AP Psychology Unit 4: Sensation and Perception Practice AP Questions and FRQs

Which of the following might result from a disruption of your vestibular sense? Inability to detect the position of your arm without looking at it Loss of the ability to detect bitter tastes Dizziness and a loss of balance An inability to detect pain Loss of color vision

Dizziness and a loss of balance

The experience of a smooth picture at the movies, even though the actual film is made up thousands of separate pictures is due to the phi phenomenon. perceptual set. stroboscopic movement. relative motion. the illusory effect.

stroboscopic movement.

Visual Transduction Step 9

Back wall of retina

What do we call the specialized neurons in the occipital lobe's visual cortex that respond to particular edges, lines, angles, and movements? -Rods -Cones -Bipolar cells -Feature detectors -Ganglion cells

Feature detectors

_____ are neurons that fire in response to specific edges, lines, angles, and movements. Rods Cones Ganglion cells Feature detectors Bipolar cells

Feature detectors

Which of the following describes a perception process that the Gestalt psychologists would have been interested in? Depth perception and how it allows us to survive in the world How we notice the various flavor elements in a dish How an organized whole is formed out of its component pieces What the smallest units of perception are The similarities between shape constancy and size constancy

How an organized whole is formed out of its component pieces

Which sensory process are the hammer, anvil, and stirrup involved in? Detecting intense colors Processing information related to our sense of balance Transmitting light energy to ganglion cells Transmitting sound waves to the cochlea Smelling the foul odors of the locker room

Transmitting sound waves to the cochlea

On a warm summer day, Kimberly tells her brother to put on a suit. Kimberly's brother knows to put on a swimsuit instead of a business suit because of -context. -priming. -sensory adaptation. -bottom-up processing. -clairvoyance.

context

Visual Transduction Step 2

cornea

Bryanna and Charles are in a dancing competition. It is easy for spectators to see them against the dance floor because of the visual cliff. the phi phenomenon. color constancy. sensory restriction. figure-ground relationships.

figure-ground relationships.

In terms of perception, a band's lead singer would be considered _____________ (figure/ground), and the other musicians would be considered _____________ (figure/ground).

figure; ground

Visual Transduction Step 13

ganglion cells 2

Visual Transduction Step 14

optic nerve

Visual Transduction Step 8

Rods and Cones

Visual Transduction Step 16

thalamus

Visual Transduction Step 1

visible light

If you scratch your eye, which structure are you most likely to damage? -Pupil -Iris -Cornea -Lens -Fovea

Cornea

Visual Transduction Step 10

Electrochemical Energy

Visual Transduction Step 6

Ganglion Cells 1

Your best friend decides to paint her room an extremely bright electric blue. Which of the following best describes the physical properties of the color's light waves? -No wavelength; large amplitude -Short wavelength; large amplitude -Short wavelength; small amplitude -Long wavelength; large amplitude -No wavelength; small amplitude

Short wavelength; large amplitude

What are the characteristics of air pressure waves that we hear as sound?

Sound waves are bands of compressed and expanded air. Our ears detect these changes in air pressure and transform them into neural impulses, which the brain decodes as sound. Sound waves vary in amplitude, which we perceive as differing loudness (measured in decibels), and in frequency, which we experience as differing pitch.

Visual Transduction Step 3

pupil

Signal detection theory is most closely associated with which perception process? Vision Sensory adaptation Absolute thresholds Smell Context effects

Absolute thresholds

Visual Transduction Step 7

Bipolar Cells 1

Because of the repeated exposure to loud noise they experience during their daily jobs, airport ground workers are most susceptible to damage to which of the following? Olfactory nerve Cochlea Ganglion cells Bipolar cells Hammer, anvil, and stirrup

Cochlea

Which of the following structures helps you most in detecting the color of your friend's shirt? -Rods -Cones -Fovea -Lens -Cornea

Cones

How do we use binocular and monocular cues to see in three dimensions, and how do we perceive motion?

Depth perception is our ability to see objects in three dimensions and judge distance. The visual cliff and other research demonstrate that many species naturally perceive the world in three dimensions at, or very soon after, birth. Binocular cues, such as retinal disparity, are depth cues that rely on information from both eyes. Monocular cues (such as relative size, interposition, relative height, relative motion, linear perspective, and light and shadow) let us judge depth using information transmitted by only one eye. As objects move, we assume that shrinking objects are retreating and enlarging objects are approaching. A quick succession of images on the retina can create an illusion of movement, as in stroboscopic movement (experienced when viewing filmed images) and the phi phenomenon (when we perceive movement between blinking lights).

