Question 1

The reason why individual lines of camouflaged clothing would be connected to and perceived as part of a forest background would be explained by the Gestalt law of ______________________.

Accepted Answer

The Gestalt law of continuity explains how our brain perceives elements arranged in a line or curve as connected, making the individual lines of camouflaged clothing blend into the forest background.

Question 2

When dividing the class into groups, the professor assigns the same group to students whose desks are in the same row. The professor is using the law of _______________ in assigning groups.

Accepted Answer

The professor is using the law of proximity, which suggests that objects that are near or 'proximate' to each other tend to be grouped together. In this case, students sitting in the same row (and thus close to each other) are grouped together.

Question 3

The reason why we perceive different groupings of vegetables in the grocery store (e.g., tomatoes and carrots), even though some of them are close together can be explained by the Gestalt law of _____________________.

Accepted Answer

The Gestalt law of similarity explains why we perceive different groupings of objects, such as vegetables in a grocery store, based on their similar visual characteristics (e.g., color, shape), even when they are physically close together.

Question 4

Valerie is amazingly quick to interpret others' behaviours as indicating that they do not think highly of her. Valerie's tendency is most strongly related to which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Valerie's tendency to quickly interpret others' behaviors as indicating they do not think highly of her is an example of a perceptual set, which is a readiness to perceive the world in a particular way that influences what we perceive. This concept is related to expectations and biases that can shape our perception of social interactions.

Question 5

Perceptual experiments of shadowing have demonstrated that we _______________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual experiments of shadowing, where participants are asked to repeat speech from one of two simultaneous messages, have shown that we can shift our attention back and forth between stimuli very rapidly, but not focus on multiple stimuli simultaneously or completely focus on two stimuli even if they are very similar.

Question 6

In general, Gestalt theorists were proponents of _____________ processing principles.

Accepted Answer

Gestalt theorists emphasized top-down processing principles, focusing on how our minds integrate individual elements into wholes based on patterns, contexts, and expectations.

Question 7

You are reading a photocopy of an article. The last few words on the right side of the page didn't copy well and are blurry. If these blurry words are the last words of a sentence, you can decipher them more easily than if they are the first words of a sentence. This difference in comprehension is most likely a result of ______.

Accepted Answer

This is because top-down processing involves using context and prior knowledge to understand incomplete or ambiguous information. In this case, the context provided by the rest of the sentence helps you fill in the missing or unclear words at the end of a sentence.

Question 8

Inattentional blindness refers to _______________.

Accepted Answer

Inattentional blindness occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight, simply because their attention is focused on another task, event, or aspect of their environment. This phenomenon demonstrates how the focus of our attention can determine what we consciously perceive in the world around us.

Question 9

A little boy is putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Only after putting all the pieces in place is he able to see that the puzzle is a picture of a dog. This example best illustrates which concept?

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processing is demonstrated in this example, as the boy understands the picture (a dog) by first assembling the individual pieces without knowing what the final image would be. This process involves starting with the individual elements to build up to the complete picture.

Question 10

The sensory system takes in individual elements of the stimulus and then combines them into a unified perception in ______________ processing.

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processing is the approach in the sensory system where individual elements of a stimulus are combined to create a unified perception, starting from the sensory input towards the higher cognitive functions.

Question 11

Psychologists who study perception think that each of our perceptions is like a hypothesis that is tested by comparing an incoming stimulus to a pre-existing ________________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual schemas are mental frameworks that help individuals organize and interpret information. Psychologists believe that our perceptions are formed by comparing new stimuli to these pre-existing schemas, allowing us to make sense of what we perceive.

Question 12

Sensory information is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, and expectations in _______________ processing.

Accepted Answer

Top-down processing involves interpreting sensory information based on existing knowledge, concepts, and expectations, rather than solely on the sensory input itself.

Question 13

The recognition of an incoming stimulus is facilitated by the presence of __________, which is a mental representation or image that we compare the stimulus to.

Accepted Answer

A perceptual schema is a mental representation or image that we compare incoming stimuli to, facilitating their recognition. This concept is key in understanding how we interpret and categorize sensory information.

Question 14

Think of the psychology professor who is teaching this class. Does this person seem like a typical college professor to you? In answering this question, you are most likely making use of ______.

Accepted Answer

You are using a perceptual schema of the typical college professor, which is a mental representation or cognitive framework that helps organize and interpret information about the world, including categories of people like college professors.

Question 15

Ron is a spectator at a soccer game. Using the colour of their uniforms as a guide, he effortlessly perceives the players on the field as two distinct teams instead of a large group of individuals. This example best illustrates which of the following concepts?

Accepted Answer

Ron's ability to group players into teams based on the similarity of their uniform colors is an example of the Gestalt law of similarity. This principle suggests that objects sharing visual characteristics (such as color, shape, size) will be seen as belonging together in the viewer's perception.

Question 16

You walk into your apartment and immediately notice that your roommate has left dishes in the sink, but you fail to notice that she has vacuumed and dusted. Your perceptions were likely guided by a perceptual ________________ for your generally sloppy roommate.

Accepted Answer

A perceptual set is a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way, often influenced by expectations and prior experiences. In this case, your expectation of your roommate being generally sloppy led you to notice the dishes but overlook the cleaning.

Question 17

In general, which of the following is most likely to receive your selective attention? Your instructor ________________.

Accepted Answer

Frowning is more likely to receive selective attention because it is an unexpected or negative stimulus, which typically draws more attention than neutral or positive stimuli.

Question 18

Brad is waiting outside his college to be picked up by his father. As he looks out for his father's car, he has no recollection of the other cars that drive past him. His failure to recall all other cars is due to _______________.

Accepted Answer

Inattentional blindness occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight, due to focusing attention on another task, event, or object. In this scenario, Brad's focus on looking for his father's car leads him to not notice other cars, exemplifying inattentional blindness.

Question 19

If a very large football player is standing on the other side of a football field, he will only be projected onto a small area of your retina. Indeed, it will be much smaller than the area projected by the elementary school-aged child standing next to you. Yet you perceive the football player to be taller than the child because of _______________.

Accepted Answer

Size constancy allows us to perceive objects as maintaining a constant size despite changes in their distance from us, which explains why we perceive the football player as taller than the child even when he is far away.

Question 20

Which concept specifically allows us to recognize familiar stimuli under varying conditions and in different contexts?

Accepted Answer

Perceptual constancies allow us to recognize familiar objects as the same under different conditions, such as changes in illumination, distance, or angle. This concept helps us maintain a consistent perception of objects despite variations in the sensory input.

Quiz 5: Sensation and Perception