Question 1

The fact that some perceptual processes appear to be innate doesn't mean that all people perceive the world in the same way. List four psychological factors that can influence what we perceive and how we perceive it.

Accepted Answer

A good answer will include the following key points.
- Needs
- Beliefs
- Emotions
- Expectations

Question 2

The textbook illustrated the production of negative afterimages by suggesting that readers stare at the centre of a green heart, edged in yellow. After 20 seconds, when the gaze was switched to a white paper, there was a "change of heart!" What colours did you "see" in the image of the heart on the white paper? How does opponent-process theory explain this finding?

Accepted Answer

A good answer will include the following key points.
- The heart appeared to be red, edged in blue.
- According to the opponent-process theory, red and green are encoded as antagonistic colours, as are blue and yellow.
- When the yellow and green are removed after staring at them, the cells that were signaling these colours briefly signal the presence of the antagonistic colour.

Question 3

Aiko is a Japanese national living in Canada. She invites her Canadian friends to her home and the raw oysters, raw smoked salmon, and raw herring that she serves are well received. But when Aiko's guests notice the raw sea urchin and the raw octopus, they get squeamish, even after she explains that they taste good! Explain the differences in taste preferences between Aiko and her American friends.

Accepted Answer

A good answer will include the following key points.
- Some taste preferences are a matter of culture.
- Taste preferences are also affected by learning and experience.
- People in the United States don't generally have experience eating some forms of raw seafood, such as sea urchin and octopus, which are popular in Japan.

Question 4

Despite the impressive sensory skills possessed by humans, the human senses are tuned into only a narrow band of physical energies. Discuss several species that are able to pick up signals that humans do not pick up. What can each of these species detect that humans cannot?

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Question 5

When Miles and Mandi leave the bright lobby and enter the movie theatre, they cannot tell where the empty seats are. Explain why this occurs and describe the process through which they will gradually be able to see.

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Question 6

Testing an infant's perception of depth requires ingenuity, but Gibson and Walk were able to design a procedure in order to test infants on a "visual cliff." Explain how they created a "cliff" and describe the results of their research.

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Question 7

Define sensation and perception. Explain what sense receptors are.

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Question 8

In what way does the lens of the eye operate differently than the lens of a camera?

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Question 9

Describe loudness and explain how perceived loudness is affected by pitch.

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Question 10

Describe the course of hearing from the time a sound wave passes into the outer ear until the time that a signal is passed along to the auditory nerve.

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Question 11

Zoe is a participant in a psychophysical study and is having her absolute threshold for brightness measured. Describe a likely procedure for determining this measurement.

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Question 12

Normally, kinesthesis and equilibrium work together to give us a sense of our own physical reality. But when they do not, the consequences are profound. What happens to patients whose kinesthetic nerve fibres are damaged irreversibly?

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Question 13

Discuss Vilayanur Ramachandran's work with phantom pain and his success with tricking the brain of an amputee with a simple mirror. How are his techniques being used today?

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Question 14

Like human infants, kittens are born with the ability to detect horizontal lines and vertical lines. In one famous study, kittens were reared in darkness for five months after birth. But for several hours each day, they were put into a special cylinder that permitted them to see only vertical or horizontal lines and nothing else. Describe the results of this research study.

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Question 15

After taking your best friend to the airport, you stay to watch the plane take off. As you watch it go, the image of the plane on your retinas becomes smaller and smaller. Why is it that you perceive the airplane as flying away from you instead of shrinking? Briefly explain how this works.

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Question 16

The sun produces a mixture of all the visible wavelengths. Describe what happens when drops of moisture in the air act like a prism.

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Question 17

What did Johannes Müller propose in his doctrine of specific energies?

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Question 18

Contrast the reactions of adults who were born deaf and then received cochlear implants to the reactions of adults who became deaf later in life and then received the implants.

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Question 19

Rita's favourite navy-blue sweater is perceived as maintaining its hue whether Rita is outdoors or indoors. But the wavelengths of light reaching Rita's eyes change as the illumination changes. Explain why.

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Question 20

This figure -O- tends to be perceived as a single line partially covered by a circle. Which Gestalt principle explains the tendency to organize the visual world in this way? Explain why.

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Quiz 6: Sensation and Perception