What do we mean when we say that, in perception, "the whole may exceed the sum of its parts"?

Gestalt psychologists used this saying to describe our perceptual tendency to organize clusters of sensations into meaningful forms or coherent groups.

Does perceptual set involve bottom-up or top-down processing? Why?

It involves top-down processing, because it draws on your experiences, assumptions, and expectations when interpreting stimuli.

Where are the kinesthetic receptors and the vestibular sense receptors located?

Kinesthetic receptors are located in our joints, tendons, and muscles. Vestibular sense receptors are located in our inner ear.

What is the rapid sequence of events that occurs when you see and recognize a friend?

Light waves reflect off the person and travel into your eyes. Receptor cells in your retina convert the light waves' energy into millions of neural impulses sent to your brain. Your brain's detector cells and work teams process the subdimensions of this visual input—including color, movement, form, and depth—separately but simultaneously. Your brain interprets this information, based on previously stored information and your expectations, and forms a conscious perception of your friend.

As you look down the road, the lines of the road seem to come together in the distance, even though you know they do not. Which depth cue explains this phenomenon? Relative motion Retinal disparity Interposition Light and shadow Linear perspective

Linear perspective

After looking at a yellow, black, and green American flag for a minute, you shift your gaze to a white wall. Which of the following best explains why you "see" a red, white, and blue flag when looking at the white wall? Frequency theory Young-Helmholtz theory Opponent-process theory Ganglion-bipolar theory Weber's law

Opponent-process theory

How do we sense touch?

Our sense of touch is actually several senses—pressure, warmth, cold, and pain—that combine to produce other sensations, such as hot.

You friend tells you that a cloud looks like your math teacher; you look up and agree. Which principle explains why this is so? Selective attention ESP Perceptual set Shape constancy Bottom-up processing

Perceptual set

Narmeen is viewing the board in the classroom. She knows that the board is located far away because the view from her left eye is slightly different than the view from her right eye. Her ability to judge the distance of the board is due to which depth cue? Retinal disparity Relative size Linear perspective Relative motion Convergence

Retinal disparity

After being exposed to loud music for many years, which of the following types of deafness is more likely in a musician? Conduction Accommodation Sensorineural Basilar Frequency

Sensorineural

What is the function of sensory adaptation?

Sensory adaptation (our diminished sensitivity to constant odors, sights, sounds, and touches) focuses our attention on informative changes in our environment.

If an ESP event occurred under controlled conditions, what would be the next best step to confirm that ESP really exists?

The ESP event would need to be reproduced in other scientific studies.

What biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences affect our experience of pain? How do placebos and distraction help control pain?

The biopsychosocial perspective views our perception of pain as the sum of biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences. Pain reflects bottom-up sensations (such as input from nociceptors, the sensory receptors that detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals) and top-down processes (such as experience, attention, and culture). The gate-control theory of pain is that a "gate" in the spinal cord either opens to permit pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers to reach the brain or closes to prevent their passage. The brain can also create pain, as it does in phantom limb sensations. (This phenomenon can affect the other senses as well.) Pain treatments often combine physical and psychological elements, including placebos and distractions. Placebos can diminish the central nervous system's attention and responses to painful experiences. Distraction can activate neural pathways that inhibit pain and increase pain tolerance.

What are the basic steps in transforming sound waves into perceived sound?

The outer ear collects sound waves, which are translated into mechanical waves by the middle ear and turned into fluid waves in the inner ear. The auditory nerve then translates the energy into electrical waves and sends them to the brain, which perceives and interprets the sound.

Frequency theory relates to which element of the hearing process? The rate at which the basilar membrane vibrates The number of fibers in the auditory nerve The point at which the basilar membrane exhibits the most vibration The decibel level of a sound The number of hair cells in each cochlea

The rate at which the basilar membrane vibrates

What type of evidence shows that, indeed, "there is more to perception than meets the senses"?

We construct our perceptions based on both sensory input and—experiments show—on our assumptions, expectations, schemas, and perceptual sets, often influenced by the surrounding context.

How does selective attention direct our perceptions?

