Exercise 1: Pass Reference of Objects by Value In Java, methods can accept input using the pass by value method.. This means that when you pass a variable to a method, you are passing a copy of the variable's value, not the actual variable itself. However, confusion often arises because vihen you pass an object to a method, you are actually passing the reference to (address of) the object, not the object itself. This is referred to as "pass by reference" because the reference to (address of) the object is being passed. 1