Psychophysics Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Psychophysics is the scientific study of the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensory and perceptual experiences they produce. This course introduces students to foundational concepts, methods, and experimental techniques used to quantify how humans detect, discriminate, and scale sensory information across visual, auditory, tactile, and other sensory modalities. Topics include threshold determination, signal detection theory, scaling methods, and applications in vision and hearing sciences. By integrating theoretical frameworks with hands-on experimental exercises, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how the mind interprets and processes sensory input.
Recommended Textbook
Sensation and Perception 10th Edition by E. Bruce Goldstein
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction to Perception
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Sample Questions
Q1) Define "top-down" and "bottom-up" processing.
(b) Discuss how the "rat-man" demonstration is used to exemplify the distinction between these two types of processing.
Answer: Bottom-up processing (also called data-based processing) is processing that is based on the stimuli reaching the receptors. Top-down processing (also called knowledge-based processing) refers to processing that is based on knowledge. The rat-man demonstration shows how recently acquired knowledge ("that pattern is a rat") can influence perception. When individuals are initially shown a figure that looks like a rat, they are more likely to identify an ambiguous rat-man figure as a rat while those who initially see a man are more likely to identify it as a man,
Q2) Because perception is something you experience _____, knowing about how it works is interesting in its own right.
A) Intermittently
B) when necessary
C) when important
D) constantly
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Perceptual Process
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Sample Questions
Q1) The flow of ions that create the action potential are caused by the changes in the _____ of the nerve fiber.
A) suppression
B) permeability
C) accommodation
D) assimilation
Answer: B
Q2) The peak in the spectral sensitivity curve is about _____ for the rods, and about _____ for the cones.
A) 700 nm; 400 nm
B) 450 nm; 800 nm
C) 500 nm; 560 nm
D) 600 nm; 450 nm
Answer: C
Q3) Our perception of the environment begins with _____.
A) energy
B) the proximal stimulus
C) the distal stimulus
D) cognition
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Neural Processing
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Q1) In _____ coding, a particular neuron might respond to Jason's face, another particular neuron to Sam's face, and another particular neuron to Bill's face.
A) identity
B) specificity
C) individuated
D) experiential
Answer: B
Q2) When we view a stimulus with a specific property, neurons tuned to that property fire and will eventually become fatigued, an effect called _____ adaptation.
A) selective
B) refractory
C) depletion
D) massed
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Cortical Organization
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Q1) Dougherty et al. (2003) used brain imaging to investigate cortical magnification. Their primary finding was that _____.
A) information presented in the peripheral vision activated the most brain area
B) information presented to the fovea activated the most brain area
C) moving stimuli activated different brain areas than stationary stimuli
D) cortical magnification is not detectable using fMRI
Q2) Describe how MRIs and fMRIs are performed and explain why these methods are so important to psychological research.
Q3) A large object, such as a tree trunk, will cause _____.
A) every neuron in one location column to fire, but no firing in any other column
B) a limited number of neurons to fire in only one ocular dominance column
C) firing of neurons in a number of different columns
D) every neuron in an orientation column to fire, but not in the location columns
Q4) The results of the patient D.F., who had visual form agnosia, show that _____.
A) perception and action are independent of each other in the brain
B) the same brain areas are involved in visual orientation and oriented action
C) the inability to draw items is due to a lack of general knowledge
D) double dissociations do not occur in these patients
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Perceiving Objects and Scenes
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Q1) The theory of unconscious inference _____.
A) replaced the Bayesian inference approach
B) is closely related to the "likelihood principle"?
C) describes the use of algorithms in perception?
D) is incompatible with Gestalt psychology.?
Q2) Gestalt psychologists used the example of illusory contours to support the claim that _____.
A) perceptions are formed by combining sensations
B) vision can be modeled on computer processing
C) the whole is different than the sum of its parts
D) experience determines perceptual interpretation
Q3) Naselaris et al. (2009) developed the _____ decoder, which is used to make predictions about characteristics of a scene such as contrast and shape.
A) form
B) structural?
C) orientation?
D) semantic?
Q4) Define semantic regularities and describe their effect on perceptual organization.
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Chapter 6: Visual Attention
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Q1) Vaco is playing basketball, and does a "no-look" (covert) pass to a teammate. This demonstrates the idea that attention _____.
