Deck 10: Psychophysics and the Formal Founding of Psychology

Question 1

The term psychophysics refers to

A) the study of the relationships between readings of physical scales and readings on measures of
Physiological processes (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, etc.).
B) the study of the effects of physical variables (e.g., atmospheric pressure, gravity, light intensity, etc.) on
Behavior.
C) the study of physiological psychology in all of its manifestations.
D) the study of the relationships between the properties of stimuli as measured on a physical scale and the
Psychological or subjective impressions of those stimuli.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Thresholds are typically defined operationally as

A) that minimal or maximal (for upper thresholds) stimulus intensity that is detected 50% of the time.
B) the initial appearance in consciousness of any given phenomenon.
C) the theoretical doorkeeper between the unconscious and consciousness.
D) mere awareness as opposed to an interpretive cognition.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A difference threshold is defined as

A) that minimal stimulus intensity that is detected 50% of the time.
B) the initial appearance in consciousness of any given phenomenon.
C) the theoretical doorkeeper between the unconscious and consciousness.
D) the minimal stimulus difference that is detectable 50% of the time.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The formal beginnings of psychophysics are found in the work of

A) Wilhelm Wundt.
B) Rudolph Hermann Lotze.
C) Ernst Heinrich Weber and Gustav Theodor Fechner.
D) Hermann von Helmholtz.

Question 5

_____ systematically mapped the cutaneous sensitivity of the human body.

A) Ernst Heinrich Weber
B) Hermann von Helmholtz
C) Rudolph Hermann Lotze
D) Gustav Theodor Fechner

Question 6

The just noticeable difference (difference threshold) is a constant mathematical function of the existing amount
Of stimulation. In its most basic form, this was first proposed by

A) Ernst Heinrich Weber
B) Hermann von Helmholtz
C) Rudolph Hermann Lotze
D) Wilhelm Wundt

Question 7

Fechner's night view of life is found in ________ whereas his day view of life is found in ________.

A) extreme materialistic positions . . . panpsychism
B) beliefs in unbridled free will . . . determinism
C) idealism . . . empiricism
D) empiricism . . .rationalism

Question 8

Fechner used the pseudonym "Dr. Mises" to support

A) extreme materialistic positions.
B) determinism.
C) solipsism.
D) panpsychism.

Question 9

Elements of Psychophysics, a classic in psychology, was written by

A) Ernst Heinrich Weber.
B) Hermann von Helmholtz.
C) Rudolph Hermann Lotze.
D) Gustav Theodor Fechner.

Question 10

You now employ a method in which comparison stimuli are simply presented with a standard stimulus in a
Random fashion and the subjects task is simply to report whether the comparison stimulus is equal to, greater
Than, or weaker than the standard. You are now using the method of

A) constant stimuli.
B) limits.
C) average error.
D) sign stimuli.

Question 11

You wish to measure brightness discrimination. Your subject views a standard light source and attempts to
Match the standard by turning a knob that controls the brightness of a comparison stimulus. You use an
Ascending and descending series. You are using the method of

A) average error.
B) limits.
C) constant stimuli.
D) fixed intervals.

Question 12

The first textbook claiming to be about physiological psychology was written by a German scholar who was
Also known for an approach to depth perception that involved a theory of local signs. He was

A) Gustav Theodor Fechner.
B) Ernst Heinrich Weber.
C) Rudolph Hermann Lotze.
D) Hermann von Helmholtz.

Question 13

The vision of _______ regarding the unity of the sciences was so great that he hardly knew when he was doing
Psychology, physiology or physics. He believed there were no mysterious forces or unknowable energies that
Activate the organism.

A) Herman von Helmholtz
B) George Berkeley
C) Wilhelm Wundt
D) Ernst Heinrich Weber

Question 14

The ophthalmoscope, invented by ______ made it possible to gain visual access to the retina of the eye.

A) Gustav Fechner
B) Ernst Weber
C) Hermann von Helmholtz
D) Wilhelm Wundt

Question 15

_____ possessed an intense interest in vision research, particularly in the areas of color vision, depth
Perception, and the physical structure of the eye.

A) Gustav Fechner
B) Ernst Weber
C) Hermann von Helmholtz
D) Rudolph Hermann Lotze

Question 16

Helmholtz's explanation of depth perception was based largely on

A) the innate capacities of the organism.
B) abstract reasoning ability of the organism.
C) binocular cues.
D) early associations of visual and kinesthetic cues, "unconscious inferences," and, in general, an empirical
Approach.

Question 17

Helmholtz explained depth perception in terms of monocular cues and binocular cues. To more adequately
Study binocular cues for depth perception, he invented the

A) ophthalmoscope.
B) aesthesiometer.
C) stereoscope.
D) prism.

