Question 1

Which of the following represents your authors' position regarding the visual system of a newborn?

Accepted Answer

The authors' position is that the visual system is relatively well-developed at birth. They note that newborns can track objects with their eyes, prefer looking at faces, and have some depth perception. While their visual acuity is not as well-developed as an adult's, it is still functional and improves over time. Option A is false because newborns do not have the same visual acuity as an adult. Option B is false because newborns are not born blind. Option D is false because the optic nerve does develop during the prenatal period.

Question 2

Tavon is eating something, and he puts some of it on his fingertip and puts it to the lips of his 2-week old son, Tray. Tray responds by licking his lips, sucking on Tavon's fingertip vigorously, and smiling. It is most likely that Tavon gave Tray something ________ to taste.

Accepted Answer

Given that Tray is a 2-week old infant, it is unlikely that he has had exposure to a variety of flavors, and sweet is typically one of the first tastes that babies are introduced to. Tray's response of licking his lips and sucking on Tavon's fingertip vigorously, along with his smile, suggests that he enjoyed the taste. Therefore, it is most likely that Tavon gave Tray something sweet to taste.

Question 3

Marcus wants to know whether or not his daughter, Rebekah, can perceive different distances and depths. He wants to fashion a simple experiment to make this conclusion. Based on the work of Gibson and Walk, what sort of contraption could he build to test Rebekah's depth perception?

Accepted Answer

The visual cliff is a contraption used to test depth perception in infants and animals. It consists of a platform with a glass surface that creates the illusion of a drop-off, and the depth perception can be inferred from whether the individual is willing to cross the "cliff" or not. This experiment was used by Gibson and Walk to demonstrate that depth perception is innate in humans and other animals.

Question 4

In a visual cliff apparatus, what appears under the glass to provide visual information about depth to a child?

Accepted Answer

A checkerboard pattern appears under the glass to provide visual information about depth to a child in a visual cliff apparatus. This pattern creates an illusion of a ledge or a drop, which prompts the child to hesitate before crossing over to the other side, thus indicating their perception of depth.

Question 5

If you are checking on a sleeping infant with another person and you want to say something to them without waking up the child, which type of voice would be the worst choice to speak in?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If you are checking on a sleeping...

Question 6

Mariposa just called out to her son Lou by saying his name to him. Lou just turned and looked in his mother's direction, demonstrating recognition of his own name. How old would you say that Lou must be?

Accepted Answer

Most babies begin to recognize their own name around 4 to 5 months old. At this age, they are also starting to develop selective attention and respond to familiar voices and sounds.

Question 7

Jimmy is only three days old, but he is making a high-pitched cry, is moving his arms and legs back and forth, and has an elevated heart rate. It is likely that Jimmy is currently

Accepted Answer

Jimmy's behavior suggests that he is in pain. The high-pitched cry and movement of arms and legs are indicators of distress, and an elevated heart rate can be a physiological response to pain. The other options are possible, but less likely given his behavior. It is not mentioned if Jimmy has recently eaten or needs a diaper change, and there is no information to suggest that he is asleep.

Question 8

Dennis is sitting on a train and is looking at the mountains in the distance. He suddenly becomes aware that the trees and signs that are very close to the tracks look as if they are moving by far more rapidly than the mountains that are several miles away. Those mountains look as if they are just crawling by. Dennis is currently using ________ to determine the distance of what he is seeing.

Accepted Answer

Dennis is using motion parallax to determine the distance of what he is seeing. This is because he is noticing that the objects that are closer to him seem to be moving more quickly than the objects that are farther away. Motion parallax is a monocular depth cue that involves the perception of objects moving at different speeds depending on their distance from the viewer.

Question 9

Which child's vision would have most recently matched that of an adult with 20/20 vision?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which child's vision would have most recently...

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of intersensory redundancy?

Accepted Answer

Intersensory redundancy is the concept of presenting information through two or more senses simultaneously, which enhances a child's ability to process and understand the information. Singing "Pat-a-cake" to a baby while clapping their hands to the beat of the song is an example of providing auditory and tactile stimulation at the same time, making it easier for the baby to attend to and process the information.