We selectively attend to, and process, a very limited portion of incoming information, blocking out much and often shifting the spotlight of our attention from one thing to another. Focused intently on one task, we often display inattentional blindness (including change blindness) to other events and changes around us.

Visual Transduction Step 12

bipolar cells 2

Charles and his wife are at a loud baseball game, yet are able to have a conversation with each other in spite of all the noise around them. Which principle best explains this scenario? a) Bottom-up processing b) Weber's law c) The cocktail party effect d) Top-down processing e) Sensory adaptation

c) The cocktail party effect

Natalia is washing her hands, and she adjusts the faucet handle until the water feels just slightly hotter than it did before. Natalia's adjustment until she feels the change in temperature is an example of a) a subliminal stimulus. b) an absolute threshold. c) a difference threshold. d) signal detection. e) perceptual constancy.

c) a difference threshold.

Tyshane went swimming with friends who did not want to get into the pool because the water felt cold. Tyshane jumped in and after a few minutes declared, "It was cold when I first got in, but now it's fine. Come on in!" Tyshane's body became accustomed to the water temperature due to a) priming. b) absolute threshold. c) difference threshold. d) selective attention. e) sensory adaptation.

e) sensory adaptation.

When you listen to music, the sound waves cause your _____ to vibrate first. cochlea hammer, anvil, and stirrup eardrum oval window auditory nerve

eardrum

Visual Transduction Step 4

len

The amplitude of a sound wave determines our perception of _____________ (loudness/pitch).

loudness

Visual Transduction Step 15

occipital lobe

Visual Transduction Step 11

rods and cones 2

Explain how the following are involved when you listen to your favorite song: Bottom-up processing Top-down processing

1 point: Bottom-up processing will take place in the ear and allow you to hear the individual notes and words of the song. Page 158 1 point: Top-down processing will take place in the brain and allow you to recognize the song as your favorite song. Page 158

While listening to the orchestra as she dances the lead role in Swan Lake, a ballerina concludes her performance with a pirouette, spinning around several times before leaping into the arms of her dance partner. Discuss how the ballerina relied on the following to successfully complete her performance and how each is important to ensuring that success. Kinesthetic sense Vestibular sense Semicircular canals Hearing

1 point: Kinesthesia will allow the ballerina to sense the position of different parts of her body as she dances the role. Thus, she will know that she is to start by facing the audience and, although she has spun around several times, she will always be aware of where the audience is, and where to put her feet and arms in order to accomplish the choreography. Page 213 1 point: The vestibular sense enables the dancer to sense her body position and to maintain her balance. Page 213 1 point: Semicircular canals in her inner ear help the ballerina maintain her sense of balance. She needs this balance as she leaps and spins, and her training allows her to use her vestibular sense to maintain balance rather than become dizzy. Page 199 and 213 1 point: The ballerina's sense of hearing allows her to perceive the music and to dance to the correct rhythm of each piece of music. Page 198

Explain the role of the following as you sit down to breakfast: Tactile sensations Olfactory cells Our chemical sense

1 point: Tactile receptors, especially those for pressure, will let you know that you have sat in your seat. Page 205 1 point: Olfactory cells line the top of the nasal cavity and will allow you to smell breakfast. Page 211 1 point: Taste is a chemical sense and these receptor cells on the tongue detect the sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami flavors in the food. Page 209

Martha is convinced she has extrasensory perception. Explain the specific abilities Martha would display if she had each of the following forms of ESP: Telepathy Clairvoyance Precognition Then briefly explain why you should doubt her claims.

1 point: Telepathy: Martha would be able to use mind-to-mind communication. For example, she may know what someone in another room is thinking. Page 172 1 point: Clairvoyance: Martha would be able to perceive things happening at a distance. For example, she may know that her cousin who lives in another state has just burned her hand on the oven. Page 172 1 point: Precognition: Martha would be able to see future events happen. For example, she may know that a pop quiz will take place next week. Page 172 1 point: There has never been a conclusive scientific demonstration of extrasensory ability. Page 173

As light reflected off an object reaches your eye, it passes through several structures before it reaches the retina. Describe the functions of the following structures: Cornea Iris Lens

1 point: The cornea bends and focuses the light waves. Page 177 1 point: The iris can expand or contract to allow more or less light to pass through the pupil. Page 177 1 point: The lens changes shape to help focus images on the retina. Page 177

Identify the role of the eardrum, three bones in the middle ear, and oval window in transmitting sound waves before they reach the hair cells.

