Deck 6: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Sarah says that certain colors make her experience different smells.For example,she says that the color purple smells like a rose to her.Sarah is displaying the symptoms of

A)parapsychology.
B)synesthesia.
C)sensation pruning.
D)functional sensation.

Answer 1

synesthesia.

Question 2

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)difference threshold.
C)range threshold.
D)noticeable threshold.

Answer 2

absolute threshold.

Question 3

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)specific nerve energy.
D)functional encoding.

Answer 3

perception.

Question 4

Sensation is

A)the organization of stimuli to create meaningful patterns.
B)the stimulation of the senses.
C)the presence of sensory cell activity in the absence of external stimulation.
D)the result of activity in the efferent nervous system.

Question 5

_______ studies the relationship between physical energies and psychological experiences.

A)Physiology
B)Psychophysics
C)Psychometrics
D)Psychopathology

Question 6

Artist Wassily Kandinsky famously associated certain sounds with specific colors,and this was reflected in his painting.This has led some researchers to speculate that Kandinsky may have

A)had a condition called synesthesia.
B)experienced sensory adaptation.
C)been susceptible to negative afterimages.
D)experienced sensory overload.

Question 7

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

Question 8

The doctrine of specific nerve energies states that

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

Question 9

"Detecting environmental stimulation" is one way to define

A)perception.
B)feeling.
C)sensation.
D)awareness.

Question 10

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

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

Question 11

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

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

Question 12

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

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

Question 13

The term "just noticeable difference" is loosely synonymous with

A)separation threshold.
B)difference threshold.
C)response threshold.
D)absolute threshold.

Question 14

Sense receptors convert the energy of the stimulus to ______________ that travel along nerves to the brain.

A)chemical changes
B)visual signals
C)electrical impulses
D)vibrations

Question 15

__________ is likely the mechanism that allows us to distinguish between variations of experiences within a particular sense,such as the sight of pink versus red.

A)Functional encoding
B)Anatomical encoding
C)Difference thresholds
D)Absolute thresholds

Question 16

Sensation is to _______ as perception is to _______.

A)psychological;physical
B)gathering;understanding
C)understanding;gathering
D)interpreting;detecting

Question 17

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

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

Question 18

_______________ 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)Anatomical
C)Functional
D)Utilitarian

Question 19

Our ________ enable us to make sense of the sensations that we are continually experiencing.

A)sensory organs
B)motor abilities
C)perceptual abilities
D)sensory abilities

Question 20

Sense receptors for vision,hearing,and taste are

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

Question 21

Although the human senses are very sensitive

A)they do not allow us to easily detect differences in intensity.
B)they respond only to a narrow band of physical energy.
C)there is no scientific way to measure exactly how sensitive they are.
D)their jnd is low.

Question 22

_______ theory was developed to isolate separate measures of sensory sensitivity and decision criteria used.

A)Method of limits
B)Method adjustment
C)Signal-detection
D)Method of constant stimuli

Question 23

Keegan notices that his favorite 55-cent candy bar seems lighter than usual and so he checks the label and finds that it is lighter by ½ ounce.He decides to buy a larger candy bar instead and doesn't notice that the 99-cent candy bar also is lighter than it used to be by ½ ounce.Keegan's behavior 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)jnds are unpredictable because sometimes he can and sometimes he can't detect a ½-ounce change.
D)the larger a weight is,the greater the change must be before one can detect a difference.

Question 24

Too much stimulation can be bad for you because it can lead to

A)bizarre visions.
B)fatigue and mental confusion.
C)auditory hallucinations.
D)reckless impulsivity.

Question 25

At the orientation for first-year students,April felt overwhelmed by the number of people,the multiple conversations,and the forms that needed to be completed.April is experiencing

A)sensory overload.
B)her just noticeable difference.
C)sensory adaptation.
D)sensory deprivation.

Question 26

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

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

Question 27

When Ann went to her doctor,he gave her a hearing test.During the test,the doctor presented tones to Ann through earphones.The tones varied only along the loud-soft dimensions (from very loud to very soft).The doctor asked Ann to raise her hand whenever she heard a sound.The doctor was testing Ann's

A)auditory convergence.
B)refractory threshold.
C)absolute threshold.
D)difference threshold.

