Question 1

Researchers have used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to disrupt portions of the healthy brain. When asking participants to search for a target, we expect TMS applied to the parietal lobe to

Accepted Answer

TMS applied to the parietal lobe has been shown to disrupt the search for a target defined by a conjunction of features (e.g., "Find the shape that is red and round"), but not for a target defined by a single feature (e.g., "Find the red shape"). Therefore, choice D is the best option.

Question 2

A tachistoscope is a device used to

Accepted Answer

A tachistoscope is a device that is used to briefly display stimuli. It is often used in psychological research to study perception and attention by presenting visual stimuli for a precise and controlled amount of time. Option A (measure the rate at which a neuron is firing) and option D (record the moment-by-moment activities of the brain) are not accurate descriptions of what a tachistoscope does. Option B (provide precise measurements of reaction times) is somewhat related to the use of a tachistoscope, but it is not the primary purpose of the device.

Question 3

Laura suffered brain damage and now has difficulty identifying objects. Specifically, she can see components, but has a hard time putting them together. She is likely suffering from

Accepted Answer

Apperceptive agnosia is a type of agnosia in which a person has difficulty perceiving and recognizing objects. This is likely what Laura is experiencing as she can see components but has trouble putting them together. Prosopagnosia is difficulty recognizing faces, associative agnosia is difficulty associating a name or meaning to an object, and memory loss refers to a general loss of memory function.

Question 4

In tachistoscopic studies, a poststimulus mask is usually employed to

Accepted Answer

The poststimulus mask is used to disrupt sensory processing of the stimulus, preventing participants from fully perceiving or analyzing the stimulus before it disappears from view. This can help to isolate specific processes or features of perception, such as the initial processing of visual information, without interference from later stages of processing.

Question 5

In tachistoscopic recognition, participants often make overregularization errors. These are errors in which participants

Accepted Answer

Overregularization errors in tachistoscopic recognition involve mistaken perceptions of patterns or words. Option D describes a specific example of an overregularization error, in which participants perceive a pattern as a real word, despite an apparent error in the pattern.

Question 6

Imagine you are reading a puzzling email from a friend. You identify the words, but have a hard time "reading between the lines." In this example, word identification involves ________ processing while "reading between the lines" involves ________ processing.

Accepted Answer

Word identification involves bottom-up processing because it involves analyzing the individual letters and sounds in each word to comprehend it. "Reading between the lines" involves top-down processing because it involves drawing on prior knowledge, context, and assumptions to understand the meaning beyond just the literal words.

Question 7

It is suggested that features have special status. Which of the following findings does NOT support this hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

Perception of features changing based on the perceiver's expectations supports the idea that features have a special status, while perception of objects not changing does not go against this idea. Therefore, the correct answer is D.

Question 8

In a tachistoscopic procedure, participants are shown the sequence NACL. Evidence indicates that

Accepted Answer

The answer of In a tachistoscopic procedure, participants are shown...

Question 9

What sort of processing is dependent on factors in the environment or in the stimulus?

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processing is dependent on factors in the environment or in the stimulus. It involves processing information from the sensory receptors and constructing meaning from it without using prior knowledge or expectations.

Question 10

"Bottom-up" (or "data-driven") mechanisms are

Accepted Answer

"Bottom-up" or "data-driven" mechanisms refer to the process in which activity is primarily triggered and shaped by incoming stimulus information. This is in contrast to "top-down" mechanisms, which are influenced by thoughts provided by the individual. Options A and D are related to the scientific process, but not specific to "bottom-up" mechanisms.

Question 11

A participant reads a list of words in which the word "elephant" appears several times. Later, the participant tachistoscopically views another list of words. When the word "elephant" appears in the second list, the participant's response rate is faster than for other words not found on the previous list. This effect is called

Accepted Answer

The effect described is repetition priming, where the previous presentation of a stimulus (in this case, the word "elephant") makes it easier and faster to process the same stimulus when it appears again later. The word-superiority effect refers to the phenomenon where people are faster and more accurate at identifying letters appearing in words compared to when they appear alone or in non-word configurations. The redundancy claim is not a recognized cognitive term. Working-memory availability refers to the amount of information currently stored and accessible in short-term memory.

Question 12

Apperceptive agnosia and associative agnosia both involve difficulties with object recognition; however, they differ in that

Accepted Answer

Apperceptive agnosia is characterized by difficulty in perceiving and organizing visual information, while associative agnosia involves difficulty in relating visual information to prior knowledge and memory. Therefore, option A and C are both incorrect. Option D is also incorrect as both types of agnosia can be acquired through different causes.

Question 13

Imagine you are putting together a puzzle. The lid of the box comes with a picture of the completed puzzle, and you reference that while you are working. The picture on the lid is acting as a

Accepted Answer

The picture on the lid is providing expectations and prior knowledge that is guiding the assembly of the puzzle. This is an example of top-down influence in perception, where higher-level cognitive processes (knowledge, expectations, context) shape and guide lower-level perceptual processing.

Question 14

You are shown an odd-looking image and asked to identify it. According to our knowledge of object recognition, your first step would be gathering the raw data, and the second would be ________ data.

Accepted Answer

Once the raw data is gathered, the next step in object recognition is interpreting the data to identify the object.

Question 15

The word-superiority effect refers to the fact that it is easier to recognize

Accepted Answer

The word-superiority effect refers to the fact that we recognize letters more accurately and quickly when they are presented within the context of a word than when they are presented in isolation. This is because the letters in a word are processed more easily and efficiently when they are part of a meaningful unit, as opposed to when they are presented in isolation. Therefore, option B is the correct answer.

Question 16

Participants are shown the letter-string TPUM for 30 ms and asked to identify what they saw. If they are going to answer incorrectly, which response are they most likely to give?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Participants are shown the letter-string TPUM for...

Question 17

Bob suffered brain damage and now has difficulty recognizing objects. He was shown a clock and was asked to draw it, but drew only a square. However, when asked to draw a clock from memory, he was able to do it. Bob is likely suffering from

Accepted Answer

Bob's ability to draw the clock from memory suggests that his visual memory is intact, ruling out memory loss. His difficulty in recognizing objects, specifically drawing a clock only as a square, suggests a problem with perception, ruling out associative agnosia. Therefore, the best option is apperceptive agnosia, which is characterized by difficulty in perceiving and integrating visual information.

Question 18

When identifying nonword letter strings that are presented very briefly, participants tend to make specific kinds of errors. How would these errors be best described?

Accepted Answer

The answer of When identifying nonword letter strings that are...

Question 19

Participants are shown a visual stimulus for just 30 milliseconds (ms) and are then asked, "Was there an E or a K in the stimulus?" We would expect the best performance if the stimulus is

Accepted Answer

The answer of Participants are shown a visual stimulus for...

Question 20

In a tachistoscopic procedure, a word is likely to be more difficult to recognize if it

Accepted Answer

In tachistoscopic procedures, words are presented very briefly, making it difficult for the brain to process them fully. Therefore, words with an unusual spelling pattern are more difficult to recognize because they do not fit typical visual patterns and require more processing time. The other options do not directly impact the word recognition in a tachistoscopic procedure.

Quiz 4: Recognizing Objects