Deck 17: A: Basic Principles of Sensation and Perception

Question 1

Experiencing an apple as being red is to ________ as recognizing an apple as being a fruit is to ________.

A) absolute threshold; difference threshold
B) accommodation; feature detection
C) sensation; perception
D) feature detection; difference threshold

Answer 1

sensation; perception

Question 2

The conscious or unconscious activation of certain associations is called

A) transduction.
B) priming.
C) feature detection.
D) tinnitus.

Answer 2

priming.

Question 3

A forest ranger may notice the faintest scent of a forest fire, whereas much stronger but less important odors fail to catch her attention. This fact would be of greatest relevance to

A) place theory.
B) opponent-process theory.
C) signal detection theory.
D) frequency theory.

Answer 3

signal detection theory.

Question 4

Gay men were more accurate in guessing the angle of a geometric figure if it had been in the same location where a nude ________ briefly appeared a moment earlier. Straight women were more accurate if the geometric figure had been in the same location where a nude ________ briefly appeared a moment earlier.

A) woman; man
B) man; woman
C) woman; woman
D) man; man

Question 5

Which theory assumes that top-down processing can influence a person's absolute threshold for a particular stimulus?

A) place theory
B) frequency theory
C) signal detection theory
D) opponent-process theory

Question 6

Which of the following represents the second of three steps basic to all sensory systems?

A) transduction
B) parallel processing
C) perceptual adaptation
D) signal detection

Question 7

Transduction refers to the process of

A) organizing and interpreting sensory information.
B) activating mental associations.
C) transforming stimulus energies into neural impulses.
D) sensing the position and movement of our muscles, tendons, and joints.

Question 8

Although Manuel was sitting right next to his parents, he smelled a skunk minutes before they did. Apparently, Manuel has a lower ________ for skunk odor than his parents have.

A) critical period
B) tolerance level
C) absolute threshold
D) sensory adaptation

Question 9

Psychophysics is best defined as the study of relationships between

A) sensation and perception.
B) stimulus energies and neural impulses.
C) absolute thresholds and difference thresholds.
D) physical stimuli and psychological experience.

Question 10

The effect of prior experience and current expectations on perception best illustrates the importance of

A) accommodation.
B) transduction.
C) sensory thresholds.
D) top-down processing.

Question 11

After the invisible word "bread" was quickly flashed and then replaced by a masking stimulus, observers detected the related word "butter" much faster than the unrelated word "bubble." This best illustrates the impact of

A) sensory adaptation.
B) prosopagnosia.
C) priming.
D) Weber's law.

Question 12

The absolute threshold is the minimum amount of stimulation that a person needs to detect a stimulus

A) at the beginning of a sensory experience.
B) on a subliminal level.
C) 50 percent of the time.
D) reliably on any occasion.

Question 13

Damage to a region of the temporal lobe essential to recognizing faces results in a condition known as

A) the McGurk effect.
B) psychophysics.
C) synaesthesia.
D) prosopagnosia.

Question 14

The process by which rods and cones convert electromagnetic energy into neural signals is an example of

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

Question 15

Detection is to interpretation as sensation is to

A) accommodation.
B) transduction.
C) perception.
D) signal detection.

Question 16

Stimuli below the absolute threshold are said to be

A) extrasensory.
B) monocular.
C) subliminal.
D) jnds.

Question 17

Sensation is the

A) transformation of sound and light into meaningful words and images.
B) detection and encoding of stimulus energies by the nervous system.
C) organization and interpretation of environmental events.
D) conscious awareness of a familiar stimulus.

Question 18

The process by which we organize and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events is called

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

Question 19

Heather Sellers suffers from prosopagnosia and is unable to recognize her own face in a photograph. Her difficulty stems from a deficiency in

A) top-down processing.
B) transduction.
C) kinesthesis.
D) sensation.

Question 20

If an adult develops cataracts, his or her

A) absolute threshold for light is likely to increase.
B) difference threshold for light is likely to decrease.
C) absolute threshold for light is likely to decrease.
D) difference threshold for light is likely to remain unchanged.

Question 21

After watching a scary television movie, Julie perceived the noise of the wind rattling her front windows as the sound of a burglar breaking into her house. Her mistaken interpretation best illustrates the influence of

A) perceptual set.
B) signal detection.
C) perceptual adaptation.
D) bottom-up processing.

Question 22

Subliminal priming effects best illustrate

A) the difference between kinesthesis and prosopagnosia.
B) a diminishing sensitivity to unchanging and familiar information.
C) that information can be processed outside of conscious awareness.
D) the impact of sensory interaction.

Question 23

Which of the following strategies best illustrates the use of subliminal stimulation?

A) A department store places flashing red lights near its sale merchandise.
B) A magazine ad pictures a pack of cigarettes with a beautiful mountain stream in the background.
C) A church organist plays relaxing background music during a pastor's congregational prayer.
D) A trim female figure is imperceptibly flashed on the TV screen during an ad for a weight-reduction clinic.

Question 24

Some participants in a subliminal persuasion experiment thought that they were receiving subliminal affirmations of their self-esteem when in reality they were receiving subliminal memory-enhancement instructions. These individuals subsequently demonstrated

A) an actual improvement in their memory.
B) an erroneous belief that their memory had improved.
C) an actual enhancement in self-esteem.
D) an erroneous belief that their self-esteem had improved.

