Deck 8: Perception, Sensation, and Attention

Question 1

The process whereby our sense organs receive raw physical or chemical energy from the natural world is called

A) perceiving
B) knowing
C) sensing
D) experiencing

Answer 1

C

Question 2

When the brain organizes and interprets sensory signals so that we are conscious of those sensations, that is known a

A) sensation
B) transduction
C) cognition
D) perception

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following best describes a distinction between sensation and perception?

A) Sensation is something that happens to your sense organs and neurons; perception is something that happens in consciousness.
B) Perception is something that happens to your sense organs and neurons; sensation is something that happens to you.
C) Sensation is something that happens slowly when you are paying attention to something, perception happens automatically.
D) Perception is the only way to directly interact with the world; all sensations are illusory.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Not only must a sound be within our sensory range to hear it, it must also reach this for our sensory receptors to register it.

A) just noticeable difference
B) absolute threshold
C) strength activation
D) visual threshold

Question 5

The absolute threshold of a stimulus, like the sound of a voice, is the minimum intensity necessary for the stimulus to be detected

A) 50% of the time
B) 100% of the time
C) 75% of the time
D) 65% of the time

Question 6

According to Weber's law, which of the following is true about the JND?

A) it is always directly proportionate to the level of the standard
B) it is constant across all levels of the standard
C) it is much smaller in olfactory sensation than in auditory sensation
D) it describes the amount of time needed to register a JND

Question 7

This theory emerged explain the interaction between human judgment and bias and the detection of stimuli.

A) Weber's law
B) just noticeable difference theory
C) response bias theory
D) signal detection theory

Question 8

In signal detection theory, this attribute of an environment acknowledges that in our natural environment, there are always many stimuli competing for our attention.

A) response bias
B) noise
C) distortion
D) signal

Question 9

If you were eagerly expecting a phone call from your new romantic partner, you might find yourself mistaking all sorts of irrelevant sounds for the sound of your ringtone. This is an example of

A) response bias
B) noise
C) distortion
D) signal

Question 10

What result did Pratkanis (1994) report from his controlled experiment on subliminal self-help tapes?

A) the group that received memory tapes scored higher on standard memory tests than the control group.
B) both groups reported improvements in the areas they were told would improve, regardless of what tape they received.
C) both the memory and the self-esteem group scored higher on self-esteem after listening to the tapes
D) no participants reported improvements in self-esteem but their memory-test scores improved significantly.

Question 11

The human eye processes light, which is a form of

A) electrophysical stimulation
B) electromagnetic radiation
C) air pressure
D) electrochemical radiation

Question 12

This dimension of energy, which corresponds to our perception of colour, is one way to distinguish the visible spectrum of light.

A) amplitude
B) saturation
C) wavelength
D) hue

Question 13

The intensity of a light or sound source is also known as

A) amplitude
B) frequency
C) wavelength
D) radiation

Question 14

The light-sensitive membrane that covers most of the eye's inner surface is called the

A) iris
B) lens
C) retinal
D) vitreous humor

Question 15

Most of the cones in the retina are concentrated in this small area in the centre of the retina

A) vitreous humor
B) iris
C) fovea
D) ganglion

Question 16

The optic nerve is composed of

A) the axons of retinal cells
B) the branches of visual connective tissue
C) the axons of eye-muscle cells
D) the dendrites of the optic disc

Question 17

This section of the retina has no rods or cones and is therefore "blind."

A) optic chiasm
B) lateral geniculate nucleus
C) optic nerve
D) optic disk

Question 18

Why do we not perceive or notice the blind spot of the retina during the normal course of our lives?

A) The position of the blind spot is in the extreme periphery of our vision
B) Because the fovea is not affected by the blind spot
C) The brain "fills in" the missing information for us based on experience
D) The muscles of the eye prevent light from entering that area

Question 19

The optic nerve sends information to this area of the forebrain.

A) thalamus
B) visual cortex
C) superior colliculus
D) medial temporal cortex

Question 20

What does it mean to say that objects and light waves do not have colour?

A) Colour is an illusion created by sensory transduction of light intensity.
B) Colour is constructed based on the brain's interpretation of wavelengths reflected off of objects
C) Colour is constructed by the cells in the retina based on the timing of sensations received in each eye
D) Colour is a property of the intensity and wavelength of photons

Question 21

The information collected by the retinas and transmitted to the brain is integrated and interpreted in this area of the brain

A) visual cortex
B) parietal cortex
C) temporal cortex
D) frontal cortex

Question 22

According to the trichromatic theory of colour vision, cones can be categorized based on

A) the location of a cone in one of three parts of the fovea
B) the peak sensitivity of a cone to the intensity of a light source
C) the peak sensitivity of a cone to one of three spectrums of wavelength
D) the level of inhibition in a cone relatively to three wavelengths of light

Question 23

According to this theory, colours are mixed in the following pairs: blue / yellow, red /green, and black / white.

