Perception Final Exam

Perception differs from the world by:

-diminishing irrelevant or redundant information -ignoring a large amount of potential sensory information -both a and b

In order to apply Abney's Law we need to know:

-the sensitivity of the visual system as a function of wavelength -the intensity of the light at a given wavelength -the wavelengths present in the stimulus --all of the above

Infant acuity approximates adult acuity after ____ month(s).

12

The lateral geniculate nucleus consists of:

4 parvocellular layers and 2 magnocellular layers

Most of the ________ cones are found in the ___________ of the retina.

5 million; fovea

Center surround receptive fields have been used to help explain which of these illusions?

Mach bands

Which of these statements is true about P cells in the LGN?

They analyze spatial information at a finer level of detail than M cells

Which statement about retinal ganglion cells is FALSE?

They initiate action potentials only when stimulated.

Bloch's Law states:

a constant product of light intensity and time will be equally detectable

The crystalline lens is primarily responsible for:

accommodation

Within a layer of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), adjacent cells receive information about ______ regions of the retina. Between layers of the LGN, cells aligned with each other receive information about _________ regions of the retina.

adjacent; the same

Which of these is NOT a retinal cell type?

basket

Action potentials are:

brief electrical discharges carried by nerve fibers

The primary importance of sinusoidal gratings in vision research is that:

by manipulating the properties of gratings it is possible to construct any visual pattern

The "blue-yellow" channel has been proposed to:

calculate the difference between the S cones and the sum of M and L cones

The anatomical locus where the optic nerves from the two eyes converge and are rearranged is the optic:

chiasm

The propensity of an object's color to be mostly unaffected by the spectrum of light falling on that object is called:

color constancy

Which of these is NOT a Gestalt principle of organization?

common ground

Two spectral colors that, when combined, result in the perception of white light are said to be:

complementary

Myopia can be corrected using what kind of lens?

concave

Hypercomplex cells differ from simple and complex cells in that they are also selective for:

contour length

Information about an object whose image falls on the nasal portion of the eye is sent to the ________ side of the brain.

contralateral

The cells of the lateral geniculate nucleus respond only to stimulation in the:

contralateral visual field

In humans the superior colliculus is involved in:

controlling eye movements

The anterior chamber of the eye is between the _______ and the _______.

cornea; iris

The fact that the representation of the foveal visual field in visual cortex is highly exaggerated compared to more eccentric regions of the visual fields is known as:

cortical magnification

A lesion in the magnocellular layers of the LGN of monkeys results in a deficit in:

flicker perception

Tears protect the surface of the eye by:

flushing away debris containing an antimicrobial agent -both a and c

The responses of neurons in cortical area V4:

frequently demonstrate color constancy

The purpose of active perception is to:

guide our sensory sampling based on our physical needs

Two objects that are isoluminant:

have the same physical intensity of light reflected off them

The significance of the cutoff frequency is that images of gratings above this frequency:

have zero contrast

The peak of the photopic contrast sensitivity function (CSF) has _______ sensitivity and is shifted towards ________ spatial frequencies relative to the scotopic CSF.

higher; higher

The aggregation of vertical stacks of cells that cover a complete range of stimulus orientations and ocular dominance is known as a:

hypercolumn

An eyeball that is too short for its optics is:

hyperopic

The vision-based task whereby we must select a particular object or specific person with precision is:

identification

The phenomenon of perception:

improves the chances for survival

With increasing eccentricity, the size of receptive fields tends to:

increase

Glaucoma is caused by:

increased intraocular pressure

We are able to measure the contrast sensitivity function of infants because:

infants prefer looking at complex scenes

Additive color mixture:

is routinely used in television technology

One of the chief findings of Newton's color mixture experiments was that:

it is possible to generate colors not present in the sun's spectrum

The process of selective adaptation demonstrates that:

it occurs after the input from both eyes is combined

The lesion technique for studying perception is advantageous because:

it suggests the anatomical locus of a perceptual function

Light is a good stimulus for a sensory system because:

it travels very quickly it travels in predictable paths it exists in abundance all of the above

The choroid serves to:

nourish the photoreceptors

The visual cortex is located in the _______ lobe of the brain.

