PSYC 230 UIUC EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Perception - Answers- the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information,
enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Are there really 5 senses? - Answers- No, there are from 7-12 different senses
neural transduction - Answers- receptors, transduction and neural response
Sensation - Answers- activation of sensory receptors due to a stimulus in the
environment (physical stimulus---->neural signal)
Phenomenology - Answers- internal experience that everyone has of the external world
around them
Aristotle and the Five senses - Answers- Aristotle said there were five senses - smell,
sight, touch, taste, and hearing - but science suggests there are many more than that
Thomas Young - Answers- showed that light, like waves, could be diffracted, color
recptors
Johannes Mueller - Answers- doctrine of specific nerve energies (distinct senses)
Von Helmholtz - Answers- perception is constructed from both senses and cognitive
processes, unconscious inference, three basic color receptors
Hering - Answers- colors are perceived through 2 pairs of opposing colors (four primary
colors, not three)
Weber's Law - Answers- the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is based on
a proportion of the original stimulus rather than on a fixed amount of difference
Fechner - Answers- father of psychophysics, the study of the relation between physical
stimuli and the perception they elicit
Fechner's Law - Answers- sensation is a logarithmic function of physical intensity
Gestalt Psychology - Answers- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Information Processing Approach - Answers- a perspective on understanding cognition
that divides thinking into specific steps and component processes (LIKE A COMPUTER)
computational approach - Answers- Describes the problem the system is trying to solve
and the constraints it uses in order to solve it, most abstract
, microelectrode - Answers- a very fine electrode, generally used to record activity of
individual neurons
Neurophysiology - Answers- explains the workings of the nervous system
Agnosia - Answers- the inability to recognize familiar objects
Prosopagnosia - Answers- inability to recognize faces
EEG (electroencephalogram) - Answers- shows brain's electrical activity by positioning
electrodes over the scalp
fMRI (functional MRI) - Answers- A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore,
brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function
Psychophysical Scale - Answers- a scale that measures the relationship between
human reactions and the physical stimuli causing these reactions
absolute threshold - Answers- the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur
before you experience a sensation
method of limits - Answers- measure a subject's perception of stimuli by determining at
what level a stimulus is detected by a subject
method of constant stimuli - Answers- Many stimuli, ranging from rarely to almost
always perceivable, are presented one at a time (50% detection)
method of adjustment - Answers- the experimenter or the observer adjusts the stimulus
intensity in a continuous manner until the observer detects the stimulus
Sensitivity - Answers- the strength of the capacity to detect and discriminate stimuli. It is
how strong the perception of a stimulus is in an individual
Magnitude Estimation - Answers- participants judge and assign numerical estimates to
the perceived strength of a stimulus
Law of Proximity (Gestalt) - Answers- elements close to one another tend to be
perceived as a unit
Law of Common Fate (Gestalt) - Answers- visual elements that move in the same
speed and/or direction are parts of a single stimulus
law of closure (gestalt) - Answers- we tend to see complete figures even when part of
the information is missing
Perception - Answers- the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information,
enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events
Are there really 5 senses? - Answers- No, there are from 7-12 different senses
neural transduction - Answers- receptors, transduction and neural response
Sensation - Answers- activation of sensory receptors due to a stimulus in the
environment (physical stimulus---->neural signal)
Phenomenology - Answers- internal experience that everyone has of the external world
around them
Aristotle and the Five senses - Answers- Aristotle said there were five senses - smell,
sight, touch, taste, and hearing - but science suggests there are many more than that
Thomas Young - Answers- showed that light, like waves, could be diffracted, color
recptors
Johannes Mueller - Answers- doctrine of specific nerve energies (distinct senses)
Von Helmholtz - Answers- perception is constructed from both senses and cognitive
processes, unconscious inference, three basic color receptors
Hering - Answers- colors are perceived through 2 pairs of opposing colors (four primary
colors, not three)
Weber's Law - Answers- the just noticeable difference between two stimuli is based on
a proportion of the original stimulus rather than on a fixed amount of difference
Fechner - Answers- father of psychophysics, the study of the relation between physical
stimuli and the perception they elicit
Fechner's Law - Answers- sensation is a logarithmic function of physical intensity
Gestalt Psychology - Answers- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Information Processing Approach - Answers- a perspective on understanding cognition
that divides thinking into specific steps and component processes (LIKE A COMPUTER)
computational approach - Answers- Describes the problem the system is trying to solve
and the constraints it uses in order to solve it, most abstract
, microelectrode - Answers- a very fine electrode, generally used to record activity of
individual neurons
Neurophysiology - Answers- explains the workings of the nervous system
Agnosia - Answers- the inability to recognize familiar objects
Prosopagnosia - Answers- inability to recognize faces
EEG (electroencephalogram) - Answers- shows brain's electrical activity by positioning
electrodes over the scalp
fMRI (functional MRI) - Answers- A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore,
brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function
Psychophysical Scale - Answers- a scale that measures the relationship between
human reactions and the physical stimuli causing these reactions
absolute threshold - Answers- the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur
before you experience a sensation
method of limits - Answers- measure a subject's perception of stimuli by determining at
what level a stimulus is detected by a subject
method of constant stimuli - Answers- Many stimuli, ranging from rarely to almost
always perceivable, are presented one at a time (50% detection)
method of adjustment - Answers- the experimenter or the observer adjusts the stimulus
intensity in a continuous manner until the observer detects the stimulus
Sensitivity - Answers- the strength of the capacity to detect and discriminate stimuli. It is
how strong the perception of a stimulus is in an individual
Magnitude Estimation - Answers- participants judge and assign numerical estimates to
the perceived strength of a stimulus
Law of Proximity (Gestalt) - Answers- elements close to one another tend to be
perceived as a unit
Law of Common Fate (Gestalt) - Answers- visual elements that move in the same
speed and/or direction are parts of a single stimulus
law of closure (gestalt) - Answers- we tend to see complete figures even when part of
the information is missing
