Deck 4: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Which of the following do researchers use to study how our brains 'fill in the gaps' to create a complete perception?

A) illusions
B) pixels
C) PET scans
D) blind spots

Answer 1

illusions

Question 2

Which of the following terms applies to the activation of receptors by a stimulus?

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

Answer 2

sensation.

Question 3

Jamica is participating in a psychology experiment and has been placed in a room that is pitch black. The researcher repeatedly asks Jamica to indicate whether or not she has seen a light stimulus. The researcher is testing Jamica's

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

Answer 3

absolute threshold.

Question 4

The ability to detect physical energy through our visual or touch systems is known as

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

Question 5

Which field of study focuses on how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics.

A) Perception
B) Signal Detection Theory
C) Neuroscience
D) Psychophysics

Question 6

The perceptual process of filling-in is guided by

A) preconceived notions and past experience.
B) activation of neuronal patterns specific to an object.
C) the process of transduction in any sense.
D) the raw sensory data that is received in the sense organs.

Question 7

If you notice that something smells disgusting, then that is an example of _________

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

Question 8

Cells that are triggered by light, vibrations, sounds, touch, or chemical substances are called

A) ganglion cells.
B) bipolar cells.
C) ossicles.
D) sense receptors.

Question 9

Activation of our sense receptors is greatest when

A) we are prepared to detect a stimulus.
B) we notice that the stimulus has been turned off.
C) we stop noticing a constant stimulus is present.
D) we first detect the presence of a stimulus.

Question 10

Sounds that we hear are converted into electrical signals in neurons through a process called

A) sensory adaptation.
B) psychophysics.
C) transduction.
D) signal detection.

Question 11

When you first put your hat on you can feel it quite easily, but after a while you forget that you are wearing a hat at all-the sensation is gone. What happened?

A) Sensory fatigue
B) Subliminal perception
C) Sensory adaptation
D) Perceptual defence

Question 12

What are the raw data of experience, caused by the activation of certain receptors located in sensory organs?

A) Accommodations
B) Perceptions
C) Transductions
D) Sensations

Question 13

Which of the following is conceptually similar to the process of transduction?

A) Hearing a story from a friend and phoning up another friend to tell them the same story
B) Reading something in one language and translating it to another language so that your friend can read it
C) Taking a picture of a funny sign that you saw on a road trip
D) Forgetting that your sunglasses are on your face because you have been wearing them so long

Question 14

In the process known as __________, sensory receptors become less sensitive to repeated presentations of the same stimulus.

A) sensory fatigue
B) subliminal perception
C) sensory adaptation
D) perceptual defence

Question 15

The conversion of external energy into something that the nervous system can understand is known as

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

Question 16

As the number of people talking in a room increases, the stimulus intensity needed to detect a change in the number of people talking becomes

A) larger.
B) smaller.
C) same.
D) finer.

Question 17

What is the term for the specialized cells that transduce external stimuli into neural signals?

A) just noticeable differences (JNDs)
B) sense receptors
C) perceptors
D) synesthesia

Question 18

Zach and David decide to go exploring the forest behind their farm on a cold December day. They felt very cold when they initially got outdoors. However, they felt warmer five minutes later, despite having not done anything to warm themselves. This phenomenon is known as

A) sensory interaction.
B) sensory illusion.
C) transduction.
D) sensory adaptation.

Question 19

The process by which unchanging information from the senses is "ignored" by the sensory receptor cells is called

A) sensory fatigue.
B) subliminal perception.
C) sensory adaptation.
D) perceptual defence.

Question 20

The belief that our sensory systems are infallible and that our perceptions are perfect representations of the world around us is called

A) pixilation.
B) perceptionism.
C) naive realism.
D) sensory adaptation.

Question 21

The McGurk effect and the rubber hand illusion are examples of ________________ which demonstrate that we can integrate visual information into our other perceptions.

A) sensory transduction.
B) the doctrine of specific nerve energies.
C) false positives
D) cross-modal processing

Question 22

Which of the following is consistent with the doctrine of specific nerve energies?

A) The sensation we experience is determined by the sense receptor, not the stimulus.
B) Our brain responds differently when either light or touch activate sense receptors in our eyes.
C) Distinct stimulus energies (e.g., light, sound) cause different sensations in the same sense receptor.
D) Specific nerve energies involve processing in sense receptors but have no links to cortical pathways.

