CH-4 Sensation and Perception – Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding : Exam Guide

Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception Multiple Choice Questions 1. The organization and interpretation of olfactory information is one example of A. perception. B. accommodation. C. sensation. D. transduction. Answer: A 2. The ability to detect physical energy through our visual or touch systems is known as A. accommodation. B. perception. C. transduction. D. sensation. Answer: D 3. _______________ are the raw data of experience, based on the activation of certain receptors located in the various sensory organs. A. Accommodations B. Perceptions C. Transductions D. Sensations Answer: D 4. Activation of the receptors by stimuli is called A. accommodation. B. perception. C. transduction. D. sensation. Answer: D 5. Cells that are triggered by light, vibrations, sounds, touch, or chemical substances are called A. ganglion cells. B. bipolar cells. C. ossicles. D. sense receptors. Answer: D 6. The belief that our sensory systems are infallible and that our perceptions are perfect representations of the world around us is called A. pixilation. B. perceptionism. C. naïve realism. D. sensory adaptation Answer: C 7. The perceptual process of filling-in is guided by A. preconceived notions and past experience. B. activation of neuronal patterns specific to an object. C. the process of transduction in any sense. D. the raw sensory data that is received in the sense organs. Answer: A 8. The conversion of external energy into something that the nervous system can understand is known as A. transduction. B. accommodation. C. perception. D. sensation. Answer: A 9. When you first put your hat on, you can feel it quite easily, but after a while, you forget that you are wearing a hat at all—the sensation is gone. What happens? A. Sensory fatigue B. Subliminal perception C. Sensory adaptation D. Perceptual defence Answer: C 10. The process by which unchanging information from the senses of taste, touch, smell, and vision is “ignored” by the sensory receptor cells themselves is called A. sensory fatigue. B. subliminal perception. C. sensory adaptation. D. perceptual defence. Answer: C 11. In the process known as _____________, sensory receptors become less sensitive to repeated presentations of the same stimulus. A. sensory fatigue B. subliminal perception C. sensory adaptation D. perceptual defence Answer: C 12. Zach and David decide to go exploring the forest behind their farm on a cold December day. The fact that they felt much colder when they initially got outdoors than they do five minutes later, despite having not done anything to warm themselves, is known as A. sensory interaction. B. sensory illusion. C. transduction. D. sensory adaptation. Answer: D 13. Sounds that we hear are converted into electrical signals in neurons through a process called _______________. A. sensory adaptation. B. psychophysics. C. transduction. D. signal detection. Answer: C 14. The sensitivity of our sensory abilities and systems is demonstrated in our _______________ thresholds. A. difference B. absolute C. pain D. psychophysical Answer: B 15. Which of the following is conceptually similar to the process of transduction? A. Hearing a story from a friend and phoning up another friend to tell them the same story. B. Thinking about what you are going to write in a paper and then typing out your thoughts. C. Taking a picture of a funny sign that you saw on a road trip. D. Forgetting that your sunglasses are on your face because you have been wearing them so long. Answer: B 16. Activation of our sense receptors is greatest when A. we are prepared to detect a stimulus. B. we notice that the stimulus has been turned off. C. we stop noticing a constant stimulus is present. D. we first detect the presence of a stimulus. Answer: D 17. _______________ refers to the study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics. A. Thresholds B. Adaptation C. Transduction D. Psychophysics Answer: D 18. Jamica is participating in a psychology experiment, and has been placed in a room that is pitch black. The researcher repeatedly asks Jamica to indicate whether or not she has seen a light stimulus. The researcher is testing Jamica’s A. difference threshold. B. just noticeable difference. C. absolute threshold. D. adaptation threshold. Answer: C 19. As the number of people talking in a room increases, the stimulus intensity needed to detect a change in the number of people talking becomes A. larger. B. smaller. C. same. D. finer. Answer: A 20. The point at which a person can detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time it is presented is called the A. absolute threshold. B. range threshold. C. difference threshold. D. noticeable threshold. Answer: A 21. The lowest intensity of a particular stimulus that enables the average person to detect that stimulus 50 percent of the time it is presented is called the A. absolute threshold. B. range threshold. C. difference threshold. D. noticeable threshold. Answer: A 22. The smallest amount of a particular stimulus required to produce any sensation at all in the person to whom the stimulus is presented is the A. absolute threshold. B. range threshold. C. difference threshold. D. noticeable threshold. Answer: A 23. The lowest stimulus intensity required for detection is the _______________ and the smallest change in stimulus intensity that we can detect is the _______________. A. absolute threshold; just noticeable difference. B. base value; just noticeable difference. C. response criterion; sensory constant. D. difference threshold; absolute threshold. Answer: A 24. The principle that the just noticeable difference of any given sense is a constant fraction or proportion of the stimulus being judged is called A. the opponent-process principle. B. the doctrine of specific nerve energies. C. the phi phenomenon. D. Weber’s law. Answer: D 25. When Ann went to her doctor, he gave her a hearing test. During the test, the doctor presented a series of tones to Ann through earphones. The tones started at a low intensity and then became louder. The doctor asked Ann to raise her hand whenever she started to hear a sound. The doctor was testing Ann’s A. auditory convergence. B. absolute threshold. C. refractory threshold. D. difference threshold. Answer: B 26. Weber’s law provides a formulation that is used to determine the A. largest detectable stimulus. B. smallest detectable stimulus. C. largest detectable difference between two stimuli. D. smallest detectable difference between two stimuli. Answer: D 27. Alicia is talking on her cell phone to her friend Maya. If Maya is in a crowded subway terminal, Alicia finds that she has to nearly shout for Maya to be able to hear her. However, when Maya is in a meadow on her grandparents’ farm she can easily tell what Alicia is watching on TV as they talk. This is one illustration of A. the just noticeable difference. B. transduction. C. absolute threshold. D. signal-to-noise ratio. Answer: D 28. Julian is getting his eyes tested, and the doctor asks him to indicate when the image on the screen gets brighter or darker than it was previously. The doctor is trying to determine Julian’s A. absolute threshold. B. adaptation threshold. C. just noticeable difference. D. signal detection. Answer: C 29. According to signal detection theory, a _______________ is when a stimulus is absent, but the participant indicates that it was present. A. true positive B. false negative C. false positive D. true negative Answer: C 30. According to signal detection theory, a _______________ is when a stimulus is present but the participant indicates that it was absent. A. true positive B. false negative C. false positive D. true negative Answer: B 31. The frequency of true positives, false negatives, false positives, and true negatives allow us to determine if participants have _______________. A. the correct signal-to-noise ratio. B. any response biases. C. detected a just noticeable difference. D. an absolute threshold for the stimulus. Answer: B 32. Casey is participating in a psychology experiment where he is asked to indicate whether he heard a sound or did not hear a sound on successive testing trials. If Casey says he heard a sound, and no sound was presented, his response would be considered a _______________ according to signal detection theory. A. true positive B. false positive C. false negative D. true negative Answer: B 33. Casey is participating in a psychology experiment where he is asked to indicate whether he heard a sound or did not hear a sound on successive testing trials. If Casey says he did not hear a sound, and no sound was presented, his response would be considered a _______________ according to signal detection theory. A. true positive B. false positive C. false negative D. true negative Answer: D 34. Casey is participating in a psychology experiment where he is asked to indicate whether he heard a sound or did not hear a sound on successive testing trials. If Casey says he did not hear a sound, and a sound was presented, his response would be considered a _______________ according to signal detection theory. A. true positive B. false positive C. false negative D. true negative Answer: C 35. Which of the following is true with respect to the doctrine of specific nerve energies? A. The sensation we experience is determined by the nature of the sense receptor, not the stimulus. B. Our brain responds differently when either light or touch activate sense receptors in our eyes. C. Distinct stimulus energies (e.g., light, sound) cause different sensations in the same sense receptor. D. Specific nerve energies involve processing in sense receptors but have no links to cortical pathways. Answer: A 36. Hearing the audio track of one syllable (such as “ba”) spoken repeatedly while seeing a video track of a different syllable being spoken (such as “ga”) produces the perceptual experience of a different third sound (such as “da”). This is an example of _______________. A. the McGurk effect B. the just