Unit 4

The horizon Moon appears to shrink in size if it is viewed through a narrow tube that eliminates the perception of distance cues. This best illustrates the importance of

context effects

Interposition is a cue for depth perception in which closer objects

create larger retinal images than do distant objects

Some people are better than others at detecting slight variations in the tastes of various blends of coffee. This best illustrates the importance of

difference thresholds

Sensory adaptation refers to

diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

The perceived size of an object is most strongly influenced by that object's perceived

distance

If Jared watches a nurse give him an injection, he experiences more pain than if he closes his eyes during the procedure and thinks about his favorite food. This illustrates the value of ________ for pain control.

distraction

One of the ways we perceive images is by organizing stimuli into an object seen against its surroundings. What is this perceptual tendency called?

figure-ground

The pitch of a sound is determined by what?

frequency

Which theory best explains how we perceive low-pitched sounds?

frequency theory

Visual information is processed by

ganglion cells

Which theory suggests that large-fiber activity in the spinal cord can prevent pain signals from reaching the brain?

gate-control theory

Who emphasized that the whole may exceed the sum of its parts?

gestalt psychologists

Imagine your friend walking toward you in the hall at school. As your friend gets closer, the image cast on your retina

gets larger

Cones and rods are to vision as ________ are to audition

hair cells

The mechanical vibrations triggered by sound waves are transduced into neural impulses by

hair cells

Frequency theory best explains _______, while place theory best explains ________.

how we perceive low- pitched sounds; how we perceive high pitched sounds

Intensity is to brightness as wavelength is to

hue

In one experiment, most of the participants who viewed a videotape of men tossing a basketball remained unaware of an umbrella-toting woman sauntering across the screen. This illustrated

inattentional blindness

Which of the following sensory receptors detect hurtful temperatures, pressure, or chemicals?

nociceptors

Lightness constancy refers to the fact that

objects are perceived to have consistent lightness even if the amount of light they reflect changes

The sense of smell is known as

olfaction

The fact that people who are colorblind to red and green may still see yellow is most easily explained by

opponent-process theory

A gestalt is best described as a(n)

organized whole

The brain's release of endorphins reduces

pain

Perceiving the color, motion, and form of a bird in flight illustrates

parallel processing

The ability to simultaneously process the pitch, loudness, melody, and meaning of a song best illustrates

parallel processing

The process by which we select, organize, and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events is called

perception

ESP refers to

perception that occurs apart from sensory input

Although he was wearing a pair of glasses that shifted the apparent location of objects 20 degrees to his right, Lars was still able to play tennis very effectively. This best illustrates the value of

perceptual adaptation

After watching a scary television movie, Julie perceived the noise of the wind rattling her front windows as the sound of a burglar breaking into her house. Her mistaken interpretation best illustrates the influence of

perceptual set

Who emphasized that perceptual understanding comes from inborn ways of organizing sensory experience?

Immanuel Kant

Why is transduction important to sensation?

It converts physical stimuli, such as light, into neural messages.

Which of the following circumstances is most likely to contribute to conduction hearing loss?

Misuse of Q tips in cleaning your ears

Perceptual adaptation refers to the

Perceptual adjustments to an artificially displaced visual field

The tendency to hear the steady drip of a leaky sink faucet as if it were a repeating rhythm of two or more beats best illustrates

Perceptual organization

Giulio's bag of marbles is twice as heavy as Jim's. If it takes 5 extra marbles to make Jim's bag feel heavier, it will take 10 extra marbles to make Giulio's bag feel heavier. This best illustrates

Weber's law

The principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion for their difference to be perceived is known as

Weber's law

Which of the following best explains why children are more likely to resist eating strong-tasting foods?

Young children have more taste receptors, so their sensitivity to taste is greater.

