Psych 101 Chapter 5

1. The process by which the brain interprets and analyzes sensory information is

1. perception.

What is vertigo?

spinning sensation

When perception is influenced by knowledge, experience, and expectations, what type of processing occurs?

top-down

Vinnie is standing on one leg with his arms in the air. The ________ sense helps keep him balanced so he has less chance of falling over.

vestibular

Which of the following pairs is considered to be an example of opponent pairs in the opponent-process theory?

yellow/blue

______is the number of wave cycles in a given period of time.

Frequency

A group of 20 people are standing in line. One person leaves the line, and now there are two shorter lines. However, you do not even notice the break; your brain seems to fill in the gap. Your brain perceives

closure.

Light waves are transmitted across the ________ and enter the eye through the ________.

cornea; pupil

The optic nerve is a structure that is composed of axons of _____ cells.

ganglion

When wavelengths that produce red are registered by certain opponent cells, they can inhibit the perception of wavelengths that produce

green

Our vestibular sense contributes to our ability to ________.

maintain balance and body posture

Felicia smacks her thumb with a hammer while building a doghouse. The sense of ________ provides her brain with information about the pain she feels.

nociception

A group of German psychologists were known as Gestalt psychologists, and they studied

patterns.

When the brain organizes, interprets, and analyzes information from the environment, ______ occurs.

perception

Wesley is in a movie theater with no windows—the only light is low illumination from the emergency lights on the floor. Which photoreceptors will be most useful to Wesley as he attempts to leave the theater?

rods

Congenital deafness refers to deafness ________.

since birth

Imagine that you are in a dark room with barely any light. We can predict that the

size of your pupils will be large.

Your psychology professor tries to explain audition by noting that sounds of different frequencies have their maximum effect on different parts of the basilar membrane. This explanation would support which of the following theories?

Place

Which of the following statements about the vestibular sense is false?

The vestibular sense is divided into olfaction, gustation, and audition.

Paul turns on the radio in his car, and he slowly increases the volume until he can just hear the music. The point at which he can detect the music about half the time is the

absolute threshold