Deck 3: Sensation and Perception: How the World Enters the Mind

Question 1

Which of the following historical figures was noted as founding the field of "psychophysics"?

A) James
B) Fechner
C) Gestalt
D) Weber

Answer 1

Fechner

Question 2

The lowest stimulus intensity required for detection is the ______ and the smallest noticeable difference between a standard stimulus intensity and another stimulus value is the ______.

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

Answer 2

absolute threshold; just-noticeable difference

Question 3

The smallest amount of a particular stimulus required to produce any sensation at all in the person to whom the stimulus is presented is the ______.

A) absolute threshold
B) minimum threshold
C) difference threshold
D) noticeable threshold

Answer 3

absolute threshold

Question 4

Weber's law is ________.

A) completely accurate
B) accurate except for very large magnitudes of stimuli only
C) accurate except for very large or very small magnitudes of stimuli
D) accurate except for very small magnitudes of stimuli only

Question 5

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

A) ganglion cells
B) bipolar cells
C) ossicles
D) receptor cells

Question 6

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 7

According to your authors, visual processing occurs in ________ phases.

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Question 8

Suppose Maria is painting while the sun is setting; once she notices that the room is getting darker, she decides to call it quits for the day. This example illustrates the role of ________.

A) threshold
B) a just-noticeable difference
C) absolute threshold
D) bias

Question 9

According to signal detection theory, to change one's bias, one needs to adjust his or her ____________.

A) criterion
B) discrepancy
C) noise
D) signal

Question 10

According to your text, which of the following erroneously believed that the eyes produced rays enabling people to see?

A) Spinoza
B) Aristotle
C) Plato
D) Nietzsche

Question 11

The principle that the just noticeable difference of any given sense is a constant fraction or proportion of the stimulus 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 12

Activation of the receptors by stimuli is called ________.

A) perception
B) sensation
C) adaptation
D) habituation

Question 13

Perception is the ___________.

A) process by which people take all the sensations they experience at any given moment and interpret them in some meaningful fashion
B) action of physical stimuli on receptors leading to sensations
C) interpretation of memory based on selective attention
D) act of selective attention from sensory storage

Question 14

Ernst Weber provided a formulation that is used to determine the ______________.

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

Question 15

When Anna went to her doctor, he gave her a hearing test. During the test, the doctor presented tones to Anna through earphones. The tones started at a low intensity and then became louder. The doctor asked Anna to raise her hand whenever she started to hear a sound. The doctor was testing Anna's ______.

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

Question 16

______ is the mental process of making sense of sensory information.

A) Abstraction
B) Sensation
C) Perception
D) Consciousness

Question 17

Your text authors discuss the case of ________, a prominent artist, to illustrate that our ability to make use of our senses can still occur despite physical ailments and disabilities.

A) Picasso
B) Chagall
C) Kahlo
D) Monet

Question 18

Sensation is to perception as ________ is to ________.

A) stimulation; recognition
B) awareness; interpretation
C) interpretation; awareness
D) organization; interpretation

Question 19

______ are the raw data of experience, based on the activation of certain receptors located in the various sensory organs.

A) Perceptions
B) Emotions
C) Cognitions
D) Sensations

Question 20

The lowest intensity of a particular stimulus that enables the average person to detect that stimulus 50 percent of the time it is presented is called the ___________.

A) absolute threshold
B) difference threshold
C) just noticeable difference
D) psychophysical threshold

Question 21

The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the ______.

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

Question 22

Which of the following is true about cones?

A) Cones are less in number than rods.
B) Cones are responsible for black and white vision.
C) Cone cells actually look like cones.
D) Cones are more sensitive to light than rods.

Question 23

Joachim and Maricella are going for a romantic walk in the park after an afternoon storm. Maricella looks up in the sky and sees a rainbow. She exclaims, "How beautiful!" Joachim, being something of a science buff, might correctly say ______________________

A) "You are just seeing the invisible spectrum."
B) "That's because you are seeing all the wavelengths of light we can see from short to long."
C) "That's because different intensities lead to the perception of different colors."
D) "That is because the amplitude of a light wave is related to its hue."

Question 24

What color would you report seeing if a researcher projects the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum onto a screen?

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

Question 25

Bundles of axons from ganglion cells make up the ______.

A) fovea
B) optic nerve
C) optic schism
D) rods and cones

Question 26

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 27

Rays ________ shine from the eyes; however, about ________ of college students believe otherwise according to research reviewed in your text.

A) do; a third
B) do; one-half
C) do not; a tenth
D) do not ; a third

Question 28

When we describe someone's eyes as blue, technically we are referring to his or her blue ________.

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

Question 29

Light is focused on the retina by the ______.

A) pupil
B) ganglion cells
C) lens
D) iris

Question 30

What is the pupil of the eye?

