Deck 4: C: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Grace visited an audiologist to have her hearing checked.During the test,the audiologist played tones of varying intensities.Grace was asked to raise her arm whenever she could detect (hear)the tone.During this test,the audiologist was testing Grace's

A)orienting response.
B)sound localization.
C)absolute threshold.
D)difference threshold.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

One reason sensory adaptation can be beneficial is that it allows us to

A)shift our focus to more important events.
B)detect visual stimuli in low-light conditions.
C)detect a stimulus 50% of the time.
D)convert external energy into nerve impulses.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In addition to the stimulus intensity,an individual's response is also impacted by many psychological factors.Researchers proposed the ____________ to study the perception of stimuli,while taking into consideration the judgement of the individual.

A)signal detection theory
B)difference threshold
C)absolute threshold
D)intensity theory

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The difference threshold is

A)the minimum amount of energy,or quantity of a stimulus,required for it to be reliably detected at least 50% of the time it is presented.
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 smallest amount of stimulation that can be detected after sensory adaptation.

Question 5

The ability to detect the external environment through our sensory systems is known as

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

Question 6

When first exposed to a stimulus,our sensory receptors tend to respond strongly.However,if the stimulus remains unchanged,the activity of the receptors tends to decrease.This process is called

A)selective attention.
B)top-down processing.
C)sensory adaptation.
D)transduction.

Question 7

The study of how physical energy such as light and sound and their intensities relate to psychological experience is called

A)psychophysics.
B)Gestalt psychology.
C)signal detection theory.
D)haptics.

Question 8

The lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50 percent of the time is the

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

Question 9

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

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

Question 10

When she walks 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)psychophysics.
D)a false alarm.

Question 11

When Bethany steps on her digital scale,a mechanism in it measures the physical pressure pushing down on the scale and converts it into an electrical signal that can be read by the scale.The conversion of the physical pressure on the scale caused by Bethany's weight into an electrical signal is similar to the process of

A)transduction.
B)bottom-up processing.
C)top-down processing.
D)perception.

Question 12

Sensation is to _______ as perception is to _______.

A)psychological;physical
B)detecting;interpreting
C)cognition;synthesizing
D)interpreting;detecting

Question 13

In a signal detection task,the participant says that she detected a signal and a signal was present.This is called a

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

Question 14

__________ involves the detection of energy,whereas __________ involves organizing and interpreting incoming neural signals.

A)Perception;sensation
B)Adaptation;perception
C)Sensation;perception
D)Sensation;adaptation

Question 15

Keegan notices that his favourite personal-sized bag of chips seems lighter than usual.He checks the label and finds that the bag contains 10g less than it used to.He decides instead to buy a family-sized bag of chips and doesn't notice that the family-sized bag is also 10g lighter.Keegan's inability to detect the difference in the larger bag demonstrates that

A)the just noticeable difference is not a reliable measure of psychophysiological judgment.
B)sensory adaptation can occur in the short time between holding one bag of chips and then the other.
C)difference thresholds are continually changing.
D)the larger a weight is,the greater the change must be before one can detect a difference.

Question 16

Reading words on a page and understanding their meaning is an example of

A)accommodation.
B)perception.
C)sensation.
D)sensory adaptation.

Question 17

The conversion of external energy into a neural signal is known as

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

Question 18

___________ could be generally defined as,"the more intense the original stimulus,the larger (proportionally)the difference must be for an individual to detect a change."

A)Weber's law
B)The absolute threshold
C)Psychophysics
D)Sensation

Question 19

A single eyelash lands on Neil's hand,but because the pressure is __________________,he does not notice it.

A)above the difference threshold
B)below the difference threshold
C)above the absolute threshold
D)below the absolute threshold

Question 20

___________ was developed to isolate separate measures of sensory experience and the decision process of the person being tested.

A)The absolute threshold
B)The difference threshold
C)Signal detection theory
D)Psychophysics

Question 21

Athena notices some coins on the table,clustered into a group of 6 and a group of 10.Athena perceives the coins as two "groups" rather than as one group of 16 coins.This is an example of the Gestalt law of

A)figure-ground.
B)similarity.
C)proximity.
D)closure.