1 point: The eardrum will vibrate in response to the sound waves. Page 199 1 point: The three bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) in the middle ear transmit sound waves between the eardrum and the oval window. Page 199 1 point: The oval window is the point at which vibrations enter the cochlea. Page 199

Which of the following best represents an absolute threshold? A guitar player knows that his D string has just gone out of tune. A photographer can tell that the natural light available for a photograph has just faded slightly. Your friend amazes you by correctly identifying unlabeled glasses of Coke and Pepsi. A cook can just barely taste the small amount of salt she has added to her soup. Your mom throws out the milk because she says the taste is "off."

A cook can just barely taste the small amount of salt she has added to her soup.

Using sound as your example, explain how these concepts differ: absolute threshold, subliminal stimulation, and difference threshold.

Absolute threshold is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular sound (such as an approaching bike on the sidewalk behind you) 50 percent of the time. Subliminal stimulation happens when, without your awareness, your sensory system processes a sound that is below your absolute threshold (such as when your perceptions are affected by first being primed by a subliminally heard word). A difference threshold is the minimum sound difference a person can detect (for example, when listening to music, how many times you need to increase the volume in order to notice the difference).

What does research on restored vision, sensory restriction, and perceptual adaptation reveal about the effects of experience on perception?

Experience guides our perceptual interpretations. People blind from birth who gained sight after surgery lack the experience to visually recognize shapes and forms. Sensory restriction research indicates that there is a critical period for some aspects of sensory and perceptual development. Without early stimulation, the brain's neural organization does not develop normally. People given glasses that shift the world slightly to the left or right, or even upside down, experience perceptual adaptation. They are initially disoriented, but they manage to adapt to their new context.

Where are feature detectors located, and what do they do?

Feature detectors, specialized neurons in the occipital lobe's visual cortex, respond to specific aspects of the visual stimulus. They receive information from individual ganglion cells in the retina and pass it to other cortical areas, where supercell clusters respond to more complex patterns.

How did the Gestalt psychologists understand perceptual organization, and how do figure-ground and grouping principles contribute to our perceptions?

Gestalt psychologists searched for rules by which the brain organizes fragments of sensory data into gestalts (from the German word for "whole"), or meaningful forms. In pointing out that the whole may exceed the sum of its parts, they noted that we filter sensory information and construct our perceptions. To recognize an object, we must first perceive it (see it as a figure) as distinct from its surroundings (the ground). We bring order and form to stimuli by organizing them into meaningful groups, following such rules as proximity, continuity, and closure.

Explain how Heather Sellers' experience of prosopagnosia illustrates the difference between sensation and perception.

Heather Sellers' sensation is normal, and her perception is nearly so, but her brain is lacking the functional area that helps us recognize a familiar human face. While her bottom-up physical sensory system receives and represents stimuli, a problem with her top-down mental process of organizing and interpreting sensory input results in her inability to recognize faces.

Which of the following statements is best explained by research on depth perception using the visual cliff? Binocular depth cues develop before monocular depth cues. Monocular depth cues develop before binocular depth cues. Human infants are born with an innate sense of depth. Human infants must learn to perceive depth. Humans do not develop the perception of depth until 24 months of age.

Human infants are born with an innate sense of depth.

Your friend is playing the low notes on her tuba quite loudly. Which of the following best explains the physical properties of the sound waves? No wavelength; large amplitude Short wavelength; large amplitude Short wavelength; small amplitude Long wavelength; large amplitude No wavelength; small amplitude

Long wavelength; large amplitude

How does sensory interaction influence our perceptions, and what is embodied cognition?

None of our senses operate in a vacuum. We experience sensory interaction: Our senses influence one another, and our brain blends the information our senses provide to inform our perceptions. With synesthesia, the stimulation of one sense (such as hearing sound) triggers an experience of another (such as seeing color). The brain circuits that process physical sensations may interact with brain circuits responsible for cognition, leading to embodied cognition: the influence of our body sensations on our cognitive preferences and judgments.

Which of the following reflects the notion that pitch is related to the stimulation of different areas of the cochlea's basilar membrane? Place theory Frequency theory Volley principle Sound localization Stereophonic hearing

Place theory

How do absolute thresholds and difference thresholds differ?