Evidence that some cones are especially sensitive to red light, others to green light, and still others to blue light is most directly supportive of the ________ theory

Young-Helmholtz

Movement of the hair cells along the basilar membrane

allows us to sense our body's position and movement

Tinnitus is a phantom ______ sensation

auditory

As Maria and her little brother looked up at the clouds, he exclaimed, "That one looks like a giant dinosaur!" Maria thought it looked more like a giant duck. Which of the following concepts best explains their different interpretations of the same ambiguous stimuli?

perceptual set

When researchers added a few drops of vinegar to a brand-name beer, the beer tasters disliked it only if they had been told they were drinking vinegar-laced beer. This best illustrates the impact of

perceptual set

After a small section of his basilar membrane was damaged, Jason experienced a noticeable loss of hearing for high-pitched sounds only. Jason's hearing loss is best explained by the ________ theory.

place

The discovery that high-frequency sounds trigger large vibrations near the beginning of the basilar membrane supports the ________ theory.

place

Margo insists that her dreams frequently enable her to perceive and predict future events. Margo is claiming to possess the power of

precognition

Researchers have identified receptors for which of the following skin sensations?

pressure

Photographs of people were rated more positively if the photos immediately followed a briefly flashed image of kittens. This best illustrates the impact of

priming

Accommodation refers to the

process by which the lens changes shape to focus images on the retina

Andre claims that he can make a broken watch begin to run again simply by entering a state of intense mental concentration. Andre is claiming to possess the power of

psychokinesis

Farouk insists that by intense mental concentration he can actually influence the mechanically generated outcomes of slot machines. Farouk is most specifically claiming to possess the power of

psychokinesis

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye is the

pupil

Distant trees were located closer to the top of the artist's canvas than were the nearby flowers. The artist was clearly using the distance cue known as

relative height

As we move, objects that are fixed in place, a light pole, for example, may appear to move. What is this monocular cue for depth called?

relative motion

Bipolar cells are located in the

retina

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the rods and cones, is the

retina

Which of the following is a binocular cue for the perception of distance?

retinal disparity

We compute motion based on the assumption that shrinking objects are

retreating

The most light-sensitive receptor cells are the

rods

The receptor cells that convert light energy into neural signals are called

rods and cones

Which cells for visual processing are located closest to the back of the retina?

rods and cones

Under very dim levels of illumination

rods are more light-sensitive than cones

You typically fail to consciously perceive that your own nose is in your line of vision. This best illustrates

selective attention

Which of the following play the biggest role in our feeling dizzy and unbalanced after a thrilling roller coaster ride?

semicircular canals

As you look at an apple, its reflected light travels to the eye. The rods and cones absorb the light and help transmit the information to the brain. This process best illustrates

sensation

The process of receiving and representing stimulus energies through the nervous system is called

sensation

The quick succession of briefly flashed images in a motion picture produces

stroboscopic movement

Parapsychology refers to the

study of phenomena such as ESP and psychokinesis

Audiotapes of soothing ocean sounds accompanied by faint and imperceptible verbal messages designed to increase a desire to lose weight best illustrate

subliminal stimulation

News about the supposed effects of briefly presented messages on people's feelings of being thirsty involved false claims regarding

subliminal stimulation

Feature detectors pass information to other cortical areas where complex patterns are processed by

supercell clusters

Kinesthesis refers to the

system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts

Supercell clusters are

teams of cells that fire in response to complex patterns, such as the human face.

Opponent-process cells have been located in the

thalamus

If we see a speaker mouthing day while actually hearing someone else saying may, we may perceive a third syllable bay that blends both inputs. This phenomenon is known as

the McGurk effect

Experiments with the visual cliff suggest that

the ability to perceive depth is at least partly innate

Humans experience the longest visible electromagnetic waves as

the color red and the shortest visible waves as blue-violet.

If an image falls on the eye's blind spot, you do not detect it. Which of the following best explains this phenomenon?

the image is not perceived because without receptor cells, transduction cannot occur.

