Deck 14: Perceptual Development

Question 1

Which of the following methods is NOT used to explore infants' perceptual capacities?

A) magnitude estimation
B) preference
C) conditioning
D) habituation

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The preference method is based on:

A) the idea that if a baby pays less attention to an object that has been presented several times, it demonstrates that he or she remembers
the object
B) the idea that if an infant spends consistently longer actively looking at one figure rather than another, the infant must be able to discriminate between the two figures
C) the idea that an infant will exhibit an unconditioned response without training when an experimenter exposes the baby repeatedly to a conditioned and unconditioned stimulus
D) both A and B

Answer 2

B

Question 3

A researcher is interested in studying whether a 2-month old infant can tell the difference between the colors red and blue. He places two identical bears, one red and one blue, in a looking chamber and records the percentage of time that the infant looks at each bear. This is an example of:

A) magnitude estimation
B) the preference method
C) habituation
D) operant conditioning

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A researcher uses the preference method to examine whether a newborn baby girl can perceive differences between her mother's face and the face of a random woman. The baby looks at a photo of her mother 50% of the time and a photo of a random woman 50% of the time. This suggests that:

A) the infant can distinguish between the two women.
B) the infant can tell who her mother is 50% of the time.
C) 50% of the features of the mother are shared with the random woman.
D) the infant is unable to tell the difference between the two women.

Question 5

If an infant spends a greater percentage of time looking at Object A than Object B in the looking chamber, this means that:

A) Object A is more interesting
B) Object A is more confusing
C) Object A is more unfamiliar D none of the above

Question 6

Which of the following statements about the preference method is FALSE?

A) It allows us to determine whether infants can distinguish between two stimuli.
B) It allows us to measure an observable behavior.
C) It allows us to measure the psychological underpinnings of a perceptual experience.
D) It allows us to measure looking time to various objects.

Question 7

An experiment is conducted to determine whether a 3-month old Japanese infant can detect differences between the phonemes /r/ and /l/.
-In the first stage, the baby listens to the sound /r/ played over speakers and the experimenter records the rate at which the infant sucks on a pacifier. Initially when hearing the /r/ sound, the baby sucks quickly but over time, the sucking rate decreases. This is an example of:

A) habituation
B) dishabituation
C) operant conditioning
D) classical conditioning

Question 8

An experiment is conducted to determine whether a 3-month old Japanese infant can detect differences between the phonemes /r/ and /l/.
-Then, the experimenter plays the sound /l/ over the speakers and finds that the infant's sucking rate increases again. This is an example of __________________ and shows that the 3-month old Japanese infant

A) habituation; can detect the difference between /r/ and /l/
B) habituation; cannot detect the difference between /r/ and /l/
C) dishabituation; can detect the difference between /r/ and /l/
D) dishabituation; cannot detect the difference between /r/ and /l/

Question 9

This same experimenter wonders if a 6-month old Japanese baby can tell the difference between these two sounds. The experimenter first pairs the sound /r/ with a clapping toy presented to the baby's right. Then, the experimenter plays the sound /l/ repeatedly over speakers while the baby is looking straight ahead.
-When the sound changes from /l/ to /r/, the baby looks to the right, anticipating the presence of a clapping toy. This is an example of:

A) A. habituation
B) dishabituation
C) operant conditioning
D) classical conditioning

Question 10

This same experimenter wonders if a 6-month old Japanese baby can tell the difference between these two sounds. The experimenter first pairs the sound /r/ with a clapping toy presented to the baby's right. Then, the experimenter plays the sound /l/ repeatedly over speakers while the baby is looking straight ahead.
-The fact that the 6-month old turned when the sound changed from /l/ to /r/ indicates that the Japanese baby:

A) can detect the difference between /r/ and /l/
B) cannot detect the difference between /r/ and /l/
C) prefers the sound /l/ to the sound /r/
D) none of the above

Question 11

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are both used to study infant perception.
B) Classical conditioning is used to study infant perception but operant conditioning is not.
C) Operant conditioning is used to study infant perception but classical conditioning is not.
D) Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are not used to study infant perception.

Question 12

One benefit of using ERP, fMRI, and measures of heart rate to study infant perception is that:

A) they allow us to measure the psychological underpinnings of a perceptual experience.
B) they require no overt response from the infant.
C) they are more easily interpreted than behavioral methods.
D) all of the above

Question 13

Held and Hein's work on the development of depth perception in kittens raised in darkness suggests that: (p. 380)

A) depth perception can develop fully even without visual stimuli or any engagement with the environment.
B) depth perception can develop fully as long as there is passive engagement with the environment.
C) depth perception can develop fully as long as there is active engagement with the environment.
D) even with active engagement, depth perception cannot fully develop without visual stimulation.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about the newborn infant's eye is TRUE?

