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UIUC PSYC 230 TEST 1 Exam Questions
And Answers |Latest 2025 | Guaranteed Pass.
Sensation - Answer✔The ability to detect a stimulus and, perhaps, to turn that detection into a
private experience.
Perception - Answer✔The act of giving meaning to a detected sensation.
qualia - Answer✔In philosophy, private conscious experiences of sensation or perception.
dualism - Answer✔the idea that the mind has an existence separate from the material world of
the body.
Materialism - Answer✔The idea that the only thing that exists is matter, and that all things,
including the mind and consciousness, are the results of interaction between bits of matter.
panpsychism - Answer✔The idea that the mind exists as a property of al matter- that is, that all
matter has consciousness
psychophysics - Answer✔The science of defining quantitative relationships between physical
and psychological (subjective) events
two-lint touch threshold - Answer✔The minimum distance at which two stimuli (e.g. 2
simultaneous touches) are just perceptible as separate
just noticeable difference (JND) - Answer✔Also known as the difference threshold
The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, or the minimum change in a stimulus
that enables it to be correctly judged as different from a reference stimulus.
1|Page
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Weber fraction - Answer✔The constant (K) of proportionality in Weber's Law.
For weight: 1:40
Line length: 1:100
Weber's Law - Answer✔The principle describing the relationship between stimulus and
resulting sensation that says the JND is a constant fraction (K) of the comparison stimulus.
Fechner's Law - Answer✔A principle describing the relationship between stimulus and resulting
sensation that says the magnitude of subjective sensation increases proportionally to the
logarithm of the stimulus intensity
- S = k log (R)
S= psychological sensation R= physical stimulus
k= constant
Gustav Fechner - Answer✔- invented psychophysics
- thought by some to be the true founder of experimental psychology
absolute threshold - Answer✔The minimum amount of stimulation necessary for a person to
detect a stimulus 50% of the time
Method of constant stimuli - Answer✔A psychophysical method in which many stimuli, ranging
from rarely to almost always perceivable (or rarely to almost always perceivably different from
a reference stimulus), are presented one at a time. Participants respond to each presentation:
"yes/no," "same/different," and so on.
Methods of limits - Answer✔The magnitude of a single stimulus or the difference between two
stimuli is varied incrementally until the participant responds differently
- The experimenter begins with the same set of stimuli-- in this case, tones that vary in
intensity. Instead of random presentations, tones are presented in order of increasing or
decreasing intensity.
- ascending: asked to report when tone is first detected
- descending : report when tone is no longer audible
Method of adjustment - Answer✔Similar to the method of limits, but the participant controls
the stimulus directly
2|Page
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- subject is the one who steadily increases or decreases the intensity of the stimulus
Magnitude estimation - Answer✔The participant assigns values according to perceived
magnitudes of the stimuli
- EX: give observers series of sugar solutions and ask them to assign numbers to each sample.
- i.e. Solution 2 is 2x as sweet as Solution 1
Stevens' power law - Answer✔Magnitude estimates are well described by ________________ .
- S = aI^(b)
(S) is related to stimulus intensity
(I) by an exponent (b)
- A principle describing the relationship between the stimulus and resulting sensation that says
the magnitude of subjective sensation is proportional to the stimulus magnitude raised to an
exponent.
- exponent for brightness is 0.3, so change from 1 candle to 11 is quite dramatic,
but adding 10 to 100 results in only a modest change
Adding 10 to 10,000 wouldn't even be noticeable
VS.
Apparent length = 1.0
- exponent for electric shock is quite large (3.5), meaning that the pain grows with I^(3.5), so a
4-fold increase in the electrical current is experienced as a 128-fold increase in pain
Weber's law vs. Fechner's law vs. Stevens' power law - Answer✔Weber's law: involves a clear
objective measurement . We know how much we varied the stimulus, and either the observers
can tell that the stimulus changed or they cannot.
Fechner's law: begins with same objective measurements as Weber's, but the law is actually a
calculation based on some assumptions about how sensation works.
- assumes that all JNDs are perceptually equivalent
3|Page
UIUC PSYC 230 TEST 1 Exam Questions
And Answers |Latest 2025 | Guaranteed Pass.
