Psychology Test 2

Question 1

What is the difference between sensation and perception? [2 marks]

Answer 1

Sensation is the stimulation of sensory organs by energy in the environment whereas perception is the selection, organization and subjective interpretation of sensory input.

Question 2

What is an absolute threshold? [2 marks]

Answer 2

An absolute threshold is the minimum amount of energy that is needed for a specific sensory system to detect a stimulus in the environment 50% of the time.

Question 3

3. Describe the main visual pathway in the brain. [3 marks]

Answer 3

Neural Impulses from the eye travel through the optic nerve, to the thalamus, then to the LGN, where it finally reaches the primary visual cortex where visual information splits into two pathways, the What and Where pathways.

Question 4

4. What are the three classes of human skin receptors? [3 marks]

Answer 4

Touch
Temperature of Objects
Pain

Question 5

Describe the types of brain waves found during the five different stages of sleep. [5 marks]

Answer 5

Theta Waves
Theta Waves with K complexes and Spindles
Mostly Theta waves and delta waves
Mostly delta waves
Beta Waves

Question 6

What is the name of the sleep disorder characterized by vivid, fear-evoking dreams that occur during REM sleep? [1 mark]

Answer 6

Nightmare

Question 7

Describe the Stroop task and state which part of a subject’s brain is most activated while performing this task. [4 marks]

Answer 7

In the Stroop Task, subjects identified the color of words that name different colors, the dorso-lateral, pre frontal cortex is highly activated due to an interference between color perception and language processing areas of the brain

Question 8

Describe the process of classical conditioning using an example from your own life. [4 marks]

Answer 8

In classical conditioning, you take an unconditioned stimulus, that naturally elicits an unconditioned response, along with a neutral stimulus, and over several trials, that neutral stimulus will turn into a conditioned stimulus which can elicit a conditioned response

Question 9

Explain and give examples for positive and negative reinforcement. [4 marks]

Answer 9

Negative Reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus in order to strengthen behavior. For example, taking aspirin to relive headaches will increase aspirin use in the future. Positive reinforcement involves adding a pleasant stimulus in order to strengthen behavior. For example, praising a kid for doing homework will increase chance of kid doing homework again.

Question 10

Define and give an example of escape learning. [2 marks]

Answer 10

This is a form of negative reinforcement where you escape a feared or unpleasant stimulus and when you escape you feel so much better

Question 11

What is a Just Noticeable Difference? [1 mark]

Answer 11

A JND is the smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect

Question 12

Explain how light is converted into electrochemical impulses in the brain.

Answer 12

Light enters the pupil, reaches the retina’s photoreceptors, and triggers signals that travel through cells to create action potentials in the ganglion cells.

Question 13

Explain the Young-Helmholtz (trichromatic) theory of color vision and provide two examples of phenomena that could not be explained by this theory.

Answer 13

The human eye has three types of receptors sensitive to red, green, and blue wavelengths. This theory, however, doesn’t explain afterimages in complementary colors, color blindness in red-green or blue-yellow, or why people often describe colors using four primary shades: red, green, blue, and yellow.

Question 14

Brain waves that occur when we are relaxed and calm are called _____________ waves. [1 mark]

Answer 14

Alpha

Question 15

Identify and explain three ideas of the functional significance of the unconscious. [3 marks]

Answer 15

Unconscious processes are fast and efficient, allowing us to act without conscious thought, and they can work alongside conscious processes, enabling multitasking. Additionally, these processes function even in the absence of consciousness, such as during sleep.

Question 16

What is the name of the sleep disorder characterized by episodes of intense panic, and at what stage of sleep are they usually found?

Answer 16

Night Terrors during slow wave delta sleep (stage 4)

Question 17

Explain the Cognitive view of dreaming.

Answer 17

The Cognitive view suggests that dreams reflect the daily issues and information we encounter, serving as a way to process and organize this material. It argues that dreams are not inherently meaningful, but instead help clear the brain’s memory storage for new information.

