Deck 4: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

You are studying in your dorm room. You gently request that your neighbor turn the volume of his television down until you cannot hear it. You are asking your neighbor to find your

A) absolute threshold.
B) difference threshold.
C) transduction level.
D) basilar level.

Answer 1

absolute threshold.

Question 2

Lionel just put his hand down on something sharp. At the moment of contact he is experiencing

A) sensation.
B) perception.
C) transduction.
D) interpretation.

Answer 2

sensation.

Question 3

It is the process of ________ that organizes and interprets incoming sensory information.

A) perception
B) sensation
C) transduction
D) inhibition

Answer 3

perception

Question 4

The smallest intensity of a stimulus that you can detect 50 percent of the time is the ________ threshold.

A) transduction
B) sensory
C) difference
D) absolute

Question 5

As young children learn to read, they often have difficulty comprehending what the story is saying because they are working so hard to decode what the words are. This reflects an over-reliance on which type of processing?

A) threshold
B) top-down
C) transduction
D) bottom-up

Question 6

You are watching a movie with some scenes set in a noisy bar, some scenes containing gunfire, and some scenes containing very quiet dialogue. During the quiet scenes, you can hear most of the dialogue but you find that if the actors drop their volume on certain lines, you cannot hear what they are saying. This reflects the fact that a message must exceed a(n) ________ in order to be processed.

A) expectation
B) arbitrary value
C) threshold
D) upper limit

Question 7

When you see the bright color and round shape of a tomato on the vine in your vegetable garden, smell its sun-warmed fragrance, hear the buzzing of a nearby bee, feel the velvety texture of its skin, and taste the flavor as you bite into it, your process of receiving this stimulus energy from the environment is called

A) sensation.
B) selective attention.
C) perception.
D) cognition.

Question 8

________ processing involves starting with a sense of what is happening and then applying that framework to information in the world.

A) Logical
B) Top-down
C) Referential
D) Bottom-up

Question 9

Bottom-up processing involves analysis that begins with the

A) absolute threshold.
B) sensory receptors.
C) cerebral cortex.
D) spinal cord.

Question 10

When you are able to taste a quarter teaspoon of salt dissolved in a glass of water five times out of ten, you have attained your ________ threshold.

A) difference
B) adaptation
C) perceptual
D) absolute

Question 11

An architect is designing apartments and wants them to be soundproof. She asks a psychologist what the smallest amount of sound is that can be heard. Her question is most related to the ________ threshold.

A) absolute
B) difference
C) transduction
D) sensory

Question 12

Jenny did not blink an eye when she paid an extra fifty cents for her favorite CD, but almost fell out of the car when her local gas station raised the price of gas by a dollar over night. What concept best explains her contradicting reactions?

A) absolute threshold
B) just noticeable difference
C) subliminal perception
D) Weber's law

Question 13

Which concept is most critical to a soldier wearing camouflage?

A) absolute threshold
B) just noticeable difference
C) subliminal perception
D) Weber's law

Question 14

Rachel is walking in the woods and feels a sharp prick on her neck. She feels pain and recognizes that she has been stung by a wasp. Which process allowed her to identify the source of her pain?

A) sensation
B) perception
C) nature
D) transduction

Question 15

When you visit a new city for the first time, it often takes a lot of cognitive effort to find your way around. One explanation lies in the fact that new experiences require us to rely primarily on ________ processing.

A) threshold
B) top-down
C) transduction
D) bottom-up

Question 16

If a person hears two tones that differ in intensity just barely enough to be detected, the point of detection is referred to as the ________ threshold.

A) difference
B) sensory
C) absolute
D) transduction

Question 17

When you are paid $1 instead of $2, it is a big deal. When you are paid $91 instead of $92, it feels less painful. This is similar to

A) absolute thresholds.
B) perceptual constancy.
C) Weber's law.
D) stimulus transduction.

Question 18

As Rena gets out of the shower, she thinks, but is not certain that she hears a car outside. What perceptual process is she experiencing?

A) absolute threshold
B) just noticeable difference
C) partial deafness
D) signal-to-noise ratio

Question 19

Every day, you see, hear, smell, taste and feel stimuli from the outside world. Collecting this data about that world is the function of

A) perception.
B) adaptation.
C) sensation.
D) integration.

