Deck 5: Spatial Vision and Patten Perception

Question 1

Picking objects out from their surroundings is termed

A) isolation.
B) discrimination.
C) detection.
D) distinction.

Answer 1

detection.

Question 2

According to the textbook, the ability to define an object depends on which of the following?

A) detection
B) discrimination
C) identification
D) all of these

Answer 2

all of these

Question 3

The reason that you can't see the stars during the day is that

A) they are less intense at that time.
B) they are so small.
C) they lack sufficient contrast against the daylight sky.
D) all of these

Answer 3

they lack sufficient contrast against the daylight sky.

Question 4

The notion that perceptions are created by combining fundamental components is the basic idea of

A) structuralism.
B) componential psychology.
C) behaviorism.
D) psychoanalysis.

Question 5

Edward Titchener proposed a method called _________, which involves the attempt to determine the building blocks of perception by ignoring all aspects of an object except its immediate, primary qualities.

A) analytic introspection
B) form perception
C) Gestalt
D) isomorphism

Question 6

The concept of "spatial scale"

A) grows directly out of the Gestalt approach.
B) is contradicted by what we know about the mammalian visual system.
C) involves describing a scene at multiple levels of spatial detail.
D) means that form vision can be scaled from good to bad.

Question 7

We can change the appearance of a visual grating by altering

A) its spatial frequency.
B) its contrast.
C) its spatial phase.
D) any of the choices are correct.

Question 8

A grating of low spatial frequency will have

A) narrow bars.
B) wide bars.
C) red bars.
D) blue bars.

Question 9

Which of the following defines a visual grating that is the most coarsely structured?

A) 1 cycle per degree
B) 2 cycles per degree
C) 4 cycles per degree
D) 5.5 cycles per degree

Question 10

Which one of the following is NOT a property of a grating?

A) spatial frequency
B) spatial phase
C) orientation
D) contrast threshold

Question 11

The notion that the visibility of compound visual gratings depends on the independent effects of each of its simpler components is basic to the _________ _________ of perception.

A) Gestalt theory
B) multichannel model
C) additive theory
D) interactive model

Question 12

Sine-wave gratings of different frequency, phase, and contrast can be added together to produce

A) visual gratings.
B) checkerboard patterns.
C) natural visual scenes.
D) all of these

Question 13

If we examined the effectiveness of a lens in passing on a target's contrast, we'd be determining the lens's

A) power.
B) focal length.
C) transfer function.
D) convexity.

Question 14

In the image produced by a lens, the frequency at which the contrast of the image falls to zero is termed the

A) contrast frequency.
B) spatial frequency.
C) cutoff frequency.
D) blind spot.

Question 15

Butter is smeared on a lens. Compared to an unbuttered lens, the buttered one will reduce target contrast

A) most markedly for colored gratings.
B) most markedly for low spatial frequencies.
C) most markedly for high spatial frequencies.
D) about equally for all spatial frequencies.

Question 16

Fourier analysis is

A) a technique to break down complex functions into component sine waves.
B) an introspective examination of perceptual elements.
C) a psychodynamic therapeutic treatment.
D) a means to determine if your Fourier psychodynamic is working correctly.

Question 17

The ability to decompose a complex function into a series of sinusoidal functions is referred to as

A) Fourier analysis.
B) the contrast sensitivity function.
C) the window of visibility.
D) none of these

Question 18

What involves the gradual change in the intensity of light and dark bars?

A) sinusoidal grating
B) contrast threshold
C) multichannel model
D) none of these

Question 19

The contrast transfer function for the human visual system is

A) termed the "contrast sensitivity function."
B) lower at intermediate spatial frequencies than at low ones.
C) highest for high spatial frequencies.
D) both termed the "contrast sensitivity function" and lower at intermediate spatial frequencies than at low ones.

Question 20

What is the curve that separates visible from invisible gratings?

A) Fourier analysis
B) contrast sensitivity function
C) window of visibility
D) none of these

Question 21

For the three light levels, photopic, mesopic, and scotopic, the contrast sensitivity functions for which two are nearly identical?

A) photopic and scotopic
B) scotopic and mesopic
C) All three are nearly identical.
D) The three curves are distinct.

Question 22

As illumination level is reduced, visibility is reduced most for which of the following?

A) low spatial frequencies
B) intermediate spatial frequencies
C) high spatial frequencies
D) Visibility is lowered about equally for all spatial frequencies.

Question 23

Based on contrast sensitivity functions, which of the following is NOT true?

A) Humans and primates see the world in a similar manner.
B) Cats and humans perceive the world differently
C) Pigeons and infants perceive the world in a similar manner.
D) Goldfish perceive the world similarly to humans under mesopic conditions.

Question 24

Based on contrast sensitivity functions, which of the following statements is true?

A) Beyond about 50 years old, humans increasingly see the world as an infant does.
B) Adult and infant humans see the world similarly.
C) Rhesus monkeys and adult humans see the world similarly.
D) all of these

Question 25

A large, low-contrast shadow is most likely to be seen by a

A) cat.
B) human.
C) falcon.
D) rhesus monkey.