A) It is the white part of the eye.
B) It is the colored part of the eye.
C) It is the location of the visual receptors.
D) It is the small opening in the center of the eye.

Question 31

The longest wavelengths we can see are experienced as ______ colors.

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

Question 32

Which component of the eye contains the visual receptors?

A) sclera
B) retina
C) cornea
D) posterior chamber

Question 33

The shortest wavelengths that we can see are experienced as ______ colors.

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

Question 34

The pupil is the ______.

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

Question 35

When light waves enter the eye, they first pass through the _________________.

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

Question 36

The visible spectrum refers to the _______________________.

A) portion of the whole spectrum of light that is visible to the human eye
B) effect of intensity on how we see dark to grey to white
C) effect of the sound density on the perceptions of those with synesthesia
D) well-known fact that colors are less visible to some men's eyes

Question 37

________ occurs when the eye converts the electromagnetic energy that is light into nerve impulses.

A) Transduction
B) Dark adaptation
C) Amplitude adjustment
D) Wavelength intensification

Question 38

The place in the retina where the axons of all the ganglion cells come together to leave the eye is called the ______.

A) fovea
B) blind spot
C) optic chiasm
D) optic nerve

Question 39

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

A) iris
B) lens
C) retina
D) sclera

Question 40

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

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

Question 41

Each retina of the eye has about ______ million rods and cones.

A) 1
B) 75
C) 25
D) 120

Question 42

Receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision are ______.

A) bipolar cells
B) ganglion cells
C) rods
D) cones

Question 43

The three types of wavelength referred to in the trichromatic theory of color vision are ________.

A) hue, lightness, and brightness
B) opponent, afterimage, and mixing
C) long, medium, and short
D) high, moderate, and low

Question 44

Jamie walks from a bright room into a dark room. It will take about ______ minutes for her rods to fully adjust to the dark.

A) 10
B) 30
C) 20
D) 40

Question 45

Which of the following is true of rods?

A) They respond to color.
B) They are found mainly in the fovea.
C) They operate mainly in the daytime.
D) They are responsible for night vision.

Question 46

Which of the following figures is associated with the trichromatic theory of color vision?

A) Thomas Young
B) William Sperling
C) Gustav Fechner
D) Ewald Hering

Question 47

Jamie, a toddler, is making distinctions about various aspects of color in terms of whether it looks red, blue, and so on. In doing so, she is referring to its ________.

A) amplitude
B) lightness
C) hue
D) reflection

Question 48

The fovea is made up of ______.

A) all rods and no cones
B) mostly cones with some rods
C) mostly rods with some cones
D) all cones and no rods

Question 49

It is difficult to distinguish between colors at night because ______.

A) we are seeing primarily with the cones
B) rods do not adapt to the dark
C) we are seeing primarily with the rods
D) we are used to seeing mostly with the fovea

Question 50

The aspect of color that corresponds to names such as red, green, and blue is ______.

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

Question 51

The wavelength of the light reaching your eyes determines in part what ______ you see.

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

Question 52

Erin has learned to create a "truly red" light by focusing on only one wavelength of the visible spectrum. She is most likely to be concerned with which property of light?

A) intensity
B) decibels
C) accommodation
D) saturation

Question 53

Why do you see a lemon as yellow?

A) The lemon absorbs yellow wavelengths in the yellow region of the spectrum.
B) The lemon might reflect only yellow wavelengths in the yellow region of the spectrum.
C) The lemon absorbs red and blue wavelengths.
D) The lemon reflects all wavelengths of light other than yellow.

Question 54

Receptor cells in the retina responsible for color vision and visual clarity are ______.

A) bipolar cells
B) ganglion cells
C) rods
D) cones

Question 55

The idea that the eye contains separate receptors for red, green, and blue is known as the ______ theory.

A) opponent-process
B) additive color mixing
C) trichromatic
D) reductive color mixing

Question 56

Which of the following is true about cones?

A) They are responsible for black and white vision.
B) They are found mainly in the center of the eye.
C) They operate mainly at night.
D) They respond only to black and white.

Question 57

Which of the following phenomena is a function of the distribution of the rods and cones in the retina?

A) The moon looks much larger near the horizon than it looks when it is higher in the sky.
B) The light from distant stars moving rapidly away from us is shifted toward the red end of the spectrum.
C) Stars can be seen only with difficulty during the daytime.
D) A dim star viewed at night may disappear when you look directly at it but reappear when you look to one side of it.

Question 58

When you enter a darkened room (e.g., a movie theatre) you will find it hard to see at first but shortly afterward you will be able to see much better. This phenomenon is referred to as ________.