Sensation - Answer✔The ability to detect a stimulus and, perhaps, to turn that detection into a
private experience.
Perception - Answer✔The act of giving meaning to a detected sensation.
qualia - Answer✔In philosophy, private conscious experiences of sensation or perception.
dualism - Answer✔the idea that the mind has an existence separate from the material world of
the body.
Materialism - Answer✔The idea that the only thing that exists is matter, and that all things,
including the mind and consciousness, are the results of interaction between bits of matter.
panpsychism - Answer✔The idea that the mind exists as a property of al matter- that is, that all
matter has consciousness
psychophysics - Answer✔The science of defining quantitative relationships between physical
and psychological (subjective) events
two-lint touch threshold - Answer✔The minimum distance at which two stimuli (e.g. 2
simultaneous touches) are just perceptible as separate
just noticeable difference (JND) - Answer✔Also known as the difference threshold
The smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, or the minimum change in a stimulus
that enables it to be correctly judged as different from a reference stimulus.
1|Page
, ©THESTAR 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11:24 PM A+
Weber fraction - Answer✔The constant (K) of proportionality in Weber's Law.
For weight: 1:40
Line length: 1:100
Weber's Law - Answer✔The principle describing the relationship between stimulus and
resulting sensation that says the JND is a constant fraction (K) of the comparison stimulus.
Fechner's Law - Answer✔A principle describing the relationship between stimulus and resulting
sensation that says the magnitude of subjective sensation increases proportionally to the
logarithm of the stimulus intensity
- S = k log (R)
S= psychological sensation R= physical stimulus
k= constant
Gustav Fechner - Answer✔- invented psychophysics
- thought by some to be the true founder of experimental psychology
absolute threshold - Answer✔The minimum amount of stimulation necessary for a person to
detect a stimulus 50% of the time
Method of constant stimuli - Answer✔A psychophysical method in which many stimuli, ranging
from rarely to almost always perceivable (or rarely to almost always perceivably different from
a reference stimulus), are presented one at a time. Participants respond to each presentation:
"yes/no," "same/different," and so on.
Methods of limits - Answer✔The magnitude of a single stimulus or the difference between two
stimuli is varied incrementally until the participant responds differently
- The experimenter begins with the same set of stimuli-- in this case, tones that vary in
intensity. Instead of random presentations, tones are presented in order of increasing or
decreasing intensity.
- ascending: asked to report when tone is first detected
- descending : report when tone is no longer audible
Method of adjustment - Answer✔Similar to the method of limits, but the participant controls
the stimulus directly
2|Page
, ©THESTAR 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11:24 PM A+
- subject is the one who steadily increases or decreases the intensity of the stimulus
Magnitude estimation - Answer✔The participant assigns values according to perceived
magnitudes of the stimuli
- EX: give observers series of sugar solutions and ask them to assign numbers to each sample.
- i.e. Solution 2 is 2x as sweet as Solution 1
Stevens' power law - Answer✔Magnitude estimates are well described by ________________ .
- S = aI^(b)
(S) is related to stimulus intensity
(I) by an exponent (b)
- A principle describing the relationship between the stimulus and resulting sensation that says
the magnitude of subjective sensation is proportional to the stimulus magnitude raised to an
exponent.
- exponent for brightness is 0.3, so change from 1 candle to 11 is quite dramatic,
but adding 10 to 100 results in only a modest change
Adding 10 to 10,000 wouldn't even be noticeable
VS.
Apparent length = 1.0
- exponent for electric shock is quite large (3.5), meaning that the pain grows with I^(3.5), so a
4-fold increase in the electrical current is experienced as a 128-fold increase in pain
Weber's law vs. Fechner's law vs. Stevens' power law - Answer✔Weber's law: involves a clear
objective measurement . We know how much we varied the stimulus, and either the observers
can tell that the stimulus changed or they cannot.
Fechner's law: begins with same objective measurements as Weber's, but the law is actually a
calculation based on some assumptions about how sensation works.
- assumes that all JNDs are perceptually equivalent
3|Page