Question 20

Contestants on the game show Wheel of Fortune are given labels to assist them solving the puzzles. These labels activate ________ processing.

A) threshold
B) top-down
C) transduction
D) bottom-up

Question 21

An Air Force pilot is flying over enemy lines. He has been assigned a target to destroy, but also knows that the target is in a heavily populated civilian area. His knowledge of the region represents what aspect of signal detection theory?

A) information acquisition
B) criterion
C) false alarm
D) sensory failure

Question 22

You cannot feel the waistband of your underwear, even though you know it is there. This is the result of

A) sensory adaptation.
B) difference thresholds.
C) sensory deprivation.
D) transduction.

Question 23

You are outside enjoying a beautiful day. The sky is bright blue. When the sun sets, the sky turns a gorgeous salmon pink. After the sun has set, the sky pales to pink, then lavender; as it gets dark, the sky becomes a deeper purple, then midnight blue, and finally it looks black. The color changes you perceive in the sky are due to the ________ of light that it reflects.

A) amplitude
B) purity
C) wavelength
D) saturation

Question 24

The clear membrane just in front of the eye is the

A) retina.
B) lens.
C) cornea.
D) rod.

Question 25

When light enters the eye, it eventually reaches the light-sensitive ________ at the back of the eye.

A) blind spot
B) lens
C) retina
D) cornea

Question 26

You are with friends at a sports bar and take a bite of the extra-hot chicken wings they just ordered. Your initial bite sets your mouth on fire, but after a couple of wings they do not seem nearly as hot. What perceptual process best explains this phenomenon?

A) absolute threshold
B) difference threshold
C) Weber's Law
D) sensory adaptation

Question 27

The ________ theory of perception proposes that detection of stimuli depends on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, physical intensity of the stimulus, fatigue of the observer, and expectancy.

A) opponent process
B) multiple perceptual context
C) signal detection
D) Weber's

Question 28

Who is relying most heavily on their rods?

A) Shelby is walking down the street during the day.
B) Ray is reading in the library.
C) Marcus is trying to find his seat as the movie begins to play.
D) Andrew is watching football on TV.

Question 29

You arrive at your friend's apartment for a big party at the end of the semester. When you first arrive, the music is so loud that it almost hurts your ears. After a couple of hours, even though the music is still at the same volume, it doesn't bother you anymore, and you like it. This change over time describes the process of

A) perceptual constancy.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) transduction.
D) saturation.

Question 30

The major purpose of the iris is to

A) protect the eye from injury.
B) regulate the amount of light entering the eye.
C) focus light on the retina.
D) transform light energy.

Question 31

Your friend claims to have ESP (extrasensory perception). Based on research from your text, if you were to think of an image and ask your friend to guess that image, what would you expect his success rate to be?

A) Nearly perfect - individuals who posses ESP have routinely been able to read other people's minds.
B) Close to zero - even with ESP it is difficult to read someone's mind.
C) Around chance level - individuals with ESP are simply guessing.
D) It is difficult to predict the success rate based on current research.

Question 32

When you can tell the difference between candy apple red and fire engine red, it is partly because the light stimuli differ in their

A) point of acuity.
B) cone density.
C) basilar level.
D) wavelengths.

Question 33

Jane is having trouble sleeping. As she sits in bed looking around the darkened room, she notices that her peripheral vision seems to be better than her central vision. This is because vision in low light conditions

A) depends on the rods.
B) depends on the cones.
C) does not require the use of the pupil.
D) does not involve the retina.

Question 34

To read this question, you must look at it. After the light passes into your eyes, the incoming light waves are recorded by receptor cells located in the

A) retina.
B) cornea.
C) blind spot.
D) optic chiasm.

Question 35

In regards to light, wavelength is the ________ and amplitude is the ________.

A) hue; brightness
B) brightness; hue
C) hue; saturation
D) brightness; saturation

Question 36

You try to note the incredibly fine details of a computer microchip through a magnifying glass. On which area of the retina are you focusing this image?

A) optic chiasm
B) rods
C) periphery
D) fovea

Question 37

The fovea contains

A) only rods.
B) rods and cones.
C) only cones.
D) the blind spot, rods, and cones.

Question 38

Toward the center of the retina, there is an area that contains only cones. This area is called the

A) cornea.
B) fovea.
C) chiasm.
D) optic nerve.

Question 39

The ________ is filled with a gelatinous material that helps focus light.

