Deck 4: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Dee says that she has developed special sunglasses to enable people to see light with wavelengths of 550-700 nanometers.Would these be useful for humans?

A) No-these frequencies are already visible to humans.
B) Yes-but only for seeing very faint lights.
C) No-unless one is looking at very bright lights.
D) Yes-these frequencies are normally outside of human range.

Answer 1

No-these frequencies are already visible to humans.

Question 2

Boris is blindfolded and holding a pile of laundry.Natasha adds some dirty laundry to Boris's pile,then some more dirty laundry,then some more,and so on,just until Boris says,"Now the pile of laundry feels heavier." Boris's judgment is best described by ____ law.

A) the Gestalt
B) Weber's
C) Fechner's
D) Stevens's power

Answer 2

Weber's

Question 3

The process of translating the physical properties of a stimulus into a pattern of neural activity that allows us to identify those properties is known as ____.

A) encoding
B) reception
C) perception
D) transduction

Answer 3

encoding

Question 4

Raz is a stormtrooper working for the evil commander,Vader.Vader tells Raz that he is in charge of detecting enemy ships on a radar screen.Vader also tells Raz that if he misses one ship,he will be thrown into space.This makes Raz more likely to detect a ship if it is not there.Vader has influenced Raz's ____.

A) response criterion
B) absolute threshold
C) internal noise
D) relative frequency

Question 5

The discovery that stimulation of a particular sensory nerve provides codes for that sense,no matter how the stimulation takes place is called _____.

A) signal response theory
B) specific energy doctrine
C) sensory adaptation theory
D) selective transduction doctrine

Question 6

Vision is considered a sense because it ____.

A) translates datafrom outsidethe nervous system into neural activity
B) provides information to the endocrine system
C) is empirical, or data-based
D) involves information from the environment

Question 7

On Saturday,Elbert walked through a crowd at the state fair in a small town in Illinois.On Monday,he walked through a crowded train station in a large crime-ridden city.In both situations,Elbert felt someone brush up against his back pocket.Elbert is more likely to detect that someone is stealing his wallet while in the large city than in the small town due to his lower ____.

A) difference threshold
B) response criterion
C) sensitivity
D) signal-detection ratio

Question 8

As you and your friend walk across the street toward the cafeteria,she says,"Oh,I can smell the lobster from here." You,however,can't smell it yet.Which explanation is most plausible?

A) Your friend has a lower absolute threshold than you.
B) Sensory adaptation has decreased your response.
C) You have a higher just-noticeable difference than she.
D) Your friend She has a greater sense of subliminal perception than you.

Question 9

A psychologist conducts an experiment in which he presents tones to subjects at various levels of intensity (that is,soft,moderate,and loud).The point at which the tone can be detected 50 percent of the time is known as the ____.

A) absolute threshold
B) median threshold
C) stimulus threshold
D) psychophysical threshold

Question 10

A ____ is a system that translates data from outside the nervous system into neural activity,thus giving the brain information about the world.

A) perception
B) stimulus
C) receptive field
D) sense

Question 11

Inspector Holmes and his trusty assistant,Watson,are snooping around a dark,deserted house in London.Watson suddenly screams,"Holmes! I thought I just saw a flicker of light!" Holmes turns to him and says,"No,my dear boy.You must have been interpreting a random firing of sensory neurons as a stimulus." Holmes is describing ____.

A) an absolute threshold
B) a just-noticeable difference
C) internal noise
D) Weber's law

Question 12

Carol is listening to her new CD with the stereo's volume set twice as high as usual.Her mother yells at her to turn the volume down,so Carol gives the volume control her usual half turn.Her mother cannot tell that she had turned the volume down at all.Carol will have to decrease the volume even more than usual to attain a(n)____.

A) response criterion
B) just-noticeable difference
C) risky shift
D) interposition

Question 13

Visible light is electromagnetic radiation with a light wavelength range of about ____ nanometers

A) 200 to 400
B) 200 to 900
C) 400 to 750
D) 400 to 2,000

Question 14

Liz Lemon needs to remember to pick up lunch for her writing staff,so she ties a string around her finger as a reminder.Unfortunately,by noon,she no longer notices the string around her finger.This was most likely due to ____.

