Psych 333 Exam 2 Study Guide: Abnormal Psychology Disorders and Treatment
Review
psychophysics - ANS ✔✔The systematic study of the relationship between physical and
psychological events.
absolute threshold - ANS ✔✔the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus
50% of the time
Weber's Law - ANS ✔✔the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by
a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)
Steve's power law - ANS ✔✔relationship of stimulus magnitude in comparison to perceived
magnitude of the stimulus, y=mx^n
response expansion - ANS ✔✔as intensity is increased, perceptual magnitude increases more
than intensity
response compression - ANS ✔✔the increase in perceived magnitude is smaller than the
increase in stimulus intensity
method of limits - ANS ✔✔A psychophysical method for measuring threshold in which the
experimenter presents sequences of stimuli in ascending and descending order.
method of adjustment - ANS ✔✔a method of limits in which the subject controls the change in
the stimulus
method of constant stimuli - ANS ✔✔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.
two-alternative forced choice - ANS ✔✔stimulus presented at one of two possible locations,
participant is supposed to label which location the stimulus came from. Helps eliminate
expectancy effects
Wundt curve - ANS ✔✔performance is best when stimulation is at an intermediate level (not
too low, not too high)
Fundamentals of Psychophysics - ANS ✔✔Detection, Identification, Discrimination, Scaling
Somatosensation - ANS ✔✔The body senses, including body position, touch, skin temperature,
and pain.
types of somatosensation - ANS ✔✔Temperature (thermoception), pressure (mechanoception),
pain (nociception), and position (proprioception)
sensory adaptation - ANS ✔✔diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
due to saturation of receptor sites (short term) or higher level blocking (long term)
Propioception - ANS ✔✔perception of the body's position and posture
kinesthesis - ANS ✔✔the sense of movement and body position
spinal cord pathways - ANS ✔✔dorsal root- sensation
ventral root- motor output
Review
psychophysics - ANS ✔✔The systematic study of the relationship between physical and
psychological events.
absolute threshold - ANS ✔✔the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus
50% of the time
Weber's Law - ANS ✔✔the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by
a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount)
Steve's power law - ANS ✔✔relationship of stimulus magnitude in comparison to perceived
magnitude of the stimulus, y=mx^n
response expansion - ANS ✔✔as intensity is increased, perceptual magnitude increases more
than intensity
response compression - ANS ✔✔the increase in perceived magnitude is smaller than the
increase in stimulus intensity
method of limits - ANS ✔✔A psychophysical method for measuring threshold in which the
experimenter presents sequences of stimuli in ascending and descending order.
method of adjustment - ANS ✔✔a method of limits in which the subject controls the change in
the stimulus
method of constant stimuli - ANS ✔✔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.
two-alternative forced choice - ANS ✔✔stimulus presented at one of two possible locations,
participant is supposed to label which location the stimulus came from. Helps eliminate
expectancy effects
Wundt curve - ANS ✔✔performance is best when stimulation is at an intermediate level (not
too low, not too high)
Fundamentals of Psychophysics - ANS ✔✔Detection, Identification, Discrimination, Scaling
Somatosensation - ANS ✔✔The body senses, including body position, touch, skin temperature,
and pain.
types of somatosensation - ANS ✔✔Temperature (thermoception), pressure (mechanoception),
pain (nociception), and position (proprioception)
sensory adaptation - ANS ✔✔diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation
due to saturation of receptor sites (short term) or higher level blocking (long term)
Propioception - ANS ✔✔perception of the body's position and posture
kinesthesis - ANS ✔✔the sense of movement and body position
spinal cord pathways - ANS ✔✔dorsal root- sensation
ventral root- motor output