A) pupil
B) lens
C) iris
D) fovea

Question 40

Subliminally presented stimuli

A) can sometimes be subconsciously perceived.
B) affect our behavior thus confirming the usefulness of thresholds.
C) increase our absolute thresholds for visual images.
D) All of these.

Question 41

Afterimages refer to

A) seeing two of everything.
B) the sensation left over after an image is removed.
C) the blue-green paradox.
D) seeing the same image twice.

Question 42

The tendency to mentally complete forms and figures that are actually incomplete is known as

A) contouring.
B) similarity.
C) closure.
D) convergence.

Question 43

The purpose of parallel processing is to

A) allow sensory information to travel rapidly through the brain.
B) allow rods and cones to function simultaneously.
C) prevent the misinterpretation of colors.
D) use binocular cues to perceive depth.

Question 44

When looking at these letters XXX XXX XXX XXX we tend to see 4 groups of 3 Xs rather than 12 individual Xs. This is due to the principle of

A) closure.
B) similarity.
C) proximity.
D) continuity.

Question 45

The ________ theory of color vision most accurately describes the process of color vision at the level of the retina.

A) afterimage
B) opponent-process
C) dark adaptation
D) trichromatic

Question 46

Mrs. Johnson's third grade class is creating a model of their school grounds. Each group of students is responsible for different aspects of the model. Some are taking pictures, some are painting, and some are building miniatures out of play dough. Eventually, Mrs. Johnson will combine all these elements into a finished product. Which process from our visual system is she demonstrating?

A) transduction
B) binding
C) feature detection
D) sensory combination

Question 47

Near the center of the retina there is a spot where there are no rods and no cones. This spot exists because of

A) clouding of the lens.
B) retinal degeneration.
C) the optic nerve.
D) the ciliary muscle.

Question 48

Objects that resemble one another are often perceived as a group. This is the perceptual principle of

A) similarity.
B) closure.
C) continuity.
D) constancy.

Question 49

One way to think about how we process color images is that the ________ describes the events at the first level of neurons in the visual system, while the ________ best describes the activities of neurons in the rest of the visual system.

A) camera theory; opponent-process theory
B) opponent-process theory; trichromatic theory
C) trichromatic theory; opponent-process theory
D) opponent-process theory; camera theory

Question 50

The main function of rods and cones is to

A) stretch wavelengths.
B) minimize trichromaticism.
C) adjust sensory thresholds.
D) turn light into an energy useable by the nervous system.

Question 51

Figure is to ground as ________ is to ________.

A) form; substance
B) looking up; looking down
C) a hot summer; a cold winter
D) a white cloud; a blue sky

Question 52

Hannah, a freshman psychology student, just discovered she has a blind spot in each eye. Should she be concerned?

A) Yes, this is probably the precursor to more severe visual problems.
B) No, everyone has blind spots.
C) Yes, although we are all born with blind spots, they should disappear by adulthood.
D) No, but she should definitely be cautious when driving at night.

Question 53

The crossover point where the right visual field information goes to the left hemisphere is called the

A) fovea.
B) optic nerve.
C) retina.
D) optic chiasm.

Question 54

If a student asks you why we can see colors and you want to provide an answer based on the opponent-process theory of color vision, you tell the student it is because there are ________ different types of cone receptors.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 55

The simultaneous distribution of sensory information across different neural pathways is referred to as

A) binding.
B) bottom up processing.
C) transduction.
D) parallel processing.

Question 56

Herman has the most common form of color blindness. The colors that he will have trouble distinguishing are

A) red from blue and green.
B) blue from red and green.
C) orange from red and blue.
D) green from blue and red.

Question 57

You stare at a bright red sign for a minute, then look away to a white wall. You see a green afterimage on the white wall. This is consistent with the finding that afterimages are usually seen in colors complementary to the colors of the original image, confirming a prediction made by the ________ theory.

A) trichromatic
B) dichromatic
C) opponent-process
D) stereochemical

Question 58

________ psychology is the school of thought interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions into patterns.

A) Gestalt
B) Psychoanalytic
C) Perceptual
D) Contour

Question 59

Although several bulbs are burned out on the movie theaters sign out front, Caleb can still read the announcement for the upcoming movie. Which gestalt principle accounts for this phenomena?