A) perceptual constancy
B) kinesthetic perception
C) transduction
D) sensory adaptation

Question 15

Mr.Wizard introduces the children on his TV show to accessory structures of our sensory systems.He tells them these structures are responsible for ____.

A) modifying physical energy from the outside world
B) converting physical energy into neural activity
C) carrying information from receptors to the brain
D) interpreting physical energy in a meaningful way

Question 16

Sensation consists of ____,and perception consists of ____.

A) responding to changes in stimuli; adapting to a non-changing stimulus
B) adapting to a non-changing stimulus; responding to changes in stimuli
C) collecting raw information about the environment; interpreting environmental information
D) interpreting environmental information; collecting raw information about the environment

Question 17

During his adventures around the galaxy,Arthur Dent relies on an earpiece that deciphers all the strange alien languages he hears.Similarly,receptors in the ear encode sound waves into neural activity that the brain can understand,a process called ____.

A) transduction
B) synthesis
C) transcription
D) accommodation

Question 18

Imagine that humans can taste a new sensation,called "highlight," that allows the person to taste the brightness of the food they are eating.Everyone would need a new type of ____ cell to taste this new sensation.

A) neural receptor
B) ganglion
C) bipolar
D) interneuron

Question 19

______ is a mathematical model of what determines a person's report of a near-threshold stimulus.

A) Signal detection theory
B) Response bias theory
C) Weber's law
D) Fechner's threshold

Question 20

The structures responsible for the process of transduction are known as ____.

A) accessory structures
B) sensory nerves
C) neural receptors
D) feature detectors

Question 21

When trying on new glasses at Lensmasters,Kevin remarks that he can see more details when he looks directly at the letter chart rather than when he looks from the side of his eye.Dr.Eyenstein says,"Well Kevin,that happens because your ____ is greatest in the ____."

A) visual acuity; optic chiasm
B) visual acuity; fovea
C) retinal disparity; optic chiasm
D) retinal disparity; fovea

Question 22

As electromagnetic radiation enters the eye,it is transformed by the accessory structures of the ____ before transduction occurs.

A) cornea, lens, and rods
B) cones and rods
C) photopigments
D) cornea, lens, and pupil

Question 23

When Ray leaves his dark room and enters the bright hallway,his eyes begin to adjust to the increased amount of light.During this process,the size of Ray's ____ will become smaller,allowing less light to pass through.

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

Question 24

Suppose you are walking to the movie theater on a bright sunny day.Once you enter the dark theater,you nearly trip over your feet because you cannot see a thing.After you find a seat,you watch the movie for about thirty minutes and then decide to head to the lobby for some popcorn.When you stand up,you realize that you can see much more clearly than before.This example best illustrates ____.

A) the blind spot
B) ocular accommodation
C) dark adaptation
D) opponent-process theory

Question 25

When you adjust your television by turning up the color,you are ____.

A) increasing timbre
B) decreasing color saturation
C) increasing color saturation
D) stimulating fewer cones

Question 26

Bryan reads the newspaper to his grandmother because the muscles in her eyes can no longer change the shape of her inflexible lenses.This problem with ____ keeps her from focusing small print on her retina.

A) ocular accommodation
B) photopigmentation
C) eye convergence
D) fovea strength

Question 27

Ally and Billy are going to paint their new house.They both like the color blue,but Ally picks out a different color blue than Billy,and they argue about which is the better color for the house.Ally and Billy are arguing about the ____ of the paint.

A) brightness
B) color saturation
C) intensity
D) hue

Question 28

Oscar likes to run at night.Even though it is dark,Oscar can see because his eyes have specialized cells that convert the low levels of light energy into neural activity.These cells are known as ____.

A) cornea activators
B) fovea receptors
C) photoreceptors
D) visioactivators

Question 29

When you look at a picture,information about the right visual field is sent to the left hemisphere of the brain and information about the left visual field is sent to the right hemisphere of the brain.This crossover occurs in the ____.

A) ganglion cells
B) bipolar cells
C) lateral geniculate nucleus
D) optic chiasm

Question 30

You are having trouble reading a word in an exam item because the type is blurry,so you move the page to be able to see the word most clearly.You have probably just focused the word onto your ____.