Question 11

When an object gets closer to you, the image of that object projected onto your left and right retinas moves farther apart. Conversely, as an object moves farther away, the image on your retinas gets closer together. The ability to determine distance based on this change in retinal projection is called retinal ________.

Accepted Answer

The ability to determine distance based on the change in retinal projection is called retinal disparity. Parallax refers to the apparent shift in the position of an object when viewed from two different angles, while occularity and kinesthesis are unrelated to the question being asked.

Question 12

With regard to the ability to see colors, newborns

Accepted Answer

Newborn infants are not completely colorblind, but they have limited color perception. Research indicates that newborns can distinguish between some colors such as red and blue, but they cannot differentiate between colors that are close together on the spectrum such as green and yellow. Therefore, choice A, "can perceive a few colors," is the best answer.

Question 13

Which is considered a pictorial cue to depth?

Accepted Answer

Texture gradient refers to the fact that textures become smaller and closer together as they recede into the distance, and this can serve as a pictorial cue to depth perception. Visual expansion (A) refers to the way that objects appear to grow larger as they move closer to us, and is another important depth cue. Retinal disparity (C) and motion parallax (D) are also depth cues, but they are not considered pictorial cues as they rely on changes in the position of objects as we move or shift our gaze.

Question 14

Imagine that you are standing on a pair of railroad tracks. As you look down at your feet, the tracks look a certain distance apart. As you lift your head and watch the tracks move away from you, they appear to get closer together until they converge at the farthest point. This bit of visual trickery is called

Accepted Answer

The visual trickery described is called linear perspective, where parallel lines appear to converge as they extend into the distance. A, texture gradient, refers to the gradual change in texture and detail of a surface as it extends into the distance. C, retinal disparity, refers to the slight difference in the images projected onto each eye, which is a cue for depth perception. D, the visual cliff, is an apparatus used to test depth perception in infants and animals.

Question 15

A judgment of depth using motion parallax relies heavily on the _____ of an object.

Accepted Answer

Motion parallax is a depth cue that involves images of objects at different distances moving across the retina at different rates. The speed of an object's movement relative to the observer is crucial for determining depth through motion parallax, not its color, size, or shape.

Question 16

Wendell can tell that the trees on the mountain are very far away, because rather than being able to see individual trees and the spaces between them, he just perceives a big green patch. Which depth cue best describes this?

Accepted Answer

The texture gradient depth cue refers to the fact that texture appears to be denser and more compact as it recedes into the distance. In this case, Wendell sees a big green patch instead of individual trees and spaces between them, suggesting that the texture of the trees has become increasingly compressed, indicating that they are far away. Linear perspective refers to the fact that parallel lines appear to converge as they recede into the distance, visual expansion describes the fact that objects appear to grow larger as they approach us, and motion parallax refers to the fact that objects closer to us appear to move faster than objects farther away when we move our head or eyes. None of these depth cues are applicable in this scenario.

Question 17

What is an example of intersensory redundancy?

Accepted Answer

Intersensory redundancy occurs when the same information is presented simultaneously to multiple sensory modalities, such as seeing and hearing your mother talk, which reinforces the perception and understanding of the information.

Question 18

By about ________ months of age, infants begin to process faces in a manner similar to adults; that is, they see the internal elements (eyes, nose, mouth) as arranged and spaced in a unique way.

Accepted Answer

By 7-8 months of age, infants start to process faces similarly to adults, recognizing the unique arrangement and spacing of facial features.

Question 19

________ cues are to motion as visual ________ is to an object filling more of one's retina

Accepted Answer

Kinetic cues are related to motion perception, which is similar to the expansion cue for visual perception. The other options are not related to motion or visual perception in the same way.

Question 20

Cher offers her 10-day-old daughter, Chastity, a taste of some juice she is drinking. Based on the fact that Chastity makes a terrible face when she tastes the juice, you would suspect that it was

Accepted Answer

Babies are born with a preference for sweet tastes, so it is unlikely that Chastity's reaction was due to the juice being sweet. Additionally, the descriptor "fruity" does not necessarily indicate a taste that would cause a negative reaction. However, sour tastes can be unpleasant for infants, as their taste buds are still developing and they may not be accustomed to such flavors. Therefore, it is most likely that the juice was sour.

Quiz 3: Tools for Exploring the World: Physical, Perceptual, and Motor Development