psychology chapter 4
Perceiving purple is a result of receiving messages from two types of cells: those that perceive red and those that perceive blue.
trichromatic
There are three types of cone cells, one for each primary color.
trichromatic
The vibration of the ________ causes the ossicles to move.
tympanic membrane
Which taste is associated with monosodium glutamate?
umami
Which of the following is involved in maintaining balance and body posture?
vestibular system
At a football game, your friend from ten rows down yells at you to bring them some of your popcorn. At first you couldn't understand what they were asking, but once you saw their mouth, you could make out the request. This is consistent with the ________.
with the results of the sumby and pollack study on the audiovisual advantage
Color vision probably serves multiple adaptive purposes. One popular hypothesis suggests that seeing in color allowed our ancestors to differentiate ripened fruits and vegetables more easily.
Color is not a physical property of our environment. What function (if any) do you think color vision serves?
For this image, select the monocular cue that indicates that the part of the pier going from left to right in the center of the picture is farther away than the part that is in the lower part of the picture. Note that for this picture, multiple cues may apply, but only one correct answer will be presented.
Linear perspective
________ fire in response to any potential tissue-damaging stimuli.
Nociceptors*
Why do you think humans are especially sensitive to sounds with frequencies that fall in the middle portion of the audible range?
Once again, one could make an evolutionary argument here. Given that the human voice falls in this middle range and the importance of communication among humans, one could argue that it is quite adaptive to have an audible range that centers on this particular type of stimulus.
Why do you think other species have such different ranges of sensitivity for both visual and auditory stimuli compared to humans?
Other species have evolved to best suit their particular environmental niches. For example, the honeybee relies on flowering plants for survival. Seeing in the ultraviolet light might prove especially helpful when locating flowers. Once a flower is found, the ultraviolet rays point to the center of the flower where the pollen and nectar are contained. Similar arguments could be made for infrared detection in snakes as well as for the differences in audible ranges of the species described in this section.
Given what you've read about sound localization, from an evolutionary perspective, how does sound localization facilitate survival?
Sound localization would have allowed early humans to locate prey and protect themselves from predators.
While you may not notice the change in the music's volume while at a party, you would definitely notice the change if you were trying to study in a quiet library. This supports the idea that the difference threshold is a constant fraction of the original stimulus, also known as ________.
Weber's Law*
Which of the following best describes how you perceive a 16,000 Hz tone?
a specific section of the basilar membrane will fire maximally to signal the pitch of the tone
________ refers to the minimum amount of stimulus energy required to be detected 50% of the time.
absolute threshold
Cues that require two ears are referred to as ________ cues.
binaural
________ depth cues require the use of both eyes.
binocular
Using the different images that each eye receives in order to perceive depth is called using ________ cues.
binocular*
Because taste and smell have sensory receptors that respond to molecules, they are considered ________.
chemical senses*
If Tyson, a track athlete, likes to apply a menthol rub to his legs after a hard workout. What skin receptors are activated by the cream?
chemoreceptors
Our tendency to perceive things as complete objects rather than as a series of parts is known as the principle of ________.
closure
Sierra turns off her car right before the last line of chorus of a popular song. Moments later while inside the store, she finds herself singing the last line. This exemplifies the gestalt principle of ________.
closure*
This arrow is pointing to which part of the ear? (purple)
cochlea
Hearing loss resulting from damage to the bones of the middle ear is called ________ hearing loss.
conductive
Hearing aids might be effective for treating ________.
conductive hearing loss
According to the trichromatic theory of color vision, ________ in the retina are responsive to red, green, and blue.
cones*
If you live in a city with lots of buildings, walls, and straight lines, you will probably perceive the lines in the Müller-Lyer illusion as being
different lengths
Light energy with very low amplitude would be perceived as ________.
dim
Psychologists use illusions to
explore what people experience and what parts of the brain are involved in perception
Research indicates that sensorineural hearing loss is usually caused by ________.
exposure to loud noise
The main point of focus in a visual display is known as the ________.
figure
Pitch is determined by the ________ of sound waves.