A) optic nerve
B) stapes
C) iris
D) fovea

Question 31

Because of an eye injury,you have to temporarily wear a patch over one eye.Using your uncovered eye,you notice that there is a small region of the visual field where you cannot see anything.This is known as ____.

A) temporary blindness
B) retinal discontinuity
C) retinal sympathy
D) the blind spot

Question 32

Edwin is able to see normally in low-light conditions and demonstrates a normal ability to detect movements in his periphery.However,he has great difficulty recognizing different colors.He sees the world mostly in shades of gray.Which structure is either impaired or not present in Edwin's eyes?

A) fovea
B) cornea
C) rods
D) cones

Question 33

Adaptation to darkness is possible because of the presence of ____in the periphery of your retina.

A) fovea
B) cones
C) rods
D) iodopsin

Question 34

At the Museum of Science and Industry,Joan finds an exhibit with three colored spotlights.By adjusting the intensity of the red,green,and blue lights and overlapping them,Joan is able to create any color she likes.Which theory of color vision does this support?

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

Question 35

Karlie is always told that she has beautiful eyes.To which part of her eye are people most likely to be referring when they tell her this?

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

Question 36

The Acme Corporation has created a pair of specialty goggles that allow the wearer to change the overall intensity of the wavelengths of light coming through the goggles.This action will alter the wearer's sensation of light by changing its ____.

A) color saturation
B) brightness
C) hue
D) pitch

Question 37

Kerri does not like light.In fact,she would prefer to see no light at all.She could accomplish this by removing the ____ from both of her eyes.

A) cornea
B) lens
C) retina
D) basilar membrane

Question 38

You wake up in the middle of the night.As you look about your dark bedroom,you can see the outline of a pile of your clothes sitting in a ball on a chair.You are seeing the clothes with your ____.

A) cones
B) papillae
C) otoliths
D) rods

Question 39

Azul's job is to create an exhibit at the science museum that lets people walk through a giant "eye" so they can understand how it works.The current group of visitors has stepped through the pupil to see a structure that bends light rays and focuses them onto a surface at the back of the eye.This structure that bends and focuses the light rays is known as the ____.

A) lens
B) cornea
C) retina
D) pinna

Question 40

Gabe impresses his friends by showing them a machine he built that can change an object's color by altering the ____ of light the object reflects.

A) amount
B) wavelength
C) type
D) intensity

Question 41

Haley is very upset about her hearing loss,but she is thrilled when the doctor tells her that they can treat her deafness by breaking apart the bones in her middle ear.Haley is experiencing ____ deafness.

A) conduction
B) nerve
C) transduction
D) tympanic

Question 42

Tim and Amy are listening to their TV surround-sound system.They are impressed with the low tones of the grizzly bear in the movie that they are watching.Tim and Amy are happy with the ____ of sound.

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

Question 43

When he watches the movie Halloween,Julio gets creeped out by the music.When you laugh at him,he says,"Those repetitive high notes on the piano scare me out of my mind! Even if I can barely hear the music,it still freaks me out." Julio is referring to the ____ of the music.

A) loudness
B) timbre
C) pitch
D) compression

Question 44

Shane was on the rifle team all through high school and college.After years of exposure to the excessive noise of gunfire,Shane became partially deaf when the hair cells in his ears were damaged.Shane most likely has ____ deafness.

A) nerve
B) cochlear
C) conduction
D) fused

Question 45

Terry loves to listen to the violin.As a joke,Carry replaces Terry's favorite CD,"Sounds of the Violin," with the CD "Sounds of the Cello." When the music starts playing,Terry immediately knows that the sounds were not made by the violin because each instrument has a unique ____.

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

Question 46

As you listen to your brilliant psychology instructor in class,the sound will travel through which of the following paths?

A) pinna, acoustic nerve, thalamus, primary auditory cortex
B) pinna, cochlea, thalamus, acoustic nerve, LGN
C) cochlea, ear canal, thalamus, primary auditory cortex
D) cochlea, thalamus, acoustic nerve, primary auditory cortex

Question 47

The ____ theory best explains the phenomena of complementary colors.

A) opponent-process
B) feature detection
C) trichromatic
D) gate-control

Question 48

Most of the properties that make food taste good are the ____.