A) is solely the result of eye movements
B) can occur without looking at the object
C) does not occur even if we are looking straight at an object
D) is due to the functioning of the rods
Q2) _____ described attention as "the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought."
A) Hemlholtz
B) Posner
C) James
D) Rensink
Q3) Treisman and Schmidt prevented the focused attention stage from occurring by
A) presenting stimuli for 200 msec
B) having observers focus attention on another task
C) none of these; focused attention occurs automatically
D) using rapid stimulus presentation and directing attention to another task
Q4) Explain the load theory of attention.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Taking Action
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Q1) Lee et al.'s "Swinging Room" studies found that _____.
A) only adults are affected by flow information
B) only young children are affected by flow information
C) children will lean back when a forward-swaying flow pattern was created
D) adults were always able to keep their balance in the moving room
Q2) Affordances _____.
A) provide a counterexample to Gibson's ecological approach
B) are used to explain the flow of information organizational principles
C) provide the observer possibilities for action
D) arise from the interaction between flow and depth cues
Q3) You are driving a car. Which statement is an accurate reflection of flow in this situation?
A) Optic flow is slower near the car.
B) Optic flow does not occur for information in the periphery.
C) Optic flow is faster farther away from the car.
D) Optic flow does not occur for the focus of expansion.
Q4) Describe the role landmarks play in wayfinding.
Q5) Discuss the capacity of newborn infants to imitate facial expressions.
Q6) Name and discuss two characteristics of optic flow.
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Q7) Discuss research that shows how vision is important in performing a somersault.
Chapter 8: Perceiving Motion
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Q1) What is the aperture problem
How does the visual system "solve" this problem?
Q2) Which of the following is true about the corollary discharge theory
A) It can explain why you see a bird moving in flight when you are following it with your eyes.
B) It has much behavioral support, but no physiological support yet.
C) It has little behavioral support, but the comparator has been found in the IT cortex.
D) It can explain why an afterimage seems to be stationary as you move your eye to different fixation points.
Q3) Percy is injected with a drug that paralyzes his eye muscles. When he is instructed to try to move his eye when looking a stationary scene, his brain is able to send a signal to his eye muscles but he is unable to move his eyes. As a result, he perceives _____.
A) no movement, because his eye muscles can't move
B) no movement, because the scene is stationary
C) movement, because there is a CDS and an IDS
D) movement, because there is a CDS, but not an IDS
Q4) Describe Francesca Simion's work with biological motion in newborn infants.
Q5) Review the evidence for the physiological basis of perceiving biological motion.
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Chapter 9: Perceiving Color
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Q1) A unilateral dichromat _____.
A) has trichromatic vision in one eye and dichromatic vision in the other eye
B) can only see black, white, and grays
C) can match any wavelength with three wavelengths in the comparison field, but is not as good as trichromats at discriminating small differences in wavelengths D) is more common in the U.S. than protonopes
Q2) Blue and yellow paints mixed together yield _____.
A) white
B) gray
C) green
D) purple
Q3) By changing _____, we can create about a million (or more) discriminable colors. A) saturation only
B) value only
C) hue and saturation, but not value
D) saturation, value, and hue
Q4) Explain (with examples) the difference between additive color mixture and subtractive color mixture.
Q5) Evaluate Newton's claim that the light "rays are not colored."
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Chapter 10: Perceiving Depth and Size
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Sample Questions
Q1) Holway and Boring found that size constancy _____.
A) holds under all viewing conditions
B) is inconsistent with visual angles in humans
C) is more likely to occur if you have more depth cues
D) does not occur under binocular viewing conditions
Q2) According to Gregory's misapplied size constancy scaling hypothesis, we perceive the "arrows pointing out" version of the Muller-Lyer illusion as _____.
A) longer, because it is perceived as being further away
B) longer, because it is perceived as being closer
C) shorter, because it is perceived as further away
D) shorter, because it is perceived as being closer
Q3) _____ is defined as depth perception created by input from both eyes.
A) Binocular integration
B) Convergent depth perception
C) Stereoscopic depth perception
D) Viewpoint dependent depth
Q4) Describe the differences in how depth is perceived in cats, insects, and bats.
Q5) Discuss the method, results, and implications of the Holway and Boring (1941) "hallway" experiment.