Question 23

The frequency of true positives, false negatives, false positives, and true negatives allow us to determine if participants have

A) the correct signal-to-noise ratio.
B) any response biases.
C) detected a just noticeable difference.
D) an absolute threshold for the stimulus.

Question 24

Sometimes when you are expecting a text message, you think that you feel the buzz of your phone but when you check it there is no message waiting. This is an example of a __________ according to signal detection theory.

A) true positive
B) false positive
C) false negative
D) true negative

Question 25

During a hearing test, the doctor presented a series of tones to Ann through earphones. The tones were all identical, but varied from quiet to loud. The doctor asked Ann to raise her hand whenever she started to hear a sound. The doctor was testing Ann's

A) specific nerve energies.
B) absolute threshold.
C) pitch perception.
D) signal detection theory.

Question 26

Which of the following is an example of cross-modal processing?

A) the rubber hand illusion
B) transduction
C) Weber's law
D) inattentional blindness

Question 27

According to signal detection theory, a __________ is when a stimulus is present but the participant indicates that it was absent.

A) true positive
B) false negative
C) false positive
D) true negative

Question 28

According to signal detection theory, a __________ is when a stimulus is absent, but the participant indicates that it was present.

A) true positive
B) false negative
C) false positive
D) true negative

Question 29

If you want to know the minimum amount of perfume that you can detect in a room, then you want to know the

A) absolute threshold.
B) range threshold.
C) difference threshold.
D) noticeable threshold.

Question 30

If you want to determine how loud your music can be before your roommate can detect it, then you need to establish your roommate's

A) absolute threshold.
B) range threshold.
C) difference threshold.
D) noticeable threshold.

Question 31

When you rub your eyes, you can 'see' phosphenes that look like sparks. This phenomenon provides support for which of the following?

A) Weber's law
B) signal detection theory
C) doctrine of specific nerve energies
D) synesthesias

Question 32

The lowest stimulus intensity required for detection is the __________, and the smallest change in stimulus intensity that we can detect is the __________.

A) absolute threshold; just noticeable difference
B) base value; just noticeable difference
C) response criterion; sensory constant
D) difference threshold; absolute threshold

Question 33

Julian is getting his eyes tested, and the doctor asks him to indicate when the image on the screen gets brighter or darker than it was previously. The doctor is trying to determine Julian's

A) absolute threshold.
B) adaptation threshold.
C) just noticeable difference.
D) signal detection.

Question 34

Hearing the audio track of one syllable (such as "ba") spoken repeatedly while seeing a video track of a different syllable being spoken (such as "ga") produces the perceptual experience of a different third sound (such as "da"). This is an example of

A) the McGurk effect.
B) the just noticeable difference.
C) signal detection.
D) the doctrine of specific nerve energies.

Question 35

The principle that the just noticeable difference of any given sense is a constant fraction or proportion of the stimulus intensity being judged is called

A) the opponent process principle.
B) the doctrine of specific nerve energies.
C) the phi phenomenon.
D) Weber's law.

Question 36

Alicia is talking on her cell phone to her friend Maya. If Maya is in a crowded subway terminal, Alicia finds that she has to nearly shout for Maya to be able to hear her. However, when Maya is in a meadow on her grandparents' farm she can easily tell what Alicia is watching on TV as they talk. This is one illustration of

A) the just noticeable difference.
B) transduction.
C) absolute threshold.
D) signal-to-noise ratio.

Question 37

The point at which a person can detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time it is presented is called the

A) absolute threshold.
B) range threshold.
C) difference threshold.
D) noticeable threshold.

Question 38

When you check your phone, you find that you have several messages. For some reason you didn't notice the sound or vibrations when the messages came in, even though you were waiting for your friends to contact you. According to signal detection theory, your failure to notice the sound or vibration is a

A) true positive
B) false positive
C) false negative
D) true negative

Question 39

Weber's law provides a formulation that is used to determine the

A) largest detectable stimulus.
B) smallest detectable stimulus.
C) largest detectable difference between two stimuli.
D) smallest detectable difference between two stimuli.

