Deck 6: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Müller's doctrine of specific nerve energies describes a form of ________ coding.

A) functional
B) anatomical
C) neither functional nor anatomical
D) both functional and anatomical

Answer 1

anatomical

Question 2

The amplitude of a sound wave is related to our perception of:

A) pitch.
B) timbre.
C) loudness.
D) tonal quality.

Answer 2

loudness.

Question 3

________ can cause a visual stimulus that is constant and unchanging to disappear.

A) Sensory deprivation
B) Sensory overload
C) Sensory adaptation
D) Sensory constancy

Answer 3

Sensory adaptation

Question 4

The saturation (colourfulness) of a visual stimulus is related to the ________ of light.

A) intensity amplitude
B) complexity
C) sensory constancy
D) wavelength

Question 5

The research about kittens raised in horizontal or vertical environments was designed to demonstrate:

A) sensory adaptation.
B) depth perception.
C) feature detection.
D) critical periods.

Question 6

The actual receptors for taste are called:

A) papillae.
B) olfactory cells.
C) taste buds.
D) taste receptor cells.

Question 7

The auditory receptors are located in the:

A) cochlea.
B) middle ear.
C) eardrum.
D) oval window.

Question 8

The ________ is a measure of the smallest amount of energy a person can detect.

A) difference threshold
B) jnd
C) absolute threshold
D) response bias

Question 9

________ allows a researcher to distinguish between a person's response bias and his or her actual sensory capacity.

A) Threshold theory
B) Signal-detection theory
C) Weber's law
D) Sensory adaptation

Question 10

Which of the following sensory abilities is NOT present at or shortly after birth?

A) ability to discriminate salty from sweet
B) ability to discriminate different colours
C) ability to localize sound
D) perceptual set ability

Question 11

One difference between rods and cones is that:

A) rods are sensitive to colour and cones are not.
B) rods are less numerous than cones.
C) rods are more sensitive to light than cones.
D) rods are located in the centre of the retina and cones in the periphery.

Question 12

The gate-control theory helps to explain the perception of:

A) touch.
B) smell.
C) pain.
D) pressure.

Question 13

Which of the following is best supported by research?

A) subliminal perception
B) subliminal persuasion
C) telepathy
D) precognition

Question 14

The function of the cornea is to:

A) focus light on the retina.
B) control the amount of light entering the eye.
C) filter out UV radiation.
D) protect the eye and bend light rays toward the lens.

Question 15

The ________ describes the processing of colour by the cones.

A) trichromatic theory
B) opponent-process theory
C) Greeble theory
D) signal-detection theory

Question 16

The colour or hue that we perceive is related to the ________ of light.

A) intensity
B) complexity
C) amplitude
D) wavelength

Question 17

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

A) Sensation is the detection of sensory stimuli, and perception is the interpretation of sensory information.
B) Sensation is the interpretation of sensory information, and perception is the detection of sensory stimuli.
C) Perception refers to what goes on in the sensory organs, and perception is what happens in the brain.
D) Nothing. They are the same thing.

Question 18

Hubel and Wiesel discovered feature detector cells the respond selectively to:

A) spots of light in different locations.
B) different colours of stimuli.
C) faces.
D) lines at different orientations.

Question 19

The Gestalt psychologists were especially interested in research about:

A) colour vision.
B) form perception.
C) sensory receptors.
D) distance perception.

Question 20

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A) There is general agreement by scientists that humans have five senses.
B) Perception involves the interpretation of sensory information by the brain.
C) Sensation involves the detection of sensory stimuli by the sense organs.
D) All of our senses evolved to help us survive.

Question 21

Sensory neurons ________ messages to convey different types of information using nerve impulses.

A) transmit
B) encode
C) decode
D) convert

Question 22

A single sensory image can sometimes produce two or more alternating interpretations. This reflects the fundamental distinction between:

A) sense receptors and sense organs.
B) thinking and perceiving.
C) reality and illusion.
D) sensation and perception.

Question 23

The doctrine of specific energies proposes that the nervous system encodes sensory messages by means of a/an:

A) functional code.
B) anatomical code.
C) perceptual code.
D) chemical code.

Question 24

Sense receptors for vision, hearing, and taste are:

A) modified axons of sensory neurons.
B) specialized cells separated from sensory neurons by synapses.
C) extensions of sensory neurons.
D) modified skin cells connected to sensory neurons.

Question 25

________ is the detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects.

A) Signal detection
B) Sensation
C) Perception
D) Synesthesia

Question 26

The authors compare communication in the sensory system to the activities on a battlefield. The sense receptors are like military scouts because they:

A) spontaneously make many decisions.
B) combine their information with that of other scouts.
C) analyze reports to determine their next move.
D) scan the terrain for signs of activity.

