Deck 3: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

The process of _____ involves organizing and interpreting incoming sensory information.

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

Answer 1

perception

Question 2

Which of the following is true of sensation?

A) Sensory receptors are specialized cells that are not selective.
B) Chemoreception helps in the detection of light, perceived as sight.
C) Synaesthesia describes an experience in which one sense induces an experience in the same sense.
D) Sensory receptors are the openings through which the brain and nervous system experience the world.

Answer 2

Sensory receptors are the openings through which the brain and nervous system experience the world.

Question 3

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

A) absolute threshold
B) sensory threshold
C) the extrasensory perception
D) Weber's law

Answer 3

absolute threshold

Question 4

_____ means that a person can detect information from the world without receiving concrete sensory input.

A) Retrocognition
B) Selective attention
C) Absolute threshold
D) Extrasensory perception

Question 5

Melanie is learning how to read Spanish by sounding out each word one letter at a time.Melanie is engaging in _____.

A) top-down processing
B) bottom-up processing
C) sensory adaptation
D) subliminal perception

Question 6

Which of the following principles states that two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion to be perceived as different?

A) Ricco's law
B) The volley principle
C) Weber's law
D) Perceptual attention

Question 7

_____ is the process by which the brain actively organizes and interprets sensory information.

A) Consciousness
B) Perception
C) Sensation
D) Reception

Question 8

Linda is studying while listening to her iPod.She notices that when she raises the volume 5 decibels when the volume is initially low,the change is very noticeable.However,when the volume is initially high,increasing the volume by 5 decibels doesn't result in as noticeable of a change in sound.This phenomenon is best explained by _____.

A) the volley principle
B) Weber's law
C) perceptual constancy
D) selective attention

Question 9

As you walk barefoot in the park,your nose conveys to your brain the smell of the freshly cut grass,your skin sends information about the feel of the gentle breeze,and your ears transmit the sound of children laughing on the playground to your auditory cortex.This process of acquiring "raw data" about the stimuli in the environment is called _____.

A) sensation
B) selective attention
C) sensory adaptation
D) cognition

Question 10

_____ refers to the detection of sensory information that occurs below the level of conscious awareness.

A) Subliminal perception
B) Perceptual set
C) Top-down processing
D) Bottom-up processing

Question 11

Emily is selecting a new paint color for her bedroom.She detects a difference between sky blue and midnight blue.Emily's ability to distinguish these two colors from one another can best be explained by the concept of _____.

A) sensory adaptation
B) difference threshold
C) selective attention
D) top-down processing

Question 12

The process through which the senses detect environmental stimuli and transmit them to the brain is called _____.

A) consciousness
B) perception
C) sensation
D) reception

Question 13

You are studying in your dorm room,but your neighbor is blasting the television in the adjacent room.When you gently request that your neighbor turn the volume down until you cannot hear it,you are asking your neighbor to make the volume less than your _____.

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

Question 14

The minimal change in stimulation that is required to detect whether one stimulus differs from another is the _____.

A) difference threshold
B) absolute threshold
C) perceptual constant
D) vestibular sense

Question 15

Which of the following classes of sensory receptors play an important role in detecting pressure,vibration,movement,touch,and hearing?

A) Chemoreception
B) Photoreception
C) Mechanoreception
D) Endorphins

Question 16

Which of the following classes of sensory receptors provide information about sight and the detection of light?

A) Chemoreception
B) Photoreception
C) Synaesthesia

Question 17

_____ are specialized cells that detect stimulus information and transmit it to afferent nerves and the brain.

A) Perceptual sets
B) Sensory receptors
C) Binocular cues
D) Monocular cues

Question 18

Michael,a famous musician,is designing a new apartment that will serve as both his residence and his recording studio.Since the music studio shares a wall with his bedroom,Michael wants to be sure that the recording studio is soundproof.This means that Michael wants to be sure that sound from the studio is well under his _____ while he is in his bedroom.