Question 40

Casey is participating in a psychology experiment where he is asked to indicate whether he heard a sound or did not hear a sound on successive testing trials. If Casey says he did not hear a sound, and no sound was presented, his response would be considered a __________ according to signal detection theory.

A) true positive
B) false positive
C) false negative
D) true negative

Question 41

The colour of light is what psychologists call

A) brightness.
B) hue.
C) timbre.
D) synesthesia.

Question 42

Airplane pilots who fail to notice the presence of another plane taxiing across the runway as they are preparing to land are experiencing a phenomenon called

A) visual agnosia.
B) shape constancy.
C) change blindness.
D) the binding problem.

Question 43

Clay has played professional soccer for seven years and is easily able to tune out the sound of the crowd and all other irrelevant sensory information during the game. Bruce is a rookie and is often distracted by what his opponents are saying and the mood of the crowd. Clay and Bruce are showing differing levels of

A) selective attention.
B) parallel processing.
C) absolute thresholds.
D) top-down processing.

Question 44

Some animals can see colours that humans cannot see. Which of the following determines that ability?

A) the reflectance of the stimulus
B) the visible spectrum of light
C) the number of rods on the retina
D) subtractive colour mixing

Question 45

Some people perceive sounds to have colours, or numbers to have locations. This type of cross-modal experience is called

A) the McGurk effect.
B) synesthesia.
C) parallel processing.
D) colour constancy.

Question 46

The cocktail party effect and results from dichotic listening tasks have revealed interesting information about selective attention. Which of the following is an accurate conclusion based on these results?

A) Information we have filtered out of our attention is still being processed at some unconscious level.
B) Individual pathways of sense receptors are not cross-modal in their processing.
C) Selective attention only allows us to process one channel of input at a time.
D) We constantly engage in dichotic listening and attend to all messages equally.

Question 47

When Georgina reads, letters and words take on personality characteristics, such as shy and sweet. Which of the following terms is used for this altered perception?

A) Synesthesia
B) Inattentional blindness
C) Dyslexia
D) McGurk Effect

Question 48

The magic trick known as 'the vanishing ball' has been studied by psychologists, and helps us to understand how this particular illusion depends upon

A) our mental predictions and expectancies.
B) shape constancy.
C) inattentional blindness.
D) perceptual sets.

Question 49

Researchers don't entirely understand how our complete perceptions of the world occur. Different aspects of perception happen in different parts of the brain, and at different speeds, but our experience seems smooth and complete. Which of the following terms is used to describe this 'mystery'?

A) illusion.
B) Gestalt principles.
C) inattentional blindness.
D) the binding problem.

Question 50

If you wanted to test whether someone could pay attention to two different conversations at one time, which of the following tasks would be most useful?

A) parallel processing
B) dichotic listening
C) Ames room
D) ergonomics

Question 51

According to Donald Broadbent's research using dichotic listening tasks, selective attention acts as a

A) trapdoor.
B) safety net.
C) key.
D) filter.

Question 52

Which of the following is an example of inattentional blindness?

A) Hearing two different messages delivered to the right and left ears and being asked to repeat one of those messages and ignore the other
B) Failing to notice a man in a lobster costume skate across the ice at a hockey game because you are busy watching the puck
C) Different brain regions are responsible for processing aspects of a single stimulus. If one region incorrectly processes a stimulus, we are blind to what the stimulus is.
D) Reading through your textbook and, realizing that you don't remember what you just read

Question 53

Which of the following is an example of how selective visual attention can lead us to miss important information?

A) The cocktail party effect
B) Synesthesia
C) Colour blindness
D) Change blindness

Question 54

Which of the following colours is associated with the middle of the human visible spectrum?

A) Red
B) Violet
C) Green
D) Ultraviolet

Question 55

__________ relates to our understanding of how our brains combine different pieces of our perception into a unified whole.

A) Inattentional blindness
B) Shape constancy
C) Change blindness
D) The binding problem

Question 56

Savannah is talking to a group of her friends. She is paying attention to their conversation, but she shifts her attention suddenly when she hears her name in the conversation at a nearby table. Which of the following best describes Savannah's experience?

A) Dichotic listening
B) Selective attention
C) Cocktail party effect
D) Shadowing

Question 57

Which of the following colours is associated with the shortest wavelengths of light?