noticeable difference C. signal detection D. the doctrine of specific nerve energies. Answer: A 37. Cross-modal sensations, such as hearing colours or tasting words, are associated with _______________. A. the McGurk effect B. synesthesia C. parallel processing D. colour constancy Answer: B 38. When Georgina reads, letters and words take on personality characteristics such as shy and sweet. Which of the following explains this altered perception? A. Synesthesia B. Inattentional blindness C. Dyslexia D. Grapheme lexicality Answer: A 39. Which of the following is an example of how our selective visual attention can lead us to miss important information? A. The cocktail party effect B. Synesthesia C. Colour blindness D. Change blindness Answer: D 40. Sarah is a pianist who reports that she hears musical tones as colours. This is one example of A. the Ponzo illusion. B. synesthesia. C. binocular cues. D. the Ganzfield technique. Answer: B 41. Which of the following is not an example of cross-modal processing? A. The rubber hand illusion B. Transduction C. The McGurk effect D. Synesthesia Answer: B 42. By presenting research participants with incomplete objects, psychologists have been able to see how the participants come to determine what they are viewing. This research suggests that our daily experiences are the result of A. both reality and illusions. B. only reality. C. only sensory information. D. only illusions. Answer: A 43. The fact that our beliefs and expectations often influence our sensory experiences is an example of A. top-down processing. B. parallel processing. C. bottom-up processing. D. subliminal processing. Answer: A 44. Juanita is holding her pet cat, Belle. The fact that she is getting information about Belle's weight as she sits on Juanita's lap, the sound of Belle's purrs, and the sight of Belle's eye movements all at the same time is an example of A. bottom-up processing. B. top-down processing. C. subliminal processing. D. parallel processing. Answer: D 45. Stanton is taking chemistry with Ms. Neville and has heard many negative stories about her class from his friends. The fact that his beliefs about Ms. Neville affect his interpretation of his interactions with her during the school year is an example of A. subliminal processing. B. bottom-up processing. C. top-down processing. D. parallel processing. Answer: C 46. _______________ is conceptually driven, whereas _______________ is stimulus- driven. A. Top-down processing; bottom-up processing B. Bottom-up processing; top-down processing C. Difference threshold; absolute threshold D. Absolute threshold; difference threshold Answer: A 47. Matt is considering the purchase of subliminal self-help tapes to aid him in losing weight. His wife Marge is skeptical about this plan and asks your advice. Based on the evidence presented by your authors, what would you say about the effectiveness of subliminal self-help tapes? A. They are ineffective. B. They are highly effective, but only if you believe they'll be effective. C. More research is needed to assess their effectiveness or ineffectiveness. D. They are effective. Answer: A 48. Laverne goes to a movie theatre to watch her favourite 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 A. selective perception. B. subliminal perception. C. cognitive restructuring. D. stroboscopic perception. Answer: B 49. One problem with Vicary’s study of subliminal perception is that A. it demonstrated the validity of the concept of subliminal perception. B. it did not prove that people actually bought more colas and popcorn for several months after seeing the movie. C. it showed that subliminal stimuli had only very small effects on consumer patterns. D. it never happened. Answer: D 50. Hannah does not allow her son Edward to listen to heavy metal music because she believes that this kind of music contains hidden messages that, when played backwards, influence people to do bad things like use drugs or hurt others. According to research on reversed subliminal messages, what would you tell Hannah if she asked you about hidden messages in music? A. Some musical groups use backmasking to insert messages into music to influence their listeners. B. Metal bands have bad messages inserted both forwards and backwards so both influence behaviour. C. Reversed messages are often illusory and have less of an impact than the minimal changes in behaviour associated with forward messages. D. While forward subliminal messages don’t appear to exert a large influence on behaviour, reversed messages can have dramatic effects and cause people to do things they otherwise would not. Answer: C 51. When our perception of a stimulus, such as a misshapen letter or an image, depends on the context of the stimulus or our preconceptions, we are using _______________ to interpret the stimulus. A. a perceptual constancy B. selective attention C. feature binding D. a perceptual set Answer: D 52. Jordan and her friends are in the front row for a rock concert. During the concert, the lead singer moves all around the stage but Jordan continues to perceive him as the same height even though the image received in her eye and brain constantly changes. This illustrates which type of perceptual constancy? A. Colour constancy B. Location constancy C. Size constancy D. Shape constancy Answer: C 53. The fact that you can easily recognize a picture of Mickey Mouse or Bart Simpson as that character, no matter what angle they are presented in during a cartoon, is an example of A. colour constancy. B. shape constancy. C. size constancy. D. location constancy. Answer: B 54. We perceive that firefighters are wearing bright yellow jackets, independent of when we see them in the bright daylight or at night. This is due to the principle of _______________. A. colour constancy B. shape constancy C. size constancy D. location constancy Answer: A 55. Clay has played professional soccer for seven years and is easily able to tune out the sound of the crowd and all other irrelevant sensory information during the game. Bruce is a rookie and is often distracted by what his opponents are saying and the mood of the crowd. Clay and Bruce are showing differing levels of A. selective attention. B. parallel processing. C. absolute thresholds. D. top-down processing. Answer: A 56. According to Donald Broadbent's research, selective attention acts as a A. trapdoor. B. safety net. C. key. D. filter. Answer: D 57. The fact that Dale perceives a taxi cab to be bright orange during the day and bright orange at night demonstrates the concept of A. the binding problem. B. dark adaptation. C. perceptual set. D. colour constancy. Answer: D 58. Savannah is sitting in the cafeteria at school talking to a group of her friends. She is paying attention to their conversation, but, all of the sudden, she hears her name in a conversation at a nearby table. Which of the following best describes Savannah’s experience? A. Dichotic listening B. Selective attention C. Cocktail party effect D. Shadowing Answer: C 59. Victor is involved in an auditory experiment where he is being presented different messages to his right and left ear. He is asked to attend to the right ear, where he hears the message “The girl was really … bird on a wire”. The message played to Victor’s left ear was “After was wishing … scared of the dark”. Based on the technique called shadowing, when Victor is asked to repeat what he heard, what would he say? A. The girl was really bird on a wire. B. The girl was really scared of the dark. C. After was wishing scared of the dark. D. After was wishing bird on a wire. Answer: B 60. The cocktail party effect and the technique of shadowing demonstrate that A. information we have filtered out of our attention is still being processed at some unconscious level. B. individual pathways of sense receptors are not cross-modal in their processing. C. selective attention is only allows us to process one channel of input at a time. D. we constantly engage in dichotic listening and attend to more than one message equally. Answer: A 61. Jarod and Ashton are watching a basketball game. They are so absorbed in watching the ball being tossed back and forth that they fail to notice a man in a bunny costume walk through the middle of the basketball court. This is an example of _______________. A. inattentional blindness B. shape constancy C. change blindness D. the binding problem Answer: A 62. Airplane pilots who fail to notice the presence of another plane taxiing across the runway as they are preparing to land are experiencing a phenomenon called _______________. A. inattentional blindness B. shape constancy C. change blindness D. the binding problem Answer: C 63. _______________ relates to our understanding of how our brains combine different pieces of our perception into a unified whole. A. Inattentional blindness B. Shape constancy C. Change blindness D. The binding problem Answer: D 64. The central player in our perception of the world is A. taste. B. touch. C. sound. D. light. Answer: D 65. The colour of light is what psychologists call A. brightness. B. hue. C. timbre. D. synesthesia. Answer: B 66. Increasing the amount of _______________ in our diets can increase our ability to see infrared light. A. protein B. iron C. vitamin A D. vitamin C Answer: C 67. When light enters the eye, it first passes through what structure? A. Sclera B. Cornea C. Pupil D. Lens Answer: B 68. The shortest wavelengths that we can see are experienced as _______________ colours. A. red B. violet C. green D. yellow Answer: B 69. The longest wavelengths we can see are experienced as _______________ colours. A. red B. violet C. green D. yellow Answer: A 70. What colour would you report seeing if a researcher projects the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum onto a screen? A. Red B. Violet C. Green D. Yellow Answer: A 71. The visible spectrum refers to the A. portion of the whole spectrum of light that is visible to the human eye. B. effect of intensity on how we see dark to grey to white. C. effect of the sound density on the perceptions