A) absolute threshold
B) difference threshold
C) papillae
D) minimum threshold

Question 19

Which of the following explains the ability of an animal to distinguish among sight,sound,odor,taste,and touch?

A) Sensory neurons (unlike all neurons) do not follow the all-or-nothing principle.
B) The senses create a process known as synaesthesia that describes an experience in which one sense induces an experience in the same sense.
C) Sensory receptors are selective and have different neural pathways.
D) The receptor holds the frequency of action potentials sent to the brain.

Question 20

The _____ marks the point where we can just barely perceive a stimulus.

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

Question 21

Which of the following is true of attention?

A) Attention is neither selective, nor shiftable.
B) Novel stimuli often fail to attract our attention.
C) Inattentional blindness refers to the failure to detect unexpected events when attention is engaged by a task.
D) Objects that are small, dull-colored, or stationary are more likely to grab our attention than objects that are large, vividly colored, or moving.

Question 22

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 no longer bothers you or seems that loud.This change in your sensations describes the process of _____.

A) auditory adjustment
B) transduction
C) sensory adaptation
D) sensory deprivation

Question 23

Jennifer is a chain smoker.When her friend Irene,a non-smoker,gets in the car with Jennifer she is overwhelmed by the smell of smoke.One day she mentioned this fact to Jennifer who was surprised by the comment.Jennifer claims that when she sniffs her hair and clothing she can't sense the smoky scent.Jennifer's inability to detect the smoky scent is an example of _____.

A) perceptual redundancy
B) sensory adaptation
C) the cocktail party phenomenon
D) closure

Question 24

The multilayered light-sensitive surface in the eye that records electromagnetic energy and converts it to neural impulses for processing in the brain is known as the _____.

A) sclera
B) iris
C) retina
D) optic nerve

Question 25

When Carlos first jumped into the pool,he thought the water was very cold.Although the actual temperature of the pool remained constant,after a few minutes Carlos no longer complained about feeling cold.This change is his reaction to the temperature of the water is an example of _____.

A) sensory deprivation
B) a perceptual set
C) sensory adaptation
D) top-down processing

Question 26

The iris is the _____.

A) clear membrane just in front of the cornea through which light first passes
B) colored part of the eye that contains muscles that control the size of the pupil
C) white outer part of the eye that helps to maintain the shape of the eye and to protect it from injury
D) light-sensitive surface at the back of the eye that records what we see and converts it to neural impulses for processing in the brain

Question 27

The tiny area in the center of the retina that contains only cones is called the _____.

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

Question 28

_____ focuses on decision making about stimuli under conditions of uncertainty.

A) Parallel processing perspective
B) Trichromatic theory
C) Opponent-process theory
D) Signal detection theory

Question 29

A predisposition or readiness to perceive something in a particular way is known as _____.

A) selective attention
B) a perceptual set
C) the cocktail party effect
D) top-down processing

Question 30

Cones _____.

A) are receptors in the retina that are sensitive to light
B) are specialized receptor cells that enable us to see color
C) function best at night or under low illumination conditions
D) are concentrated in the blind spot

Question 31

The _____ is the colored part of the eye.

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

Question 32

The _____ is a transparent and somewhat flexible,disklike structure filled with a gelatin-like material.

A) retina
B) lens
C) optic nerve
D) fovea

Question 33

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

A) Optic chiasm
B) Rods
C) Periphery
D) Fovea

Question 34

The _____ is made up of axons of the ganglion cells,which carries visual information to the brain for further processing.

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

Question 35

The pupil is the _____.

A) white, outer part of the eye that helps to maintain the shape of the eye and to protect it from injury
B) colored part of the eye, which might be light blue in one individual and dark brown in another
C) opening in the center of the iris, which appears black
D) multilayered light-sensitive surface in the eye that records electromagnetic energy

Question 36

Rods and cones are located in the _____.

