Chapter 6

Weber's law states for a difference to be perceived, two stimuli must differ by

a constant minimum percentage

Why do human's sensory systems adapt after prolonged exposure to a constant stimulus?

so that they detect potentially important changes in what is going on

_____ is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular sensory stimulus 50 percent of the time.

absolute threshold

Subliminal stimuli are

below our absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Sensation is to ________ as perception is to ________.

bottom-up processing; top-down processing

In an experiment described in the textbook, bar patrons preferred the taste of vinegar-laced beer in a glass labeled "MIT brew" to the taste of identical beer served in an unlabeled glass. Taste preference is a(n) _____ variable in this study.

dependent

Our perceptual set influences what we perceive. This mental tendency reflects our

experiences, assumptions, and expectations

Lily is riding her bicycle and, after the fortieth mile, she has one last hill to climb. As compared with the other hills she has climbed on her ride, Lily is likely to perceive this last hill as:

higher.

Another term for difference threshold is the __________ ____________ ______________.

just noticable difference

The process by which we organize and interpret sensory information

perception

"Believing is seeing." This reversal of a familiar saying BEST reflects the influence of _____ on sensation and perception.

perceptual set

Both _____ and _____ indicate how experiences help to construct perception.

perceptual set; context

The minute Beth walks into her mother-in-law's house to visit, she is struck by the strong smell of her mother-in-law's perfume. However, after about 10 minutes Beth no longer notices the smell. This is probably the result of:

sensory adaptation.

Dennis, a nurse, notes that some parents of children with asthma respond to very small changes in their children's breathing and seek care accordingly. However, other parents do not notice the same small changes. This type of difference in reaction to stimuli is BEST explained by the:

signal detection theory.

Two TSA officers are scanning bags at the airport. One of the officers lets a bag go through, but the other officer yells, "Wait, didn't you see that?" Why one officer saw a weapon and the other did not is BEST explained by:

signal detection theory.

Adlartok's face is completely blank when their usual package delivery driver greets them out of uniform in a café one weekend afternoon. Adlartok's failure to recognize the driver out of their customary context is BEST seen as a failure of _____ processing.

top-down

Regarding sensation and perception, which statement is true?

Sensation involves the activation of sense receptors; perception involves interpretation.

_____ processing is illustrated when we use our experience with language to interpret THEDOGATEMEAT as "the dog ate meat" rather than "the do gate me at."

Top-down

Kisharra encounters an intriguing article reporting a case of a neuropsychological disorder called prosopagnosia. She learns that prosopagnosia reflects an inability to recognize _____ and results from damage to the _____ hemisphere.d

faces; right

Sensory adaptation helps us focus on

important changes in the environment