A) trace amounts of leptin
B) tactile properties of food
C) odors detected by the olfactory system
D) activities of the taste system

Question 49

Brittany observed that the people having conversations on cell phones are quite loud-spoken,while those having conversations on pay phones were quite soft-spoken.Those using cell phones are producing a higher ____ of sound waves than are those using pay phones.

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

Question 50

While at the bookstore,you listen in on an author speaking to a crowd of fans about her research and experience working with color in the clothing industry.She talks about the biology behind color,including how our eyes have thousands of receptors that are each sensitive to a different range of light wavelengths.As she continues,you realize she is explaining the ____ theory of color vision.

A) trichromatic
B) synesthetic
C) gate-control
D) opponent-process

Question 51

The ____ sense is the only one that does not send information to the cortex via the thalamus.

A) auditory
B) visual
C) olfactory
D) cutaneous

Question 52

Transduction of auditory information takes place in the ____.

A) fovea
B) pinna
C) cochlea
D) malleus

Question 53

In a freak accident involving ice,a potato gun,and a ballpoint pen,Justin damages part of his ear.Now Justin can no longer generate vibrations that match the sound waves entering his ear.Justin has most likely damaged his ____.

A) cochlea
B) organ of Corti
C) basilar membrane
D) tympanic membrane

Question 54

Creighton has been working in construction for many years.At first,his co-workers warn him to wear earplugs,but he refuses.Now he can no longer hear sounds at high pitches.Creighton's ____ have been damaged.

A) hair cells
B) conduction bones
C) semicircular canals
D) oval and round windows

Question 55

Dr.Laboy's research on human hearing shows that if a person listens to a tone of 1,000 cycles per second (hertz),the acoustic nerve produces 1,000 action potentials per second.Dr.Laboy's results support the idea of ____.

A) topographical representation
B) convergence
C) the volley theory
D) the place theory

Question 56

Ophelia has two types of cones: those sensitive to red light and those sensitive to green light.Ophelia has ____.

A) total blindness
B) spot blindness
C) normal vision
D) colorblindness

Question 57

While daydreaming,Felix stares at a yellow school bus.When he then looks at a white wall,he sees the color ____.This is best explained by the ____ theory.

A) red; trichromatic
B) red; opponent-process
C) blue; trichromatic
D) blue; opponent-process

Question 58

Dr.Tsunami wants to produce a sound that will be perceived as very loud.He should produce a waveform that has ____.

A) a high frequency
B) a long wavelength
C) a large amplitude
D) fundamental timbre

Question 59

Clifford the cat can move his accessory structures for hearing to help him localize the source of even a very faint sound.In other words,unlike most humans,Clifford can move his ____.

A) basilar membrane
B) stapes
C) pinnae
D) organs of Corti

Question 60

Chiang wishes he had a date.As he changes the channels on TV one day,he hears a commercial stating,"The pheromones in our product guarantee you'll get a date the first time you use it!" That product would most likely be a ____.

A) tape of music with subliminal messages
B) drug that he would slip into someone's drink
C) perfume he would put on his body
D) mask that would cover his face

Question 61

When Clyde is pricked by a needle,the sharp pain signal is carried to the brain by ____fibers.The next day,Clyde feels a dull ache around the spot where he was pricked; this information is carried by ____ fibers

A) A-delta; C
B) C; A-delta
C) A-delta; A-delta
D) C; C

Question 62

You are walking across campus and you notice an odor that is coming from livestock in the area.Due to neural pathways,the smell is most likely to evoke a(n)____.

A) visual memory
B) auditory memory
C) loss of your balance
D) emotion

Question 63

In his Pilates class,Ben's instructor explains how to change focus away from the external world and instead focus on the internal senses.In other words,his instructor is asking the class to pay attention to their ____ senses.

A) exteroceptive
B) proprioceptive
C) olfactory
D) gustational

Question 64

While randomly searching through Wikipedia,you read an article on the cutaneous senses.You now understand that the cutaneous senses consist of all of the following except____.

A) touch
B) flavor
C) temperature
D) pain

Question 65

While watching a Food Network marathon,you learn from Rachel Ray that papillae are groups of ____ that play an important role in taste perception.