A) trichromatic theory
B) monocular theory
C) opponent process theory
D) additive colour theory

Question 24

As the frequency of a sound wave increases we hear it as an increase in

A) volume
B) heat
C) pitch
D) timbre

Question 25

Most people refer to this structure as the ear, but it is actually just the outer projection of the ear

A) oval window
B) cochlea
C) ear canal
D) pinna

Question 26

This is the central auditory component of the inner ear, and by the time sound vibrations reach it, they have been amplified dozens of times.

A) oval window
B) basilar membrane
C) tympanic membrane
D) auditory nerve

Question 27

Which of the following best describes the path of stimulation in auditory sensation and perception?

A) the auditory nerve relays information to the thalamus via the temporal lobe
B) the basilar membrane conveys information to the thalamus via the oval window
C) the auditory nerve relays information to the temporal lobe via the thalamus
D) the tympanic membrane relays information to the temporal lobe via the thalamus

Question 28

The perception of temperature is accomplished by these receptors embedded in the skin.

A) thermoreceptors
B) mechanoreceptors
C) proprioceptors
D) nociceptors

Question 29

Though there are no specific receptors designed to receive pain, nociceptors are characterized as

A) mechanoreceptors embedded in muscles and inner organs
B) free nerve endings anywhere in the body
C) sensory neurons in the peripheral nervous system
D) efferent neurons in the spinal column

Question 30

Which of the following is not one of the original Gestalt perceptual grouping laws?

A) proximity
B) good continuation
C) similarity
D) change blindness

Question 31

The binocular depth cue, convergence, works because

A) your eyes see slightly different images which converge in the brain
B) objects that are closer to you stimulate larger areas of the retina
C) the muscles of the eyes send signals to the brain as they converge on an object
D) the convergence of two lines in the distance gives the illusion of a horizon.

Question 32

The Ames room, in which people can appear to be large or small depending upon their position in the room, most exploits this monocular depth cue.

A) linear perspective
B) size constancy
C) interposition
D) relative size

Question 33

The Ponzo illusion where two equally sized squares look to be different sizes because of their position relative to the other elements of the figure is an example of this monocular depth cue.

A) linear perspective
B) size constancy
C) interposition
D) relative size

Question 34

Unlike the binocular depth cues, the monocular depth cues depend greatly on

A) the mental assumptions of humans about our environments
B) the motion of the eyes and the tension of the eye muscles
C) the physical distance between the retina and the object in the world
D) the mental assumptions about the way the eye works

Question 35

Brightness constancy and colour constancy evolved so that our visual systems could

A) maintain perceptual constancy the changing conditions of natural light
B) perceive colours not possibly by mixing pigments
C) maintain a constant perception of the shape and size of objects
D) adjust to the lack of light that we experience at night

Question 36

Which of the following is consistent with evidence for an experience-expectant process for face perception?

A) Face perception is an innate property of the fusiform face area.
B) Face perception may be impaired in children born with cataracts that prevent sensation of faces during the first weeks of life.
C) Face perception is impaired when damage, such as a stroke, occurs in and around the fusiform face area of adults.
D) Face perception is a process that develops well after birth, once the infant has enough experience with other objects.

Question 37

Phenomena such as change blindness and perceptual set are evidence that perception is

A) at least partly dependent on seeing the world
B) at least partly dependent on expectations and biases about the world
C) minimally dependent on our experience with the world
D) minimally dependent on the stimulation of the retina

Question 38

When you are looking out a window at the street and see a parked car partially blocked by a telephone pole, you perceive the car as a whole object, even though your sensations of it are disjointed. This is due to the gestalt law of

A) proximity
B) closure
C) good continuation
D) similarity

Question 39

The visual cliff experiment by Gibson and Walk (1960) demonstrated that infants would crawl over a glass table over a steep drop only if

A) they have not yet developed depth perception
B) they do not understand the Gestalt law of good continuation
C) their retinas are not fully developed
D) their parents were positioned at the opposite end of the table.

Question 40

Much in the way that stereophonic sound creates an illusion of depth by emphasizing different sounds in different speakers, your retinas collect slightly different images of the world which allow for this binocular depth cue.

A) retinal eccentricity
B) retianal disparity
C) retinal convergence
D) retinal perspective

Question 41

Face recognition seems special for all of the reasons stated below, EXCEPT:

A) damage to the fusiform face area impairs facial recognition, but does not affect word or object perception.
B) it is easier to recognize an upside down object as familiar than it is to recognize an upside down face
C) Within three days of birth, an infant shows a preference for his or her mother's face over strangers.
D) Humans are the only species to have a specialized brain area for face perception.

