Chapter 5 Notes

Which statement BEST expresses the essence of bottom-up processing?

We see what is there.

In vision, the amplitude of a light wave relates to people's perception of the brightness of a stimulus. To which perceptual dimension does the amplitude of a sound wave correspond in hearing?

Loudness

Which sequence CORRECTLY arranges the structures of the inner ear from the largest and most inclusive to the smallest and most specific?

cochlea > basilar membrane > hair cells

Making an analogy between hearing and vision, the auditory hair cells in the _____ are similar to the _____ in the retina.

cochlea; rods and cones

Why do our sensory systems adapt after prolonged exposure to a constant stimulus?

so that we detect potentially important changes in what's going on

Seeing the numeral 3, for instance, may evoke a particular taste sensation in a condition called _____

synesthesia

The _____ sense is the sense of the head's movement and position, including the sense of balance.

Vestibular

Snakes can detect infrared waves radiated by the bodies of their prey. As compared with humans, snakes can see _____ waves.

higher-wavelength

Maria was stacking her term paper, she received a paper cut. The cut produced a sharp pain on her index finger. This pain was initiated by _____ in her skin.

nociceptors

When you stop you still feel as though you are spinning because your _____ canals and kinesthetic receptors haven't returned to their neutral state.

semicircular

suffering from a hearing loss, experiences a ringing sensation in the ears known as:

tinnitus.

Jay is 48 years old. He recently had his sight restored after 45 years of blindness. He could associate people with their distinct features (e.g., hair color) but could not recognize their faces. He was also not good at judging the size of objects as their distance from him changed. His case suggests that:

vision is partly an acquired sense.