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Chapter 11: Hearing I: Basic Processes and Pitch Perception
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Sample Questions
Q1) A complex tone composed of a 440 Hz tone, an 880 Hz tone, and a 1320 HZ tone is presented. Which part of the basilar membrane will respond
A) the apex
B) the base
C) one intermediate area
D) the three different areas characteristic of each individual component
Q2) When listening to music, which method will help ensure you hear all of the frequencies represented in the piece
A) Hold volume constant throughout the piece.
B) Turn the volume down (e.g., 20 dB) so the music is quiet.
C) Turn the volume up (e.g., 80 dB) so the music is loud.
D) Play white noise in the background to allow better discrimination.
Q3) The outer ear consists of _____.
A) the pinnae, the auditory canal, and the tympanic membrane
B) the pinnae, the eardrum, and the oval window
C) the tympanic membrane, the oval window, and the eardrum
D) the cochlea
Q4) Discuss how noise-induced hearing loss can occur, and what can be done to reduce the chances of noise-induced hearing loss.
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Chapter 12: Hearing II: Location and Organization
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Q1) Coincidence detectors _____.
A) fire when the ITD equals 0
B) fire when the ITD is greater than 20
C) have been found in humans, but not in non-mammals
D) fire when the ILD is greater than 50
Q2) Interaural time difference detectors _____.
A) have not been found in the monkey auditory cortex?
B) have been discovered in the monkey occipital cortex
C) have been found in the monkey auditory cortex that responds best to specific delays
D) have been found in the monkey auditory cortex, but do not differentially respond to different delays
Q3) Seven-month-old infants listened to a regular repeating ambiguous rhythm while they were bounced up and down at two bounces per beat or at three bounces per beat. Later, they were tested to see how they had perceived the rhythm. The results suggest that _____.
A) the infants perceived the rhythm as presented - ambiguous
B) the infants always perceived the rhythm as occurring in twos
C) the infants' perception was influenced by how they were bounced
D) the vestibular system is not involved in auditory perception and movement
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Speech Perception
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss two sources of the variability problem. Provide examples for each.
Q2) Listening to someone speak a foreign language you are not familiar with can lead to _____.
A) the correspondence problem
B) the segmentation problem
C) the formant transition effect?
D) acoustic signaling
Q3) Your ability to read the sentence "H*V* A N*C* D*Y" is used as an example of the importance of _____.
A) bottom-up processing
B) top-down processing
C) audiovisual speech perception
D) sideways processing
Q4) Discuss the "dual-stream model of speech perception." Briefly describe research that supports this model.
Q5) What is noise vocoded speech and what has been learned using it?
Q6) Discuss the motor theory of speech perception.
Q7) Describe how voice onset times (VOTs) have been used to study categorical perception.
Page 15
Q8) Discuss what information is used by listeners to accomplish speech segmentation.
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Chapter 14: The Cutaneous Senses
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Q1) Experience-dependent plasticity has been found to occur for _____.
A) the somatosensory system only
B) the auditory system only
C) only the auditory and somatosensory systems
D) the somatosensory, auditory, and visual systems
Q2) Explain how haptic exploration is used to identify objects.
Q3) The sensory component of pain is to _____ as the emotional component of pain is to _____.
A) throbbing; dull
B) annoying; sickening
C) frightful; prickly
D) throbbing; annoying
Q4) The mapping of the body on the somatosensory cortex can be represented as a(n)
A) homunculus
B) anosmia
C) epidermis
D) pachyderm
Q5) What is the duplex theory of texture perception
Describe research that supports this theory.
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Chapter 15: The Chemical Senses
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Q1) Sources of odor are called _____.
A) odor emitters
B) olfactory stimulus
C) odorants
D) odor objects
Q2) Describe the capacity of human infants to experience taste and smell.
Q3) Macrosmatic animals _____.
A) have relatively few olfactory receptors
B) have limited ability to discriminate among odors
C) are unable to exploit pheromones
D) use their sense of smell for survival
Q4) _____ is the inability to smell due to injury or infection.
A) Aphasia
B) Anosmia
C) Alliesthesia
D) Prosopagnosia
Q5) In one study, males were asked to rate the scent of a t-shirt worn by a woman three nights during ovulation or three nights when not in ovulation. Discuss the results of this study and relate them to reproductive fertility and the human ability to sense pheromones.
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