Our absolute threshold for any stimulus is the minimum stimulation necessary for us to be consciously aware of it 50 percent of the time. Signal detection theory predicts how and when we will detect a faint stimulus amid background noise. Individual absolute thresholds vary, depending on the strength of the signal and also on our experience, expectations, motivation, and alertness. Our difference threshold (also called just noticeable difference, or jnd) is the minimum stimulus difference we can discern 50 percent of the time. Weber's law states that two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage (not a constant amount) to be perceived as different.

How do we detect loudness, discriminate pitch, and locate sounds?

Our brain interprets loudness from the number of activated hair cells (and louder sounds activate greater numbers of hair cells). Place theory explains how we hear high-pitched sounds, and frequency theory explains how we hear low-pitched sounds. A combination of the two theories explains how we hear pitches in the middle range. Place theory proposes that our brain interprets a particular pitch by decoding the place where a sound wave stimulates the cochlea's basilar membrane. Frequency theory proposes that the brain deciphers the frequency of the neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve to the brain. By alternating their firing (the volley principle), neural cells enable us to sense sounds with frequencies that exceed the firing speed of an individual neuron. Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other. The brain analyzes the minute differences in the sounds received by the two ears and computes the sound's source.

Explain three attentional principles that magicians may use to fool us.

Our selective attention allows us to focus on only a limited portion of our surroundings. Inattentional blindness explains why we don't perceive some things when we are distracted. And change blindness happens when we fail to notice a relatively unimportant change in our environment. All these principles help magicians fool us, as they direct our attention elsewhere to perform their tricks.

What three steps are basic to all our sensory systems?

Our senses (1) receive sensory stimulation (often using specialized receptor cells), (2) transform that stimulation into neural impulses, and (3) deliver the neural information to the brain. Transduction is the process of converting one form of energy into another. Researchers in psychophysics study the relationships between stimuli's physical characteristics and our psychological experience of them.

Which perceptual process explains why you can see varied aspects of your favorite singer's face and instantly recognize him or her? -Selective attention -Accommodation -Psychokinesis -Blindsight -Parallel processing

Parallel processing

What are the claims of ESP, and what have most research psychologists concluded after putting these claims to the test?

Parapsychology is the study of paranormal phenomena, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis. The three most testable forms of ESP are telepathy (mind-to-mind communication), clairvoyance (perceiving remote events), and precognition (perceiving future events). Skeptics argue that (1) to believe in ESP, you must believe the brain is capable of perceiving without sensory input, and (2) researchers have been unable to replicate ESP phenomena under controlled conditions.

How do perceptual constancies help us construct meaningful perceptions?

Perceptual constancy enables us to perceive objects as stable despite the changing image they cast on our retinas. Color constancy is our ability to perceive consistent color in objects, even though the lighting and wavelengths shift. Brightness (or lightness) constancy is our ability to perceive an object as having a constant lightness even when its illumination—the light cast upon it—changes. Our brain constructs our experience of an object's color or brightness through comparisons with other surrounding objects. Shape constancy is our ability to perceive familiar objects (such as an opening door) as unchanging in shape. Size constancy is perceiving objects as unchanging in size despite their changing retinal images. Knowing an object's size gives us clues to its distance; knowing its distance gives clues about its size, but we sometimes misread monocular distance cues and reach the wrong conclusions, as in the Moon illusion.

How do our expectations, contexts, motivation, and emotions influence our perceptions?

Perceptual set is a mental predisposition that functions as a lens through which we perceive the world. Our learned concepts (schemas) prime us to organize and interpret ambiguous stimuli in certain ways. Our motivation, as well as our physical and emotional context, can create expectations and color our interpretation of events and behaviors.

A famous psychic is a YouTube sensation because of his ability to read the minds of people in the audience at his shows. Which type of psychic power would he claim? -Precognition -Psychokinesis -Clairvoyance -Telepathy -Bottom-up processing

Precognition

How are we affected by subliminal stimuli?

Priming shows that we can be affected by stimuli so weak that we don't consciously notice them, and we can evaluate a stimulus even when we're not consciously aware of it. While we can be primed by subliminal stimuli, however, research indicates that such stimuli cannot persuade us or change our behavior.

As she looks down the hallway, Elaine is not tricked into thinking that the friend who is closer to her looks larger than the friend who is farther down the hall. Which monocular cue helps her with this understanding? Interposition Linear perspective Interposition Relative height Relative size

Relative size

What are sensation and perception? What do we mean by bottom-up processing and top-down processing?

Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. Perception is the process of organizing and interpreting this information, enabling recognition of meaningful events. Sensation and perception are actually parts of one continuous process. Bottom-up processing is sensory analysis that begins at the entry level, with information flowing from the sensory receptors to the brain. Top-down processing is information processing guided by high-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions by filtering information through our experience and expectations.

In what ways are our senses of taste and smell similar, and how do they differ?

Taste and smell are both chemical senses. Taste is a composite of five basic sensations—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—and of the aromas that interact with information from the taste receptor cells of the taste buds. There are no basic sensations for smell. We have some 20 million olfactory receptor cells, with about 350 different receptor proteins. Odor molecules trigger combinations of receptors, in patterns that the olfactory cortex interprets. The receptor cells send messages to the brain's olfactory bulb, then to the temporal lobe, and to parts of the limbic system.

How do we perceive color in the world around us?

The Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory proposed that the retina contains three types of color receptors. Contemporary research has found three types of cones, each most sensitive to the wavelengths of one of the three primary colors of light (red, green, or blue). Hering's opponent-process theory proposed three additional color processes (red-versus-green, blue-versus-yellow, white-versus-black). Contemporary research has confirmed that, en route to the brain, neurons in the retina and the thalamus code the color-related information from the cones into pairs of opponent colors. These two theories, and the research supporting them, show that color processing occurs in two stages.

What are two key theories of color vision? Are they contradictory or complementary? Explain.

The Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory shows that the retina contains color receptors for red, green, and blue. The opponent-process theory shows that we have opponent-process cells in the retina and thalamus for red-green, blue-yellow, and white-black. These theories are complementary and outline the two stages of color vision: (1) The retina's receptors for red, green, and blue respond to different color stimuli. (2) The receptors' signals are then processed by the opponent-process cells on their way to the visual cortex in the brain.

Which of the following phrases accurately describes top-down processing? The entry-level data captured by our various sensory systems The effect that our experiences and expectations have on perception Our tendency to scan a visual field from top to bottom Our ability to detect letters of a word before we know what the word is The fact that information is processed by the higher regions of the brain before it reaches the lower brain

The effect that our experiences and expectations have on perception

What are the characteristics of the energy that we see as visible light? What structures in the eye help focus that energy?

The hue we perceive in light depends on its wavelength, and its brightness depends on its intensity. After entering the eye through the cornea, passing through the pupil and iris, and being focused by the lens, light energy particles (from a thin slice of the broad spectrum of electromagnetic energy) strike the eye's inner surface, the retina.

Which of the following is most likely to influence our memory of a painful event? The overall length of the event The intensity of pain at the end of the event The reason for the pain The amount of rest you've had in the 24 hours preceding the event The specific part of the body that experiences the pain

The intensity of pain at the end of the event

How does the ear transform sound energy into neural messages?

The outer ear (the visible portion of the ear and the auditory canal) funnels sound to the middle ear (the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea). The inner ear consists of the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. Sound waves traveling through the auditory canal cause tiny vibrations in the eardrum. The bones of the middle ear (the hammer, anvil, and stirrup) amplify the vibrations and relay them to the fluid-filled cochlea. Rippling of the basilar membrane, caused by pressure changes in the cochlear fluid, causes movement of the tiny hair cells, triggering neural messages to be sent (via the thalamus) to the auditory cortex in the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss (or nerve deafness) results from damage to the cochlea's hair cells or their associated nerves. Conduction hearing loss results from damage to the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to the cochlea. Cochlear implants can restore hearing for some people.

How do the rods and cones process information, and what is the path information travels from the eye to the brain?

The retina's light-sensitive rods and color-sensitive cones convert light energy into neural impulses. Cones are found in and around the fovea. Many cones have a direct hotline to the brain, transmitting their message to a single bipolar cell that relays it to the visual cortex. Rods are found in the retina's outer regions. Several rods together transmit their energy to a single bipolar cell. Cones and rods each provide a special sensitivity—cones to detail and color, rods to faint light and peripheral motion. After processing by bipolar and ganglion cells in the eyes' retina, neural impulses travel through the optic nerve, to the thalamus, and on to the visual cortex.

Why is it that after wearing shoes for a while, you cease to notice them?