of those with synesthesia. D. well-known fact that colours are less visible to some men’s eyes. Answer: A 72. The aspect of colour that corresponds to names such as red, green, and blue is A. brightness. B. saturation. C. hue. D. fine detail. Answer: C 73. Why do you see a lemon as yellow? A. The lemon absorbs yellow wavelengths in the yellow region of the spectrum. B. The lemon might reflect only yellow wavelengths in the yellow region of the spectrum. C. The lemon absorbs red and blue wavelengths. D. The lemon reflects all wavelengths of light other than yellow. Answer: B 74. Nicole has increased the amount of vitamin A in her diet, and begins to notice that her ability to see _______________ light has increased. A. green B. blue C. red D. infrared Answer: D 75. _______________ are chemicals that are responsible for the colour of our eyes. A. Sclera B. Iris C. Pigments D. Pupillary photons Answer: C 76. What is the pupil of the eye? A. It is the white part of the eye. B. It is the coloured part of the eye. C. It is the location of the visual receptors. D. It is the small opening in the centre of the eye. Answer: D 77. When we describe someone’s eyes as blue, technically we are referring to his or her blue A. irises. B. pupils. C. corneas. D. scleras. Answer: A 78. The clear, transparent protective coating over the front part of the eye is the A. cornea. B. iris. C. pupil. D. lens. Answer: A 79. The pupil is the A. opening in the centre of the iris. B. white of the eye. C. coloured part of the eye. D. lining in the back of the eyeball. Answer: A 80. The coloured part of the eye that contains muscles to contract or expand the pupil is the A. iris. B. lens. C. sclera. D. cornea. Answer: A 81. The wavelength of the light reaching your eyes determines in part what _______________ you see. A. brightness B. saturation C. hue D. fine detail Answer: C 82. Which part of the eye is a muscle that regulates the size of the pupil? A. Iris B. Lens C. Sclera D. Cornea Answer: A 83. The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the A. pupil. B. lens. C. sclera. D. cornea. Answer: A 84. Light is focused on the retina by the A. iris. B. lens. C. sclera. D. cornea. Answer: B 85. Which component of the eye contains the visual receptors? A. Retina B. Sclera C. Anterior chamber D. Posterior chamber Answer: A 86. The _______________ is where incoming light is converted into nerve impulses and the _______________ is where light rays are most sharply focused. A. retina; pupil B. optic nerve; cornea C. blind spot; pupil D. retina; fovea Answer: D 87. Which of the following examples does not describe a situation where our pupils would dilate? A. Danille has rubbed belladonna juice on her eyes and goes to see her lover. B. Kristine is working hard to solve some chemistry equations for a class she is taking. C. Janelle is just walking outside from an afternoon matinee she went to see. D. Tanya is in a dimly lit bar and is very attracted to a man that is sitting next to her. Answer: C 88. Bundles of axons from ganglion cells make up the A. optic nerve. B. optic schism. C. fovea. D. rods and cones. Answer: A 89. Tracey has trouble reading her textbooks that are right in front of her, and James has trouble reading the board at the front of his classrooms. Based on this information, it is likely that Tracey has _______________ and James has _______________. A. hyperopia; myopia B. myopia; hyperopia C. antiacuity; retinal fatigue D. retinal fatigue; antiacuity Answer: A 90. Which of the following terms explains why only a few first-graders need eyeglasses, whereas most senior citizens do? A. Hyperopia B. Myopia C. Presbyopia D. Accommodation Answer: C 91. The change in the shape of the lens in order to focus on a visual image is known as A. fixation. B. divergence. C. convergence. D. accommodation. Answer: D 92. The place in the retina where the axons of all the ganglion cells come together to leave the eye is called the A. fovea. B. retina. C. lens. D. cornea. Answer: A 93. Which of the following is true about cones? A. They are responsible for black-and-white vision. B. They are found mainly in the centre of the eye. C. They operate mainly at night. D. They respond only to black and white. Answer: B 94. Receptor cells in the retina responsible for colour vision and fine acuity are A. bipolar cells. B. ganglion cells. C. rods. D. cones. Answer: D 95. It is difficult to distinguish between colours at night because A. we are seeing primarily with the cones. B. rods do not adapt to the dark. C. we are seeing primarily with the rods. D. we are used to seeing mostly with the fovea. Answer: C 96. Which of the following phenomena is a function of the distribution of the rods and cones in the retina? A. The moon looks much larger near the horizon than it looks when it is higher in the sky. B. The light from distant stars moving rapidly away from us is shifted toward the red end of the spectrum. C. Stars can be seen only with difficulty during the daytime. D. A dim star viewed at night may disappear when you look directly at it but reappear when you look to one side of it. Answer: D 97. Receptor cells in the retina responsible for night vision are A. bipolar cells. B. ganglion cells. C. rods. D. cones. Answer: C 98. Jamie walks from a bright room into a dark room. It will take about _______________ minutes for her rods to fully adjust to the dark. A. 10 B. 20 C. 30 D. 40 Answer: C 99. The fovea is made up of A. all rods and no cones. B. mostly cones with some rods. C. mostly rods with some cones. D. all cones and no rods. Answer: D 100. What structure is responsible for focusing light at the back of the eye? A. Fovea B. Retina C. Lens D. Cornea Answer: C 101. As we age, we are more likely to need glasses because A. the lens loses its flexibility. B. of damage to our retinas. C. the retina can no longer accommodate subtle changes in light. D. of damage to our corneas. Answer: A 102. Our visual sensory receptor cells are located in the A. optic nerve. B. fovea. C. cornea. D. retina. Answer: D 103. When Stewart wakes up at night and has to walk from his bedroom to the bathroom in the dark, he is most directly aided in this process by his A. rods. B. corneas. C. cones. D. irises. Answer: A 104. Which of the following is true of rods? A. They respond to colour. B. They are found mainly in the fovea. C. They operate mainly in the daytime. D. They are responsible for night vision. Answer: D 105. _______________ is a photopigment in the rods that is required for normal visual processing to occur. A. Vitamin A B. Rhodopsin C. Melanin D. Lipochrome Answer: B 106. The _______________ carries sensory information from the retina to the brain areas where visual perception will occur. A. fovea B. retina C. optic nerve D. lens Answer: C 107. The place where the optic nerve connects to the retina is called the _______________. A. fovea B. optic chiasm C. blind spot D. superior colliculus Answer: C 108. The visual pathway that processes form, position, and motion is located in the _______________ lobe and the pathway that processes visual form and colour is located in the _______________ lobe. A. parietal; temporal B. occipital; parietal C. temporal; occipital D. temporal; parietal Answer: A 109. As information travels from the primary visual cortex to other regions of the brain involved in visual perception, the information A. remains unchanged in terms of complexity. B. becomes increasingly more complex. C. becomes increasingly more fundamental. D. becomes increasingly more simplified. Answer: B 110. Research by Hubel and Wiesel demonstrated that cells respond to different orientations of light, and that _______________ respond to light only in a particular location whereas _______________ are not restricted to a specific location in the visual field. A. rhodopsin; photopigments B. ganglion cells; feature detectors C. bipolar cells; thalamic neurons D. simple cells; complex cells Answer: D 111. Simple and complex cells in the visual system are also called _______________ because they process lines, edges, and patterns to identify objects. A. Gestalt cells B. ganglion cells C. bipolar cells D. feature detector cells Answer: D 112. The Kanizsa square is used in your text to demonstrate the phenomenon called subjective contours. What Gestalt principle helps to explain why we perceive subjective contours? A. Good continuation B. Closure C. Symmetry D. Figure-ground Answer: B 113. What psychological school first identified that visual perception occurs in terms of whole objects rather than individual component parts? A. Psychoanalytic B. Gestalt C. Behaviourism D. Humanistic Answer: B 114. When taking a picture, photographers attempt to draw people's attention toward a particular image. This is one example of the Gestalt principle of A. symmetry. B. figure-ground. C. proximity. D. closure. Answer: B 115. At a junior high dance, Mr. Holland tends to view boys and girls sitting together as “couples” regardless of whether they are actually dating. This illustrates the Gestalt principle of A. similarity. B. symmetry. C. proximity. D. closure. Answer: C 116. Both the Necker cube and Rubin’s vase illusion are examples of _______________, and we can typically perceive them only one way at a time. A. figure-ground images B. subjective contours C. bistable images D. the phi phenomenon Answer: C 117. Our ability to see action, rather than a series of static pictures, in movies is the result of A. the phi phenomenon. B. symmetry. C. closure. D. good continuation. Answer: A 118. According to _______________, colour vision evolved because perceiving colour helped our early ancestors forage for food. A. trichromatic theory B. opponent process theory C. binocular theory D. gestalt theory Answer: A 119. Which of the following statements about face recognition is inaccurate? A. Cells in the lower part of the temporal lobe respond to faces. B. Neurons in the hippocampus appear to fire selectively in response to certain faces. C. Research has proven that we have individual “grandmother cells” that only respond to