Question 1

Making sense of a word written in faded scribble by first naming each letter is an example of __________

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processing involves analyzing individual elements of a stimulus and building a complete perception from those individual pieces. In this example, naming each letter is a process of analyzing the individual elements of the word in order to build a complete understanding of the word.

Question 2

People's tendency to perceive a thing a certain way because their previous experiences or expectations influence them is called __________

Accepted Answer

Perceptual set refers to the tendency of our brain to interpret and organize sensory information based on our past experiences, expectations, and context. This means that our perception can be influenced by what we anticipate or believe about a stimulus, even if that belief or expectation is incorrect. Perceptual set can lead to biases and errors in perception, but it also helps us efficiently process and interpret complex sensory information.

Question 3

Some people believe that __________ are messages that can be sent to consumers, prompting them to buy a product without their being aware of receiving such messages.

Accepted Answer

Subliminal stimuli refers to messages that are presented below the threshold of conscious awareness, and some people believe that these messages can influence a consumer's behavior without their knowledge. The other answer choices (selective perceptions, inductive perceptions, below threshold perceptions) all refer to perceptual processes, but they do not specifically relate to subliminal marketing messages.

Question 4

Laverne goes to a movie theater to watch her favorite movie. About halfway through the movie she becomes aware of an overpowering hunger for popcorn. What she doesn't realize is that throughout the first part of the movie, a message saying "Eat Popcorn!" was repeatedly flashed on the screen at a speed too fast for her to be consciously aware of it. If her desire for popcorn is due to that message, she is responding to __________

Accepted Answer

Laverne's desire for popcorn is due to subliminal perception, as the message to eat popcorn was flashed on the screen at a speed too fast for her to consciously perceive.

Question 5

The Müller-Lyer illusion exists in cultures in which there are __________

Accepted Answer

The Müller-Lyer illusion is more likely to occur in cultures with environments that have many straight lines and right angles, such as those found in urban areas with buildings that have lots of corners. This is because the illusion plays on the brain's perception of depth and perspective, which is influenced by the visual environment one is accustomed to.

Question 6

__________ is the way in which information from two different sensory modalities is combined.

Accepted Answer

Cross-modal perception is the process by which the brain integrates information from two different sensory modalities, such as sound and vision. It allows us to form a coherent perception of the world around us and is important for many everyday activities.

Question 7

Fred found it impossible to read the scrawled prescription on his physician's prescription pad. Fred was relying on which type of processing?

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processing is the process of perceiving objects by starting with the basic features of the object and then combining them into a whole. In this case, Fred was relying on bottom-up processing to read the prescription because he was starting with the basic features of the letters (the lines and curves) and then combining them into words.

Question 8

The illusion based on the concept that most people live in a world with lots of buildings and corners is the __________

Accepted Answer

The Müller-Lyer illusion is based on the concept that most people live in a world with lots of buildings and corners, which influences their perception of lines and angles. This illusion involves lines with arrow-like tails at their ends, which cause the viewer to perceive one line as longer than the other, even though they are the same length. This is thought to be due to the brain's interpretation of the 3D cues from the 2D image, influenced by our everyday environment filled with corners and edges.

Question 9

__________ are false perceptions or misperceptions of an actual stimulus in the environment.

Accepted Answer

Illusions are false perceptions of an actual stimulus in the environment, meaning that what the individual perceives is not an accurate representation of what is actually there. Ambiguous figures and stimuli can be interpreted in multiple ways, but they are not necessarily false perceptions. Hallucinations, on the other hand, are perceptions of stimuli that do not actually exist and are not present in the environment.

Question 10

What people expect to perceive is called __________

Accepted Answer

The perceptual set refers to the tendency of people to perceive and interpret information in a certain way based on their expectations, beliefs, and previous experiences. It influences how individuals perceive and categorize sensory information, as well as how they interpret ambiguous stimuli.

