Page 1 of 144
PSYC 320 Exam 1 WITH 350 QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATED
VERSION JUST RELEASED
Question: Who invented psychophysics? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔Gustav Fechner
- known as the father of experimental psychology
- attempted to describe the relationship between the mind and body using language of math
Question: What is the science of defining quantitative relationships between physical and
psychological (subjective) events? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔Psychophysics
- adding mathematical model to humans
- Attempting to figure out the relationship between things we can experience in the world and
subjective experiences
- adopted other concepts to understand sensation and perception as well
Question: What were Weber's inspiring concepts adopted by psychophysics? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔Two-point Threshold - the minimum distance at which two stimuli (e.g., two
simultaneous touches) can be distinguished
, Page 2 of 144
- ability to sense changes across our bodies
- sensitivity varies around body (we are very accurate were we are most sensitive)
Just Noticeable Difference (JND) - the smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, or
the minimum change in a stimulus that can be correctly judged as different from a reference
stimulus; also known as difference threshold
Question: What is the absolute threshold? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔minimum amount of
stimulation necessary for a person to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
- thresholds can vary in different people and in different levels
Question: What are the methods to measure thresholds? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Method of
Constant Stimuli
- Method of Limits
- Method of Adjustment
Question: What is the Method of Constant Stimuli? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- many stimuli,
ranging from rarely to almost always perceivable, are presented one at a time
, Page 3 of 144
- random stimuli at random intensities presented one at a time, multiple times
- ask if they can detect a difference at a particular level
Question: What is the Method of Limits? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the magnitude of a single
stimulus or the difference between two stimuli is varied incrementally until the participant
responds differently
- most hearing tests
- PROGRESSIVE decrease or increase of stimulus intensity, not random
- looking for where one flips to yes to no and then creating an average
- more efficient
Question: What is the Method of Adjustment? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- similar to the method
of limits, but the participant controls the stimulus directly
- participant has full control of the knob adjusting the light
- not really used for thresholds
, Page 4 of 144
Question: In scaling methods, what is the Magnitude of Estimation and who's law is associated
with it? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the participant assigns values according to perceived
magnitudes of the stimuli
- straightforward way of addressing what one is experiencing
- "What level of pain are you experiencing"
- rating bc no one can measure your personal experience
- Well described by Steven's Power Law S = aI^b
- NOTE not all sensations are similar or change in magnitude the same way
Question: What is Cross-modality Matching? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the participant matches
the intensity of a sensation in one sensory modality with the intensity of a sensation in another
- matching light to intensity of a sound
- tasting bitter differences (supertasters, medium, nontasters)
Question: What is a psychophysical theory that quantifies the response of an observer to the
presentation of a signal in the presence of noise? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔Signal Detection
Theory
- Many real-world problems can be conceptualized as a search for a signal amidst noise.
PSYC 320 Exam 1 WITH 350 QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATED
VERSION JUST RELEASED
Question: Who invented psychophysics? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔Gustav Fechner
- known as the father of experimental psychology
- attempted to describe the relationship between the mind and body using language of math
Question: What is the science of defining quantitative relationships between physical and
psychological (subjective) events? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔Psychophysics
- adding mathematical model to humans
- Attempting to figure out the relationship between things we can experience in the world and
subjective experiences
- adopted other concepts to understand sensation and perception as well
Question: What were Weber's inspiring concepts adopted by psychophysics? - CORRECT
ANSWER✔✔Two-point Threshold - the minimum distance at which two stimuli (e.g., two
simultaneous touches) can be distinguished
, Page 2 of 144
- ability to sense changes across our bodies
- sensitivity varies around body (we are very accurate were we are most sensitive)
Just Noticeable Difference (JND) - the smallest detectable difference between two stimuli, or
the minimum change in a stimulus that can be correctly judged as different from a reference
stimulus; also known as difference threshold
Question: What is the absolute threshold? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔minimum amount of
stimulation necessary for a person to detect a stimulus 50% of the time
- thresholds can vary in different people and in different levels
Question: What are the methods to measure thresholds? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- Method of
Constant Stimuli
- Method of Limits
- Method of Adjustment
Question: What is the Method of Constant Stimuli? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- many stimuli,
ranging from rarely to almost always perceivable, are presented one at a time
, Page 3 of 144
- random stimuli at random intensities presented one at a time, multiple times
- ask if they can detect a difference at a particular level
Question: What is the Method of Limits? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the magnitude of a single
stimulus or the difference between two stimuli is varied incrementally until the participant
responds differently
- most hearing tests
- PROGRESSIVE decrease or increase of stimulus intensity, not random
- looking for where one flips to yes to no and then creating an average
- more efficient
Question: What is the Method of Adjustment? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- similar to the method
of limits, but the participant controls the stimulus directly
- participant has full control of the knob adjusting the light
- not really used for thresholds
, Page 4 of 144
Question: In scaling methods, what is the Magnitude of Estimation and who's law is associated
with it? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the participant assigns values according to perceived
magnitudes of the stimuli
- straightforward way of addressing what one is experiencing
- "What level of pain are you experiencing"
- rating bc no one can measure your personal experience
- Well described by Steven's Power Law S = aI^b
- NOTE not all sensations are similar or change in magnitude the same way
Question: What is Cross-modality Matching? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔- the participant matches
the intensity of a sensation in one sensory modality with the intensity of a sensation in another
- matching light to intensity of a sound
- tasting bitter differences (supertasters, medium, nontasters)
Question: What is a psychophysical theory that quantifies the response of an observer to the
presentation of a signal in the presence of noise? - CORRECT ANSWER✔✔Signal Detection
Theory
- Many real-world problems can be conceptualized as a search for a signal amidst noise.