specific faces. D. Sprawling networks of neurons, rather than single cells, are responsible for face recognition. Answer: C 120. Brianna just bought new lights for her Christmas tree that are supposed to look like they are moving. When she puts them up, it looks as if the lights circle continuously around the tree. This perception of movement is due to A. emergence. B. feature detectors. C. the phi phenomenon. D. opponent processes. Answer: C 121. The idea that the eye contains separate receptors for red, green, and blue is known as the _______________ theory. A. opponent-process B. additive colour mixing C. trichromatic D. reductive colour mixing Answer: C 122. Helmholtz’s explanation of colour vision is called the A. opponent-process theory. B. additive colour mixing theory. C. trichromatic theory. D. reductive colour mixing theory. Answer: C 123. If you stare for 30 seconds at a red object and then look at a blank sheet of white paper, you will see a greenish image of the object. This phenomenon best supports the _______________ theory of colour vision. A. Grieco trichromatic B. opponent-process C. Helmholtz trichromatic D. Hering’s vibration Answer: B 124. Who actually found three types of cones in the retina? A. Young and Helmholtz B. Hering C. Wald and Brown D. Smith and Wesson Answer: C 125. According to the opponent-process theory of colour vision, the correct pairings of opposite colours are A. red versus green and blue versus yellow. B. black versus gray and white versus coloured. C. blue versus red and green versus yellow. D. blue versus green and red versus yellow. Answer: A 126. The trichromatic and opponent-process theories of colour vision are not in conflict because each corresponds to A. a different portion of the spectrum. B. the opposite half of perceivable colours. C. one type of colour blindness. D. a different stage of visual processing. Answer: D 127. Sandra is staring at a painting where the blades of grass in the front appear close and are very detailed, and the mountains on the horizon appear hazy and farther away. What monocular cue is being used in this painting to create the illusion of depth? A. Relative size B. Linear perspective C. Texture gradient D. Height in plane Answer: C 128. Taylor was driving and noticed that when he looks out the window right beside him, things on the side of the road seem to fly by, whereas when he looks at objects ahead of him, they appear to be moving slower. What pictorial depth cue is responsible for this perception? A. Linear perspective B. Disparity C. Convergence D. Motion parallax Answer: D 129. When a road on a painting starts off larger in the foreground of the picture and converges together in the background, depth perception is attained by the use of which pictorial cue? A. Linear perspective B. Disparity C. Relative size D. Motion parallax Answer: A 130. What depth cue is being relied on when our brains use information from our eye muscles to determine how far an object is away from us? A. Convergence B. Motion parallax C. Height in plane D. Disparity Answer: A 131. _______________ depth cues require both eyes whereas _______________ depth cues rely on one eye alone. A. Monocular; binocular B. Binocular; monocular C. Trichromatic; monochromatic D. Monochromatic; trichromatic Answer: B 132. What experimental apparatus has been used to study depth perception in infants? A. Zener cards B. Escher lithographs C. The Ames Room D. The visual cliff Answer: D 133. Which of the following have been used to study depth perception? A. Zener cards B. The Ganzfield technique C. The old/young woman picture and other ambiguous images D. Perceptual illusions Answer: D 134. Actors that played Hobbits in the movie trilogy the Lord of the Rings were made to look small using what perceptual illusion? A. The Müller-Lyer illusion B. The Ebbinghaus-Titchener illusion C. The Ames room D. The visual cliff Answer: C 135. The monocular cue of _______________ is being used when an artist places trees in front of riders to create a sense of depth when the picture is viewed. A. relative size B. interposition C. light and shadow D. linear perspective Answer: B 136. Tom spent the morning taking pictures in the small coves of a local lake. What monocular cue is providing depth perception when the near objects in his photographs appear much larger than those on the opposite shore of the cove? A. Interposition B. Relative size C. Linear perspective D. Height in plane Answer: B 137. Amy’s school records describe her as a monochromat. What can we assume about Amy’s perceptual abilities? A. She does not see colour. B. She sees only two colours. C. She sees colours one at a time. D. She cannot remember words used to designate colours. Answer: A 138. A person with red–green colour blindness will see the world in A. blacks, whites, and grays. B. muted reds and greens. C. blues, yellows, and grays. D. yellows, greens, and grays. Answer: C 139. Why do researchers believe colour deficiencies often have genetic causes? A. Dietary patterns affect colour deficiencies. B. Colour perception changes somewhat as we get older. C. Colour deficiencies are more common in some cultures. D. More males than females suffer from colour deficiencies. Answer: D 140. Worldwide, the greatest cause of blindness is A. genetic abnormalities. B. macular degeneration. C. glaucoma. D. cataracts. Answer: D 141. Research conducted with blind adults has indicated that _______________ sensitivity is heightened in this population. A. auditory B. kinesthetic C. tactile D. olfactory Answer: C 142. Most individuals who are colour-blind are _______________ because only one set of cones is not functioning properly. A. synesthetes B. blindsighted C. dichromats D. agnostic Answer: C 143. Craig has a serious disorder that disrupts his perception of movement. He has difficulty with everyday tasks, such as pouring himself a glass of juice, because he doesn’t notice changes in the level of liquid in the glass (i.e., one moment it is empty and the next it is full). Craig likely suffers from A. motion parallax. B. motion blindness. C. visual agnosia. D. blindsight. Answer: B 144. The book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks is a case study of what visual phenomenon? A. Blindsight B. Visual agnosia C. Binocular disparity D. Motion blindness Answer: B 145. Although Don is blind, he can still make correct guesses about the visual appearance of objects presented to him in an experiment. This example demonstrates the phenomenon of _______________. A. motion parallax B. motion blindness C. visual agnosia D. blindsight Answer: D 146. Our sense of hearing is called A. olfaction. B. proprioception. C. audition. D. gustation. Answer: C 147. Pauly is swimming under water and his friend Mike yells something at him. In general, should Pauly be able to hear what Mike said? A. No, because sound waves don’t travel through liquid. B. No, because vibrations cannot be transduced under water. C. Yes, because sound waves can travel through any gas, liquid, or solid. D. Yes, because molecules flow faster through water than any other medium. Answer: C 148. Brightness refers to the intensity of light. The corresponding term when discussing sound is A. hue. B. timbre. C. pitch. D. loudness. Answer: D 149. Sound waves are simply A. the vibration of the molecules of the air surrounding us. B. the impact of acoustrons in the air. C. a form of electronic radiation. D. none of these. Answer: A 150. Which of the following is a characteristic of both light waves and sound waves? A. Hue B. Amplitude C. Pitch D. Wavelength Answer: D 151. A sound mixer is impressed by the new equipment that was just installed in his recording studio. He says that now he will be able to help singers and musicians produce better CDs because he can eliminate unneeded and undesired wavelengths. What term describes the characteristic of sounds waves that the sound mixer is now able to alter? A. Saturation B. Amplitude C. Volleying D. Frequency Answer: D 152. Which of the following properties of sound is the most similar to the brightness of light? A. Volume B. Timbre C. Pitch D. Purity Answer: A 153. Which of the following properties of sound would be the most similar to the colour, or hue, of light? A. Volume B. Timbre C. Pitch D. Loudness Answer: C 154. An alien from outer space was just captured. Scientists take turns examining the creature. At a press conference, one of the scientists reports that the alien can hear frequencies between 10 000 and 30 000 Hz. How does the alien’s ability to detect sound compare to a human being’s ability? A. The alien and humans detect the same frequencies. B. Humans can detect higher frequencies than the alien. C. The alien can detect higher frequencies, but its hearing is not as acute at lower frequencies. D. Humans can detect higher frequencies; however, the alien detects lower frequencies better than humans. Answer: C 155. Special ring tones on cell phones that can’t be heard by adults exploit the fact that A. younger adults are more sensitive to lower pitch tones than older adults. B. older adults are more sensitive to higher pitch tones than younger adults. C. younger adults are more sensitive to higher pitch tones than older adults. D. older adults are more sensitive to medium pitch tones than younger adults. Answer: C 156. Sounds that are _______________ decibels or greater in loudness cause us pain and can cause harm to our auditory system. A. 95 B. 110 C. 125 D. 145 Answer: C 157. Loudness refers to the _______________ of the sound wave whereas pitch refers to the _______________ of the sound wave. A. frequency; timbre B. amplitude; frequency C. intensity; timbre D. frequency; amplitude Answer: B 158. The sensory receptors in the ear are found in the A. ear canal. B. eardrum. C. ear cochlea. D. pinna. Answer: C 159. What is the basic function of the outer ear? A. To protect the hair cells B. To concentrate and funnel sound waves to the eardrum C. To amplify low-intensity sounds to detectable levels D. To filter out high-intensity sound waves that can be