Question 26

Which animal's contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is most similar to that of a human?

A) cat
B) goldfish
C) pigeon
D) monkey

Question 27

Infants' contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs) are least like adults at

A) low spatial frequencies.
B) intermediate spatial frequencies.
C) high spatial frequencies.
D) Infants and adults have similar CSFs at all spatial frequencies.

Question 28

The critical period in which the visual nervous system requires normal input to mature properly ends at the age of

A) 1 to 2 years.
B) 3 to 4 years.
C) 6 to 8 years.
D) 13 to 17 years.

Question 29

Compared to a young adult, an elderly person may experience diminished sensitivity to

A) low spatial frequencies.
B) intermediate spatial frequencies.
C) high spatial frequencies.
D) both low spatial frequencies and intermediate spatial frequencies

Question 30

A person adapted to a target of 8 cycles per degree spatial frequency shows the biggest _________ in a subsequently obtained contrast sensitivity function (CSF) at _________.

A) gain; 8 cycles per degree
B) gain; 4 cycles per degree
C) loss; 8 cycles per degree
D) loss; 4 cycles per degree

Question 31

Adapting to a vertical grating of 1 cycle/degree of visual angle reduces the apparent contrast of

A) a 1 cycle/degree vertical grating of near threshold contrast.
B) a 1 cycle/degree horizontal grating of near threshold contrast.
C) a 4 cycle/degree vertical grating of near threshold contrast.
D) all of these

Question 32

The belief that contrast sensitivity functions arise from different channels comes from the work on

A) selective adaptation.
B) lesioning.
C) metamers.
D) none of these

Question 33

Selective loss in the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) can be the result of

A) stroke.
B) multiple sclerosis.
C) Uhthoff's symptom.
D) all of these

Question 34

Contrast normalization

A) is confined to a particular adapting orientation.
B) is confined to a particular adapting spatial frequency.
C) is confined to a particular retinal location.
D) all of these

Question 35

Adapting to a vertical grating of 1 cycle/degree of visual angle reduces the apparent contrast of

A) a 1 cycle/degree vertical grating of high contrast.
B) a 1 cycle/degree horizontal grating of high contrast.
C) a 4 cycle/degree vertical grating of high contrast.
D) all of these

Question 36

Contrast normalization

A) maintains cells' responses to contrast.
B) maintains cells' responses to orientation.
C) both maintains cells' responses to contrast and maintains cells' responses to orientation
D) neither maintains cells' responses to contrast nor maintains cells' responses to orientation

Question 37

According to the text, the inability to identify a face in a block portrait comes from

A) contrast normalization.
B) spatial-frequency adaptation.
C) orientation masking.
D) opponent processes.

Question 38

If two different stimuli have the very same appearance to you, they

A) are really the same thing.
B) are metamers.
C) must contain all the same spatial frequencies.
D) are definitely being presented at very low light levels.

Question 39

Two photographs of the same object with different spatial-frequency content will be metamers when

A) the spatial-frequency difference is in a range outside the contrast-sensitivity function.
B) the spatial-frequency difference is in different orientation bands.
C) the spatial-frequency difference is in different contrast bands.
D) all of these

Question 40

The smallest orientation difference that an average person can see is

A) 2 percent.
B) 4 percent.
C) 6 percent.
D) 8 percent.

Question 41

"The whole is different from the sum of the individual parts" is basic to

A) structuralism.
B) Gestalt psychology.
C) global psychology.
D) contour analysis.

Question 42

If Tom were viewing a set of items and he tended to group nearby objects, he would be using the principle of

A) continuation.
B) identification.
C) proximity.
D) symmetry.

Question 43

"Other things being equal, if several stimuli are presented together, there is a tendency to see the form in such a way that the similar items are grouped together." This principle is referred to as

A) proximity.
B) closure.
C) good continuation.
D) none of these

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT a Gestalt perceptual principle?

A) linearity
B) closure
C) similarity
D) none of these

Question 45

Three-month-old infants seem to be oblivious to which Gestalt principle(s)?

A) similarity
B) proximity
C) closure
D) all of these

Question 46

The tendency for the parts of an object centered on a given axis to be highly similar in shape, texture, and color is termed

A) metamer.
B) symmetry.
C) similarity.
D) orientation.

Question 47

The importance of symmetry to our perception is evidenced by

A) most organisms' being bilaterally symmetrical.
B) symmetrical objects' appearing to have higher contrast than do asymmetrical objects.
C) the ease with which we can make mirror-symmetrical arm movements.
D) our assuming that a partially obscured object is symmetrical.

Question 48

What is the distinction between detection and discrimination, and which ability requires more stimulus information?

Question 49

Why are grating patterns, despite their rarity in the natural visual environment, useful tools for studying form perception?

Question 50

What is a contrast sensitivity function, and what are some of its practical applications?

Question 51

How does contrast sensitivity change under photopic, mesopic, and scotopic conditions?

Question 52

Describe how contrast sensitivity changes with age, and discuss the perceptual consequences of those changes.

Question 53

Give two everyday examples of the operation of the Gestalt principles of proximity, similarity, and closure.