Question 1

Which of the following best describes epigenetics?

Accepted Answer

Heritable changes in gene expression that occur without changes to the DNA sequence.

Question 2

In the Szyf & Meaney studies, what was the main finding regarding maternal care and stress response in rats?

Accepted Answer

Pups raised by attentive mothers had less DNA methylation in the hippocampus and showed lower stress responses.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of sensation rather than perception?

Accepted Answer

Detecting the sound of a bell ringing.

Question 4

What is the process called when sensory receptors convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals?

Accepted Answer

Transduction

Question 5

According to Weber's Law, the just noticeable difference (JND) is:

Accepted Answer

A constant ratio of the original stimulus intensity.

Question 6

Fechner's Law describes the relationship between stimulus intensity and perceived magnitude as:

Accepted Answer

Perceived intensity increases proportionally to the logarithm of stimulus intensity: $$ S = k \cdot \log(I) $$

Question 7

Which of the following best illustrates sensory adaptation?

Accepted Answer

No longer noticing the feeling of your watch on your wrist after wearing it for a while.

Question 8

In the Szyf & Meaney cross-fostering experiment, what determined the pups' stress response?

Accepted Answer

The behavior of the foster mother, not the biological mother.

Question 9

Which of the following is the best definition of absolute threshold?

Accepted Answer

The minimum intensity of a stimulus that can be detected 50% of the time.

Question 10

A person is exposed to a faint light and asked to report when they can see it. The experimenter increases the light's intensity until the person reports seeing it half the time. What is being measured?

Accepted Answer

Absolute threshold

Question 11

Which of the following best describes the difference between sensation and perception?

Accepted Answer

Sensation is the detection of physical energy by sense organs; perception is the interpretation of that energy.

Question 12

Which law states that the perceived magnitude of a stimulus increases proportionally to the logarithm of the stimulus intensity?

Accepted Answer

Fechner's Law

Question 13

A researcher finds that a person can detect a 10g increase in weight when holding a 100g object, but needs a 20g increase to notice a difference when holding a 200g object. This finding is best explained by:

Accepted Answer

Weber's Law

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of an epigenetic change?

Accepted Answer

DNA methylation that silences a gene without altering the DNA sequence.

Question 15

In the Szyf & Meaney studies, what was the effect of treating 'damaged' pups with trichostatin A?

Accepted Answer

Epigenetic changes disappeared and the pups became less anxious.

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the concept of 'just noticeable difference' (JND)?

Accepted Answer

The smallest change in stimulus intensity that can be detected.

Question 17

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the concept of bottom-up processing?

Accepted Answer

Perceiving a shape by first detecting its edges and then integrating them into a whole object.

Question 18

A person expects to hear their phone ring and mistakenly perceives a similar sound as their ringtone. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Top-down processing

Question 19

Which of the following best explains why epigenetic changes provide flexibility to the genome?

Accepted Answer

They allow organisms to quickly respond to environmental changes without altering the DNA sequence.

Question 20

If a stimulus is presented repeatedly and the response to it decreases over time, this is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Sensory adaptation

Sensation, Perception, and Epigenetics: Foundations in Psychology

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