Question 22

__________ is conceptually driven and influenced by our beliefs and expectations.

A)Bottom-up processing
B)Weber's law
C)Top-down processing
D)Sensory adaptation

Question 23

During a break from his job as a waiter,Bernardo 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)bottom-up processing.
D)selective attention.

Question 24

Which saying captures the principle emphasized by the Gestalt psychologists?

A)The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
B)Perception is a result of the integration of raw sensory information.
C)Perception is part sensory experience and part judgment.
D)All individuals perceive the world in their own way.

Question 25

In __________ processing,we construct a whole stimulus from its basic parts.

A)parallel
B)bottom-up
C)continuous
D)top-down

Question 26

The process of selecting one stimulus or task to focus on and ignoring or minimizing others is called

A)divided attention.
B)selective attention.
C)inattentional blindness.
D)perceptual adaptation.

Question 27

Failure to consciously perceive something you are looking at because your attention is directed elsewhere is called

A)sensory adaptation
B)selective attention
C)inattentional blindness
D)divided attention

Question 28

Ophelia often messages her friends and plans her weekend activities during her History lectures at school.Paying attention to more than one event at a time is known as __________ and has been shown to have negative effects on performance (e.g. ,on history tests).

A)selective attention
B)divided attention
C)sustained attention
D)inattentional blindness

Question 29

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

Question 30

As she watches her granddaughter's dance recital,Patty perceives two separate groups of dancers.Her granddaughter's group wears bright turquoise costumes with gold accents and the other group wears bright gold costumes with turquoise accents.Patty perceives the girls as belonging to two different groups due to the Gestalt principle of

A)proximity.
B)continuity.
C)similarity.
D)closure.

Question 31

Which of the following accurately describes how we perceive and interpret the world around us?

A)Perception is the direct result of external energy converted into neural signals.
B)Bottom-up processing incorporates prior experiences and expectations.
C)Top-down processing is the perception of individual units of sensory information.
D)Perception is a combination of both expectations and raw sensory information.

Question 32

Elements that share common features such as size,shape,or colour are viewed as a set.This defines which Gestalt law of organization?

A)figure-ground
B)similarity
C)proximity
D)closure

Question 33

Greg is a diagnostic cytologist (reviews cell samples from patients to detect cancer).Sometimes Greg makes a mistake and identifies a perfectly healthy sample as having signs of cancer.In signal detection theory,this type of mistake would be known as a

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

Question 34

As we listen to music,we often are more aware of the melody than the individual notes that comprise the melody.This auditory perception is compatible with the principles established by

A)psychometric psychologists.
B)Gestalt psychologists.
C)proponents of bottom-up processing
D)the signal detection theory.

Question 35

Miley is concerned that advertisers are using subliminal messages to make her buy their products.Based on the information in your textbook,what should you tell her?

A)You're right,subliminal messages are very powerful.
B)It's unclear;almost no research has been done on subliminal perception.
C)Don't worry;people cannot perceive subliminal stimuli at all.
D)There is little evidence that subliminal messages can be used to persuade people to do anything.

Question 36

In a signal detection task,the participant says that he didn't detect a signal but a signal was present.This is called a

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

Question 37

Which approach states that visual perception occurs in terms of whole objects rather than individual parts?

A)Psychometrics
B)Gestalt Psychology
C)Bottom-up processing
D)Continuity

Question 38

Akon 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 right up next to him.This is an example of

A)divided attention.
B)sustained attention.
C)sensory adaptation.
D)inattentional blindness.

Question 39

Shanice visits an art exhibit of abstract paintings.One painting is composed of seemingly random lines and shapes.However,because Shanice knows and expects that the painting is supposed to be a portrait,she perceives the various lines and shapes as forming a face.Which type of perceptual processing is Shanice most likely using?

A)Top-down
B)Parallel
C)Bottom-up
D)Sensory

Question 40

According to the ________________ principle,when we look at an image,we tend to perceive some parts as standing out and other parts as being part of the background.

