Question 1

Helmholtz's experiment with the frog's nerve indicated that the speed of the nervous impulse was:

Accepted Answer

A)   infinite.
B)   about the same as that of an electrical current in a wire.
C)   slow enough to suggest reaction times of two seconds or more in very large animals.
D)   finite, but too fast to be measured with existing equipment. C

Question 2

An important concept from physics with which Kohler tried to integrate Gestalt psychology was:

Accepted Answer

A)   Newtonian attraction and repulsion.
B)   the force field.
C)   the phi phenomenon.
D)   he uncertainty principle B

Question 3

The smallest intensity of a stimulus that can be reliably detected,used by Fechner as the "zero point" in his scale of subjective intensities,is called the:

Accepted Answer

A)   logarithm.
B)   absolute threshold.
C)   phi phenomenon.
D)   constant k. B

Question 4

For stimuli such as electric shocks,where the jnd's become smaller with higher intensities,the psychophysical relationship is best expressed by:

Accepted Answer

A)   Weber's law.
B)   Fechner's law.
C)   Steven's (power)  law.
D)   either b or c, which are mathematically equivalent.

Question 5

When subjects in Helmholtz's experiment learned to adjust their responses to the distorted images produced by prismatic glasses,they illustrated:

Accepted Answer

A)   visual accommodation.
B)   trial and error learning.
C)   perceptual adaptation.
D)   perceptual nativism.

Question 6

To Helmholtz,the law of Conservation of Energy implied that:

Accepted Answer

A)   all forms of energy are interchangeable varieties from a single reservoir, which cannot be increased or decreased.
B)   vitalist theory was contrary to other natural laws.
C)   there could be no perpetual motion machine.
D)   all of the above

Question 7

In Helmholtz's theory,an important hypothetical process underlying such perceptual phenomena as depth perception was called:

Accepted Answer

A)   unconscious inference.
B)   unconscious rationalization.
C)   inductive reasoning.
D)   practical intuition.

Question 8

The "squareness" of a square and the musical melody are both examples of:

Accepted Answer

A)   elements of consciousness.
B)   elementary sensations.
C)   Gestalt qualities.
D)   figure-ground reversals.

Question 9

Pairs of colored lights which produce a sensation of white light when mixed together are called:

Accepted Answer

A)   contrasting colors.
B)   primary colors.
C)   complementary colors.
D)   harmonizing colors.

Question 10

According to Helmholtz's analysis of the eye,the sharpness of focus within the visual field is:

Accepted Answer

A)   impressively acute only in a very small region near the center.
B)   about the same quality as that produced by a good camera lens.
C)   impressive evidence of the optical perfection of the eye.
D)   uniform throughout the entire field.

Question 11

According to the Gestalt psychologists,our perceptual processes tend to:

Accepted Answer

A)   organize the visual field into wholes.
B)   organize complicated aggregates of stimuli into similar groups.
C)   divide the perceptual field into figure and ground.
D)   all of the above

Question 12

A notion which David Hume's skeptical philosophy challenged,and which Immanuel Kant tried to rescue in his philosophical reformulation,was:

Accepted Answer

A)   specific nerve energies.
B)   analytic geometry.
C)   the soul.
D)   causality.

Question 13

When you press gently on the side of your eyeball and experience the visual sensation of light,you illustrate:

Accepted Answer

A)   the law of specific nerve energies.
B)   Weber's Law.
C)   the Young-Helmholtz Law.
D)   the law of sensory pressure.

Question 14

As you read this page,the words you are aware of constitute the ___________________,and the page on which they are printed is the ______________________.

Accepted Answer

A)   figure; ground
B)   ground; figure
C)   concept; percept
D)   percept; concept

Question 15

Why was Fechner important in the development of a scientific,experimental psychology?

Accepted Answer

A)   He was among the first to demonstrate how reaction time experiments could be of significance to psychology.
B)   He was among the first to demonstrate how memory could be studied quantitatively.
C)   He was among the first to demonstrate how the Gestalt theories of figure and ground could be quantified.
D)   He was among the first to demonstrate how a psychological phenomenon could be measured and quantified, and shown to relate lawfully with other variables.

Question 16

Helmholtz divided his discussions of vision and audition into sections devoted to which three of the following general categories?

Accepted Answer

A)   chemical, physiological, and perceptual
B)   physical, physiological, and psychological
C)   vitalistic, mechanistic, and subjective
D)   phenomenal, noumenal, and material

Question 17

According to Kant,the ______________world consists of "things-in themselves" which exist independently of human experience and reason.

Accepted Answer

A)   material
B)   phenomenal
C)   noumenal
D)   objective

Question 18

Kohler's principle that "psychological facts and the underlying events in the brain resemble each other in all their structural characteristics" is known as the:

Accepted Answer

A)   Hypothesis of Psychophysical Isomorphism.
B)   Law of Gestalt Identity.
C)   Law of Specific Nerve Energies.
D)   Hypothesis of Underlying Similarities.

Question 19

Ernst Weber is important for introducing which of these concepts?

Accepted Answer

A)   the just noticeable difference
B)   the absolute threshold
C)   apparent movement
D)   negative afterimages

Question 20

According to Helmholtz's distinction,the discontinuous patches of colored light you experience when viewing a landscape are your ____________________,while the "trees," "grass," and "sky," etc.,you are aware of are_________________.

Accepted Answer

A)   unconscious inferences; conscious inferences
B)   perceptions; sensations
C)   sensations; perceptions
D)   primary colors; perceptions

Exam 4: The Sensing and Perceiving Mind: From Kant through the Gestalt Psychologists