frequency
Temporal theory cannot be used to account for why we hear higher pitched sounds because ________.
individual neurons cannot fire fast enough
For this image, select the monocular cue that best indicates that the duck is behind the bars. Note that for this picture, multiple cues may apply, but only one correct answer will be presented.
interposition
What is the function of the part of the eye identified by the arrow? Blue greenish oval connected to a long shaft (lens)
it focuses light onto the retina*
If you are conversing in a noisy environment,
it is helpful to watch the mouth of the person speaking to it
For this image, select the monocular cue that lets you know that the red cube is closer than the blue one. Note that for this picture, multiple cues may apply, but only one correct answer will be presented.
light and shadow
Cocking your head would be most useful for detecting the ________ of a sound.
location
What skin receptors are activated while holding hands?
mechanoreceptors
When Brad got into a minor car accident, he hopped right out of the car to assess the damage. He didn't notice until later that night that he had a pretty serious cut on his leg. The fact that he didn't notice is consistent with the ________.
motivation-decision model
Pain that results from damage to neurons of the peripheral or central nervous system is called ________.
neuropathic pain*
Afterimages caused by staring at a blue image then looking away makes you perceive yellow.
opponent process
Neurons in the retina are excited by one color but inhibited by another color.
opponent process
________ occurs when sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced.
perception
Which of the following is most likely if a sound source is to your left?
the sound will be slightly louder at the left ear than the right ear
Which sense relies on the organs of the inner ear to help maintain balance and body posture?
the vestibular sense
Perception is ________.
the way sensory information is organized, interpreted, and expereinced
What skin receptors are activated most when you grab a hot cup of coffee?
thermoreceptors
When the brain receives nociceptive signals from the body, ________.
they can be blocked by the brain's descending pain modulatory system
The quality of a sound that is affected by frequency, amplitude, and timing of the sound wave is known as ________.
timbre
A sound's purity is called its ________.
timbre*
Chemical messages often sent between two members of a species to communicate something about reproductive status are called ________.
pheromones
Which correctly describes the process of hearing?
pinna - auditory canal - tympanic membrane - ossicles -cochlea - auditory nerve
Amanda has a severe hearing loss and recently received a cochlear implant. The implant has several electrodes that are surgically placed into her inner ear. The electrodes differ slightly in length so that each electrode stimulates a different area in the cochlea. Electrode #1 stimulates a certain area when a sound at 5000Hz is presented. Electrode #2 stimulates a different area when a sound at 6000Hz is presented. Electrode #3 stimulates yet another spot when a sound at 7000Hz is presented, etc. This manner of encoding pitch is most like which strategy used by listeners with normal hearing?
place theory
Which theory holds that the pitch we hear is determined by the particular location on the cochlea where the hair cells vibrate the most?
place theory
Which illusion plays on converging lines and convinces your brain that a more distant line in an image must be longer than a line that appears close?
ponzo illusion
This activity will introduce you to some common monocular cues. Take a guess as to which monocular cue enables you to interpret depth in the following images. For this image, select the monocular cue that lets you know that the animal is closer than the mountain. Note that for this picture, multiple cues may apply, but only one correct answer will be presented.
position
According to the principle of ________, objects that occur close to one another tend to be grouped together.
proximity
If you were to stare at a green dot for a relatively long period of time and then shift your gaze to a blank white screen, you would see a ________ negative afterimage.
red
For this image, select the monocular cue that lets you know that the man is closer than the car. Note that for this picture, multiple cues may apply, but only one correct answer will be presented.
relative size
In the McGurk illusion, what you ________ overrides what you ________.
see ; hear
Hearing aids are ineffective in treating ________, which is caused by damage to the hair cells in the cochlea that impairs the transmission of signals about sound to the brain.
sensorineural hearing loss
Decreased sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus is known as ________.
sensory adaptation
When surrounded by larger circles, a center circle will appear ________ than if surrounded by smaller circles.
smaller*
Congenital deafness is ________.
something someone is born with*
________ does not explain how we hear high frequencies.
temporal theories
When you hear a tone of 200 Hz, the hair cells in the cochlea begin vibrating 200 times per second. This is the idea behind the ________.
temporal theory of hearing
Austin has never met one of his work colleagues, having only interacted online or on the phone. He's still able to pick out his coworker at a conference in a room full of people because of ________.
the cross-modal relationship between auditory speech and visual information*
What is wavelength?
the distance from one wave peak to the next*
Martha is working on her swing at softball practice and is focusing on keeping her elbow out high and her arm turned with her shoulders back. This awareness of her own movement through space is called ________.