The Ames illusion involving two girls who are perceived as very different in size can best be explained in terms of

the misperception of distance

Experiencing a green afterimage of a red object is most easily explained by

the opponent-process theory

On the day she is to be interviewed for an important new position, Rachel awakens with a severe toothache. During the interview she feels no pain; not until 30 minutes later does she become aware again of the troublesome toothache. Rachel's experience is best explained by

the opponent-process theory

The sequentially flashing Christmas tree lights appeared to generate pulsating waves of motion. This best illustrates

the phi phenomenon

According to the Young-Helmholtz theory

the retina contains three kinds of color receptors

Which of the following best illustrates the impact of central nervous system activity in the absence of normal sensory input?

tinnitus

We tend to perceive more pain when others around us also report feeling pain. This research finding indicates that pain perception is affected by both biological and what other influences?

top-down and bottom-up processing

The biopsychosocial approach to pain is likely to emphasize the importance of both

top-down and bottom-up processing.

Patients' negative expectations about the outcome of a surgical procedure can increase their postoperative experience of pain. This best illustrates the importance of

top-down processing

The effect of prior experience and current expectations on perception best illustrates the importance of

top-down processing

The process by which our sensory systems convert stimulus energies into neural messages is called

transduction

Those who believe in the value of subliminal audiotapes would be wrong to claim that

unconsciously processed information is unusually persuasive

The ability to detect whether your body is in a horizontal or vertical position depends most directly on

vestibular sense

The feature detectors identified by Hubel and Weisel respond to specific aspects of ________ stimulation

visual

Damage to the fovea would have the greatest effect on

visual acuity

People who demonstrate blindsight have most likely suffered damage to their

visual cortex

An 80-decibel sound is ________ times louder than a 60-decibel sound

100

Imagine that a softball player wears special glasses that shift her visual field upward 20 degrees. This means that when the player wears these glasses, everything appears higher than it actually is. With practice the player can hit a ball with the glasses on. What will happen when the player first hits a ball with the glasses off?

She will believe that the ball is lower than it really is

Why do people who have lost all hearing in one ear have difficulty locating sounds?

Sound waves strike one ear sooner and more intensely than the other.

Psychologists are skeptical about ESP claims because

Studies claiming to demonstrate such abilities fail at replication

An integrated understanding of perception in terms of our sensory capacities, cultural contexts, and Gestalt principles is most clearly provided by

a biopsychosocial approach

During a hearing test, many sounds were presented at such a low level of intensity that Mr. Antall could hardly detect them. These sounds were below Mr. Antall's

absolute threshold

The minimum amount of stimulation a person needs to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time is called the

absolute threshold

During the months when there is a large amount of pollen in the air, your hay fever severely affects your sense of smell. At the same time your food all seems to taste the same. This illustrates the importance of

accomodation

According to the gate-control theory, a back massage would most likely reduce your physical aches and pains by causing

activation of nerve fibers in your spinal cord.

Our sense of taste originally was thought to involve only the following four sensations

bitter,sweet,sour,salty

Certain stroke victims report seeing nothing when shown a series of sticks, yet they are able to correctly report whether the sticks are vertical or horizontal. This best illustrates

blindsight

Current research suggests that

both the trichromatic and opponent-process theories are valid in explaining color vision

Researchers found that 40 percent of people focused on repeating a list of challenging words failed to notice a change in the person speaking. This best illustrates

change deafness

Taste and smell are both what kind of senses?

chemical

Research participants picked one of two photographed faces as more attractive. When researchers cleverly switched the photos, participants readily explained why they preferred the face they had actually rejected. Their behavior illustrated

choice blindness

When visually deprived infant monkeys were first allowed to see, they could not visually distinguish

circles from squares

Jamal claims that his special psychic powers enable him to perceive exactly where the body of a recent murder victim is secretly buried. Jamal is claiming to possess the power of

clairvoyance

While singing to you on your birthday, your friends leave off the very last word of the song, "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear David, Happy birthday to...." Your tendency to mentally fill in the last word best reflects which of the following Gestalt principles of organization?

closure

The coiled, fluid-filled tube in which sound waves trigger nerve impulses is called the

cochlea

The ability to pay attention to only one voice at a time is called

cocktail party effect

As your teacher dims the lights to show a movie clip, you still perceive your friend's shirt as red. Which of the following best explains this phenomenon?