harmful Answer: B 160. The eardrum is also called the A. oval window. B. eardrum. C. tympanic membrane. D. pinna. Answer: C 161. The outer ear is called the A. oval window. B. eardrum. C. cochlea. D. pinna. Answer: D 162. Which of the following describes what happens if you trace an auditory stimulus from the time it first reaches the ear until it arrives at the brain? A. The outer ear (pinna) gathers sound waves and funnels them down the auditory canal striking the eardrum. B. The basilar membrane causes the hammer, anvil, and stirrup to vibrate striking the oval window. C. The auditory cones respond to the various tonal frequencies, which lead the auditory nerve to send a message to the brain. D. The auditory nerve joins with the nasal nerve to produce an input to the olfactory lobe. Answer: A 163. What are the hammer, anvil, and stirrup? A. Types of sound that most people can detect B. Words often used by audiologists in testing for hearing difficulties C. Tiny bones located in the middle ear D. Types of cones on the retina Answer: C 164. The bone that is attached to the eardrum is called the _______________; the bone that is connected to the oval window is called the _______________. A. anvil (incus); stirrup (stapes) B. hammer (malleus); anvil (incus) C. stirrup (stapes); hammer (malleus) D. hammer (malleus); stirrup (stapes) Answer: D 165. Fluid located in the cochlea is set in motion and causes vibration in the A. ossicles. B. bipolar cells. C. basilar membrane. D. semicircular canals. Answer: C 166. Which of the following are the auditory receptors where sound waves finally become neural impulses? A. Hair cells B. Organs of Corti C. Basilar membranes D. Tectorial membranes Answer: A 167. Once sound waves have been converted into neural activity, the _______________ carries them to the brain for auditory perception. A. basilar membrane B. auditory nerve C. cochlea D. pinna Answer: B 168. Some research has demonstrated a relationship between blindness and what aspect of auditory perception? A. Sound localization B. Echolocation C. Pitch perception D. Tympanic vibrations Answer: B 169. As we listen to music on the radio or on our iPods, we often are aware of the arrangement of tones into melodies rather than just focusing on the individual notes. This auditory perception is compatible with the principles established by A. humanistic psychologists. B. Gestalt psychologists. C. psychodynamic psychologists. D. behavioural psychologists. Answer: B 170. Explaining low-pitch tones is best explained by _______________ theory. A. volley B. place C. frequency D. opponent process Answer: C 171. The place theory of pitch suggests that pitch is determined by the A. specific hair cells that are stimulated. B. number of hair cells that are stimulated. C. size of the hair cells that are stimulated. D. degree of bend in the stimulated hair cells. Answer: A 172. If a person hears a tone of 3000 Hz, three groups of neurons take turns sending the message to the brain—the first group for the first 1000 Hz, the second group for the next 1000 Hz, and a third for the next 1000 Hz. This principle is known as the A. volley. B. place. C. frequency. D. opponent process. Answer: A 173. Which theory proposes that, above 1000 Hz but below 5000 Hz, auditory neurons do not fire all at once but in rotation? A. Volley B. Place C. Frequency D. Opponent process Answer: A 174. Human perception of high-pitched tones is best explained by _______________ theory. A. volley B. place C. frequency D. opponent process Answer: B 175. In detecting the source of sounds, we tend to rely most heavily on _______________ cues. A. monocular B. monaural C. binocular D. binaural Answer: D 176. Pete has played lead guitar in a rock band for years. He often would turn the volume on his guitar way up and spend a great deal of time in front of the speakers during the shows. His resulting hearing loss over the past few years is most likely the result of A. synesthesia. B. conductive deafness. C. tinnitus. D. nerve deafness. Answer: D 177. As we age, it becomes more difficult for us to hear _______________ sounds. A. low-frequency B. high-frequency C. low- to moderate-frequency D. moderate-frequency Answer: B 178. Hearing loss can be caused by A. genetic factors. B. exposure to loud noise. C. disease. D. all of the above. Answer: D 179. Ben suffers from _______________ and has difficulty hearing because his eardrum and ossicles of the inner ear have malfunctioned. A. conduction deafness B. nerve deafness C. echolocation D. binaural deafness Answer: A 180. Our sense of taste is called A. the vestibular sense. B. olfaction. C. proprioception. D. gustation. Answer: D 181. Which of the following statements about taste and smell is true? A. Our nose identifies far more odours than our tongue identifies tastes. B. Our nose and tongue identify approximately the same numbers of odours and tastes, respectively. C. Our tongue identifies far more tastes than our nose identifies odours. D. Our nose and tongue identify exactly the same numbers of odours and tastes, respectively. Answer: A 182. Laverne looks at the tongue of her friend and sees all kinds of bumps on her tongue. “Girl,” she says, “you sure have a lot of _______________.” A. papillae B. olfactory receptors C. taste buds D. taste receptors Answer: A 183. Where are the taste receptors located? A. On the papillae B. On the taste buds C. On the microvilli D. In the gustatory bulb Answer: B 184. Preliminary evidence for a sixth taste, _______________, has been found. A. umami B. chocolate C. tangy D. fatty foods Answer: D 185. Which of the following is not one of the five basic tastes? A. Slimy B. Bitter C. Salty D. Sour Answer: A 186. What are the five primary tastes? A. hot, sour, spicy, sweet, origami B. salty, sour, spicy, sweet, tart C. bitter, salty, sour, sweet, umami D. peppery, salty, sour, sweet, acidic Answer: C 187. The most recently discovered fifth taste receptor is A. slimy. B. umami. C. nutty. D. tart. Answer: B 188. According to the authors, we experience the taste sensation of saltiness A. toward the front of the tongue, but not on the tip. B. at the tip of the tongue. C. toward the rear area of the tongue. D. throughout all areas of the tongue; there is no one location for any of the tastes. Answer: D 189. Maricella always uses less seasoning on her food than do the other members of her family. Her sister has just taken an introductory psychology course and says to Maricella, _______________. A. “I know what you are—you are a taster pro.” B. “I know what you are—you are a taster queen.” C. “I know what you are—you are a supertaster.” D. “I know what you are—you are a Gustavus Adolphus.” Answer: C 190. The fifth taste, umami, was first identified by researchers in A. Japan. B. Korea. C. China. D. the United States. Answer: A 191. Smell and taste sensations converge in the _______________. A. orbitofrontal cortex B. gustatory cortex C. olfactory cortex D. somatosensory cortex Answer: A 192. Our ability to experience so many different tastes, despite the limited number of taste sensations, demonstrates the interplay between our senses of taste and A. touch. B. hearing. C. vision. D. smell. Answer: D 193. _______________ are odourless chemicals that serve as social signals to members of one’s species. A. Rhodopsins B. Pheromones C. Photopigments D. Papillae Answer: B 194. Rafael has a cold, as well as plugged sinuses. These symptoms are most likely to affect A. his pain tolerance threshold. B. his sense of balance. C. his ability to listen to his Art History professor's lecture. D. his enjoyment of the food at the university cafeteria. Answer: D 195. Our memories from childhood often involve not only visual information but olfactory information as well. This is because the olfactory cortex is located near the A. limbic system. B. cerebellum. C. brainstem. D. thalamus. Answer: A 196. A common symptom associated with depression is loss of appetite. Research indicates that this occurs because A. our taste thresholds are increased by the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant drugs. B. our taste thresholds are unchanged by the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant drugs. C. we are more likely to label food as “disgusting” when we are emotionally aroused. D. our taste thresholds are lowered by the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant drugs. Answer: D 197. Research on human pheromones should have what impact on a person's decision to purchase pheromone-based products to make themselves more attractive and desirable to others? A. Human pheromones do not exist and pheromone-based products are therefore a waste of money. B. Human pheromones do exist but the research on the usefulness of pheromone- based products is inconclusive. C. Human pheromones do exist and purchasing pheromone-based products is a useful way to influence others' interest in you. D. Human pheromones do exist but purchasing pheromone-based products is not an effective way to influence others' interest in you. Answer: D 198. In general, _______________ is/are the least serious sensory and perceptual disorders. A. deafness B. pain insensitivity C. olfactory disorders D. blindness Answer: C 199. The kinesthetic sense refers to our sense of A. sensitivity to pain. B. relative weight. C. relative velocity. D. body position. Answer: D 200. The name given to the sense of our body position is A. the vestibular sense. B. gustation. C. somatosensory sense. D. the kinesthetic sense. Answer: D 201. The somatosensory system responds to sensory information about A. taste and smell. B. temperature and pressure. C. sound and vision. D. body position and equilibrium. Answer: B 202. Information about _______________ travels to the spinal cord and brain more quickly than information about _______________. A. pain; touch B. touch; pain C. touch; vision D. pain; vision Answer: B 203. The authors mentioned the interesting correlation between natural red hair and lower pain thresholds compared to persons with other natural hair colours. This is most likely