A) retina
B) lens
C) cornea
D) occipital lobe

Question 37

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) doesn't require the use of the pupil
D) doesn't require the retina

Question 38

What 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 theory
B) Multiple perceptual context theory
C) Signal detection theory
D) Weber's theory

Question 39

The major purpose of the sclera is to _____.

A) help maintain the shape of the eye and protect it from injury
B) control the size of the pupil
C) focus light on the retina
D) record what we see and convert it to neural impulses for processing in the brain

Question 40

As light enters the eye,eventually it reaches the light-sensitive _____ at the back of the eye.

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

Question 41

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) perceptual constancy
B) figure-ground
C) the Ponzo illusion
D) Gestalt closure

Question 42

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 43

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 44

The simultaneous distribution of sensory information across different neural pathways is called _____.

A) binding
B) bottom-up processing
C) top-down processing
D) parallel processing

Question 45

The _____ theory states that cells in the visual system respond to complementary pairs of red-green and blue-yellow colors; a given cell might be excited by red and inhibited by green,whereas another cell might be excited by yellow and inhibited by blue.

A) trichromatic
B) place
C) frequency
D) opponent-process

Question 46

In order to get a good idea of an object's depth,we rely on a number of binocular and monocular cues.Which of the following would be an example of a binocular cue?

A) Texture gradient
B) Convergence
C) Height in field of view
D) Shading

Question 47

The _____ is the area near the center of the retina where there are no rods and no cones.

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

Question 48

Which of the following theories of vision can best explain the occurrence of afterimages (i.e.,sensations that remain after a stimulus is removed)?

A) Trichromatic theory
B) Opponent-process theory
C) Frequency theory
D) Place theory

Question 49

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 50

_____ 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 51

Which of the following statements about research on color blindness is true?

A) Most individuals who are color-blind literally see the world in black and white. They are unable to perceive any colors other than black or white.
B) Color blindness is more common among women than among men.
C) The nature of color blindness depends on which of the three kinds of cones (green, red, and blue) is inoperative.
D) Research on color blindness does not support the trichromatic theory of vision.

Question 52

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) perception is a neurological process

Question 53

The _____ is the principle by which we organize the perceptual field into stimuli that stand out and those that are left over.

A) opponent-process theory
B) trichromatic theory
C) apparent movement
D) figure-ground relationship

Question 54

Perceptual constancy refers to 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) adjust to the amount of light in the room even if that requires light or dark adaptation.
D) see an object as the same size even though we move closer to it or farther from it.

Question 55

_____ depth vision cues depend on the combination of the images in the left and right eyes.

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

Question 56

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 57

The perception that a stationary object is moving is known as _____.

A) real movement
B) apparent movement
C) convergence
D) depth perception

Question 58

If we see a German shepherd standing thirty feet from us,we perceive that it is just as big as it was when it was much closer to us.This is primarily due to _____.

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

Question 59

Depth perception involves _____.

A) perceiving three dimensions
B) seeing in three colors
C) the pinna
D) the papillae

Question 60

The tendency for perceptions of objects to remain relatively unchanged in spite of changes in size,shape,and/or color is called _____.

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

Question 61

When one hears any sound,one's eardrum vibrates.These vibrations are then transferred to the inner ear by the hammer,anvil,and stirrup.These three bones are all located in the _____.

A) outer ear
B) middle ear
C) inner ear
D) marginal ear

Question 62

The cochlea is part of the _____.

A) pinnae
B) inner ear
C) middle ear
D) outer ear

Question 63

Which of the following is true of place theory?

A) Place theory states that the perception of a sound's frequency depends on how often the auditory nerve fires.
B) Place theory adequately explains low-frequency sounds but not high-frequency sounds.
C) Place theory states that color perception is produced by three types of cone receptors in the retina.
D) Place theory states that low-frequency vibrations maximally displace areas of the membrane closer to the tip of the cochlea.

Question 64

The eardrum is located in the _____.