A) The retina is not fully developed at birth.
B) The lens is smaller at birth than in adulthood.
C) The visual cortex is not fully developed at birth.
D) all of the above

Question 15

Compared to an adult's eye, in an infant's eye:

A) the cones are more densely packed and not an optimal shape.
B) the cones are less densely packed and not an optimal shape.
C) the cones are more densely packed but an optimal shape.
D) the cones are less densely packed but an optimal shape.

Question 16

The retina becomes fully developed by about __________________ of age.

A) 1 month
B) 6 months
C) 1 year
D) 6 years

Question 17

An infant's visual acuity is:

A) the same as an adult's.
B) better than an adult's but it quickly degrades.
C) worse than an adult's but it quickly develops.
D) worse than an adult's but it slowly develops.

Question 18

Both acuity and contrast sensitivity are roughly at adult levels:

A) at birth
B) by 1 month of age
C) by 1 year of age
D) by 6 years of age

Question 19

An infant is able to discriminate between a gray patch and a stimulus of black-and-white stripes that are 1/16-inch wide beginning at the age of:

A) 1 month
B) 2 months
C) 3 months
D) 6 months

Question 20

Young infants __________________ acquire depth from binocular vision. Their vergence eye movements are __________________.

A) cannot; quite accurate
B) cannot; not accurate
C) can; quite accurate
D) can; not accurate

Question 21

At what age does an infant begin to have the ability to exhibit a clear sense of object identity?

A) 4 months
B) 6 months
C) 1 year
D) none of the above

Question 22

Goren and her colleagues found that face perception is seen in infants who are as young as:

A) 9 minutes old
B) 1 day old
C) 9 days old
D) 9 months old

Question 23

Infants are able to imitate adult facial expressions (such as sticking out the tongue) by the time they are:

A) 30 minutes old
B) 3 days old
C) 3 months old
D) 3 years old

Question 24

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A) Infants prefer to look at a happy face than a fearful face.
B) Infants prefer to look at their own mother's face than a stranger's face.
C) Infants prefer to look at faces that are looking away from them than faces that are looking at them.
D) Infants prefer to look at faces that adults find attractive than faces that adults find unattractive.

Question 25

Using the habituation method, after first habituating to a picture of an adult who appears to look directly at the infant:

A) when given the opportunity to look at the same face or a novel face, the infant will look longer at the same face.
B) when given the opportunity to look at the same face or a novel face, the infant will look longer at the novel face.
C) when given the opportunity to look at the same face or a novel face, the infant will look at both faces for an equal amount of time.
D) when given the opportunity to look at the same face or a novel face, the infant will choose neither, shifting focus to another object
in view.

Question 26

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) While younger children focus on the features of faces, adults focus on the holistic configuration.
B) While younger children focus on the holistic configuration of faces, adults focus on the features.
C) Both younger children and adults tend to focus on the features of faces rather than the holistic configuration.
D) Both younger children and adults tend to focus on the holistic configuration of faces rather than the features.

Question 27

Using a visual cliff apparatus, Gibson and Walk found that babies are able to discriminate between deep and shallow by the time they:

A) are born.
B) are able to crawl.
C) are able to walk.
D) are 3 years old.

Question 28

Infants have functional M and L cones at what age?

A) 6 weeks
B) 8 weeks
C) 10 weeks
D) 12 weeks

Question 29

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) S cones emerge before M and L cones.
B) S cones emerge before M cones but after L cones.
C) S cones emerge after M and L cones.
D) S cones emerge at the same time as M and L cones.

Question 30

Which of the following statements about motion perception is TRUE?