to be due to the fact that A. natural pain thresholds cause people to be born with different natural colours of hair. B. genetic factors that impact pain threshold are also somehow related to hair colour. C. natural hair colour causes people to have an increased or decreased pain threshold. D. None of the above was mentioned by the authors as an explanation of the correlation between natural hair colour and pain threshold. Answer: B 204. Which of the following seems to have an impact on the degree of pain a person might experience? A. Individual thresholds for pain B. Emotional reactivity C. Cultural expectations and background D. All of the above impact a person's experience of pain. Answer: D 205. The skin senses are concerned with A. touch, pressure, temperature, and pain. B. the location of body parts in relation to the ground and to each other. C. movement and body position. D. your location as compared to the position of the sun. Answer: A 206. Which of the following sensory difficulties is likely to be the most dangerous? A. Blindness B. Pain insensitivity C. Loss of smell D. Deafness Answer: B 207. The ability to detect our balance and keep our balance as we move around in our daily life is known as A. olfaction. B. somatosensory information. C. the vestibular sense. D. the proprioceptive sense. Answer: C 208. The receptors for the proprioceptive senses are located in the A. inner and middle ears. B. temporal and parietal lobes. C. olfactory and visual cortices. D. muscles and muscle tendons. Answer: D 209. A disorder of the inner ear would be most likely to impact our A. equilibrium. B. sense of smell. C. hearing. D. sense of pain. Answer: A 210. What discipline within psychology seeks to optimize the interaction between equipment and technology and our human sensory and perceptual abilities? A. Human factors B. Social psychology C. Industrial-organizational psychology D. Cognitive neuroscience Answer: A 211. Goals of human factors, or human engineering, include A. increasing safety. B. decreasing physical fatigue. C. increasing ease of use of technology. D. all of the above. Answer: D Critical Thinking Questions 1. Distinguish between sensation and perception and explain the nature of transduction (with visual and auditory examples). Answer: Answers will vary but should include the general points mentioned below for full credit. Sensation refers to the detection of physical energy by the senses; perception represents the brain’s interpretation of those sensory inputs. Transduction involves the translation of sensory input into a neural code that the brain can understand. For example, if you see a red ball, the sensory receptors in the eye send a message to the brain indicating the presence of that particular wavelength of light. Alternatively, if you hear the high frequency from a soprano solo, the sensory receptors send a message along the auditory nerve to the brain where it is perceived as a high sound. Sensation refers to the process of detecting physical stimuli from the environment, such as light or sound waves, while perception involves interpreting and organizing these sensory signals into meaningful experiences. Transduction is the conversion of sensory stimuli into neural impulses that the brain can interpret. For example, in vision, light waves are transduced into electrical signals by photoreceptor cells in the retina. In hearing, sound waves are transduced into neural signals by hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear. 2. Discuss the evidence for vision being the most important of our senses. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain at least three of the following points with supporting discussion to earn full credit. • Light is fundamental to our biology and culture. Without vision, we couldn't sense or perceive much of anything about light other than the heat produced. • We would miss most of the experiences that occur around us; think of all of the times that we've told someone “watch me/this,” “look over here,” “are you watching Mommy/Daddy?” • The Gestalt principles and the majority of the illusions mentioned in the text are applicable to vision (and in some instances hearing). • Dizziness and nausea result when our vestibular and visual inputs are not synchronized. Vision is often considered the most important sense due to its extensive role in gathering and interpreting information about the environment. Research shows that a significant portion of the brain is dedicated to visual processing, and humans rely heavily on vision for tasks such as navigation, object recognition, and social interaction. Additionally, loss of vision has profound impacts on daily functioning and quality of life compared to impairments in other senses. 3. Explain how the gate control model of pain perception relates to people’s ability to withstand excruciating pain, and how distraction and placebos relate to the gate control model. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain at least three of the following points with supporting discussion to earn full credit. • Pain is physiological and emotional in nature, involving structures in the limbic system as well as basic somatosensory activity. • The gate control model (Melzack & Wall) proposes that intense pain can be blocked in circumstances (i.e., birthing, skin grafts, combat injuries) from consciousness because neural mechanisms in the spinal cord function as a “gate” to control the flow of sensory input to the CNS. • Using things like distraction and placebos are a way of dividing attention away from pain and permitting less focus on the pain itself (like a gate). The gate control model of pain perception posits that non-painful input can close neural gates in the spinal cord, reducing pain sensation. This mechanism helps explain how distraction techniques, such as focusing on activities or thoughts unrelated to pain, can effectively reduce perceived pain intensity. Similarly, placebos can activate endogenous pain modulation systems, reinforcing the idea that psychological factors can influence pain perception through mechanisms aligned with the gate control theory. Essay Questions 1. What is psychophysics? Describe, and distinguish between the absolute threshold of a stimulus and the just noticeable difference (JND) by defining and giving an example of each. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit. Psychophysics is the study of how we perceive sensory stimuli based on their physical characteristics. Absolute threshold of a stimulus—the lowest level of a stimulus we can detect on 50 percent of trials when that stimulus appears by itself. Imagine that a researcher fits us with a pair of headphones and places us in a quiet room. She asks repeatedly if we’ve heard one of many very faint tones. Detection isn’t an all-or-none state of affairs, because human error increases as stimuli become weaker. Just noticeable difference (JND) is the smallest change in the intensity of a stimulus that we can detect. The JND is relevant to our ability to distinguish a stronger from a weaker stimulus, like a soft noise from a slightly louder noise. The stronger the stimulus, the bigger the change needed for a change in stimulus intensity to be noticeable - think of how much light we’d need to add to a brightly lit kitchen to notice an increase in illumination compared with the amount of light we’d need to add to a dark bedroom to notice a change in illumination. Psychophysics is the study of the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they evoke. The absolute threshold is the minimum intensity of a stimulus required to detect it 50% of the time, such as the faintest sound a person can hear in a quiet room. The just noticeable difference (JND) is the smallest change in stimulus intensity that can be detected, such as noticing the difference in weight when lifting two objects of slightly different masses. 2. How might a proponent of ESP for example use signal detection theory to explain the experimenter effect that interferes with demonstrating that ESP exists? Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following information for full credit. • Proponents of extrasensory perception sometimes claim that having experimenters who are skeptical or doubtful leads to negative results. • What they might claim, based on the information from signal detection theory, is that this negative skepticism increases the noise that is present in the environment and thereby making it more difficult for the clairvoyant (or telepath or precog) to detect the ESP signal. • This difficulty occurs because the “noise” will mask the ESP signal and cause it to be missed. • Ultimately, however, this use of signal detection theory will also create a rival hypothesis and one that provides a simpler, more parsimonious explanation for supposed ESP (better detection of signals by reduced environmental noise rather than sensory abilities that operate outside normal processes). A proponent of ESP could use signal detection theory to argue that the experimenter effect arises from differences in sensitivity (d') and response bias (β). They might suggest that skeptics (low d') are less sensitive to detecting ESP signals, while proponents (high d') are more attuned. Response bias (β) could explain why skeptics are more likely to attribute chance to ESP outcomes, whereas proponents are inclined to interpret the same outcomes as evidence of ESP, illustrating the subjective nature of interpreting results in ESP research. 3. What is perceptual constancy? Explain and identify the three main types of perceptual constancies, including an example of each. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit. The process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions is perceptual constancy. There are several kinds of perceptual constancy—shape, size, and colour constancy. Shape constancy: we still see a door as a door whether it’s completely shut, barely open, or more fully open, even though these shapes differ markedly from each other. Size constancy: our ability to perceive objects as the same size no matter how near or far away they are from us. When a friend walks away from us, her image becomes smaller. But we almost never realize this is happening, nor do we conclude that our friend is mysteriously shrinking. Colour constancy: is our ability to perceive colour consistently across different levels of illumination. Consider a group of firefighters dressed in bright yellow jackets. Their jackets look bright yellow even in very low levels of ambient light. That’s because our perceptual apparatus evaluates the colour of an object in the context of background light and surrounding colours. Perceptual constancy refers to the ability to perceive objects as stable and unchanging despite variations in sensory input. The three main types are: 1. Size constancy: Perceiving an object as having a consistent size, regardless of its distance from the observer (e.g., recognizing that a car maintains its size whether it is nearby or far away). 2. Shape constancy: Perceiving an object as having a consistent shape, despite changes in the angle or perspective from which it is viewed (e.g., identifying a door as rectangular whether seen head-on or from an angle). 3. Color constancy: Perceiving an object as having a consistent color, even under different lighting conditions (e.g., recognizing a red apple as red both in bright daylight and under dim indoor lighting). 4. Discuss why selective attention is sometimes beneficial, and sometimes detrimental. Answer: Answers will vary but should contain the following ideas for full credit. • Selective attention is helpful in that it minimizes the amount of information that we have to deal with from our environment by focusing on the most important or relevant. It allows us not to have to sift through all possible information. • However, this selective attention can come at a price. We may fail to see the “elephant/gorilla in the room” if we are too consumed with a particular task. This means that important information may be missed because we have turned up a particular “channel” for information and aren't watching another important “channel” at all. Selective attention is beneficial as it allows us to focus on relevant information while filtering out distractions, enhancing cognitive efficiency and task performance. However, it can be detrimental when it leads to missing important details or opportunities outside of the focused area, potentially limiting creativity or situational awareness. Finding a balance in selective attention is crucial for optimal functioning in different contexts. 5. Describe the general process of how light enters the eye and is transmitted to the brain to be perceived. Answer: Answers will vary but should mention each of the following structures and the role they play in visual perception: cornea, lens, iris, pupil, retina, fovea, and optic nerve. • The light enters through the cornea, which is the outermost covering of the eye. • It passes through the pupil, whose size is determined by the iris. • The light is then refracted by the lens and focused on the tissue at the back of the eye. The lens will change its shape, or accommodate, to focus either on a distant or nearby object as is needed. • The light is focused at the back of the eye by the fovea, which is the centre of the retina, the visual sensory receptor location at the back of the eye. • The retina is responsible for changing the energy into neural activity that can be transmitted via the optic nerve to the thalamus and eventually the visual cortex where the process of visual perception begins. • Some of the neural activity is transmitted directly to the midbrain where it is processed rather than through the thalamus route to the visual cortex. The process of how light enters the eye and is transmitted to the brain involves several steps: 1. Cornea and Lens: Light first enters through the cornea, which helps focus it. The lens further adjusts its focus. 2. Retina: The focused light passes through the pupil and reaches the retina, which contains photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) that convert light into neural signals. 3. Phototransduction: In photoreceptor cells, light activates photopigments, triggering a change in membrane potential that generates electrical signals. 4. Optic Nerve: Electrical signals from photoreceptors travel through bipolar cells and ganglion cells in the retina, forming the optic nerve. 5. Visual Pathways: The optic nerve carries these signals to the brain, specifically to the thalamus and then to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe, where visual information is processed and perceived. This process allows the brain to interpret and make sense of visual stimuli from the external environment. 6. Identify and describe three of the six main Gestalt principles of perception. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit (any three of the following). (1) Proximity: Objects physically close to each other tend to be perceived as unified wholes. (2) Similarity: All things being equal, we see similar objects as comprising a whole, much more so than dissimilar objects. For example, if patterns of red circles and yellow circles are randomly mixed, we perceive nothing special. But if the red and yellow circles are lined up horizontally, we perceive separate rows of circles. (3) Good continuation: We still perceive objects as wholes, even if other objects block part of them. (4) Closure: When partial visual information is present, the mind fills in what’s missing. When the missing information is a contour, this principle is essentially the same as subjective contours. This Gestalt principle is the main illusion in the Kanizsa figures. (5) Symmetry: We perceive objects that are symmetrically arranged as wholes more often than those that aren’t. (6) Figure–ground: Perceptually, we make an instant decision to focus attention on what we believe to be the central figure, and largely ignore what we believe to be the background. We can view some figures, such as Rubin’s vase illusion, in two ways. The vase can be the figure, in which case we ignore the background. If we look again, we can see an image in the background: two faces looking at each other. Three Gestalt principles of perception include: 1. Figure-ground: Perceiving objects as either standing out (figure) against a background (ground), helping us distinguish objects from their surroundings (e.g., a black silhouette against a white background). 2. Proximity: Grouping elements that are close together, assuming they belong together (e.g., seeing three rows of dots rather than individual dots). 3. Similarity: Grouping similar items together based on their shared characteristics, such as color, shape, or size (e.g., rows of red and blue circles). 7. Describe how an artist might make use of the monocular cues for depth perception to create a three-dimensional feel in a two dimensional painting. Answer: Answers will vary but a full credit answer should discuss at least three of the cues listed below with a descriptive example for each. • Relative size: The artist would depict the object that is further away as being smaller than the object that is nearer. The student will also need to discuss specifically how this would be used. • Texture gradient: The artist would depict the closer objects in greater detail than those further away. The student will also need to discuss specifically how this would be used. • Interposition: The artist would place certain objects in front of others to create the sense of depth because the front object would appear to be blocking the more distant object. The student will also need to discuss specifically how this would be used. • Linear perspective: The artist would draw outlines where the lines would converge in the distance. The student will also need to discuss specifically how this would be used. • Height in plane: The artist would draw far objects so that they appear higher than the closer objects. The student will also need to discuss specifically how this would be used. • Light and shadow: The artist would draw the picture so that realistic light and shadow are present. The student will also need to discuss specifically how this would be used. An artist can utilize monocular cues for depth perception to enhance the three-dimensional appearance of a painting. Techniques such as linear perspective can create the illusion of depth by converging parallel lines toward a vanishing point. Relative size allows objects closer to the viewer to appear larger than those farther away, while texture gradient and interposition can suggest distance and overlapping of objects, adding depth and realism to the artwork despite its flat surface. 8. What is synesthesia? Describe what it is, how it relates to sensation, and what some of the different forms of synesthesia are. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit. A condition in which people experience cross-modal sensations, like hearing sounds when they see colours—sometimes called “coloured hearing”—or even tasting colours. There are different kinds of synesthesias, including grapheme-colour synesthesia. In this most common type of synesthesia, a “6” may always seem red and a “5” green. In music-colour synesthesia, people see a specific colour on hearing a specific musical note. In lexical-taste synesthesia, words have associated tastes, and in yet other synesthesias, letters take on “personality traits,” such as an A being perceived as bold and confident. Specific parts of the visual cortex become active during coloured hearing and during grapheme-colour synesthetic experiences, further verifying that these experiences are associated with brain activity Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in another pathway. It relates to sensation by blending or associating different sensory experiences, such as seeing colors in response to hearing music or tasting flavors when touching objects. Forms include grapheme-color (seeing letters or numbers as colored), sound-color (associating sounds with colors), and lexical-gustatory (experiencing tastes in response to words). 