A) receptors
B) accessory structures
C) feature detectors
D) C-fibers

Question 66

During an intense game of volleyball,Shay slipped and banged her knee on the floor."Ouch!" she cried,as she wishes her brain would produce more ____.

A) GABA
B) endorphins
C) dopamine
D) acetylcholine

Question 67

As soon as Rashidat catches a whiff of the cologne of the woman sitting in front of him in class,he is attracted to her.Though she is a complete stranger,her smell is familiar.He is unable to place the smell,but it brings back good memories.Why?

A) Rashidat was downwind from the woman's pheromones.
B) Connections from the olfactory bulb are plentiful in the amygdala.
C) Rashidat's vomeronasal system was activated.
D) The woman's odor type was the same as his.

Question 68

While at a party,you notice an attractive person staring at you.According to principles of perceptual organization,you are likely to focus on this attractive person as the ____ and relegate other people at the party to be the ____.

A) ground; figure
B) focus; background
C) figure; ground
D) background; focus

Question 69

Doctor Payne,a dentist,is trying to decide if he should explain to his patients the kind of pain they will endure before performing certain procedures.According to your text,if Doctor Payne does this,the patients will be more likely to ____.

A) report a higher degree of pain than if they were not prepared
B) cognitively prepare and object less to the pain
C) find difficulty focusing on pleasant distractions
D) release endorphins to block the painful experience

Question 70

After falling from his perch,the Scarecrow has difficulty sensing where his body parts are in relation to each other.This makes it difficult for him to move easily,but eventually he is able to adapt,thanks to special cells in his joints and muscles called ____.

A) otoliths
B) interneurons
C) papillae
D) proprioceptors

Question 71

During a war,soldiers wear camouflage clothing to avoid being perceived by enemies.The perceptual cue that is being manipulated in this case is ____.

A) common region
B) proximity
C) common fate
D) figure-ground discrimination

Question 72

Which statement about the taste buds is correct?

A) Each taste bud responds best to one or two types of taste but also responds weakly to other tastes.
B) Each taste bud responds equally to all tastes initially and then discriminates between them after adaptation.
C) Each taste cell can be stimulated by only one chemical.
D) Each taste bud responds to only one taste.

Question 73

Which effect most likely causes astronauts to become nauseated in space?

A) Their vestibular system cannot tell which way is down.
B) Their bodies' kinesthetic perception is thrown off by the lack of gravity.
C) Their visual system has trouble adjusting to seeing things floating and flying.
D) Their brains are being bombarded by cosmic rays.

Question 74

After smashing his foot,Gwo-Ling feels no pain because messages from his brain block incoming pain messages.This effect is called ____.

A) analgesia
B) asensation
C) kinesthetic perception
D) inhibition

Question 75

"While watching a crowd of people,one does not focus on individual colors,movements,and shapes.Instead,one perceives the event as a whole." This statement has most likely been made by a ____.

A) cognitive psychologist
B) functionalist
C) Gestalt psychologist
D) structuralist

Question 76

Shawn's leg has fallen asleep and now he has trouble walking because he cannot determine the position of his leg in space.Shawn has lost his ____.

A) sense of equilibrium
B) kinesthetic perception
C) olfactory perception
D) sense of gustation

Question 77

Little Erika picks up a spider,carries it to her mother,and asks,"Mommy,what is this little,soft,cuddly thing?" Little Erika's inability to recognize what the spider is or the potential danger of picking it up demonstrates that perception is ____.

A) knowledge-based
B) inferential
C) categorical
D) non-adaptive

Question 78

Dyanna is meeting her friends at the football game.When she arrives late at the stadium,she automatically looks for a cluster of people wearing colorful jester hats.Dyanna is relying on ____to find her friends more easily.

A) depth perception
B) brightness constancy
C) looming
D) grouping principles

Question 79

After riding several roller coasters,you find that you feel nauseous.You feel the nausea because your ____ has been overstimulated.

A) gustation
B) kinesthetic perception
C) sense of equilibrium
D) analgesia

Question 80

If sensation equals raw data,then perception equals ____.

A) internal noise
B) analysis and interpretation
C) statistical significance
D) psychophysics