Question 28

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

Question 29

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

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

Question 30

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

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

Question 31

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

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

Question 32

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

Question 33

The absence of normal levels of sensory stimulation is called

A)sensory adaptation.
B)sensory deprivation.
C)retinal disparity.
D)perceptual constancy.

Question 34

When she goes into her mother's kitchen,Amelia doesn't know how long she will be able to stay in the room because of the overpowering smell of onions.But when her sister comes home an hour later and complains about the smell,Amelia realizes that she no longer smells the onions at all.This is an example of

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

Question 35

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 likely due to

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

Question 36

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

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

Question 37

The difference threshold is

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

Question 38

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

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

Question 39

Studies have shown that

A)humans are sensitive to almost the entire range of electromagnetic energy.
B)humans can hear sounds that are two octaves beyond the range of bats.
C)humans are one of the few species that can see ultraviolet light.
D)humans can see a candle flame on a clear,dark night from 30 miles away.

Question 40

As she studies in the library,Beatrice is not aware of the constant pressure of her watchband on her wrist.This is likely due to

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

Question 41

The complexity of light is related to our perception of

A)hue.
B)brightness.
C)saturation.
D)threshold.

Question 42

During a break from his job as a waiter,Barnardo begins to read Hamlet and is so engrossed in the play that he fails to notice the clattering of dishes all around him.This is an example of

A)feature detection.
B)absolute threshold.
C)sensory deprivation.
D)selective attention.

Question 43

The wavelength of the light to reach your eyes determines what __________ you see.

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

Question 44

Failure to consciously perceive something you are looking at because you are not attending to it is called

A)sensory overload.
B)selective attention.
C)inattentional blindness.
D)sensory deprivation.

Question 45

Which of the following statements is true about white light?

A)It is completely saturated and pure.
B)It is a psychological dimension of vision.
C)It is completely unsaturated.
D)It is produced by shorter light waves.

Question 46

The _______________ protects the eye and bends incoming light rays toward a lens located behind it.

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

Question 47

Neural tissue lining the back of the eyeball's interior,which contains the receptors for vision,is called the

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

Question 48

Freddy is looking for his girlfriend in a large crowd of people.Because he is so focused on finding her,he fails to notice when a man in a clown costume walks by,despite looking directly at him.This is an example of

A)a feature detection failure.
B)sensory overload.
C)sensory adaptation.
D)inattentional blindness.

Question 49

When you enter a dim room,the _______________ widens to let more light in.

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

Question 50

The capacity for _______________ protects us in daily life from being overwhelmed by all the sensory signals impinging on our receptors.

A)sensory deprivation
B)selective attention
C)signal detection
D)anatomical encoding

Question 51

The pupil is the

A)opening in the center of the iris.
B)colored part of the eye.
C)white of the eye.
D)lining in the back of the eyeball.

Question 52

Light is focused on the retina by the

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

Question 53

The lens

A)is the transparent outer membrane of the eye that covers the pupil and iris.
B)allows one to focus on objects at different distances.
C)allows light initially to enter the eye.
D)controls the amount of light entering the eye.

Question 54

For humans,the ability to _______ is probably the most important sense.

A)hear
B)taste
C)see
D)smell

Question 55

Which of the following is the correct order in which light passes through the structures of the eye?

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

Question 56

When Brett walks out of the theater into the glare of the sun,his _______________ gets smaller to let less light in.

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

Question 57

The colored part of the eye which contains muscles to contract or expand the pupil is the

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

Question 58

Research on rods and cones has revealed that

A)the fovea contains a mixture of about 75 percent rods and 25 percent cones.
B)there are about 120 to 125 million rods and about 7 or 8 million cones in the retina.
C)the outer edges of the retina,which are responsible for peripheral vision,contain only cones.
D)rods are more effective than cones in distinguishing different wavelengths of light.

Question 59

The intensity of light is related to our perception of

A)hue.
B)brightness.
C)saturation.
D)threshold.

Question 60

The ability to focus on some parts of the environment and block out others is referred to as

A)sensory deprivation.
B)selective attention.
C)sensory overload.
D)inattentional blindness.