Question 25

In one experiment, preschool children judged french fries as tasting better when served in a McDonald's bag rather than a plain white bag. This best illustrates the impact of

A) the phi phenomenon.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) perceptual set.
D) blindsight.

Question 26

Pablo sees 75-watt light bulbs as giving off more light than 60-watt bulbs. His wife sees them as giving off the same amount of light. Pablo apparently has a ________ threshold for light than his wife.

A) smaller difference
B) lower absolute
C) larger difference
D) higher absolute

Question 27

Weber's law is relevant to an understanding of

A) absolute thresholds.
B) difference thresholds.
C) sensory adaptation.
D) sensory interaction.

Question 28

Diminished sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus is known as

A) accommodation.
B) prosopagnosia.
C) sensory adaptation.
D) transduction.

Question 29

We experience the difference threshold as a(n)

A) perceptual set.
B) blind spot.
C) sensory interaction.
D) jnd.

Question 30

In 1972, a British newspaper published pictures of a "Loch Ness Monster." Many people readily perceived photographs of a floating tree trunk as the partially submerged monster. This illustrates the powerful influence of

A) signal detectors.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) transduction.
D) perceptual set.

Question 31

Those who believe in the value of subliminal audiotapes would be wrong to claim that

A) people are capable of parallel processing.
B) signal detection is influenced by a person's motivational state.
C) unconsciously processed information is unusually persuasive.
D) sensory transduction can occur without conscious awareness.

Question 32

After reading her horoscope in the morning newspaper, Sabrina readily interpreted many experiences that day as clear verifications of its accuracy. This best illustrates the dangers of

A) perceptual set.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) the phi phenomenon.
D) the McGurk effect.

Question 33

Sensory adaptation helps us to focus our attention on ________ stimuli.

A) familiar
B) subliminal
C) novel
D) intense

Question 34

Soothing musical recordings accompanied by unheard verbal messages designed to increase a desire to lose weight best illustrate

A) synaesthesia.
B) sensory interaction.
C) subliminal stimulation.
D) difference thresholds.

Question 35

If we could stop our eyes from quivering as we stared at a stationary object, the object would probably

A) vanish from sight.
B) stimulate feature detector cells located in the retina.
C) appear more brilliantly colored.
D) appear to change colors.

Question 36

According to Weber's law, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum

A) shape.
B) distance.
C) intensity.
D) proportion.

Question 37

Some people are better than others at detecting slight variations in the tastes of various blends of coffee. This best illustrates the importance of

A) subliminal stimulation.
B) difference thresholds.
C) parallel processing.
D) top-down processing.

Question 38

Which of the following is an example of sensory adaptation?

A) enjoying a painting more the longer you study it
B) responding vigorously every time a fire alarm is sounded
C) not realizing how cold it is after you have been outdoors for a while in winter
D) relying heavily on your hearing when you wear a blindfold

Question 39

If the just-noticeable difference for a 10-ounce weight is 1 ounce, the just noticeable difference for an 80-ounce weight would be ________ ounce(s).

A) 2
B) 4
C) 8
D) 10

Question 40

As the text notes, "Once we have formed a wrong idea about reality, we have more difficulty seeing the truth." This best illustrates the importance of

A) synaesthesia.
B) the phi phenomenon.
C) top-down processing.
D) subliminal stimulation.

Question 41

It wasn't until Clara heard some of her classmates laughing loudly during history class that she began to perceive the professor's ongoing lecture to be very funny. This provides an illustration of

A) signal detection.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) context effects.
D) subliminal messaging.

Question 42

Schemas are best described as

A) concepts that organize sensory input.
B) networks of interconnected brain cells.
C) visual receptor cells located in the eye.
D) monocular cues for depth perception.

Question 43

The perceived lightness of an object depends on relative luminance. This provides an illustration of

A) sensory interaction.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) absolute thresholds.
D) context effects.

Question 44

When Helen noticed that her classmates were all wearing expensive designer jeans, she suddenly perceived her own off-brand jeans to be very unattractive. This best illustrates the importance of

A) perceptual set.
B) sensory adaptation.
C) psychokinesis.
D) context effects.

Question 45

Many people calmly walked past an older gentleman lying on a city sidewalk without showing any concern. As a consequence, other passersby failed to perceive that the man was in need of immediate medical assistance. This best illustrates the importance of

A) difference thresholds.
B) context effects.
C) sensory interaction.
D) sensory constancy.

Question 46

John Locke would have suggested that a perceptual set results from

A) signal detection.
B) sensory interaction.
C) natural selection.
D) prior experience.

Question 47

If told an infant is "David," children may perceive him as bigger and stronger than if the same infant is called "Diana." This best illustrates the impact of

A) perceptual set.
B) motivation.
C) difference thresholds.
D) sensory adaptation.

Question 48

Players who had been hitting a baseball poorly perceived the ball as smaller than those who had been hitting well. This best illustrates that size perception can be influenced by

A) signal detection.
B) thresholds.
C) sensory adaptation.
D) top-down processing.

Question 49

Walking destinations look ________ to those who have been fatigued by prior exercise. A hill looks ________ steep to those with a friend beside them.

A) closer; less
B) close; more
C) farther away; less
D) farther away; more

Question 50

Context effects illustrate that our perception of particular stimuli is influenced by the ________ of those stimuli.

A) bottom-up processing
B) electromagnetic energy
C) just noticeable difference
D) environmental surroundings