9. Briefly describe the three theories of pitch perception. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit. Place theory: because a specific place along the basilar membrane (and also in the auditory cortex) matches a tone with a specific pitch; place theory accounts only for our perception of high-pitched tones, namely those from 5000 to 20 000 Hz. Frequency theory: the rate at which neurons fire action potentials faithfully reproduces the pitch. This method works well up to 100 Hz (low-pitched), because many neurons have maximal firing rates near that limit. Volley theory: is a variation of frequency theory that works for tones between 100 and 5000 Hz (low-pitched). According to volley theory, sets of neurons fire at their highest rate, say 100 Hz, slightly out of sync with each other to reach overall rates up to 5000 Hz. The three theories of pitch perception are: 1. Place theory: Different pitches are detected based on where the cochlea's basilar membrane vibrates in response to different frequencies of sound. 2. Frequency theory: Pitch is perceived by the rate of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve, matching the frequency of the sound wave. 3. Volley theory: Groups of neurons fire in alternating patterns to achieve a combined frequency response that matches the sound wave's pitch. 10. Explain why food tastes different when we have a cold versus when we do not. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit. • Smell and taste are chemical senses that work in tandem. Our sense of taste is impacted by our ability to detect odours from the food we are eating. • There are only either five or six basic taste sensations while there are thousands of different odours that humans are able to detect. This ability to detect various odours from food biases our interpretation of our eating experiences. • When our nasal passages are blocked, and odours are kept from reaching the sensory receptors and thus the brain where they are interpreted, we are only receiving the information from our taste buds. • However, when our nasal passages are open, we get additional information that helps us to make the distinction between different foods. Food tastes different when we have a cold because the sense of taste relies heavily on our sense of smell. When we have a cold, congestion in the nasal passages reduces our ability to detect aromas, which are crucial for perceiving flavors. As a result, flavors may seem duller or less intense, affecting our perception of taste. 11. Identify the three body senses and briefly describe each with respect to the receptors each uses and what parts of the body/brain are involved in this sense. Answer: Answers will vary but should include the following information for full credit. Somatosensory sense: involved with sensing touch, pressure, and pain, rely on mechanoreceptors (located on the ends of sensory nerves in the skin) for touch and pressure, and free nerve endings for touch/temperature/pain. Information travels through somatic nerves to spinal cord to thalamus to somatosensory cortex. Some pain responses involve spinal reflexes that aren’t processed by the brain until after the withdrawal reflex has occurred. Proprioception (kinesthetic sense): sense of body position, proprioceptors sense muscle stretching and force (2 types of receptors), which tell us what our bodies are doing. Information travels through the spinal cord to the brain stem and to the somatosensory and motor cortexes. Vestibular sense: sense of balance, involves the cochlea, semicircular canals, and otoliths. Fluid in the semicircular canals sense equilibrium and the otoliths sense linear movement and gravity, which help to coordinate eye and head movements through communication with the brain stem The three body senses are: 1. Proprioception: Uses proprioceptors in muscles, tendons, and joints to provide information about body position and movement. Brain regions involved include the cerebellum and primary motor cortex. 2. Equilibrioception: Uses vestibular receptors in the inner ear (semicircular canals and otolith organs) to maintain balance and sense spatial orientation. Brain areas involved include the vestibular nuclei and cerebellum. 3. Thermoception: Uses thermoreceptors in the skin to detect temperature changes. Information is processed in the somatosensory cortex and hypothalamus, which regulates body temperature and responds to thermal stimuli. Fill in the Blank Questions 1. Our understanding of the information and events from the world around us comes from processes involving both ____________ Answer: sensation and perception. 2. When Julius first entered and sat down in the classroom, he felt cold. However, ten minutes later he no longer feels cold. This change is most likely the result of _______________. Answer: sensory adaptation 3. Royce is listening to a debate involving the two candidates for state senator in his district. Prior to the debate he had a strong opinion favouring one candidate over the other. As he listens to the debate he interprets each candidate's answers based on his own beliefs and expectations about them rather than listening and interpreting exactly what each said. Royce is engaging in _______________. Answer: top-down processing 4. The ability to perceive stimuli consistently despite variations in viewing conditions is called _______________. Answer: perceptual constancy 5. Jim is a runner who jogs between 5 and 15 kilometres each morning. As he runs through his route each morning, he is exposed to millions of pieces of information; however, only a few ever capture his immediate attention. This ability to choose certain input while ignoring others is called _______________. Answer: selective attention 6. Mrs. Garrett is driving her children to the mall to see a movie. The children cannot agree on what movie they wish to see. The argument starts to get louder and louder but suddenly stops when Mrs. Garrett simply says the names of each of the three children. This shift in one's attention is known as _______________. Answer: the cocktail party effect 7. The _______________ refers to how the brain takes multiple pieces of information and combines them to create something concrete. Answer: binding problem 8. For dichotic listening tasks, researchers routinely employ the technique of _______________ by having subjects repeat back the messages they hear. Answer: shadowing 9. The sensory receptors associated with vision are located in the _______________. Answer: retina 10. When Mr. Goetz writes on the chalkboard, he often leaves letters like a, e, or o uncompleted. However, his students are able to fill in the missing visual information thanks to the gestalt principle of _______________. Answer: closure 11. Lavonna is able to keep her attention focused on her biology professor despite the fact that two separate groups of students behind her are talking while the professor lectures. This is an example of the Gestalt principle of _______________. Answer: figure-ground 12. As we look off in the distance, the lines on a road seem to shrink down to a point where it meets rather than staying parallel as we know it must. This is an example of the monocular cue of _______________. Answer: linear perspective 13. People who are unable to see all of the colours are said to be _______________. Answer: colour blind 14. While walking across campus, Dr. Kotter is stopped by a young man asking directions for getting to a building on the opposite side of campus. While Dr. Kotter begins to explain the quickest route, two men carrying a large door pass between Dr. Kotter and the young man. Unbeknownst to Dr. Kotter, one of the men changes places with the young man who asked directions. Dr. Kotter finishes giving directions and then heads off blissfully unaware of his _______________. Answer: change blindness 15. The wave frequency of a sound is what we refer to as its _______________. Answer: pitch 16. The _______________ is the ear structure that converts vibrations into neural activity that can be interpreted by the brain. Answer: cochlea 17. _______________ is the name given to the fifth, and most recently uncovered, taste. Answer: Umami 18. The olfactory cortex, which is involved in olfactory perception, is located near _______________. Answer: the limbic system 19. When researchers have used controlled, double-blind studies to assess the claims of psychic healing or spiritual healing, they have found _______________ correlation between these practices and pain reduction. Answer: no (or no statistically significant) 20. A slap to the back is perceived as less painful than a paper cut on one's finger because of _______________. Answer: fewer nerve endings being located there 21. Pedro is so fearful of getting hurt while playing sports that he often stops playing when he experiences the slightest degree of discomfort. His father refers him to a sports psychologist to deal with this problem. The sports psychologist is likely to help Pedro by showing him how to _______________. Answer: control his emotional reactions to pain 22. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are playing soccer and each rolls his ankle. However, Huey is experiencing such pain that he isn't willing to put any weight on his leg while Dewey and Louie continue to play. This provides evidence that people have _______________ thresholds for pain. Answer: differing 23. The experience of pain or discomfort from body parts that have been amputated is known as _______________. Answer: phantom pain (or phantom limb pain) 24. Jamaal notices that whenever he gets into a rental car it takes him several minutes to locate the gas tank. Such difficulties could be avoided if more car companies sought the input of professionals in _______________. Answer: human factors (or human engineering) Test Bank for Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven J. Lynn, Laura L. Namy, Nancy J. Woolf, Kenneth M. Cramer, Rodney Schmaltz 9780205896110, 9780133793048, 9780133870282