PSYC 450 FINAL EXAM 2026 QUESTIONS
COMPLETE WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
\.cutaneous senses - ANSWERS✔-Responsible for perceptions stimulated by the
skin (e.g., touch and pain); Grasping, protecting against damage, motivating sexual
activity
\.Proprioception - ANSWERS✔-Position of body and limbs (Vestibular influences)
\.kinesthesis - ANSWERS✔-Movement of body and limbs (Vestibular influences)
\.skin - ANSWERS✔-1. Heaviest organ
2. Largest sensory system
3. Prevents body fluids from escaping
4. Protects the body from bacteria, chemical agents, dirt, etc.
5. Provides us with information about various stimuli
\.Epidermis - ANSWERS✔-outer layers of the skin (dead skin cells)
\.Dermis - ANSWERS✔-middle layer of skin below epidermis
,\.Mechanoreceptors - ANSWERS✔-receptors that respond to mechanical
stimulation, like pressure, stretching and vibration
\.Merkel receptors - ANSWERS✔-found in the valleys of finger prints; smallest
receptive fields; high spatial resolution; form and texture coding; can become
malignant; 25% of mechanoreceptors in hand
\.Meissner's corpuscles - ANSWERS✔-sensitive touch receptors in the dermis
\.Ruffini cylinder - ANSWERS✔-fires continuously to stimulation; associated with
perceiving stretching of skin
\.Pacinian corpuscles - ANSWERS✔-respond to deep pressure and vibration (fires
when pressure is first administered and when it is removed); recording from
fibers; assisted with PC shows they respond poorly to slow or constant pushing
and respond well to high rates of vibration
\.medial lemniscal pathway - ANSWERS✔-consists of large fibers that carry
proprioceptive and touch information (one of two major pathways up spinal cord)
\.spinothalamic pathway - ANSWERS✔-one route from the spinal cord to the brain
that carries most of the information about skin temperature and pain (smaller
fibers - slower)
\.1. the somatosensory cortex
2. the homunculus
, 3. cortical magnification
4. plasticity of S1 - ANSWERS✔-What are the maps of the body on the cortex?
\.two-point threshold - ANSWERS✔-the minimum separation between two points
on the skin that when stimulated is perceived as two points
\.grating acuity - ANSWERS✔-narrowest spacing of grating for which orientation
can be judged
\.raised patterns - ANSWERS✔-smallest sized pattern or letter that can be
identified
\.1. less spacing between Merkel receptors
2. Cortical mechanisms - ANSWERS✔-The better acuity is associated with what?
\.receptive fields - ANSWERS✔-area on the skin that, when stimulated, influences
the firing rate of a particular neuron
\.cortical magnification - ANSWERS✔-Occurs when a disproportionately large area
on the cortex is activated by stimulation of a small area on the receptor surface
\.spatial cues - ANSWERS✔-relatively large surface elements; (e.g., bumps &
grooves) felt when the skin moves across a surface AND when it is pressed onto
elements
COMPLETE WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
\.cutaneous senses - ANSWERS✔-Responsible for perceptions stimulated by the
skin (e.g., touch and pain); Grasping, protecting against damage, motivating sexual
activity
\.Proprioception - ANSWERS✔-Position of body and limbs (Vestibular influences)
\.kinesthesis - ANSWERS✔-Movement of body and limbs (Vestibular influences)
\.skin - ANSWERS✔-1. Heaviest organ
2. Largest sensory system
3. Prevents body fluids from escaping
4. Protects the body from bacteria, chemical agents, dirt, etc.
5. Provides us with information about various stimuli
\.Epidermis - ANSWERS✔-outer layers of the skin (dead skin cells)
\.Dermis - ANSWERS✔-middle layer of skin below epidermis
,\.Mechanoreceptors - ANSWERS✔-receptors that respond to mechanical
stimulation, like pressure, stretching and vibration
\.Merkel receptors - ANSWERS✔-found in the valleys of finger prints; smallest
receptive fields; high spatial resolution; form and texture coding; can become
malignant; 25% of mechanoreceptors in hand
\.Meissner's corpuscles - ANSWERS✔-sensitive touch receptors in the dermis
\.Ruffini cylinder - ANSWERS✔-fires continuously to stimulation; associated with
perceiving stretching of skin
\.Pacinian corpuscles - ANSWERS✔-respond to deep pressure and vibration (fires
when pressure is first administered and when it is removed); recording from
fibers; assisted with PC shows they respond poorly to slow or constant pushing
and respond well to high rates of vibration
\.medial lemniscal pathway - ANSWERS✔-consists of large fibers that carry
proprioceptive and touch information (one of two major pathways up spinal cord)
\.spinothalamic pathway - ANSWERS✔-one route from the spinal cord to the brain
that carries most of the information about skin temperature and pain (smaller
fibers - slower)
\.1. the somatosensory cortex
2. the homunculus
, 3. cortical magnification
4. plasticity of S1 - ANSWERS✔-What are the maps of the body on the cortex?
\.two-point threshold - ANSWERS✔-the minimum separation between two points
on the skin that when stimulated is perceived as two points
\.grating acuity - ANSWERS✔-narrowest spacing of grating for which orientation
can be judged
\.raised patterns - ANSWERS✔-smallest sized pattern or letter that can be
identified
\.1. less spacing between Merkel receptors
2. Cortical mechanisms - ANSWERS✔-The better acuity is associated with what?
\.receptive fields - ANSWERS✔-area on the skin that, when stimulated, influences
the firing rate of a particular neuron
\.cortical magnification - ANSWERS✔-Occurs when a disproportionately large area
on the cortex is activated by stimulation of a small area on the receptor surface
\.spatial cues - ANSWERS✔-relatively large surface elements; (e.g., bumps &
grooves) felt when the skin moves across a surface AND when it is pressed onto
elements
