Test Bank

Chapter 1: Introduction
1. Plato’s  “The  Allegory  in  the  Cave,”  shown below, depicts

a. a world perceived through the senses.

b. the idea of people depending on each other.
c. neuronal activity.
d. the psychology of human beings.
e. vision after adaptation to the dark.

2. _______ is an example of energy that can be sensed by some animals but not by
humans.
a. Smell
b. Electromagnetic energy
c. Ultraviolet light
d. Sound
e. Heat

3. According to Democritus, primary qualities can be directly perceived, while secondary

qualities
a. cannot be perceived at all.
b. require interaction between atoms from objects and atoms in the perceiver.
c. are very difficult to perceive.
d. are perceived only after a preliminary perception occurs.
e. are derived from primary qualities.

4. Sensory transducers are

a. external stimuli.
b. receptors that sense energy.
c. used to transfer energy from one person to another.
d. receptors that convert physical energy into neural activity.
e. areas in the brain that interpret sensations.

5. Dualism is the idea that

a. both mind and body exist.
b. two sensations can co-occur simultaneously.
c. one sensation often follows another.
d. the body can be divided into two parts.
e. All of the above

6. Materialism is the notion that

a. all materials influence the mind.
b. physical matter is the only reality.
c. materials are important to functioning.
d. materials help the mind.
e. happiness results from acquisition of material possessions.

7. The idea that the mind is the true reality, and that objects exist only as aspects of the
mind’s  awareness  is  known  as
a. mentalism.
b. perception.
c. dualism.
d. empiricism.
e. the Matrix.

8. The  empiricists’  famous  image  of  “tabula  rasa”  (blank  slate),  was  formulated  by
a. Descartes.
b. Hobbes.
c. Berkeley.
d. Locke.
e. Plato.

9. Which of the following was not an empiricist?

a. Descartes
b. Hobbes
c. Locke
d. Berkeley
e. All of the above were empiricists.

10. _______ is often referred to as the father of psychophysics.

a. Berkeley
b. Fechner
c. Weber
d. Plato
e. Wundt
11. Weber proposed that the smallest change in a stimulus that can be detected is a(n)
_______ proportion of the stimulus level.
a. ever-changing
b. constant
c. opposite
d. small
e. one-fifth

12. JND is the

a. smallest detectable difference between two stimuli.
b. difference in detection time for two different stimuli.
c. true difference in detection time.
d. time it takes to notice a stimulus.
e. judgment of no detection.

13. The idea that all matter has consciousness is known as

a. psychophysics.
b. empiricism.
c. panpsychism.
d. mentalism.
e. nativism.

14. Absolute threshold is the minimum amount of stimulation necessary for a person to
detect a stimulus _______ of the time.
a. 30%
b. 100%
c. 50%
d. 80%
e. 99%

15. The method of _______ requires the experimenter to vary a perceptible stimulus until
it is no longer perceived or an imperceptible stimulus until it is finally perceived.
a. limits
b. constant stimuli
c. adjustment
d. sensation and perception
e. matching

16. The method of _______ requires the observer to alter the strength of a stimulus until
it is just barely perceptible.
a. limits
b. constant stimuli
c. adjustment
d. sensation and perception
e. matching
17. If I ask you to taste a lemon and then adjust a light until it is as bright as the lemon is
sour, then I have asked you to engage in
a. magnitude estimation.
b. the method of constant stimuli.
c. the method of limits.
d. signal detection.
e. cross-modality matching.

18. Magnitude estimation, demonstrated by this figure, is a psychophysical method in

which the _______ assigns values according to perceived magnitudes of stimuli.

a. observer
b. experimenter
c. apparatus
d. computer
e. All of the above

19. The doctrine of specific nerve energies involves the stimulation of

a. sensory fibers.
b. sensations.
c. nerve endings.
d. signals.
e. All of the above

20. Helmholtz thought that all behavior could be explained only by

a. mental forces.
b. perception.
c. physical forces.
d. energy.
e. God.
21. A synapse is the junction between _______ that permits information transfer.
a. stimuli
b. sensory fibers
c. neurons
d. signals
e. spinal cord and brain

22. The chemical substance used in neuronal communication at synapses is known as

a. axon.
b. receptor.
c. transducer.
d. neurotransmitter.
e. lymph.