Question 1

When Mary looks at the following display, she tends to see horizontal rows rather than vertical columns of faces. This happens because:

Accepted Answer

Mary tends to see horizontal rows because items that are in horizontal rows share the same internal features. This principle of perception is known as similarity, where objects that share similar features are grouped together by our visual system.

Question 2

The perceived _______________ of a sound is related to the complexity of a sound wave.

Accepted Answer

The perceived timbre of a sound is related to the complexity of a sound wave. Timbre is the characteristic quality of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and loudness, and is determined by the harmonics or overtones that accompany the fundamental frequency of a sound wave.

Question 3

The perceived _______________ of a sound is related to the frequency of a sound wave.

Accepted Answer

Pitch is the perceptual experience associated with the frequency of a sound wave. The higher the frequency, the higher the perceived pitch.

Question 4

In the Müller-Lyer illusion, most people perceive the line with the outward-facing branches as longer than the line with inward-facing branches, despite the fact that they are really the same length. Which of the following is a likely reason why this occurs?

Accepted Answer

The illusion occurs because our brains have learned to interpret lines with inward-facing branches as converging in the distance, which would make the line appear shorter, and lines with outward-facing branches as diverging in the distance, which would make the line appear longer. This is a depth or distance perception cue.

Question 5

Grant perceives snow as remaining white on cloudy days as well as on bright ones. He is not fooled, even though the amount of light the snow reflects is different on cloudy days. Grant's perception is due to _______________.

Accepted Answer

Grant's perception of the snow remaining white on both cloudy and bright days is due to brightness constancy. Brightness constancy is the perceptual phenomenon where the perceived brightness of an object remains constant despite changes in the amount of light reflected by the object. So, even though the amount of light reflected by the snow may be different on cloudy days compared to bright days, Grant's brain perceives the snow as the same color and brightness due to brightness constancy.

Question 6

Perceptual research indicates that:

Accepted Answer

Some illusions, like the bent chopstick in water, are indeed based on physical principles, specifically the refraction of light as it passes from one medium (water) to another (air), which distorts the appearance of objects submerged in or viewed through the water. This is not a perceptual trick of the brain but a physical effect.

Question 7

Kevin watches as his wife Denise walks toward the house. Even though the retinal image of Denise grows larger as Denise approaches, she does not appear to be growing larger as she moves closer and closer to Kevin. This scenario illustrates _______________.

Accepted Answer

This scenario illustrates size constancy, as even though the retinal image of Denise grows larger, she does not appear to be growing larger to Kevin, who perceives her size as constant due to his understanding of the size of a typical adult human.

Question 8

As Shane stands between the railroad tracks, the rails appear to converge in the distance. This cue to inferring depth and distance is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

Linear perspective occurs when parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge in the distance. Retinal disparity refers to the slight difference in the images projected onto each retina, which is used to perceive depth when the two images are blended together in the brain. Relative clarity refers to the perception of more distant objects as hazier or less distinct than closer objects. Relative size perception occurs when objects that are farther away appear smaller than objects that are closer.

Question 9

The dimension of auditory experience related to the intensity of a sound wave is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

The dimension of auditory experience related to the intensity of a sound wave is called loudness.

Question 10

The turning inward of the eyes, which occurs when they focus on a nearby object, is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

Convergence is the turning inward of the eyes that occurs when they focus on a nearby object. Retinal disparity refers to the slightly different images that the retina of each eye receives due to the eyes' horizontal separation. Monocular depth cues are visual cues that can be perceived with one eye, while binocular depth cues require both eyes.

Question 11

As she watches her granddaughter's dance recital, Patty perceives two separate groups of dancers. Her granddaughter's group wore bright turquoise costumes with gold accents and the other group wore bright gold costumes with turquoise accents. Patty perception is supported by the Gestalt principle of _______________.

Accepted Answer

The Gestalt principle of similarity suggests that people tend to group objects together based on their similarities, such as color or shape. In this case, Patty perceives two separate groups of dancers based on the similarities in their costumes - one group with turquoise costumes and gold accents, and another group with gold costumes and turquoise accents.

Question 12

The slight difference in lateral separation between two objects as seen by the left eye and the right eye is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

The definition given in the question matches the concept of retinal disparity, which is the slight difference in the images received by the left and right eyes that allows for depth perception. Interposition refers to one object appearing to block another due to its position in space, convergence refers to the inward movement of the eyes when focusing on an object, and linear disparity is not a commonly used term in perception research.

Question 13

An important visual skill is the ability to perceive objects as stable or unchanging even though the retinal image changes. This is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

Perceptual constancy is the ability to recognize an object as being the same even when viewed from different angles, distances, or lighting conditions, which means that the retinal image changes. Continuity refers to the tendency to prefer continuous figures rather than disrupted ones. Perspective refers to the perception of distance and depth in a scene. Selective attention refers to the process of focusing on certain stimuli in the environment while ignoring others.

Question 14

The perceived _______________ of a sound is related to the amplitude of a sound wave.

Accepted Answer

The perceived loudness of a sound is directly related to the amplitude or intensity of the sound wave. The higher the amplitude, the louder the sound will be perceived.

Question 15

The dimension of auditory experience related to the complexity of a sound wave, that is, to the relative breadth of the range of frequencies, is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

The dimension of auditory experience related to the relative breadth of the range of frequencies is called timbre. Frequency refers to the number of cycles per second of a sound wave, pitch refers to the perceived highness or lowness of a sound, and loudness refers to the perceived intensity or amplitude of a sound.

Question 16

DJ is asked to participate in the replication of a famous experiment. The researchers place virtual-reality goggles on him so he sees the world from a camera placed on top of a mannequin. The researchers then stroke the mannequin's arm while simultaneously doing the same thing to DJ's arm. If the results of the experiment are consistent with the original study, DJ is likely to:

Accepted Answer

The experiment described is known as the rubber hand illusion, where the participant sees the mannequin's arm as their own due to the synchrony between their own and the mannequin's arm being stroked. Therefore, DJ is likely to experience the illusion that the mannequin's body is his own.

Question 17

The amplitude of a sound wave is related to our perception of _______________.

Accepted Answer

The amplitude of a sound wave is related to our perception of loudness.

Question 18

The dimension of auditory experience related to the frequency of the sound wave and, to some extent, its intensity is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

Pitch is the dimension of auditory experience related to the frequency of the sound wave. It refers to how low or high a sound is perceived. Saturation and timbre are not related to frequency but to other aspects of sound perception. Gustation is a completely unrelated sense related to taste.

Question 19

Binocular cues help us estimate distances up to about _______________.

Accepted Answer

Binocular cues, such as convergence and retinal disparity, work best for estimating distances within about 50 feet. Beyond that distance, the cues become less reliable and we rely more on monocular cues like relative size and linear perspective.

Question 20

Which of the following is a binocular cue to depth?

Accepted Answer

Retinal disparity is a binocular cue to depth perception that is based on the difference between the images presented to each eye. The brain uses this difference to perceive the distance of objects and create a three-dimensional perception of the world. Interposition, relative height, and linear perspective are monocular cues to depth perception that can be perceived with only one eye.

Quiz 6: Sensation and Perception