Question 11

People involved in car crashes are often heard to say "That other car came out of nowhere" while describing what happened. Researchers call this phenomenon __________

Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described is known as inattentional blindness, which refers to the failure to perceive unexpected stimuli that are in plain sight due to attention being focused elsewhere.

Question 12

Although Fred cannot read it at all, Fred's pharmacist immediately understands and fills the prescription written by Fred's physician. This is an example of __________

Accepted Answer

This is an example of top-down processing, where the pharmacist is able to use their prior knowledge and experience to interpret the prescription even though some of the details may not be clear or accurate.

Question 13

__________ is our capacity to perceive and respond to stimuli that are presented below the threshold of awareness.

Accepted Answer

Subliminal perception refers to the ability to perceive and respond to stimuli that are presented below the threshold of awareness. Extrasensory perception (B) involves the ability to perceive information through means other than the five senses, such as telepathy or precognition. Threshold flexibility (C) and perceptual reactivity (D) are not commonly used terms in the field of perception.

Question 14

Most research on subliminal perception suggests that it has __________

Accepted Answer

Most research has found no support for the assertion that subliminal messages have any effect on behavior, indicating no effect on behavior.

Question 15

Jeremy is in a crowded restaurant and is deeply involved in a conversation with one of his friends when he hears someone call his name from across the room. Immediately, Jeremy pauses his conversation and orients towards the person who called his name. This is known as the __________

Accepted Answer

The cocktail party phenomenon refers to the ability of individuals to focus their attention on a specific stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, as when a person can focus on a single conversation in a noisy environment but still notice their name being called.

Question 16

People with different cultural backgrounds tend to differ in their experience of some illusions due to differences in __________

Accepted Answer

People's cultural experiences can shape how they perceive certain illusions, as different cultures may have different norms or expectations around visual stimuli. For example, the Müller-Lyer illusion, which involves two lines of the same length that appear to be of different lengths when pointed arrows are added to the ends of each line, may be perceived differently by people from cultures where there is less emphasis on linear perspective or visual depth cues.

Question 17

At the exact moment that her sister was involved in a serious car accident, Anne, who was miles away in her office at work, had a "vision" in which she saw the accident in almost perfect detail. Anne's experience is what parapsychologists would call __________

Accepted Answer

Anne's experience fits the definition of clairvoyance, which is the ability to perceive events or information that are outside of the normal range of sensory perception. In this case, Anne perceived the details of her sister's car accident despite being miles away and without any physical sensory input. Telepathy involves the communication of thoughts between individuals, while precognition involves knowledge of future events. Psychometry involves gaining information about an object or person through touching or handling it.

Question 18

In a social situation in which someone is displaying an angry expression but using calm, friendly words and tone of voice, the __________ is most likely to take priority over other cues in determining the person's emotions.

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that in a situation where there is a mismatch between facial expression and verbal communication, people tend to rely more on facial expression as a cue to interpret emotions. This phenomenon is known as the "facial feedback hypothesis." Therefore, in this social situation, the angry facial expression would be the most important cue for determining the person's emotions.

Question 19

Analyzing smaller features and building up to a complete perception is called __________

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processing involves analyzing smaller features and building up to a complete perception, whereas top-down processing involves using higher-level knowledge and expectations to influence perception. Perceptual construction and hypothesis formation are related concepts but not the best choices in this context.

Question 20

__________ is the process of selecting some sensations for further processing.

Accepted Answer

Attention refers to the process of selecting certain sensations for further processing, while filtering out irrelevant or unnecessary information. It is the first stage in the process of perception, which involves organizing and interpreting sensory information. Therefore, option A is the most appropriate choice. Option B (Perception) is incorrect because perception refers to the overall process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, while attention is a specific stage of this process. Option C (Bottom-up processing) and D (Top-down processing) are also incorrect because they refer to different types of processing in perception, rather than the initial stage of attention.

Quiz 3: Sensation and Perception