A) color adaptation
B) cone adaptation
C) dark adaptation
D) light adaptation

Question 59

Helmholtz and Young's explanation of color vision is called the ______.

A) opponent-process theory
B) additive color mixing theory
C) trichromatic theory
D) reductive color mixing theory

Question 60

Originally it was believed that we had ________ (kinds of) cells that transduce light into neural impulses; according to research reviewed by your authors it is believed that there are ________ (kinds of) cells that transduce light into neural impulses.

A) two; four
B) two; three
C) three; four
D) four; two

Question 61

Who actually found three types of cones in the retina?

A) Young and Helmholtz
B) Hering
C) Wald and Brown
D) Smith and Wesson

Question 62

In 1981, David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel's research involving visual processing in the cortex earned them ________.

A) a Nobel prize
B) a National Academy of Science Award
C) Honorary Doctorates
D) Medical degrees

Question 63

An example of a group or organization that tries to maximize the similarity between figure and ground would be a(n) ________.

A) catering business
B) legal office
C) hospital
D) army

Question 64

Suppose you look at a given figure and decide that, depending on how you look at it, it can be perceived as either an old woman or a young lady. Such a figure would be said to be ________.

A) mixed
B) confused
C) ambiguous
D) inconsistent

Question 65

Continuity is the tendency _________________.

A) to perceive objects, or figures, on some background
B) to complete figures that are incomplete
C) to perceive objects that are close to each other as part of the same grouping
D) to perceive things with a continuous pattern rather than with a complex, broken-up pattern

Question 66

Figure-ground relationships concern _________________.

A) the tendency to perceive objects, or figures, on some background
B) the tendency to complete figures that are incomplete
C) the tendency to perceive objects that are close to each other as part of the same grouping
D) the tendency to perceive things with a continuous pattern rather than with a complex, broken-up pattern

Question 67

All of the following are true about color blindness except:

A) People are either unable to distinguish two or more hues from each other or unable to see hue at all.
B) Most color blindness is present from birth.
C) It seems to be more common in women than men.
D) Most people who are color blind cannot distinguish red from green.

Question 68

Why do researchers believe that deficits in color vision often have genetic causes?

A) Dietary patterns affect color deficiencies.
B) Color perception changes somewhat as we get older.
C) Color deficiencies are more common in some cultures.
D) More males than females suffer from color deficiencies.

Question 69

You will more than likely see "XXX XXX XXX" as three groups of "X" rather than one group of nine "X"s. This example illustrates which of the following Gestalt Laws?

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

Question 70

The three types of cones were originally believed to correspond to the following colors: red, green, and blue. The authors reviewed research that indicates these colors should be updated to which of the following combinations?

A) yellowish red, green, bluish violet
B) red, yellow, violet
C) yellow, green, orange
D) yellow, green, blue

Question 71

Figure is to ground as ________.

A) light is to dark
B) obvious is to hidden
C) characteristics are to background
D) shape is to texture

Question 72

John Russell has color blindness. He is most likely to have difficulty doing which of the following?

A) distinguishing red from blue
B) distinguishing red from green
C) distinguishing blue from yellow
D) distinguishing red from yellow

Question 73

All of the following are Gestalt Laws of Organization except:

A) good form.
B) good continuation.
C) proximity.
D) good approximity.

Question 74

If an artist were to blend red, green, and blue paints together, the result would look _________.

A) like nonspectral colors
B) black
C) like white light
D) complimentary

Question 75

If you stare for 30 seconds at a red object and then look at a blank sheet of white paper, you will see a greenish image of the object. This phenomenon BEST supports the ______ theory of color vision.

A) Grieco trichromatic
B) opponent-process
C) Helmholtz trichromatic
D) Hering's vibration

Question 76

According to the opponent-process theory, if you stare at a red star for awhile (e.g., 60 seconds) and then look at a plain sheet of white paper you will see an afterimage of the star in which hue?

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

Question 77

If an artist were to blend red, green, and blue lights together by focusing lights of those three colors on one common spot, the result would look _________.

A) like nonspectral colors
B) black
C) like white light
D) complimentary

Question 78

One of your mother's siblings is always known for putting together awful-looking colors when getting dressed. Who is this person more likely to be?

A) your aunt because women have more problems with color vision
B) your uncle because men have more problems with color vision
C) You can't tell as men and women have an equal chance of having problems with color vision.
D) Humans rarely have problems with color vision, so this wouldn't happen.

Question 79

According to the opponent-process theory of color vision, the correct pairings of opposite colors are _________________________.

A) red versus green and blue versus yellow
B) black versus gray and white versus colored
C) blue versus red and green versus yellow
D) blue versus green and red versus yellow

Question 80

Which of the following pairs is considered to be an example of opponent cells?

A) green/orange
B) red/pink
C) yellow/blue
D) black/brown