Deck 3: Perception

Question 1

You come home, and your house is a mess. The garbage is spilled all over the kitchen, there are rolls of toilet paper strewn about, and all of your decorative trinkets are broken on the floor, but nothing is missing. Your dog and cat are sitting calmly in the middle of the mess. According to the principle of Pragnanz, what would you assume caused the mess?

A) An earthquake
B) A robber
C) Your cat and dog
D) Your neighbor's child

Answer 1

Your cat and dog

Question 2

If you were to hold a pen in each hand, with one[ok or at?] 5 inches from your face and the other at arm's length, the one closer to your face will look larger, even though they are the same size. This is based on cues from _____.

A) The retinal image
B) Brain function
C) Top-down processing
D) A linear perspective

Answer 2

The retinal image

Question 3

You see a kitten's head poking out of a box. You assume that there is, in fact, an entire cat in the box even though you cannot see it. This is because of _____.

A) the cat being a proximal stimulus
B) top-down processing
C) the "where" pathway
D) the theory of unconscious inference

Answer 3

the theory of unconscious inference

Question 4

Which organizational principle of Gestalt perception would be responsible for our perception that a plane has continued along its flight path even though we can no longer see it?

A) Good continuation
B) Closure
C) Simplicity
D) Proximity

Question 5

Which scenario is an example of sensing, but not perceiving a stimulus?

A) The music playing in the background while you are studying
B) The argument you are having with your significant other while cooking dinner
C) The music you are singing along to while talking to a friend online
D) The painting you are working on while talking to your mother

Question 6

John suffered brain damage that caused deficits to his ability to recognize people he knows. What is likely damaged?

A) His sensation
B) His vision
C) His bottom-up processing
D) His top-down processing

Question 7

Choose the answer with the correct sequence of events.

A) Sense organ > receptor cell > nerve conduit > brain area
B) Receptor cell > sense organ > nerve conduit > brain area
C) Brain area > nerve conduit > sense organ > receptor cell
D) Nerve conduit > receptor cell > sense organ > brain area

Question 8

You are walking down the street in New York City, and you hear some loud bangs and feel a slight vibration under your feet. According to the likelihood principle, what would you assume caused the vibration?

A) An earthquake
B) A truck driving by
C) An underground volcano erupting
D) A car accident a block away

Question 9

You see a photo of someone jump-roping, with the rope behind them. Although it is possible that there are two different ropes since you cannot see the whole thing, you assume that the person is holding one continuous rope. This illustrates _____.

A) similiarity
B) good continuation
C) closure
D) simplicity

Question 10

In order to perceive your friend walking towards you, what are you sensing?

A) Their presence
B) Light waves
C) Air molecules
D) Anxiety

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT one of our sense organs?

A) Eyes
B) Skin
C) Nose
D) Stomach

Question 12

When the features of individual letters are combined to identify each letter, and then the letters are combined to identify a word, what does this illustrate?

A) Top-down processing
B) Bottom-up processing
C) A visual stimulus
D) Sensation

Question 13

Broca's area is located in the _____, while Wernicke's area is located in the _____.

A) left temporal lobe; left frontal lobe
B) right temporal lobe; right frontal lobe
C) left frontal lobe; left temporal lobe
D) right frontal lobe; right temporal lobe

Question 14

_____ help us estimate objects' size and distance to aid in our perception.

A) Neurons
B) Sensations
C) Stimuli
D) Cues

Question 15

What is an example of a sense organ?

A) Hair
B) Nails
C) Eyes
D) The brain

Question 16

_____ is a key component of Gestalt approaches to perception.

A) Top-down processing
B) Sensation
C) Bottom-up processing
D) The computational approach

Question 17

A stimulus in the environment is to _____ as a stimulus in our mind is to _____.

A) A distal stimulus; a proximal stimulus
B) Top-down processing; bottom-up processing
C) A proximal stimulus; a distal stimulus
D) Bottom-up processing; top-down processing

Question 18

When we use knowledge of objects to aid in our perception of them, we are using _____.

A) The "where" pathway
B) bottom-up processing
C) top-down processing
D) sensations

Question 19

Sound waves are to _____ as light waves are to _____.

A) hearing; vision
B) touch; vision
C) vision; hearing
D) touch; hearing

Question 20

A(n) _____ processes the sensations coming into each sense organ that allows us to understand and interpret the sensations we receive.

A) stimulus
B) sensory system
C) brain
D) environment

Question 21

Pomerantz and Portillo (2012) found that larger arrays of stimuli containing basic feature elements and more complex stimuli are easier to perceive than smaller basic arrays and stimuli. This is called _____.

A) The theory of unconscious inference
B) The configural superiority effect
C) The computational approach
D) Perception

Question 22

After an accident in which she suffered brain damage, Mary cannot detect the movement of a stimulus. Which area of her brain is likely damaged?

A) "when" pathway
B) visual cortex
C) "what" pathway
D) "where" pathway

Question 23

There is an area near the occipital lobe that has been shown to become[ok or be?]active when motion stimuli are perceived, and when the direction of an object's movement is accurately detected. This is known as the _____.

A) Visual cortex
B) "when" pathway
C) "where" pathway
D) "what" pathway

Question 24

An example of bottom-up processing is sensing a dog running towards you.

Question 25

A distal stimulus is to a proximal stimulus as the environment is to our mind.

Question 26

According to the principle of Pragnanz, we should perceive scenes as simply as possible.

Question 27

An example of top-down processing is sensing that a person is approaching you.

Question 28

When making a decision, we are likely to weigh all of the possible choices we could make. This is most similar to the concept of _____ in perception.

A) top-down processing
B) closure
C) proximity
D) affordances

Question 29

Top-down processing is a key component in Gestalt approaches to perception.

Question 30

Every stimulus sensed by your sense organs is consciously perceived.

Question 31

The ventral pathway is to _____ as the dorsal pathway is to _____.

A) What; where
B) Top-down processing; bottom-up processing
C) Where; what
D) Bottom-up processing; top-down processing

Question 32

An example of an affordance would be thinking that you can fly to class.

Question 33

You are waiting at a train crossing, and you notice how the "STOP" sign appears to blink in a way that the lights rotate around the words. Using the principle of _____, you rationalize that each light must turn on and off in a pattern, rather than one light travelling around the sign.

A) Pragnanz
B) closure
C) good continuation
D) similarity

Question 34

The _____ helps us detect the movement of stimuli.

A) "what" pathway
B) "where" pathway"
C) "when" pathway
D) The visual cortex

Question 35

The theory of unconscious inference is based on the use of cues such as linear perception and retinal image size in object perception.

Question 36

The dorsal pathway of the brain processes "where" information about the environment.

Question 37

The perception of _____ likely involves a combination of processes.

A) sound
B) motion
C) touch
D) smell

Question 38

Our skin is one of our sense organs.

Question 39

A neuropsychological discovery that provided support for the link between perception and action was the discovery of _____.

A) Top-down processing
B) The visual cortex
C) Mirror neurons
D) Perception

Question 40

You are in Times Square on New Year's Eve and are watching all of the giant screens. You detect "apparent" movement on these digital billboards, although what you actually perceive are light pixels flashing on and off or changes in color. This is known as _____.

A) The computational approach
B) Bottom-up processing
C) The phi phenomenon
D) Good continuation

Question 41

Using the ideas of top-down and bottom-up processing, describe a recent event in your life and how you used each of these processes throughout the event.

Question 42

Compare and contrast the dorsal stream and the ventral stream, giving an example of how each would be used in the everyday environment.

Question 43

List, define, and give an example of each of the 5 organizational principles of Gestalt perception discussed in your text.