color constancy

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

compressed sound

The rupture of the eardrum can lead to

conduction hearing loss

The organization of two-dimensional retinal images into three-dimensional perceptions is called

depth perception

Which of the following is the correct sequence of structures that sound waves pass through on the way to the auditory nerve?

eardrum, hammer, anvil, stirrup, cochlea

A cochlear implant converts sounds into

electrical signals

In an experiment, participants who wore a doctor's white lab coat made fewer errors on a test of perception that participants who wore regular clothes. This finding concurs with the belief that our bodies can alter our cognitive preferences and judgements, which is known as

embodied cognition

On a cloudy day, a yellow flower is likely to appear ________ it does on a bright sunny day

equally as yellow as

Clairvoyance refers to the

extrasensory perception of events that occur at places remote to the perceiver

When looking at the hands of a clock showing 8 o'clock, certain brain cells in the visual cortex are more responsive than when the hands show 10 o'clock. This is most indicative of

feature detection

In 1972, a British newspaper published pictures of a "Loch Ness Monster." Many people readily perceived photographs of a floating tree trunk as the partially submerged monster. This illustrates the powerful influence of

feature detectors

The cocktail party effect is your ability to selectively attend to one voice among many. This ability also illustrates the Gestalt principle of

figure and ground

Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, Jerry kept looking at his watch to see the time. As a result, he failed to see that a store employee was being robbed by a person just in front of him. Jerry most clearly suffered

inattentional blindness

Light-wave amplitude determines the

intensity of colors

Dilation and constriction of the pupil are controlled by the

iris

Alex tickles his brother by stroking adjacent ________ spots on his skin.

kinesthesis

The philosopher John Locke believed that people

learn to perceive the world through experience.

Jody's horse looks just as black in the brilliant sunlight as it does in the dim light of the stable. This illustrates what is known as

lightness constansy

Cocking your head would be most useful for detecting the ______ of a sound.

location

Psychologists are skeptical about the existence of ESP because

many apparent demonstrations of ESP have been shown to be staged illusions

A perceptual set is a

mental predisposition that influences what we perceive

Joe Wilson, age 55, has been told by experts that a hearing aid would restore his lost sense of hearing. It is likely that Joe's hearing loss involves problems within the

middle ear

Sound wave vibrations are transmitted by three tiny bones located in the

middle ear

The constant quivering movements of our eyes enable us to

minimize sensory adaptation

Depth perception that uses information transmitted to only one eye depends on

monocular cues

Knowing about the effects of the perceived distance of objects on their perceived size helps us to understand

moon illusion

Rods are

more light-sensitive and less color-sensitive than cones.

The steadily increasing size of the retinal image of an approaching object is especially important for perceiving the object's

motion

If you burn your finger, ________ transmit pain-triggering signals to your central nervous system

nociceptors

Hearing a sequence of sounds of different pitches is to ________ as recognizing the sound sequence as a familiar melody is to ________.

sensation; perception

A cochlear implant would be most helpful for those who suffer

sensorineural hearing loss.

After listening to your high-volume car stereo for 15 minutes, you fail to realize how loudly the music is blasting. This best illustrates

sensory adaptation

Diminished sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus is known as

sensory adaptation

Phantom limb sensations best illustrate that pain can be experienced in the absence of

sensory input

The green-colored ham and eggs had such a strange appearance that they tasted terrible to Sam. This illustrates the importance of

sensory interaction

With her eyes closed and her nose plugged, Chandra was unable to taste the difference between an onion and a pear. Her experience best illustrates the importance of

sensory interaction

Bottom-up processing involves analysis that begins with the

sensory receptors

Although textbooks frequently cast a trapezoidal image on the retina, students typically perceive the books as rectangular objects. This illustrates the importance of

shape constancy

An exhausted forest ranger may notice the faintest scent of a forest fire, whereas much stronger but less important odors fail to catch her attention. This fact would be of greatest relevance to

signal detection theory

When you are expecting an incoming text message, you are much more likely to notice it the second it arrives. This best illustrates

signal detection theory

Which theory emphasizes that personal expectations and motivations influence the level of absolute thresholds?

signal detection theory

Olfactory receptor cells are essential for our sense of

smell