Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception

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

cochlea; rods and cones

Railroad tracks appear to converge in the distance. This provides a cue for depth perception known as _____.

linear perspective

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

Randy is playing the piano. His left hand plays notes that are _____ in _____ than does his right hand.

lower; frequency

Hammer, anvil, and stirrup are to hair cells as _____ is to _____.

middle ear; inner ear

Relative size, interposition, relative motion, and relative height are examples of _____ cues to depth perspective.

monocular

Once John learned of Sara's past history of being an abuse victim, he began to perceive her cautious behavior around men as more self-protective rather than rude. This BEST illustrates the impact of:

perceptual sets.

Mila sees the sound of a drum as a large round shape. Mila's experience BEST exemplifies a conditioned called _____.

synesthesia

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

synesthesia

In a song inspired by the classic television show The Twilight Zone, an American vocal group sang the lines "Unpretentious/girl from Memphis/saw the future/through a 'third eye'." These lines underscore a specific ESP ability called:

precognition

Jen believes that if she really concentrates, she can see the numbers drawn in the coming week's lottery. Jen believes she is capable of:

precognition.

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters is called the:

pupil.

Which figure BEST approximates the number of hair cells in the inner ear?

15,000

_____ hearing loss is caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

Conduction

Regarding sensation and perception, which statement is true? A. Perception generally precedes sensation in the processing of a stimulus. B. Sensation and perception are essentially synonyms. C. Sensation involves the interpretation of a stimulus, whereas perception does not. D. Sensation involves the activation of sense receptors; perception involves interpretation.

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

Why are children often repelled by the taste of novel meat dishes and bitter vegetables?

Novel or bitter foods were considered potentially toxic by our ancestors.

_____ refers to the simultaneous analysis of many aspects of a stimulus.

Parallel processing

A famous Hollywood director has decided to present his latest film in 3-D. This will create a great movie-going experience for viewers because 3-D movies exaggerate _____ disparity.

Retinal

Which statement about the skin is true?

The skin is receptive to a mix of four basic and distinct skin senses.

_____ refers to the conversion of one form of energy into another.

Transduction

After an evening at the opera, as Enrique walks into the fresh air, he notices his ears are ringing. This ringing indicates possible damage to the hair cells of his:

basilar membrane.

Amber is participating in a local psychology experiment in which the research assistant asks Amber to hold two pencils in front of her and touch the tips together. She then asks Amber to do this with one eye closed. Amber finds this this task extremely difficult, which demonstrates the importance of _____ cues to depth perception.

binocular

Katrina is driving her 15-year-old car. She notices a sound coming from the engine, which involves _____. Katrina immediately starts thinking that the sound is similar to the sound the car made the last time she had it repaired, which involves _____.

bottom-up; top-down

Perceiving remote events is to perceiving future events as _____ is to _____.

clairvoyance; precognition

Suppose each pixel on a TV screen or computer monitor codes the color of an image at that point in terms of red, blue, and green values. This closely resembles the way that:

color is represented in the retina.

Your 7-month-old niece is just learning to crawl. Your sister has agreed to have her participate in an experiment that incorporates a visual cliff. What is MOST likely being studied in this experiment?

depth perception

Several days ago Ravi fell and hurt his ankle. Although it bothered him a little, he continued to walk on it. When he finally went to the doctor for X-rays, he found out he had a broken bone. It is likely that Ravi carries a gene that boosts the availability of:

endorphins

The neurotransmitter that serves as our natural painkiller is _____.

endorphins

The claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input is known as:

extrasensory perception.

Based on survey research, _____ eminent scientists support the notion of ESP.

few

According to the Gestalt psychologists, humans tend to group together figures that are near to each other. This is called the principle of:

proximity

The function of the basilar membrane is MOST similar to that of the _____ in vision.

retina

Retina is to _____ as _____ is to hair cell.

rod and cone; cochlea

Multiple _____ send combined messages to a bipolar cell, whereas a single _____ may link directly to a single bipolar cell.

rods; cone

You are playing "Ring Around the Rosie" with your little cousins and are spinning around and around. 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

"It's so noisy! How can you stand it?" remarks Caitlyn as highway traffic screams past her friend Dave's ground-floor apartment. "I don't even notice it anymore," Dave replies. This exchange BEST exemplifies the concept of sensory:

sensory adaptation.

If you move your watchband up your wrist an inch or so, you will feel it for only a few moments. This BEST illustrates:

sensory adaptation.

When Thad arrived at the gym on Tuesday morning, he noticed the musty odor of the showers in the locker room. As he finished changing, he did not notice the smell. This is probably the result of:

sensory adaptation.

If a visual image is first presented subliminally, the chance of a person later recognizing the same briefly presented image is improved. This BEST illustrates:

that information can be processed outside of conscious awareness.

When psychologists refer to the visible part of the light spectrum, they mean:

the narrow range of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum that are visible to the human eye.

The phrase "THE CAT" appears in block letters as part of an advertising slogan on a billboard. The A and H are nearly identical in the stylized font that is used. However, the context of the words in the which the letters appear encourages readers to perceive the arrangement of three line segments as completely different letters in each case. This example reflects _____ processing.

top-down

With respect to the sensory systems, the cerebellum is involved in the:

vestibular sense and kinesthesia.

George sees the sound of a trumpet as a pointed, triangular shape. George's experience BEST exemplifies a conditioned called:

synesthesia.