is no single
absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations,
motivation, and alertness.
subliminal - Answer below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness
difference threshold - Answer the minimum difference between two stimuli required for
detection 50 percent of the time
Weber's law - Answer the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ
by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount).
Sensory adaptation - Answer diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant
stimulation.
why is it that after wearing shoes for a while, you cease to notice them (until questions like this
draws your attention back to them. - Answer The shoes provides constant stimulation.
Thanks to sensory adaptation, we tend to focus primarily on changing stimuli.
perceptual set - Answer a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
Does perceptual set involve bottom-up or top-down processing? Why? - Answer It involves
top-down processing, because it draws on your experiences, assumptions, and expectations
when interpreting stimuli
blindsight - Answer a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without
consciously experiencing it
what is the rapid sequence of events that occurs when you see and recognizes a friend? -
Answer Light waves reflect off the person and travel into your eyes. receptor cells in your
retina convert the light into millions of neural impulses sent to your brain. your brain's detector
cells and work teams process the subdimension
, Our eyes receive - Answer light energy and transduce (transform) it into neural messages
When you look at a bright red tulip, the stimuli striking your eyes - Answer are not particles
of the color red, but pulses of electromagnetic energy that your visual system perceives as red.
wavelength - Answer the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of
the next. Electromagnetic wavelengths vary from the short blips of gamma rays to the long
pulses of radio transmission.
Wavelength determines - Answer hue
hue - Answer the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light; what we
know as the color names blue, green, and so forth
A light wave's amplitude, or height, determines its - Answer intensity
Amplitude - Answer Height of a wave
intensity - Answer the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as
brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude
Frequency, the number of complete wavelengths that can pass a point in a given time, depends
on the - Answer wavelength
The shorter the wavelength, the higher the - Answer frequency
Wave amplitude influences the perceived - Answer brightness of colors
Light enters the eye through the - Answer cornea (bends light to provide focus)
The light then passes through the - Answer pupil, a small adjustable opening
Surrounding the pupil and controlling its size is the - Answer iris, a colored muscle that
dilates or constricts in response to light intensity.
The iris responds to your - Answer cognitive and emotional states. Imagine a sunny sky and
your iris will constrict, making your pupil smaller; imagine a dark room and it will dilate