The shoes provide constant stimulation. Thanks to sensory adaptation, we tend to focus primarily on changing stimuli.

How do we sense our body's position and movement?

Through kinesthesia, we sense the position and movement of our body parts. We monitor our body's position and movement and maintain our balance with our vestibular sense, which relies on the semicircular canals and vestibular sacs to sense the tilt or rotation of our head.

How does the brain use parallel processing to construct visual perceptions?

Through parallel processing, the brain handles many aspects of vision (color, movement, form, and depth) simultaneously. Other neural teams integrate the results, comparing them with stored information and enabling perceptions.

What is the purpose of the iris? To focus light on the retina To process color To allow light into the eye To enable night vision To detect specific shapes

To allow light into the eye

How do we normally perceive depth?

We are normally able to perceive depth thanks to (1) binocular cues (such as retinal disparity), and (2) monocular cues (which include relative height, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, light and shadow, and relative motion).

Which of the following represents perceptual constancy? We recognize the taste of McDonald's food each time we eat it. In photos of people, the people almost always are perceived as figure and everything else as ground. We know that the color of a printed page has not changed as it moves from sunlight into shadow. From the time they are very young, most people can recognize the smell of a dentist's office. The cold water in a lake doesn't seem so cold after you have been swimming in it for a few minutes.

We know that the color of a printed page has not changed as it moves from sunlight into shadow.

Which of the following is the best example of sensory interaction? Simultaneous exposure to warm and cold produces the skin sensation of hot. Some cones have the ability to detect red and green or blue and yellow light. You notice a slight flicker of a light when there is a sound that accompanies it. Pitch perception is explained by the frequency and place theories. You fail to notice the odd smell of your friend's room after an hour.

You notice a slight flicker of a light when there is a sound that accompanies it.

As Jeff reads his psychology textbook he is able to convert the light waves into signals that his brain can interpret due to the concept of a) transduction. b) perception. c) priming. d) signal detection theory. e) threshold.

a) transduction.

Which of the following options has NOT been proven to reduce pain? a. Distraction b. Placebos c. Phantom limb sensations d. Endorphins

c

Even though the banana seemed to change color as the lighting in the room changed, Jane knew that the color of the banana was not actually changing. This is due to perceptual adaptation. convergence. color constancy. interposition. relative luminance.

color constancy.

As she looks at a face, Jamie is able to recognize it as the face of her mother. Which of the following explains why she can recognize her mother's face? a) Selective attention b) Transduction c) Bottom-up processing d) Top-down processing e) Signal detection theory

d) Top-down processing

Visual Transduction Step 5

front wall of retina

The longer the sound waves, the _____________ (lower/higher) their frequency and the _____________ (higher/lower) their pitch.

lower; lower

A teacher used distortion goggles, which shifted the wearer's gaze 20 degrees, to demonstrate an altered perception. A student wearing the goggles initially bumped into numerous desks and chairs while walking around, but after 30 minutes of wearing the goggles was able to smoothly avoid obstacles, illustrating the concept of perceptual adaptation. visual interpretation. sensory adaptation. perceptual constancy. binocular cues.

perceptual adaptation

Tonya's psychology teacher played some backwards music to the class, and they were not able to make out any words or phrases in the selection. When the teacher told them to listen for the words "The rat ate the cat" when she played it again, most of the class now heard the words. Which principle explains this experience? -A context effect -Perceptual set -Extrasensory perception -Selective attention -Weber's law

perceptual set

Which theory of pitch perception would best explain a symphony audience's enjoyment of a high-pitched piccolo? How about a low-pitched cello?

place theory; frequency theory

Meghan's friends seek her out for help with their problems because she can "see the future" and know what the outcome of an event will be before it happens. Her friends think that Meghan has the power of telepathy. clairvoyance. precognition. psychokinesis. sensory interaction.

precognition.

Cats are able to open their _____________ much wider than we can, which allows more light into their eyes so they can see better at night.

pupils

Some nocturnal animals, such as toads, mice, rats, and bats, have impressive night vision thanks to having many more _____________ (rods/cones) than _____________ (rods/cones) in their retinas. These creatures probably have very poor _____________ (color/black-and-white) vision.

rods; cones; color

The process by which rods and cones change electromagnetic energy into neural messages is called adaptation. accommodation. parallel processing. transduction. perceptual setting.

transduction.