occipital

The relative preference of a visual cortical cell for stimulation from a particular eye is called:

ocular dominance

The phenomenal/naturalistic approach to studying perception is limited because:

of its heavy reliance on verbal report

In the fovea you will find:

only M cones and L cones

Cortical cells differ from all LGN cells in that they are selective for:

orientation

We move our eyes because:

our retinas do not have uniform visual acuity

One limitation of the explanation of lightness constancy based on center-surround receptive fields in the retina is perceived lightness can be affected by:

perceived depth

Materialism is the philosophical perspective that:

perception depends only on the nervous system

A Necker cube helps to demonstrate that:

perceptions have qualities not present in the physical stimulus

The process by which light is converted into nerve cell activity is called:

phototransduction

Sensory transduction is the process by which:

physical energy is converted to biochemical energy

As a rule ________ animals have _______-placed eyes which _________ binocular overlap

predator; frontally; maximize

Which of these is NOT a difference between P and M ganglion cells?

presence in the fovea

The inability to recognize previously familiar faces is known as:

prosopagnosia

Newton distinguished composite light from pure light because he believed:

pure light could not be further decomposed

Blink suppression is demonstrated by the:

reduced ability to notice a change in the brightness of a light during a blink

Psychophysics is the scientific discipline that:

relates a sensory stimulus to a perceptual event

Information about objects to the left of the point of fixation fall on the _____ side of the retina and is sent to the ______ side of the brain.

right; right

A brand new sock and an often washed sock would differ mostly in:

saturation

Damage to localized regions of the visual cortex can result in ________ in the visual field.

scotomas

As light intensity drops to __________ levels, vision is dominated by _________ photoreceptors:

scotopic; rods

A bend in the dark adaptation curve indicates:

sensitivity is mediated by either the rods or the cones, depending on which is more sensitive at the time

Which of these is NOT a parameter of a sinusoidal grating?

slope

At a given retinal eccentricity, the size of P ganglion cell receptive fields tends to be:

smaller than M cell receptive fields

Contrast threshold defines the:

smallest contrast needed to detect a given spatial frequency

The ability to represent different spatial scales is important to the visual system because:

some problems cannot be solved using a single representation of scale

"Near" senses are distinguished from "far" senses because:

some senses require direct contact with the source of stimulation

Receptive fields are defined as the:

spatial range over which light has an influence on a cell's response

The approach whose proponents argue that perceptions are created by combining fundamental components is called the:

structuralist tradition

Seeing subjective contours in a Kaniza figure:

suggests that the brain is fabricating a more likely interpretation of the figure

The phenomenon in which the perceived lightness of objects of different wavelength depend on the time of day is called:

the Purkinje shift

Color is best described as a property of:

the mind

Müller's doctrine of specific nerve energies states that:

the nature of a sensation depends on which sensory fibers were stimulated

A stimulus is:

the physical energy that begins the perceptual process

Which of the following has NOT been used to support color opponency theory?

the presence of three cone types

Inverse optics is:

the process by which the visual system develops descriptions of objects from the pattern of light on the retina

The primary criticism of the experimental approach to studying perception is that:

the stimuli that are used are not the same as those for which the sensory systems evolved

The primary advantage of both PET and fMRI brain imaging is that:

they can relate human brain activity to performance in a perceptual task

The oblique muscles of the eye are responsible for which kinds of eye movements?

torsional

A plot showing the contrast of a grating after being imaged through a lens as a function of the spatial frequency of the grating is called the:

transfer function

The existence of metamers in color perception is exploited because:

two stimuli that are perceptually indistinguishable are likely being treated identically by the visual system

If the superior and lateral rectus muscles of the right eye were to contract at the same time, the eye would move:

up and to the right

Which of these is NOT a layer of the eye?

vitreous tunic

Studies in color categorization suggest that:

we can discriminate far more colors than we can categorize

Which of these is NOT a criticism of analytic introspection?

It doesn't adhere to the structuralist tradition.

Which of these statements is NOT true about the optic nerve?

It is myelinated inside the eye.

Which of these statements about the fovea is FALSE?

It is where the retinal ganglion cells axons exit the eye.

As the number of cone photoreceptor types ________ the number of color metamers ________.

decreases; increases

When the pupil contracts, the intensity of light on the retina ________ and the depth of field ________.

decreases; increases

With increasing receptor convergence you get _______ resolution and ________ sensitivity.

decreasing; increasing

Two objects that are metameric are physically ________ and perceptually ________.

different; indistinguishable

The parietal stream is synonymous with the:

dorsal stream

One of the most important effects of lateral inhibition is that it enables cells to:

emphasize light and dark boundaries

The LGN receives substantial input from visual cortex, which is an example of what kind of connection?

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