Question 1

According to the trichromatic theory of colour vision,

Accepted Answer

The trichromatic theory of colour vision proposes that colour vision is based on three types of cones in the retina that are maximally sensitive to different wavelengths of light corresponding to red, green, or blue. This theory explains that our ability to see colours arises from the combination of signals from these three types of cone cells.

Question 2

Colour blindness is the inability to distinguish certain colours from one another. It involves some kind of difficulty in distinguishing colours, most commonly

Accepted Answer

Red-green color blindness is the most common type of colour blindness, affecting about 8% of males and 0.5% of females of Northern European descent. This means that those affected have difficulty distinguishing between shades of red and green.

Question 3

Research proposes that the opponent-process theory explains what happens in the

Accepted Answer

The opponent-process theory is related to how ganglion cells in the retina process colors in terms of opposing pairs: red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white. This theory suggests that these cells are excited by one color and inhibited by its opposite, helping to explain color vision.

Question 4

Which of the following colours has the shortest wavelength (i.e., is lowest in nanometres)?

Accepted Answer

Blue has the shortest wavelength among the given options. The order of the colours from shortest to longest wavelength is violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

Question 5

Two major theories that attempt to explain colour vision are

Accepted Answer

The trichromatic theory posits that there are three types of colour receptors in the eye that are sensitive to different wavelengths of light, which combine to create the perception of all colours. The opponent-process theory suggests that there are three opposing colour pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white) that work together to allow us to perceive colour. These two theories work together to provide a comprehensive explanation of colour vision.

Question 6

A negative afterimage occurs

Accepted Answer

A negative afterimage occurs when you see the color opposite to the one at which you have been staring. This is due to the way the retina processes light, creating an afterimage that is the color opposite of the original stimulus.

Question 7

According to trichromatic theory, which of the following is not a colour to which one of the cone types is maximally sensitive?

Accepted Answer

According to trichromatic theory, there are three types of cones in the retina that respond maximally to specific wavelengths of light - short (blue), medium (green), and long (red). The combination of signals from these cones allows us to perceive a wide range of colors. However, there is no cone type that responds maximally to yellow light, which is a mixture of red and green wavelengths. Therefore, A) yellow is not a color to which one of the cone types is maximally sensitive.

Question 8

Pitch is chiefly determined by ________; loudness is chiefly determined by ________.

Accepted Answer

Pitch is determined by frequency, which refers to the number of oscillations or cycles per second. Loudness, on the other hand, is determined by the amplitude of the sound wave, which is the height of the wave and relates to its intensity or energy. Therefore, the correct option is B) frequency for pitch and amplitude for loudness.

Question 9

The greater the ________ of sound waves, the louder the sound.

Accepted Answer

The amplitude of sound waves refers to the height of the wave, or how much the air pressure changes as the sound wave passes through it. Greater amplitude results in higher volume, or louder sound. Length refers to the distance between two points on a wave, frequency refers to the number of waves that pass a given point in a specific amount of time, and mixture refers to a combination of different types of waves or substances.

Question 10

Which theory suggests that three classes of cells respond by increasing or decreasing their rate of firing when different colours are present.

Accepted Answer

The opponent-process theory suggests that three classes of cells respond by increasing or decreasing their rate of firing when different colors are present. These cells are organized into three opponent pairs: blue-yellow, red-green, and black-white. When one color in an opponent pair is activated, the other is inhibited, leading to the perception of color contrast.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about people with colour-blindness is not true?

Accepted Answer

Most people with color blindness do not see the world in black, white, and shades of grey. Instead, they typically have difficulty distinguishing between certain colors, such as reds and greens or blues and yellows, depending on the type of color blindness they have. Total absence of color vision, known as achromatopsia, is very rare.

Question 12

The pitch of a sound is measured in ________ and the loudness of a sound is measured in ________.

Accepted Answer

The pitch of a sound is measured in hertz, which is the unit of frequency, and the loudness of a sound is measured in decibels, which is the unit of sound intensity. Therefore, the best choices are D, which matches the correct units of measurement to each property of sound.

Question 13

Randy spent agonizing hours in front of a green computer screen writing his term paper. At one point, he stopped staring at the screen and glanced upon a white wall. The wall temporarily seemed to have a square patch of

Accepted Answer

This is an example of afterimage. After staring at a green screen for a long time, the color receptors in Randy's eyes became fatigued, causing them to fire less frequently. When he looked at the white wall, the receptors that were not fatigued fired more frequently, creating an afterimage of the opposite color. In this case, the afterimage was of the complementary color of green, which is red.

Question 14

Research has shown that colour blindness can have many degrees, depending on

Accepted Answer

The number of colour-vision genes an individual has directly affects the degree of colour blindness, as these genes are responsible for producing the photopigments in the retina that enable colour vision.

Question 15

Which of the following theories best explains the phenomena of afterimages and the perception of the colour yellow?

Accepted Answer

Afterimages and the perception of the color yellow can be best explained by the opponent-process theory, which suggests that color perception is based on three opposing pairs of colors: blue-yellow, red-green, and black-white. When someone looks at a yellow object, the blue color receptors are being fatigued, which causes a brief afterimage of blue to appear when one looks away. Similarly, the opponent-process theory explains the afterimage phenomenon in which the complementary color (e.g. green for red) persists after staring at a color for a significant amount of time.

Question 16

According to the explanation given in the text, the negative afterimage is best explained by which of the following theories?

Accepted Answer

The opponent-process theory explains negative afterimages by suggesting that cells in the retina are sensitive to opposite colours (red-green and blue-yellow). This theory explains why a green image will leave a red afterimage and a blue image will leave a yellow afterimage.

Question 17

The higher the frequency of a sound wave, the

Accepted Answer

The pitch of a sound is directly related to the frequency of the sound wave. As the frequency of a sound wave increases, the pitch of the sound also increases. Therefore, choice C is the correct answer.

Question 18

Sensations of complementary colours that occur after staring at a stimulus of a given colour are called

Accepted Answer

Sensations of complementary colours that occur after staring at a stimulus of a given colour are called negative afterimages. The other choices are not related to this phenomenon.

Question 19

Which is the most accurate statement?

Accepted Answer

According to scientific studies, color blindness is a condition that affects males more than females. Therefore, option D is the most accurate statement.

Question 20

While the trichromatic theory of colour perception was first formulated in the 1800s, research in the 1960s suggested that there were ________ kinds of cones and that each was sensitive to either ________.

Accepted Answer

Research in the 1960s suggested that there were three kinds of cones and that each was sensitive to either red, green, or blue. This supports the trichromatic theory of color perception, which states that the human eye has three types of color receptors, or cones, that are sensitive to these colors and can combine to create the perception of other colors.

Quiz 3: Sensation and Perception