A) Newborn babies can track a moving object with their eyes.
B) Sensitivity to the direction of motion emerges after about 6 months.
C) By 3 years of age, the motion perception of children is the same as that of adults.
D) all of the above

Question 31

A pregnant woman notices that during a fireworks show, every time a firework sounds, the fetus leaps in the womb. The fetus is most likely:

A) at least in the 5^th week of gestation
B) at least in the 15^th week of gestation
C) at least in the 25^th week of gestation
D) at least in the 35^th week of gestation

Question 32

Newborns prefer the sound of:

A) a constant sound to a heartbeat
B) a foreign language to their native language
C) a fluid-transmitted version of their mother's voice to an air- transmitted version of it
D) both B and C

Question 33

An experiment is conducted in which a baby listens to speech sounds while sucking on a pacifier. The sucking rate is recorded as a measure of interest. This is an example of:

A) the preference method
B) the head-turning technique
C) classical conditioning
D) the high-amplitude sucking procedure

Question 34

Babies can distinguish between /pa/ and /ba/ by the time they are:

A) 1 month old
B) 3 months old
C) 6 months old
D) 1 year old

Question 35

Infants lose the ability to make non-native contrasts by the time they are:

A) 1 month old
B) 6 months old
C) 1 year old
D) 6 years old

Question 36

Stress, intonation, and rhythm are examples of:

A) semantic cues
B) prosodic cues
C) syntactic cues
D) phonetic cues

Question 37

Infants learn to use the stress pattern of their native language to segment the speech stream by the time they are:

A) born
B) 3 weeks old
C) 3 months old
D) 9 months old

Question 38

The idea that very young infants' perceptual development is aided by common aspects of multimodal stimuli is known as the:

A) Intersensory Redundancy Hypothesis
B) Multimodal Hypothesis
C) Nature-Nurture Hypothesis
D) Infant Habituation Hypothesis

Question 39

Infants are able to link human faces with voices by at least __________________ of age.

A) 1 month
B) 4 months
C) 2 years
D) 4 years

Question 40

Infants as young as __________________ of age reach differently for different objects.

A) 5 months
B) 10 months
C) 15 months
D) 20 months

Question 41

A factor, other than the factor being studied, that is present to different extents in the two groups and could influence the dependent variable is:

A) a grouping variable
B) an extraneous variable
C) a co-dependent variable
D) a confounding variable

Question 42

A researcher is interested in whether color perception abilities decline with age. An experiment is conducted in which college students and older adults are asked to
discriminate between various color patches. The researcher finds that the college
students perform better than the older adults, but is worried that the effect is not due to age, but rather, to the types of medications that the older adults are taking. In this experiment, medication usage is:

A) a grouping variable
B) an extraneous variable
C) a confounding variable
D) a co-dependent variable

Question 43

Which of the following statements about the aging visual system is TRUE?

A) The size of the pupil decreases.
B) The lens becomes thicker.
C) The retina receives less light than usual.
D) all of the above

Question 44

Which of the following visual disorders is due to a buildup of pressure within the eye?

A) glaucoma
B) presbyopia
C) astigmatism
D) cataracts

Question 45

Which of the following visual disorders is due to a clouding of the lens?

A) glaucoma
B) presbyopia
C) astigmatism
D) cataracts

Question 46

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Presbyopia is due to the shrinking of the lens with age.
B) Presbyopia is due to the enlargement of the lens with age.
C) Glaucoma is due to the shrinking of the lens with age.
D) Glaucoma is due to the enlargement of the lens with age.

Question 47

Which of the following is the typical treatment option for a person with presbyopia?

A) surgery on the retinal ganglion cells
B) prescription bifocals
C) replacement of the lens with a synthetic one
D) there is currently no treatment

Question 48

Which of the following statements about acuity in elderly people is FALSE?

A) Acuity is particularly bad when objects are moving.
B) Acuity is particularly bad when lighting is dim.
C) Acuity is particularly bad when the contrast is high.
D) Acuity is particularly bad when the objects are in the periphery.

Question 49

Color vision in the elderly:

A) decreases, especially in the black-white opponent system.
B) decreases, especially in the yellow-blue opponent system.
C) decreases, especially in the red-green opponent system.
D) does not suffer compared to younger adults.

Question 50

Which of the patients below most likely has presbycusis?

A) George, who has difficulty hearing his grandchildren playing at his 70^th birthday party.
B) Kyle, a young child who experiences severe pain in his left ear.
C) Ryan, who has had difficulty hearing ever since his bad fall while waterskiing.
D) Cameron, who reports a slight but constant ringing in his ears.

Question 51

Conductive hearing loss affects __________________. Presbycusis affects __________________.

A) all frequencies similarly; all frequencies similarly
B) only certain frequencies; only certain frequencies
C) all frequencies similarly; only certain frequencies
D) only certain frequencies; all frequencies similarly

Question 52

Which of the following word pairs would an older adult be MOST likely to have trouble hearing the difference between?

A) "red" and "bed"
B) "loud" and "proud"
C) "tug" and "dug"
D) "sip" and "zip"