AP Psychology Test Questions Sensation and Perception

ATM machines are more complex than VCRs but are easier to operate thanks to the efforts of:

Human factors psychologists

Infant rats deprived of their mothers' grooming touch produce:

less growth hormone and have a lower metabolic rate

Relative luminance most clearly contributes to:

lightness constancy

After some practice, Carol was able to read books while holding them upside down. This best illustrates:

perceptual adaptation

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

rods, cones

Tinnitus is a phantom _____ sensation.

Auditory

Goggles that allow animals to see only diffuse, unpatterned light have inhibiting effects on perceptual development similar to the effects of:

Cataracts

By amplifying soft sound but not loud sounds, digital hearing aids produce:

Compressed Sound

Immanuel Kant and John Locke would have been most likely to disagree about the extent to which perception is influenced by:

Cultural Experience

Rules for organizing stimuli into coherent groups were first identified by:

Gestalt psychologists

The sensory experience of bending one's knees or raising one's arms exemplifies:

Kinesthesis

The Moon illusion refers to our tendency to perceive the Moon as unusually:

Large when it is near the horizon

Which philosopher would have predicted that an extended period of sensory deprivation would inhibit the development of one's perceptual capacities?

Locke

The hammer, anvil, and stirrup are three tiny bones that transmit vibrations to the:

Oval Window

The fact that we recognize objects as having a consistent form regardless of changing viewing angles illustrates:

Perceptual Constancy

People perceive an adult-child pair as looking more alike when told they are a parent and a child. This best illustrates the effect of:

Perceptual Set

The number of complete sound waves that strike one's eardrum in a given second determines the _____ of the sound.

Pitch

Physics are unable to make millions of dollars betting on horse races. This undermines their claims to possess the power of:

Precognition

The way in which you quickly group the individual letters in this test item into separate words best illustrates the principle of:

Proximity

The lights along the runway were shrouded in such a thick fog that the pilot of an incoming plane nearly overshot the runway. The pilot was most likely misled by the distance cue known as:

Relative Clarity

Drivers sometimes overestimate the difference between their own vehicle and pedestrians who are short because they rely on the distance cue known as:

Relative Size

Drivers detect traffic signals more slowly if they are also conversing on a cell phone. This best illustrates the impact of:

Selective Attention

Experiencing sudden pain is to _________ as recognizing that you are suffering a heart attack is to ________.

Sensation, Perception

A drink's strawberry odor enhances our perception of its sweetness. This best illustrates:

Sensory Interaction

Blind musicians are more likely than sighted ones to develop perfect pitch. This best illustrates:

Sensory compensation

The ability to accurately perceive distances most clearly underlies our capacity to:

Size Constancy

Monocular cue is to ____ as binocular cue is to ______.

Texture Gradient, Convergence

Once we have formed a wrong idea about reality, we have more difficulty seeing the truth. This best illustrates the impact of:

Top-down Processing

The fact that perceptions involve more than the sum of our sensations best illustrates teh importance of:

Top-down Processing

The size of the difference threshold is greater for heavier objects than for lighter ones. This best illustrates:

Weber's Law

A neutral facial expression may be perceived as sadder at a funeral than at a circus. This best illustrates the impact of:

a context effect

Visual information is processed by ganglion cells:

after it is processed by rods and cones

The opponent-process theory is most useful for explaining on of the characteristics of:

afterimages

Damage to the basilar membrane is most likely to affect one's:

audition

Receptor cells for the vestibular sense sends messages to the:

cerebellum

Selective attention is best illustrated by:

change blindness

Even when seen through sunglasses, grass appears equally as green as it does without glasses. This best illustrates:

color constancy

The phenomenon of blindsight best illustrates that visual information can be processed without:

conscious awareness

The central focal point in the retina where cones are heavily concentrated is known as the:

fovea

Pedro recognized that his son was closer to him than his daughter because his son partially obstructed his view of his daughter. Pedro's perception was most clearly influenced by a distance cue known as:

interposition

The ring of muscle tissue that controls the pupil's size s called the:

iris

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

linear perspective

Some stroke victims lose the capacity to perceive motion but retain the capacity to perceive shapes and colors. Others lose the capacity to perceive colors but retain the capacity to perceive movement and form. These peculiar visual disabilities best illustrate our normal capacity for:

parallel processing

After hearing that Bryce had served a prison sentence, Janet began to perceive his friendly behavior as insincere and manipulative. The best illustrates the impact of:

perceptual set

The volley principle is most relevant to understanding how we sense:

pitch

Damage to a region of the temporal lobe essential to recognizing faces results in a condition known as:

prosopagnosia

Jordan claims that with intense metal concentration, he can make objects float in mid-air. Jordan is claiming to possess the power of:

psychokinesis

The distance between our right and left eyes functions to provide us with a cue for depth perception known as:

retinal disparity

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

sensory adaptation

The rubber-hand illusion best illustrates.

sensory interaction

Which of the following activities most clearly takes place in the rods and cones?:

sensory transduction

A door casts an increasingly trapezoidal image on our retinas as it opens, yet we still perceive it as rectangular. This illustrates:

shape constancy

The impact of boredom and fatigue on people's absolute thresholds is highlighted by:

signal detection theory

Which of the following is most notable for its short-term effects on thinking?

subliminal stimulation

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

The specific perceptual processes that underlie the Moon illusion also contribute to:

the Ponzo illusion

Interpreting new sensory information within the framework of a past memory illustrates:

top-down processing

Our shifting perceptions of a Necker cube best illustrate the importance of:

top-down processing

Racial and ethnic stereotypes can sometimes bias our perceptions of others' behaviors. This best illustrates the impact of:

top-down processing

Perceiving the voice of a ventriloquist as originating from the mouth of a dummy best illustrates:

visual capture