-
Did you read the second "the" in the sentence in the image? You probably didn't, because your brain doesn't expect to have "the" a second time and skips over it so that the sentence works in the context of what you are familiar with. This is an example of
top down processing
________ describes the conversion of sensory stimulus energy into neural impulses that allow for perception.
transduction
________ involves the conversion of sensory stimulus energy into neural impulses.
transduction
At a football game, your friend from ten rows down yells at you to bring them some of your popcorn. At first you couldn't understand what they were asking, but once you saw their mouth, you could make out the request. This is consistent with the ________.
with the results of the the Sumby and Pollack study on the audiovisual advantage*
The audible range for humans is ________.
20-20,000 Hz
How do we experience the sensation of taste when we, for example, drink a glass of sour lemonade?
As we drink the lemonade, its chemicals, which are the stimuli for taste, break down into molecules that mix with saliva and stimulate the taste buds. As the receptors for taste, the taste buds produce nerve impulses that eventually reach areas in the brain's parietal lobe. The brain then transforms these nerve impulses into sensations of taste.
What is the function of the part of the eye identified by the arrow?(Retinas)
It contains photoreceptor cells
If you heard someone say that they would do anything not to feel the pain associated with significant injury, how would you respond given what you've just read?
Pain serves important functions that are critical to our survival. As noxious as pain stimuli may be, the experiences of individuals who suffer from congenital insensitivity to pain makes the consequences of a lack of pain all too apparent.
How can temporal and place theories both be used to explain our ability to perceive the pitch of sound waves with frequencies up to 4000 Hz?
Pitch of sounds below this threshold could be encoded by the combination of the place and firing rate of stimulated hair cells. So, in general, hair cells located near the tip of the basilar membrane would signal that we're dealing with a lower-pitched sound. However, differences in firing rates of hair cells within this location could allow for fine discrimination between low-, medium-, and high-pitch sounds within the larger low-pitch context.
Do you think women experience pain differently than men? Why do you think this is?
Research has shown that women and men do differ in their experience of and tolerance for pain: Women tend to handle pain better than men. Perhaps this is due to women's labor and childbirth experience. Men tend to be stoic about their pain and do not seek help. Research also shows that gender differences in pain tolerance can vary across cultures.
Compare the two theories of color perception. Are they completely different?
The trichromatic theory of color vision and the opponent-process theory are not mutually exclusive. Research has shown they apply to different levels of the nervous system. For visual processing on the retina, trichromatic theory applies: the cones are responsive to three different wavelengths that represent red, blue, and green. But once the signal moves past the retina on its way to the brain, the cells respond in a way consistent with opponent-process theory.
Please generate a novel example of how just noticeable difference can change as a function of stimulus intensity.
There are many potential examples. One example involves the detection of weight differences. If two people are holding standard envelopes and one contains a quarter while the other is empty, the difference in weight between the two is easy to detect. However, if those envelopes are placed inside two textbooks of equal weight, the ability to discriminate which is heavier is much more difficult.
According to the law of ________, we are more likely to perceive smoothly flowing lines rather than choppy or jagged lines.
good continuation
Jessica Witt's study tested ________.
how the perception of the size of a golf hole affecting golfing performance*
Failure to notice something that is completely visible because of a lack of attention is called ________.
inattention blindness
Participants in Daniel Simons' and Christopher Chabris' study were asked to watch people pass a basketball. Because they were focused on doing so, the didn't see a gorilla walk across the screen. This phenomenon is called ________.
inattention blindness*