Question 61

The optic nerve is formed of

A)ganglion cell dendrites.
B)ganglion cell axons.
C)bipolar cell dendrites.
D)bipolar cell axons.

Question 62

Ganglion cells and neurons in the _______________ respond to simple features of the environment such as light and dark.

A)thalamus
B)amygdala
C)reticular activating system
D)medulla

Question 63

In humans,some cells in the _______________ lobe respond maximally to faces.

A)right temporal
B)frontal
C)left parietal
D)occipital

Question 64

The opponent-process theory of color vision

A)looks at how neurons code color information.
B)looks at the way cones respond to different colors.
C)looks at the way rods respond to different colors.
D)compares color processing in the fovea versus the periphery of the retina.

Question 65

The trichromatic theory states that

A)the visual system treats triads of color as antagonistic to each other.
B)three types of color feature detectors in the visual cortex are responsible for color perception.
C)three types of cones exist,each sensitive to a certain range of wavelengths.
D)species that detect ultraviolet light perceive three colors that are outside of the range of humans.

Question 66

Rods and cones are found in the

A)retina.
B)iris.
C)optic nerve.
D)cornea.

Question 67

Sandra stares for about 30 seconds at a green square.After 30 seconds,she looks at a white sheet of paper.What will she "see"?

A)a red square
B)a blue square
C)a yellow square
D)a green square

Question 68

What structure in your eye is most like the film in a camera?

A)the retina
B)the lens
C)the cornea
D)the pupil

Question 69

Which type of receptor cell is associated with seeing colors?

A)ganglia
B)bipolar
C)rods
D)cones

Question 70

Figure-ground is to _______ as dream interpretation is to psychoanalysis.

A)structuralism
B)functionalism
C)Gestalt
D)humanism

Question 71

The eyes convert light energy into neural responses that we experience as sight.The conversion of light energy into sight is done by receptor cells in the

A)iris.
B)pupil.
C)blind spot.
D)retina.

Question 72

Light receptors that see best at night are the

A)foveae.
B)cones.
C)shafts.
D)rods.

Question 73

Peggy cannot see a very dim star as she is looking straight up at it,but she can see it from the corner of her eye.Peggy's vision is most likely

A)typical,based on our understanding of peripheral vision.
B)typical,because of the blind spot where the optic nerve leaves the eye.
C)unusual,because foveal vision is more light sensitive than peripheral vision.
D)unusual,because this is a pattern shown by those who are color blind.

Question 74

Hubel and Wiesel identified neurons in the visual cortex that responded to lines at a particular orientation.These cells are referred to as

A)feature detectors.
B)line cells.
C)pattern-sensitive neurons.
D)Hubel-Wiesel cells.

Question 75

The process by which rods and cones become more sensitive to light in response to lowered levels of illumination is called

A)afterimage resolution.
B)light adaptation.
C)dark adaptation.
D)afterimage adaptation.

Question 76

The _______________ belonged to a movement that began in Germany and was influential in the 1920s and 1930s.They were among the first to study how people organize the world visually into meaningful units and patterns.

A)Gestalt psychologists
B)structuralists
C)behaviorists
D)functionalists

Question 77

Although she is normally not aware of its existence,Ingrid discovers that she has a blind spot in her vision by closing one eye and focusing on a fixed point.What explains why Ingrid has this blind spot in her vision?

A)She suffers from retinal degeneration.
B)She is experiencing sensory adaptation.
C)No photoreceptors are located where the optic nerve leaves the eye.
D)There is insufficient light to activate her rods.

Question 78

Rods and cones are connected to

A)optic neurons.
B)bipolar neurons.
C)interneurons.
D)efferent neurons.

Question 79

The trichromatic theory explains

A)the first level of color processing that occurs in the retina.
B)the second level of color processing that occurs in the ganglion cells.
C)the third level of color processing that occurs in the thalamus.
D)the fourth level of color processing that occurs in the visual cortex.

Question 80

The most common form of color blindness is

A)blue-yellow color blindness.
B)red-blue color blindness.
C)red-green color blindness.
D)total color blindness.