A)figure-ground
B)closure
C)proximity
D)continuity

Question 41

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

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

Question 42

When light enters the eye,which structure does it pass through first?

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

Question 43

Light,a central player in our visual perception of the world,is a form of

A)chemical energy.
B)mechanical energy.
C)vibration.
D)electromagnetic energy.

Question 44

When Skye walks out of the theatre into the glare of the sun,her ___________ constrict to reduce the amount of light entering her eyes.

A)pupils
B)lenses
C)irises
D)foveas

Question 45

_____________ are sensitive to the different wavelengths of light,which is what allows us to detect colour.______________ do not detect colour,but can work under low light conditions.

A)Bipolar cells;Rods
B)Rods;Bipolar cells
C)Cones;Rods
D)Rods;Cones

Question 46

Which of the following is true of the fovea?

A)It contains the highest concentration of rods.
B)It contains the highest concentration of cones.
C)It contains no photoreceptors.
D)It is also known as the optic disc.

Question 47

Photoreceptors are located in the

A)lens.
B)optic disc.
C)optic nerve.
D)retina.

Question 48

The intensity of the reflected light that reaches our eyes is known as

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

Question 49

When light enters the eye and travels to the back of the retina,what is the order of the cells through which it passes?

A)ganglion cells,bipolar cells,photoreceptors
B)bipolar cells,ganglion cells,photoreceptors
C)photoreceptors,bipolar cells,ganglion cells
D)photoreceptors,ganglion cells,bipolar cells

Question 50

The lens

A)is the transparent outer membrane of the eye that covers the pupil and iris.
B)focuses light onto the retina.
C)contains a concentration of cone cells.
D)controls the amount of light entering the eye.

Question 51

In his love letter,Michael describes his girlfriend Rebecca's eyes as "a warm,green meadow." To which part of Rebecca's eyeball is Michael referring?

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

Question 52

Visual transduction begins in the

A)optic disc.
B)optic nerve.
C)ganglion cells.
D)photoreceptors.

Question 53

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 54

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

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

Question 55

The sclera is the

A)coloured part of the eye.
B)white,outer surface of the eye.
C)clear layer that covers the eye.
D)lining of specialized cells at the back of the eye.

Question 56

Visible light with a long wavelength and a low amplitude would be perceived as

A)reddish and dim
B)bluish and dim
C)reddish and bright
D)bluish and bright

Question 57

When scuba divers take red objects underwater,they appear to lose their colour,but this does not happen to bluish objects.This demonstrates that water filters out light waves that have

A)long wavelengths.
B)short wavelengths.
C)a high amplitude.
D)a low amplitude.

Question 58

Visible light with a short wavelength and a high amplitude would be perceived as

A)reddish and dim.
B)bluish and dim.
C)reddish and bright.
D)bluish and bright.

Question 59

The portion of the retina that contains a large proportion of cones is the

A)fovea.
B)optic disc.
C)optic nerve.
D)sclera.

Question 60

Interestingly,bees can detect ultraviolet light rays,which have ________ compared to visible light.

A)longer wavelengths
B)lower amplitude
C)shorter wavelengths
D)higher amplitude

Question 61

When we look at a white house,we can recognize it as a white house by day or night and from any angle.This is due to

A)the law of closure.
B)perceptual constancy.
C)the perception of relative size.
D)the law of continuity.

Question 62

Our ability to see objects as relatively stable and unchanging despite changing sensory information is called

A)the law of closure.
B)perceptual constancy.
C)the perception of relative size.
D)the law of continuity.

Question 63

Jan can see objects well when they are close,but they appear blurry from afar.The likely explanation for this issue is that

A)Jan is focusing the objects on her blind spot.
B)Jan is nearsighted.
C)Jan is farsighted.
D)Jan is developing a cataract.

Question 64

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

A)dark transduction.
B)light adaptation.
C)dark adaptation.
D)sensory adaptation.