Question 18

Explain how a conditioned taste aversion develops and state why it is unique from other types of classical conditioning. [4 marks]

Answer 18

Taste aversions are formed when a food (conditioned stimulus) becomes associated with illness (unconditioned response) after just one pairing with a viral infection (unconditioned stimulus). They are unique because they require only a single association, are hard to condition to non-oral stimuli, and the unconditioned response can occur hours after the conditioned stimulus.

Question 19

What is observational learning? [2 marks]

Answer 19

Observational learning occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models. Essentially, it involves being conditioned indirectly by virtue of observing another’s conditioning.

Question 20

Explain the difference between fixed ratio and variable interval reinforcement schedules. Which works best and explain why? [4 marks]

Answer 20

response or every fifth response. In a variable interval schedule a different amount of time passes before each reinforcer, such as after 2 minutes, then after 1 min., then after 3 min. (average 2 min). In general, ratio schedules produce more rapid responding, however, variable schedules produce steadier rates of responding and greater resistance to extinction.

Question 21

Describe the location and function of the two types of photoreceptor cells.

Answer 21

*Cones: found in center of retina (fovea) and are sensitive to fine detail and color
*Rods: found in periphery of retina and are sensitive to movement but not fine detail (better for night vision)

Question 22

Explain the structure and function of the “what” and “where” pathways in the visual system.

Answer 22

After processing in the primary visual cortex, signals move through two pathways in the secondary visual cortex. The “what” pathway goes to the temporal lobes for color and form processing, while the “where” pathway leads to the parietal lobes for motion and depth analysis.

Question 23

What are negative color afterimages, and why are they significant to the trichromatic theory of color vision?

Answer 23

Staring at an object for a prolonged time creates an afterimage on the retina, which appears in complementary colors when looking at a blank space. This phenomenon, known as a negative afterimage, cannot be explained by the trichromatic theory of color vision.

Question 24

Brain waves that occur during deep sleep are called ______________ waves.

Answer 24

Delta

Question 25

Define and give an example of subliminal perception.

Answer 25

Subliminal perception occurs when we sense and perceive stimuli that do not reach the threshold of conscious awareness. For example, stimuli flashed on a computer screen for less than 33 milliseconds can influence behavior but when subjects are asked if they saw anything, they report that they did not.

Question 26

What is the name of the sleep disorder characterized by nighttime awakenings brought on by the cessation of breathing during sleep?

Answer 26

Sleep Apnea

Question 27

8. Explain the Evolutionary view of dreaming. [4 marks]

Answer 27

• The evolutionary view believes that dreams evolved as a way for humans and animals to rehearse behavioral patterns to threatening stimuli without actually having to confront the dangerous situation in real life.

Question 28

What is biological preparedness, and what phenomena does it account for?

Answer 28

• Preparedness involves a species-specific predisposition to be conditioned in certain ways or to certain things and not others. Preparedness explains why certain phobias are easier to condition than others (e.g., snakes vs. rabbits), why taste aversions only occur with novel foods and will not be conditioned using visual or auditory neutral stimuli, and why instinctive drift can interfere with the operant conditioning process.

Question 29

Explain the terms Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery, as they pertain to classical conditioning.

Answer 29

Extinction refers to the weakening of the conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus. Spontaneous recovery refers to the reemergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response.

Question 30

Give three reasons why vision is the dominant human sense.

Answer 30

• allows for detection of movement (predators for survival and for the hunting of prey)
• food gathering requires vision and visual memory (color for ripe or poisonous)
• light travels faster and straighter than other sense energies such as sound, smell, or touch

Question 31

Describe the “secondary” visual pathway in the brain. What function does it serve?

Answer 31

Neural impulses from the eye travel via the optic nerve to the optic chiasm, then to the superior colliculus, thalamus, and occipital lobes. The secondary pathway targets different areas in the thalamus and occipital lobe, primarily coordinating visual input with other senses.