Question 27

The authors compare communication in the sensory system to the activities on a battlefield. The sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system, likened to "field officers":

A) are responsible for scanning the terrain that corresponds to their sense, looking for activity.
B) are responsible for analyzing reports and communicating decisions back to the scouts.
C) all use exactly the same method, a neural message, to communicate with the command centre.
D) vary in the way that they communicate with the command centre (brain) based on the sense.

Question 28

________ is a set of mental operations that organize sensory impulses into meaningful patterns.

A) Synesthesia
B) Sensation
C) Signal detection
D) Perception

Question 29

Sense receptors for smell, pressure, pain, and temperature are:

A) modified axons of sensory neurons.
B) specialized cells separated from sensory neurons by synapses.
C) modified skin cells connected to sensory neurons.
D) extensions of sensory neurons.

Question 30

The detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects is called:

A) functional encoding.
B) perception.
C) sensation.
D) specific nerve energy.

Question 31

________ is the processes of sensory responding and of the sensory receiving areas of the brain.

A) Perception
B) Functional encoding
C) Specific nerve energy
D) Sensation

Question 32

The doctrine of specific nerve energies proposed by Johannes Müller is a/an:

A) utilitarian code.
B) functional code.
C) anatomical code.
D) temporal code.

Question 33

The doctrine of specific nerve energies states that:

A) what a person experiences depends on what nerve was stimulated.
B) each type of sensory receptor releases a different type of energy.
C) each sensory neuron can respond to all sensory modalities.
D) different sensory nerves release different neurotransmitters.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristics of sensation?

A) becoming aware of heat, cold, and pain
B) interpreting sensory impulses
C) detecting physical energy emitted by objects
D) becoming immediately aware of sound and colour

Question 35

Receptors that account for our sense of balance are found in the:

A) nose.
B) eyes.
C) ears.
D) skin.

Question 36

Our sense of vision produces a two-dimensional image on the back of the eye, but we interpret the world in three dimensions due to the process of:

A) sensation.
B) functional encoding.
C) specific nerve energy.
D) perception.

Question 37

Sense receptors convert the energy of the stimulus to:

A) electrical impulses.
B) visual signals.
C) dendritic potentials.
D) chemical changes.

Question 38

Our sense of hearing brings us the sound of a C, an E, and a G played simultaneously on the piano, but we interpret the sound as a C-major chord due to the process of:

A) perception.
B) sensation.
C) functional encoding.
D) specific nerve energy.

Question 39

Sensation occurs in the ________, whereas perception occurs in the ________.

A) brain; sense organs
B) central nervous system; peripheral nervous system
C) brain; brain
D) sense organs; brain

Question 40

The ________ contain receptors responsible for a sense of bodily movement.

A) glial cells
B) ears
C) skeletal muscles
D) eyes

Question 41

By studying absolute thresholds, psychologists have found that our senses are very sharp. If you have normal sensory abilities, you will be able to do all of the following EXCEPT:

A) see a candle flame on a clear, dark night from 30 kilometres away.
B) hear a ticking watch in a perfectly quiet room from 7 metres away.
C) feel the wing of a bee falling on your cheek from a height of 1 centimetre.
D) smell a drop of perfume diffused through a three-room apartment.

Question 42

A condition in which sensory stimulation of one sense simultaneously evokes another is called ________. This condition is more prevalent in ________ than in ________.

A) synesthesia; females; males
B) synesthesia; males; females
C) sensation; females; males
D) specific nerve energy; males; females

Question 43

The authors compare communication in the sensory system to the activities on a battle field. The sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system, likened to "field officers":

A) are responsible for scanning the terrain that corresponds to their sense, looking for activity.
B) all use exactly the same method, a neural message, to communicate with the command centre.
C) are responsible for analyzing reports and communicating decisions back to the scouts.
D) vary in the way that they communicate with the command centre (brain) based on the sense.

Question 44

It has been found that humans:

A) can hear sounds that are two octaves beyond the range of bats.
B) can see a candle flame on a clear, dark night from 50 kilometres away.
C) are one of the few species that can see ultraviolet light.
D) are sensitive to almost the entire range of electromagnetic energy.

Question 45

A man has trouble hearing and is being tested for a hearing aid. He is presented with tones of various intensities and is asked to indicate whenever he detects a sound. This procedure is most similar to that used by researchers who study:

A) absolute thresholds.
B) response biases.
C) the just noticeable difference.
D) difference thresholds.