A) red
B) violet
C) green
D) yellow

Question 58

Alice went to the local coffee shop and ordered her usual drink, before sitting down to read her book. She didn't realize that a group of her friends were sitting at a table with a giant sign that said "Happy Birthday Alice!" even though she walked right past their table. They had to actually tap her on the shoulder before she noticed them. This is an example of

A) inattentional blindness.
B) shape constancy.
C) change blindness.
D) the binding problem.

Question 59

Which of the following colours is associated with the longest wavelengths of light?

A) red
B) violet
C) green
D) yellow

Question 60

Sarah is a pianist who reports that she hears musical tones as colours. This is one example of

A) the Ponzo illusion.
B) synesthesia.
C) binocular cues.
D) the Ganzfield effect.

Question 61

When we describe eyes as blue, brown, or hazel, we are referring to the colour of the

A) irises.
B) pupils.
C) corneas.
D) scleras.

Question 62

As we age, we are more likely to need glasses because

A) the lens loses its flexibility.
B) of damage to our retinas.
C) the retina can no longer accommodate subtle changes in light.
D) of damage to our corneas.

Question 63

The aspect of colour that corresponds to names such as red, green, and blue is

A) brightness.
B) saturation.
C) hue.
D) fine detail.

Question 64

The clear, transparent protective coating over the front part of the eye is the

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

Question 65

The change in the shape of the lens in order to focus on a visual image is known as

A) fixation.
B) divergence.
C) convergence.
D) accommodation.

Question 66

What structure is on the outside of the eye, covering the pupil and iris?

A) Sclera
B) Cornea
C) Fovea
D) Lens

Question 67

Nearsightedness, also known as __________, results when images are focused __________ the retina.

A) hyperopia; in front of
B) myopia; in front of
C) hyperopia; behind
D) myopia; behind

Question 68

Mixing equal amounts of red, green, and blue produces white light in

A) subtractive colour mixing.
B) the visual spectrum.
C) prismatic refraction.
D) additive colour mixing.

Question 69

Following the process of accommodation, a fat lens would allow you to focus on __________ objects, whereas a flat lens would allow you to focus on __________ objects.

A) distant; nearby
B) nearby; distant
C) distant; distant
D) nearby; nearby

Question 70

Tracey has trouble reading her textbooks that are right in front of her, and James has trouble reading the board at the front of his classrooms. Based on this information, it is likely that Tracey has __________ and James has __________.

A) hyperopia; myopia
B) myopia; hyperopia
C) antiacuity; retinal fatigue
D) retinal fatigue; antiacuity

Question 71

Some objects appear brighter than others. Which of the following determines the brightness of an object?

A) The visible spectrum of light
B) How much light is reflected by the object
C) Whether the colour mixing is additive or subtractive
D) The colour of the iris

Question 72

What is the pupil of the eye?

A) It is the white part of the eye.
B) It is the coloured part of the eye.
C) It is the location of the visual receptors.
D) It is the small opening that lets light into the eye.

Question 73

The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the

A) pupil.
B) lens.
C) sclera.
D) cornea.

Question 74

Which of the following examples would result in a pupillary reflex?

A) Danille has dropped Belladonna juice into her eyes
B) Kristine is concentrating hard on a math problem.
C) Janelle walks outside into the bright sunlight
D) Tanya is talking to someone that she thinks is very attractive

Question 75

Which part of the eye is a muscle that regulates the size of the pupil?

A) Iris
B) Lens
C) Sclera
D) Cornea

Question 76

What part of the eye is typically white?

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

Question 77

The coloured part of the eye that contains muscles to contract or expand the pupil is the

A) iris.
B) lens.
C) sclera.
D) cornea.

Question 78

Which of the following terms is associated with age-related changes in vision, which is why few first-graders need eyeglasses, whereas most senior citizens do?

A) Hyperopia
B) Myopia
C) Presbyopia
D) Accommodation

Question 79

What structure is responsible for focusing light toward the back of the eye?

A) Fovea
B) Retina
C) Lens
D) Cornea

Question 80

The lenses in your eye change shape to focus on objects near or far away in a process called

A) saturation.
B) accommodation.
C) transduction.
D) the pupillary reflex.