Question 18

The trichromatic theory of color vision grew largely out of the work of

A) Hermann von Helmholtz, Thomas Young, and Wilhelm Wundt.
B) Gustav Theodor Fechner, Hermann von Helmholtz and Thomas Young.
C) James Clerk Maxwell, Thomas Young, and Hermann von Helmholtz.
D) Thomas Young, Ernst Heinrich Weber, and Hermann von Helmholtz.

Question 19

The formal beginnings of experimental psychology are generally traced to the year _____ when _______.

A) 1834 . . . Weber published his work on the Sense of Touch
B) 1879 . . . Wundt established a laboratory at Leipzig
C) 1881 . . . Lotze published his Outlines of Psychology
D) 1873 . . . Wundt published volume I of his classic Principles of Physiological Psychology.

Question 20

Wundt's broad interests were evident in his 10-volume work

A) Völkerpsychologie.
B) Elements of Psychophysics.
C) Principles of Psychology.
D) Handbook of Physiological Optics.

Question 21

Prior to ________, psychology was often thought of as a branch of philosophy. Following his work, psychology
Became a separate discipline and an experimental science in its own right.

A) Helmholtz
B) Wundt
C) Fechner
D) Weber

Question 22

Hylozoism is the view that

A) mind is manifested in all material movement.
B) mind, per se, does not exist. It is only a manifestation of more basic material events.
C) mind is restricted to human beings. Animals have no minds.
D) mind is purely a formal concept, an abstraction that has a basis only in language.

Question 23

According to Wundt, the origin of mental processes dates to

A) the emergence of the first human beings
B) the emergence of language among early prehuminoid types
C) the origin of life itself
D) the emergence of human consciousness

Question 24

In terms of his mind-body position, Wundt's position is most similar to that embraced by

A) Descartes.
B) Leibniz.
C) La Mettrie.
D) Spinoza.

Question 25

The name Wundt preferred for his system of thought was

A) Structuralism.
B) Voluntarism.
C) Existentialism.
D) Functionalism.

Question 26

Which of the following statements best characterizes Wundt's approach to methodology?

A) He relied exclusively on introspection
B) He relied largely on naturalistic observation
C) Most of his laboratory studies employed a rigorous form of introspection, but he recognized other
Methods such as naturalistic observation, historical methods, etc.
D) He relied exclusively on the phenomenological method

Question 27

According to the text, which of the following statements is true regarding Wundt and Darwin?

A) Darwin was the major inspiration for Wundt
B) Wundt was especially fond of Darwin's concept of adaptation
C) Wundt openly credited Darwin for inspiring his concept of creative synthesis
D) References to Darwin's work in Wundt's writings are sparse and often critical and Wundt pointed out that
The concept of adaptation, as advanced by Darwin, was passive.

Question 28

Wundt defined psychology as

A) the science of experience and behavior
B) the science that studies actions and movements
C) the science that studies the facts of consciousness
D) behavioral science

Question 29

For Wundt, an element is

A) psychologically and physiologically complex.
B) simple psychologically but complex physiologically.
C) a simple unit both psychologically and physiologically.
D) not a useful construct.

Question 30

According to Wundt, perception is more _____ whereas apperception is more _____.

A) passive . . . active
B) intelligent . . . reflexive
C) ordered . . .disorderly
D) directional . . . random

Question 31

Which of the following was NOT a dimension in Wundt's tridimensional theory of feeling?

A) anger and peace
B) pleasure and pain
C) strain and relaxation
D) excitation and quiescence

Question 32

Wundt's doctrine of creative synthesis refers to the idea that

A) creativity can be learned or conditioned.
B) motives can be functionally autonomous.
C) there is real novelty and creativity in higher mental operations.
D) creativity is entirely lawful.

Question 33

The heterogony of ends, according to Wundt, refers to

A) unconscious processes that interfere with ongoing behavior.
B) the idea that there is no such thing as a pure motive or emotion.
C) the emergence of new motives during the course of a chain of activities.
D) the functional autonomy of motives.

Question 34

According to the text, which of the following is NOT a contribution associated with Emil Kraepelin?

A) One of the first psychiatrists to claim that criminal behavior should be considered a mental illness.
B) One of the first psychiatrists to conduct clinical research on the disorder that would later be named (by
Kraepelin) as "Alzheimer's Disease."
C) One of the first psychiatrists to become a vigorous opponent of the death penalty.
D) One of the first psychiatrists to conduct clinical research on individual differences in intelligence.

Question 35

Wundt made numerous references to pathological psychology, and _____, one of his students, studied
Special learning problems of children with disabilities, opened the first clinic headed by a psychologist, and
Founded the formal discipline of clinical psychology.

A) Emil Kraepelin
B) Lightner Witmer
C) Edward Scripture
D) Rudolph Hermann Lotze