Early Physiology and Psychophysics

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

Knowledge from the sense

Question 2

Rationalism

Answer 2

Active intellect (uses our senses)

Question 3

Early reaction time studies

Answer 3

Illustrated importance of discrepancy between objective and subjective reality

Question 4

Bell-Magendie law

Answer 4

Demonstrated that sensory nerves entre the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the ventral roots (motor and sensory functions)

Question 5

Charles Bell

Answer 5

Major discovery around nerves

Question 6

Magendie

Answer 6

Unaware of Bell’s research, also published the same ideas

Question 7

Doctrine of specific nerve energies

Answer 7

Johannes Muller - demonstrated that each of the five types of sensory nerves results in a characteristic sensation (each nerve has a unique response)

Question 8

Adequate Stimulation

Answer 8

Each sensory system is maximally sensitive to a specific type of stimulation but may be stimulated by other forms of energy

Question 9

Consciousness, sensations, and reality

Answer 9

The central nervous system, not the physical stimulus, determines our sensations

Question 10

Materialism

Answer 10

Life could be explained in terms of physical and chemical processes and thus there is no need to exclude the study of life from the realm of science

Question 11

Vitalism

Answer 11

Some life forces can’t be captured or explained (only explained by God)

Question 12

Helmholtz

Answer 12

Disagreed with the concept of vitalism. Through research, able to demonstrate the concept of conservation of energy to living organisms

Question 13

Rate of nerve conduction

Answer 13

Helmholtz measured the speed of nerve conduction (165-330 feet). Further proved evidence that physical processes are involved.

Question 14

Theory of perception

Answer 14

Sensations are raw elements of experience and perceptions are sensations after given meaning y the person’s past experience

Question 15

Theory of colour vision

Answer 15

Helmholtz proposed three types of colour receptors corresponding to the three primary additive colours

Question 16

Theory of auditory perception

Answer 16

Proposed a resonance place theory of auditory perception in which the pitches of sound we hear are determined to a great extent on where along the basilar membrane the most vibration is occurring in response to a sound vibration

Question 17

Ewald Hering

Answer 17

Perception is innate, something we are born with. Respiration is caused by receptors in your lungs. Studied after images

Question 18

Space perception and colour vision

Answer 18

Suggested that receptors in the eye provide information regarding depth. Space perception as an innate characteristic of the eye.

Question 19

Christine Ladd-Franklin

Answer 19

Proposed a theory of colour vision that was based on evolutionary theory and evolution of physiology of the system. Achromatic vision came first, then blue-yellow sensitivity, and finally red-green sensitivity

Question 20

Early research on brain functioning

Answer 20

Toward the end of the 18th century, it was believed that a person’s character could be determined by analyzing his or her facial characteristics

Question 21

Franz Gall

Answer 21

Developed the first cohesive ideas about phrenology - the magnitude of one’s faculties (in the mind) could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on one’s skull

Question 22

Johann Spurzheim

Answer 22

Popularized the practice of phrenology with books and demonstrations of its uses.

Question 23

Pierre Flournes

Answer 23

Used the ablation method (destroying part of the brain and noting behavioral consequences) and investigated the localization of function in the brain
(Phineas Gage)

Question 24

Paul Broca

Answer 24

Broca’s area
- Responsible for speech production
Using the clinical method (observations in the clinical setting), they were able to localize language and communication functions in the brain

Question 25

Carl Wernicke

Answer 25

Wernicke’s area
Responsible for speech comprehension
- Using the clinical method (observations in the clinical setting), they were able to localize language and communication functions in the brain

Question 26

Electrophysiology - Gustav Fristch, Eduard Hitzig

Answer 26

Using electrical stimulation of brain neurons, they found:
- The cortex is not insensitive as previously thought
- That when certain area of the cortex is stimulated, muscular movements on the opposite side of the body are elicited, thus discovering the motor cortex

Question 27

David Ferrier

Answer 27

These findings and observations by other researchers extended the Bell-Magendie law to the brain

Question 28

Ernst Weber

Answer 28

Investigated the sense of touch and mapped out the sensitivity of touch for the entire body using the two-point threshold. Sensitivity ranged from the most sensitive on the tongue to the least sensitive on the back

Question 29

Webers Law

Answer 29

Determined that Weber’s law the finding that the amount of change necessary to notice a difference (jnd) is a constant fraction relating the stimuli.

Question 30

Gustave Fechner

Answer 30

Argued to be the founder of psychology. Wrote the Adventures of Dr. Mises

Question 31

Psychophysics

Answer 31

Interested in the relationship between the body and the mind. Led him directly to the study of psychophysics. Speculated that for mental sensations to change arithmetically, the physical stimulus must change geometrically

Question 32

The JND as the Unit of Sensation

Answer 32

The absolute threshold which is the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected

Question 33

Psychophysical methods

Answer 33

Developed various methods of research including the method of limits, the method of constant stimuli, and the method of adjustment

Question 34

Charles Sanders Peirce

Answer 34

Peirce conducted psychology’s first blinded repeated measures-random-assignment experiment, in which subjects were randomly assigned to compare weights without them or the experimenter knowing whether they were equivalent or not