Question 46

Another term for the difference threshold is:

A) absolute threshold.
B) signal-detection threshold.
C) comparison threshold.
D) jnd.

Question 47

Marcy is seated in a dark room facing a wall. She is shown flashes of light that vary in brightness and is asked to say whether or not she sees a flash. Marcy is having her ________ measured.

A) perceptual constancy
B) absolute threshold for brightness
C) sensory adaptation
D) selective attention

Question 48

The difference threshold is defined as the:

A) difference between anatomical codes and functional codes when determining how individuals are able to experience so many different kinds of sensations.
B) smallest difference in stimulation that can be detected by an observer when two stimuli are compared.
C) ability of different species to detect varying aspects of electromagnetic waves, from radio waves to cosmic waves.
D) difference in absolute thresholds between individuals with normal sensory abilities and those who have limitations in one or more senses.

Question 49

The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer is called the:

A) just noticeable difference.
B) absolute threshold.
C) psychophysiological threshold.
D) difference threshold.

Question 50

The purpose of studying absolute thresholds is to determine the:

A) strongest amount of energy a person can detect.
B) physiological basis of synesthesia.
C) rate at which nerve cells fire in response to sensory stimulation.
D) acuity, or sharpness, of our senses.

Question 51

Although the human senses are very sensitive:

A) they respond only to a narrow band of physical energy.
B) they do not allow us to easily detect differences in intensity.
C) their jnd is low.
D) they have a relatively high absolute threshold compared to all other mammals.

Question 52

The ________ is a measure of the smallest amount of energy a person can reliably detect.

A) absolute threshold
B) difference threshold
C) sensory sensitivity
D) jnd

Question 53

Functional coding, as opposed to anatomical coding, helps explain:

A) variations of experience within a particular sense.
B) the existence of separate sensory modalities.
C) how the same area of the brain is stimulated by different nerve pathways.
D) how signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve pathways.

Question 54

Which of the following could be thought of as the neurological equivalent of the Morse code?

A) a chemical code
B) a perceptual code
C) an anatomical code
D) a functional code

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT related to functional codes?

A) Why are the cells firing?
B) How many cells are firing?
C) What is the rate at which cells are firing?
D) Which cells are firing?

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT true with regard to anatomical coding?

A) It is not easy to link different skin sensations to distinct nerve pathways.
B) Anatomical coding cannot explain synesthesia.
C) Anatomical coding doesn't explain why pressure on the eye causes a person to see a flash of light.
D) Anatomical coding does not explain variations of experience within a particular sense.

Question 57

Neil is seated in a dark room and asked to look at a screen. He watches as flashes of light, varying in brightness, are flashed one at a time. Whenever he notices a flash he informs the researchers. What are the researchers measuring?

A) Neil's difference threshold for brightness
B) Neil's functional encoding of brightness
C) Neil's anatomical encoding of brightness
D) Neil's absolute threshold for brightness

Question 58

________ is sensory crossover where stimulation of one sense also evokes a sensation in another.

A) Synesthesia
B) Signal detection
C) Sensation
D) Perception

Question 59

________ is concerned with how the physical properties of stimuli are related to our psychological experience of them.

A) Perception
B) Psychophysics
C) Signal-detection theory
D) Gestalt theory

Question 60

________ codes rely on the fact that sensory receptors and neurons fire, or are inhibited from firing, only in the presence of specific sorts of stimuli.

A) Temporal
B) Utilitarian
C) Functional
D) Anatomical

Question 61

A decline in sensory responsiveness that occurs when a stimulus is unchanging or repetitive is called:

A) sensory adjustment.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) the difference threshold.
D) psychophysics.

Question 62

In a signal-detection task, the participant says that she doesn't detect a signal but a signal was present. This is called a:

A) correct rejection.
B) hit.
C) miss.
D) false alarm.

Question 63

Signal-detection theory assumes that:

A) the person's sensory receptors are not fatigued.
B) there is a single threshold for each sense.
C) a person's response depends on the stimulus and on a decision about it.
D) a person's ability to detect a stimulus depends only on the stimulus.

Question 64

Signal-detection theory assumes that:

A) a person localizes objects in visual space by using binocular cues to depth.
B) there is no single threshold, since a person's sensitivity to a signal depends on a decision that he or she actively makes.
C) the trichromatic theory is most effective in explaining colour vision.
D) specific aspects of the visual world are detected by feature-detector cells.

Question 65

As she studies in the library, Beatrice is not aware of the pressure of her watchband on her wrist. This is called:

A) sensory adaptation.
B) the doctrine of specific energies.
C) feature detection.
D) saturation.