Question 32

Explain how the Young-Helmholtz and Opponent-Process theories work together to explain color vision.

Answer 32

The trichromatic theory suggests that three types of receptors respond to red, green, and blue light in the retina’s cones. In contrast, the Opponent-Process theory explains color perception through antagonistic color pairs in the ganglion cells, lateral geniculate nucleus, and visual cortex.

Question 33

Identify and explain three theories concerning the function of sleep.

Answer 33

• Memory consolidation: Sleep helps consolidate daily experiences into long-term memory.
• Energy conservation: Sleep lowers core body temperature, conserving energy for daytime activities.
• Restoration: Sleep aids in maintaining cognitive and perceptual-motor skills while resting bodily functions.

Question 34

What is lucid dreaming? List two ways to increase your chances of having a lucid dream.

Answer 34

Lucid dreaming is the state of being consciously awake and aware that you are asleep and dreaming, while you are asleep and dreaming.
- two ways to improve the chances of having a lucid dream are dream journaling and reality testing

Question 35

Describe an example of stimulus discrimination.

Answer 35

Stimulus discrimination happens when an organism responds only to a specific stimulus, not to similar ones. For example, a dog may get excited when its owner’s car arrives but not react as much to a stranger’s car.

Question 36

Why is the olfactory system unique among human senses?

Answer 36

• it is the only sense that does not relay information through the thalamus
• rather, olfactory nerve cells or cilia synapse directly with the olfactory bulb at the base of the brain

Question 37

Describe two difficulties that may arise when learning is done using punishment.

Answer 37

• Learner may not understand which operant behavior is being punished
• Learner may come to fear the teacher, rather than learn an association between the action and punishment (then avoids the teacher)

Question 38

In terms of thresholds, describe the change from hearing nothing, to hearing something, to hearing it get louder.

Answer 38

• An absolute threshold is the minimum amount of energy needed for a specific sensory system to detect a stimulus in the environment at least 50% of the time.
• the next threshold comes at the Just Noticeable Difference which is the smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect.

Question 39

Describe what was discussed in class regarding the neurological substrates of consciousness.

Answer 39

• Consciousness involves multiple areas throughout the brain.
• The midbrain, especially the thalamus, plays a role in consciousness.
• The hindbrain (pons, reticular formation, medulla) is crucial for arousal and sleep; damage to the reticular formation may cause coma.
• The prefrontal cortex is essential for conscious information processing.

Question 40

What is the best temporal order for classical conditioning, and what is the worst temporal order? What classical conditioning situation is an exception to this general rule?

Answer 40

Best conditioning: CS immediately precedes the UCS (forward)
– Worst conditioning: UCS immediately precedes CS (backward)
- This does not apply to conditioned taste aversions where the CS precedes the UCS by many hours

Question 41

Explain the Law of Effect.

Answer 41

• Behavior is controlled by its consequences such that any response that is rewarded or reinforced, will be more likely than if not reinforced, to occur again in the future.

Question 42

What is instinctive drift?

Answer 42

• Instinctive drift occurs when an animal’s innate response tendencies interfere with conditioning processes.

Question 43

What are the three dimensions of color?

Answer 43

*Hue is the apparent color of an object (blue)
*Brightness is the intensity of a color
*Saturation is the purity of the color

Question 44

How do sounds get processed into neural impulses in humans?

Answer 44

The pinna collects air vibrations, which the middle ear bones amplify and send to the cochlea, where hair cells respond to wave frequency and place.

Question 45

Explain the Psychoanalytic view of dreaming.

Answer 45

This view sees dreams as a window into the unconscious, allowing expression of hidden desires and fulfillment of unachievable wishes. Dreams are thought to carry important unconscious information, often in symbolic language that requires interpretation for true meaning.

Question 46

What is a Weber fraction?

Answer 46

• Weber’s law states that the size of a just noticeable difference is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus. This constant proportion is called a Weber fraction.