A) closure
B) proximity
C) similarity
D) convergence

Question 60

________ is a process that involves coupling of the activity of various cells and pathways, and helps integrate information about an object.

A) Parallel processing
B) Binding
C) Depth perception
D) Perceptual integration

Question 61

You are listening to music with a wide dynamic range. In the world of amplitude, what do the louder and softer sounds have to do with the air and your ears?

A) The louder sounds cause air to press with more force on your ears.
B) The louder sounds cause the air around your ears to rise in temperature more rapidly.
C) The louder sounds move faster through the air in your ear canals.
D) All of these.

Question 62

When reading a book, it does not matter whether you are inside or outside because the black ink of the words on the white pages looks the same. This demonstrates an artist's ability to capitalize on

A) retinal disparity.
B) linear perspective.
C) color constancy.
D) visual illusion.

Question 63

A door is still perceived as a rectangle even after we view it from different angles. This is due to

A) linear constancy.
B) retinal disparity.
C) shape constancy.
D) depth cues.

Question 64

Which of the following is NOT used by artists to affect our linear perspective?

A) vivid colors
B) familiar size
C) shading
D) overlap

Question 65

________ cues are ones that depend on the combination of the images in the left and right eyes.

A) Opponent
B) Binocular
C) Gradient
D) Monocular

Question 66

In depth perception, familiar size, height in field of view, and shading are examples of

A) binocular cues.
B) monocular cues.
C) stereograms.
D) feature detectors.

Question 67

Perceiving three dimensions is called

A) depth perception.
B) perceptual constancy.
C) superposition.
D) shadowing.

Question 68

The different pitches of the beeps you hear on a touch-tone telephone are due to differences in the ________ of the beeps.

A) intensity
B) timbre
C) decibels
D) frequency

Question 69

Shape constancy is our ability to

A) switch back and forth between the figure and the ground in a figure-ground problem.
B) have all of our sensory systems working on overload in a highly stressful situation.
C) adapt to the amount of light in the room even if that requires light or dark adaptation.
D) see an object as being the same shape even though we move closer to it or farther from it.

Question 70

You are standing outside with a friend as an airplane flies over your head. You watch as the plane appears to get smaller and smaller and is eventually gone from your visual field. Which aspect of perceptual constancy allows you to understand that the airplane is not shrinking?

A) shape constancy
B) size constancy
C) convergence constancy
D) color constancy

Question 71

Your mother's and sister's voices have the same pitch and loudness, but you can tell them apart on the telephone. This is due to the perceptual quality or ________ of their voices.

A) timbre
B) wavelength
C) frequency
D) amplitude

Question 72

Gestalt psychologists emphasize that

A) perception is the same as sensation.
B) we learn to perceive the world through experience.
C) the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
D) sensation has no effect on perception.

Question 73

The unit of measure for the amplitude of sound is

A) pitch.
B) saturation.
C) timbre.
D) decibel.

Question 74

A gestalt is best described as a(n)

A) binocular cue.
B) illusion.
C) configuration.
D) perceptual constant.

Question 75

Which depth cue accounts for why parallel lines appear to grow closer together the farther away they are?

A) texture gradient
B) superposition
C) vertical position
D) linear perspective

Question 76

Looking at a quarter in your hand casts a different image on your retina compared to looking at a quarter across the room, yet we know that the quarter is the same and retains the same dimensions. This phenomenon is known as

A) size constancy.
B) the figure-ground phenomenon.
C) the Ponzo illusion.
D) gestalt closure.

Question 77

If we see a German shepherd standing thirty feet from us, we still recognize its size even though the image on our retina is much smaller than if the dog was directly in front of us. This is primarily due to

A) size constancy.
B) proximity.
C) shape constancy.
D) the figure-ground relationship.

Question 78

At a school social gathering, you hear a professor talking about proximity, continuity, similarity, and closure. You deduce that he is knowledgeable about

A) wavelengths and amplitudes.
B) proprioceptive feedback.
C) the opponent-process theory.
D) gestalt principles of perception.

Question 79

Disparity plays a role in

A) binocular cues.
B) monocular cues.
C) linear perspective.
D) All of these.

Question 80

The tendency for perceptions of objects to remain relatively unchanged in spite of changes in raw sensations is called

A) monocular constancy.
B) perceptual constancy.
C) linear perspective.
D) the figure-ground principle.