Question 65

Stewart is sitting in his office,which is lit with a bluish neon light,eating a red apple.Even though the apple is bathed in bluish light,he continues to perceive it as red.This illustrates

A)the trichromatic theory.
B)colour continuity.
C)the opponent-process theory.
D)colour constancy.

Question 66

People with normal vision will perceive a door as a rectangle whether they view it when it is fully closed or partially open,as long as the door is,in fact,a rectangle.This is an example of

A)shape constancy.
B)size constancy.
C)closure.
D)continuity.

Question 67

Visual information is sent to a part of the thalamus called the

A)LGN.
B)MLN.
C)MGN.
D)LMN.

Question 68

Which is the correct order of structures as visual information travels through the brain?

A)LGN;optic chiasm;occipital lobe
B)optic chiasm;occipital lobe;LGN
C)LGN;occipital lobe;optic chiasm
D)optic chiasm;LGN;occipital lobe

Question 69

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 is likely suffering from severe retinal degeneration.
B)She is experiencing sensory adaptation.
C)No photoreceptors are located where the optic nerve leaves the eye.
D)She has likely suffered damage to her occipital cortex.

Question 70

The ventral stream of the visual pathway extends from the ______________,while the dorsal stream extends from the _____________.

A)visual cortex to the temporal lobe;visual cortex to the parietal lobe
B)visual cortex to the parietal lobe;visual cortex to the temporal lobe
C)optic chiasm to the LGN;visual cortex to the LGN
D)visual cortex to the LGN;optic chiasm to the LGN

Question 71

Feature detection cells in the visual cortex respond selectively to features such as

A)colour and brightness.
B)size and distance.
C)angles and edges.
D)facial features.

Question 72

Why are we normally unaware of the blind spot in our vision?

A)Light does not normally fall on the blind spot.
B)Our brains "fill in" the missing visual information for us.
C)Despite the name,the blind spot does not actually prevent light in our visual field from being detected.
D)The blind spot is only an issue in very low light conditions.

Question 73

Visual information is sent from both eyes to both hemispheres in the brain.Half of the information remains on the same side (e.g. ,right eye,right hemisphere),while the other half crosses to the contralateral hemisphere at the

A)optic disc
B)optic chiasm
C)lateral geniculate nucleus
D)visual cortex

Question 74

Tyrone has good vision and can easily recognize common objects.However,he often relies on the sound of voices,rather than facial appearance,to be certain he is talking to one of his friends or family.Tyrone suffers from a rare disease called

A)face pareidolia.
B)prosopagnosia.
C)perceptual constancy deficit.
D)fusiform degredation.

Question 75

Prosopagnosia is defined as

A)difficulty seeing objects at a distance.
B)difficulty seeing objects up close.
C)the inability to perceive depth.
D)the inability to recognize faces.

Question 76

The ______________ carries sensory information from the retina to the brain areas where visual perception will occur.

A)fovea
B)layer of photoreceptors
C)optic nerve
D)optic disc

Question 77

Duncan is trying to find a constellation of dim stars in the night sky.You recommend that he not to look directly at the stars.By using this approach,the light will fall ________ and on the part of the retina that has a higher concentration of _______,which are better at detecting dim light.

A)directly on the fovea;rods
B)directly on the fovea;cones
C)away from the fovea;cones
D)away from the fovea;rods

Question 78

The optic nerve creates the _______,an area of the retina that contains no photoreceptors.

A)fovea
B)sclera
C)optic disc
D)optic tract

Question 79

Sun watches as his wife Tamara walks toward the house.Even though Tamara fills more and more of Sun's visual field as she approaches,she does not appear to be growing larger as she moves closer towards Sun.This illustrates

A)relative size.
B)size constancy.
C)height in plane.
D)linear perspective.

Question 80

The processing of visual information occurs in two separate streams in the brain.The ventral stream is responsible for _________ ,while the dorsal stream is responsible for ________________.

A)object recognition;depth and movement perception
B)depth and movement perception;object recognition
C)colour perception;control of eye movements
D)control of eye movements;colour perception