Question 42

When scientific methods are applied to paranormal phenomena like astrology, telepath, and clairvoyance, it is called

A) extra-sensory perception (ESP)
B) paranormal science
C) parapsychology
D) paraphysics

Question 43

The area of the brain in the right hemisphere that is exclusively for face perception and recognition is known as the

A) fusiform face area
B) amygdala
C) occipital lobe
D) thalamus

Question 44

Tactile sensations are converted into neural signals by

A) chemoreceptors
B) mechanoreceptors
C) auditory receptors
D) photoreceptors

Question 45

Which of the following is the collective term for all our expectations, biases and preconceptions that we bring to bear when making sense of a visual scene.

A) blindness
B) visual biases
C) the Muller-Lyer illusion
D) perceptual set

Question 46

The Muller-Lyer illusion is where two lines of identical length appear to be

A) Of unequal length
B) Of equal length
C) Different colours
D) Moving in different directions

Question 47

The ambient optic array refers to

A) The visual information that can be processed by moving the head
B) The information of sound frequency that can be detected by humans
C) the spectrum of colours that can be viewed under natural light
D) The information in the visual field at any moment

Question 48

Most people tend to pull rather than push a door when a handle is visible. What phenomenon may explain why this might be?

A) Inference
B) Affordance
C) Accommodation
D) Change blindness

Question 49

Extrasensory perception is typically classified into three phenomena, known as

A) Telepathy, communication, preconscious
B) Telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition
C) Telepathy, precognition, recognition
D) Precognition, recognition, processing

Question 50

Sensation describes the act of integrating sensory stimulation while perception is the actual raw stimulation of sensory receptors

Question 51

The majority of cones in the retina are found in the fovea, while very few rods are in that area

Question 52

It is in the visual cortex that sensations of touch relayed from the hands and fingers are interpreted as visual images by blind people

Question 53

According to the trichromatic theory of colour vision, colours are mixed in three opposing pairs: blue or yellow, red or green, and black or white, by specialized cells in the retina and thalamus

Question 54

The fluid of the cochlea vibrates in response to the sound waves transmitted to the oval window, and this vibration causes rippling in the basilar membrane that houses the auditory receptors

Question 55

All of the monkeys in Harry Harlow's studies strongly preferred the terrycloth mother regardless of which provided food, which strongly imply that primates depend upon touch as a way of developing bonds of affection in infancy

Question 56

Second pain is a throbbing, burning, radiating sensation that is not as localized as first pain. Second pain also has more impact on learning and motivation than first pain.

Question 57

The binocular depth cue known as convergence is due to the fact that each of your eyes takes in a very slightly different view of the world. Thus, the convergence of the two fields of vision helps us process depth

Question 58

In addition to retinal disparity, two-dimensional illusions like the Ames effect, Ponzio illusion, and linear perspective are all binocular depth cues.

Question 59

Infants as young as three days prefer to look at faces and patterns depicting faces than at non-face patterns, even if the images of faces are upside down or the facial features are scrambled

Question 60

_occurs when our sense organs receive raw physical or chemical energy from the natural world. _occurs when the brain actually does the work of organizing and interpreting transduced sensory signals

Question 61

The __________is the minimum intensity of a stimulus necessary for it to be detected by a human or non-human animal at least 50% of the time.

Question 62

You experience __________every time you get into a blisteringly hot bath, only to have it seem to turn cool on you within a very short time

Question 63

Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation-energy that travels around the world in waves that are separated by varying ______, and can also vary by ______, or the intensity of the light source.

Question 64

_________respond in low light, but are not particularly good at capturing fine detail. On the other hand, _________are specialized for daylight and colour vision

Question 65

The _________is the central auditory component of the inner ear, and by the time sound vibrations reach it, they have been amplified dozens of times.

Question 66

There are no specific receptors designed to receive pain. Free nerve endings anywhere in the body can serve as ______

Question 67

_________psychologists described laws governing the way humans group specific features of objects once we have discriminated figures from grounds

Question 68

Research has shown that there is a "blueberry-sized" cortical region of the right hemisphere, called the ___________seemingly set aside exclusively for face perception and recognition

Question 69

The most promising experiments used to test the reliability of ESP and telepathy were those that utilized the ______

Question 70

Perception is accomplished when physical sensations are processed by the brain. Describe how psychophysicists came to understand the relationships between sensory stimuli and perception. Discuss the just-noticeable difference and two aspects of signal detection theory that sensation is not always accurate

Question 71

Compare the trichomatic theory of colour perception to the opponent process theory. In your answer, describe how each theory characterizes the action of cones in the retinal. Also, discuss how rods and cones interact to produce colour perception in dark and bright light

Question 72

The auditory system and the human senses related to touch are mechanical systems. Describe the process of transduction in the auditory system and the process of transduction and signalling involved in first and second pain

Question 73

Perception is driven by our experience with the world. Give support for that statement by describing two of the Gestalt laws of perceptual grouping, two monocular depth cues, two examples of perceptual constancy, and one example of change blindness