A) auditory cortex
B) inner ear
C) middle ear
D) outer ear

Question 65

_____ best explains those high-frequency sounds (above 1,000 times per second).

A) A combination of frequency and place theory
B) Place theory
C) Decibel theory
D) A combination of opponent-process and trichromatic theory

Question 66

One criticism of place theory is that it _____.

A) adequately explains low-frequency sounds but not high-frequency sounds.
B) adequately explains high-frequency sounds but not low-frequency sounds.
C) doesn't explain findings from split-brain research.
D) can't explain the different functions of rods and cones.

Question 67

Which of the following is true of auditory processing in the brain?

A) Auditory information moves down the auditory pathway via electrochemical transmission in a less complex manner than does visual information in the visual pathway.
B) In the auditory system, information about sound moves from the auditory nerve to the hair cells of the inner ear.
C) Most of the auditory information from the left ear goes to the right side of the brain, but some also goes to the left side of the brain.
D) Many synapses occur in the ascending auditory pathway, with all fibers proceeding directly to the hemisphere on the same side as the ear of reception.

Question 68

The pitch of a sound is a function of the sound wave's _____,whereas the loudness of a sound is a function of the sound wave's _____.

A) frequency/amplitude
B) amplitude/frequency
C) decibel level/melodic waveform
D) melodic waveform/decibel level

Question 69

When sound waves enter the auditory canal,they first cause the _____.

A) eardrum to vibrate
B) oval window to move
C) cochlea to vibrate
D) hammer to vibrate

Question 70

The primary function of the _____ is to collect sounds and channel them into the inner ear.

A) cochlea
B) pinna
C) cilia
D) basilar membrane

Question 71

_____ is the perceptual interpretation of the frequency of a sound.

A) Amplitude
B) Loudness
C) Pitch
D) Sound wave

Question 72

Which of the following statements about cochlear implants is false?

A) A cochlear implant is a small electronic device that is surgically implanted in the ear and head.
B) Cochlear implants, like hearing aids, work by amplifying sound.
C) Cochlear implants stimulate whatever working auditory nerves the recipient has in his or her cochlea with electronic impulses.
D) Cochlear implants work best if they are inserted shortly after hearing loss.

Question 73

Place theory states that _____.

A) in vision, depth perception occurs because of a combination of binocular and monocular cues
B) in vision, color perception occurs because of different types of cones
C) in hearing, a cluster of neurons "volley" neural impulses in rapid succession.
D) in hearing, each frequency produces vibrations at a particular spot on the basilar membrane.

Question 74

The major function of the _____ is to amplify vibrations and pass them on to the inner ear.

A) pinnae
B) hammer, anvil, and stirrup
C) papillae
D) olfactory epithelium

Question 75

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

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

Question 76

Which of the following is the unit of measurement for assessing loudness?

A) Pitch
B) Saturation
C) Hue
D) Decibel

Question 77

When something warm touches your skin,you feel warmth.When something cold touches your skin,you feel coldness.If things both warm and cold touch your skin,stimulating adjacent thermoreceptors for warmth and cold,you will feel _____.

A) hotness
B) coldness
C) both hotness and coldness
D) neither hotness nor coldness

Question 78

Mark's ability to distinguish a trumpet and a trombone or his mother's voice from his sister's voice is due to the _____ of these stimuli.

A) pitch
B) amplitude
C) decibels
D) timbre

Question 79

You touch a baby's forehead and realize that he feels warm and must have a fever.What type of sensory receptors relayed information about your baby's temperature to your brain?

A) Thermoreceptors
B) Endorphins
C) Rods
D) Cones

Question 80

Which of the following is true of the nature of sound?

A) Loudness is the perceptual interpretation of the frequency of a sound.
B) Timbre is the amount of pressure the sound wave produces relative to a standard.
C) Frequency is the perception of the sound wave's amplitude.
D) Sound waves vary in frequency as well as in amplitude.