Question 66

In a signal-detection task, the participant says that she doesn't detect a signal and no signal was present. This is called a:

A) correct rejection.
B) false alarm.
C) miss.
D) hit.

Question 67

The smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer when two stimuli are compared is called:

A) ESP.
B) functional encoding.
C) saturation.
D) jnd.

Question 68

When she goes into the office Amelia doesn't know how she is going to make it through the whole morning due to an annoying buzz from an overhead light. But when a co-worker complains about the noise an hour later, Amelia realizes that she hadn't been aware of the sound. This is called:

A) a miss.
B) a correct rejection.
C) just noticeable difference.
D) sensory adaptation.

Question 69

After playing tennis, Briana hurries home because her mother always bakes Briana's favourite scones on Saturday afternoons. As Briana opens the front door, she notices the powerful odour of a gas leak, but her mother says, "I don't smell anything." It is likely that Briana's mother has:

A) adapted to the smell of the gas leak because it has been an unchanging stimulus.
B) been a habitual naysayer throughout her life.
C) experienced a decline in her sense of smell as she reached middle age.
D) a different absolute threshold for olfaction than does her daughter.

Question 70

Thistle notices that a snack bag of cashews seems lighter than usual and so she checks the label and finds that it is lighter by 15 grams. She decides to buy a larger bag instead and doesn't notice that the larger bag also is lighter by 15 grams. Thistle's behaviour illustrates the fact that:

A) fundamental perceptual skills, such as perception of weight, are inborn.
B) subliminal messages regarding an object can influence behaviour.
C) the larger a weight is, the greater the change must be before one can detect a difference.
D) specific aspects of the world are detected by feature-detector cells.

Question 71

In a signal-detection task, the participant says that he detects a signal when no signal was present. This is called a:

A) correct rejection.
B) miss.
C) hit.
D) false alarm.

Question 72

In a signal-detection task, the participant says that he detects a signal and a signal was present. This is called a:

A) false alarm.
B) correct rejection.
C) miss.
D) hit.

Question 73

In addition to a subject's sensory capacity, signal-detection theory takes into account the:

A) subject's response bias.
B) tendency for the subject's performance to worsen over time.
C) amount of practice a subject has had.
D) tendency for the subject's performance to improve over time.

Question 74

In a signal-detection task, the participant tends to be a "yea-sayer." She will have:

A) more misses than "naysayers."
B) more correct rejections than "naysayers."
C) fewer hits than "naysayers."
D) more false alarms than "naysayers."

Question 75

As you take this test, it is unlikely that you are constantly aware that your legs are making contact with the legs of the chair. This is called:

A) a miss.
B) sensory threshold.
C) a correct rejection.
D) sensory adaptation.

Question 76

In a signal-detection task, the participant tends to be a "naysayer." He is likely to have:

A) more misses than "yea-sayers."
B) more hits than "yea-sayers."
C) fewer correct rejections than "yea-sayers."
D) more false alarms than "yea-sayers."

Question 77

Homer notices that his favourite 99-cent bag of chips seems lighter than usual and so he checks the label and finds that it is lighter by 15 grams. He decides to buy a larger bag instead and doesn't notice that the $1.49 bag also is lighter by 15 grams. Homer's behaviour illustrates the fact that:

A) the larger a weight is, the greater the change must be before one can detect a difference.
B) the just noticeable difference is not a reliable measure of psychophysiological judgment.
C) jnd's are unpredictable, since sometimes he can and sometimes he can't detect a 15 gram change.
D) sensory adaptation may occur in the short time between holding one bag of chips and then the other.

Question 78

Keegan notices that his favourite 99-cent candy bar seems lighter than usual and so he checks the label and finds that it is lighter by 15 grams. He decides to buy a larger candy bar instead and doesn't notice that the $1.49 candy bar also is lighter by 15 grams. Keegan's behaviour illustrates the fact that:

A) the just noticeable difference is not a reliable measure of psychophysiological judgment.
B) sensory adaptation may occur in the short time between holding one candy bar and then the other.
C) the larger a weight is, the greater the change must be before one can detect a difference.
D) jnd's are unpredictable, because sometimes he can and sometimes he can't detect a 15-gram change.

Question 79

The fact that you lose awareness of the pressure of your clothes against your skin within minutes of getting dressed reflects:

A) just noticeable difference.
B) selective attention.
C) perceptual constancy.
D) sensory adaptation.

Question 80

Signal-detection theory identifies two distinct processes in sensory detection: an initial ________ process and a subsequent ________ process.

A) decision; response bias
B) sensory; decision
C) decision; sensory
D) simple; complex