AP Psychology Unit 4

Our sense of taste originally was thought to involve only the following four sensations

bitter, sweet, sour, and salty

Some people are better than others at detecting slight variations in the tastes of various blends of coffee. This best illustrates the importance of

difference thresholds

The perceived size of an object is most strongly influenced by that object's perceived

distance

If Jared watches a nurse give him an injection, he experiences more pain than if he closes his eyes during the procedure and thinks about his favorite food. This illustrates the valve of ___________________ for pain control.

distraction

In one experiment, most of the participants who viewed a videotape of men tossing a basketball remained unaware of an umbrella-toting woman sauntering across the screen.

inattention blindness

Light-wave amplitude determines the

intensity of colors

Brightness is to light as _______________________ is to sound.

loudness

The brain's release of endorphins reduces

pain

Damage to the temporal lobe area of the brain essential for facial recognition produces a loss of

perception

In 1972, a British newspaper published pictures of a "Loch Ness Monster." Many people readily perceived photographs of a floating tree trunk as the partially submerged monster. This illustrates the powerful influence of

perceptual set

Alex tickles his brother by stroking adjacent _________________ spots on his skin.

pressure

Photographs of people were rated more positively if the photos immediately followed a briefly flashed image of kittens. This best illustrates the impact of

priming

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye is the

pupil

The process of receiving and representing stimulus energies through the nervous system is called

sensation

Hearing a sequence of sounds of different pitches is to ______________________ as recognizing the sound sequence as a familiar melody is to ______________________.

sensation: perception

Olfactory receptor cells are essential for our sense of

smell

Parapsychology refers to the

study of phenomena such as ESP and psychokinesis

According to frequency theory

the rate at which impulses travel up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of the tone being heard

Which of the following best illustrates the impact of central nervous system activity in the absence of normal sensory input?

tinnitus

The biopsychosocial approach to pain is likely to emphasize the importance of both

top-down and bottom-up processing

Which basic taste attracts us to protein-rich foods?

umami

Trying to see a hidden representational image in a piece of abstract art by looking carefully at each element in the picture and trying to form an image employs which kind of perceptual process?

bottom-up processing

Researchers found that 40 percent of people focused on repeating a list of challenging words failed to notice a change in the person speaking. This best illustrates

change blindness

When given a placebo that is said to relieve pain, we are likely to be soothed by the brain's release of

endorphins

Which theory suggests that large-fiber activity in the spinal cord can prevent pain signals from reaching the brain?

gate-control theory

After losing his left hand in an accident, Jack continued to experience pain in his nonexistent hand. His experience illustrates

phantom limb sensations

A cochlear implant would be most helpful for those who suffer

sensorineural hearing loss

After listening to your high-volume car stereo for 15 minutes, you fail to realize how loudly the music is blasting. This best illustrates

sensory adaptation

Heather Sellers suffers from prosopagnosia and is unable to recognize her own face in a mirror. Her difficulty stems from a deficiency in

top-down processing

Our experience of pain may be intensified when we perceive that others are experiencing pain. This best illustrates the importance of

top-down processing

The process by which our sensory systems convert stimulus energies into neural messages is called

transduction

Why do people who have lost all hearing in one ear have difficulty locating sounds?

Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other

The mechanical vibrations triggered by sound waves are transduced into neural impulses by

hair cells

During a hearing test, many sounds were presented at such a low level of intensity that Mr. Antall could hardly detect them. These sounds were below Mr. Antall's

absolute threshold

The retina is to the eye as the _________________ is to the ear.

cochlea

Because she was listening to the news on the radio, Mrs. Schultz didn't perceive a word her husband was saying. Her experience best illustrates

selective attention

The McGurk effect best illustrates

sensory interaction

The fact that fear may increase your sensitivity to an almost imperceptible pain stimulus is of most relevance to

signal detection theory

Why is transduction important to sensation?

It converts physical stimuli, such as light, into neural messages

A football player was tackled hard during a very physical game, but he did not feel any pain until the post-game celebration party. Which of the following best explains phenomenon?

Psychological factors, such as distraction, can diminish pain sensations

Giulio's bag of marbles is twice as heavy as Jim's. If it takes 5 extra marbles to make Jim's bag feel heavier, it will take 10 extra marbles to make Giulio's bag feel heavier. This best illustrates

Weber's law

When informed that a brief imperceptible message would be flashed repeatedly during a popular TV program, many viewers reported feeling strangely hungry or thirsty during the show. Since the imperceptible message had nothing to do with hunger or thirst, viewers' strange reactions best illustrate

a placebo effect

A subliminal message is one that is presented

below one's absolute threshold for awareness

by amplifying soft sounds but not loud sounds, digital hearing aids produce

compressed sound

Which of the following is the correct order of structures light passes through in the eye?

cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina

Receptor cells for kinesthesis are located in the

joints, tendons, bones, and ear

While playing tennis you need to know where your limbs are located so you can move them into the right positions to run or swing your racket. Which of the following senses provides this information?

kinesthesis

Jody's horse looks just a black in the brilliant sunlight as it does in the dim light of the stable. This illustrates what is known as

lightness constancy

Sound wave vibrations are transmitted by three tiny bones located in the

middle ear

Which of the following sensory receptors detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals?

nociceptors