AP Psychology Test Questions Sensation and Perception
ATM machines are more complex than VCRs but are easier to operate thanks to the efforts of:
Human factors psychologists
Infant rats deprived of their mothers' grooming touch produce:
less growth hormone and have a lower metabolic rate
Relative luminance most clearly contributes to:
lightness constancy
After some practice, Carol was able to read books while holding them upside down. This best illustrates:
perceptual adaptation
Multiple ______ send combined messages to a bipolar cell, whereas a single _____ may link to a single bipolar cell.
rods, cones
Tinnitus is a phantom _____ sensation.
Auditory
Goggles that allow animals to see only diffuse, unpatterned light have inhibiting effects on perceptual development similar to the effects of:
Cataracts
By amplifying soft sound but not loud sounds, digital hearing aids produce:
Compressed Sound
Immanuel Kant and John Locke would have been most likely to disagree about the extent to which perception is influenced by:
Cultural Experience
Rules for organizing stimuli into coherent groups were first identified by:
Gestalt psychologists
The sensory experience of bending one's knees or raising one's arms exemplifies:
Kinesthesis
The Moon illusion refers to our tendency to perceive the Moon as unusually:
Large when it is near the horizon
Which philosopher would have predicted that an extended period of sensory deprivation would inhibit the development of one's perceptual capacities?
Locke
The hammer, anvil, and stirrup are three tiny bones that transmit vibrations to the:
Oval Window
The fact that we recognize objects as having a consistent form regardless of changing viewing angles illustrates:
Perceptual Constancy
People perceive an adult-child pair as looking more alike when told they are a parent and a child. This best illustrates the effect of:
Perceptual Set
The number of complete sound waves that strike one's eardrum in a given second determines the _____ of the sound.
Pitch
Physics are unable to make millions of dollars betting on horse races. This undermines their claims to possess the power of:
Precognition
The way in which you quickly group the individual letters in this test item into separate words best illustrates the principle of:
Proximity
The lights along the runway were shrouded in such a thick fog that the pilot of an incoming plane nearly overshot the runway. The pilot was most likely misled by the distance cue known as:
Relative Clarity
Drivers sometimes overestimate the difference between their own vehicle and pedestrians who are short because they rely on the distance cue known as:
Relative Size
Drivers detect traffic signals more slowly if they are also conversing on a cell phone. This best illustrates the impact of:
Selective Attention
Experiencing sudden pain is to _________ as recognizing that you are suffering a heart attack is to ________.
Sensation, Perception
A drink's strawberry odor enhances our perception of its sweetness. This best illustrates:
Sensory Interaction
Blind musicians are more likely than sighted ones to develop perfect pitch. This best illustrates:
Sensory compensation
The ability to accurately perceive distances most clearly underlies our capacity to:
Size Constancy
Monocular cue is to ____ as binocular cue is to ______.
Texture Gradient, Convergence
Once we have formed a wrong idea about reality, we have more difficulty seeing the truth. This best illustrates the impact of:
Top-down Processing
The fact that perceptions involve more than the sum of our sensations best illustrates teh importance of:
Top-down Processing
The size of the difference threshold is greater for heavier objects than for lighter ones. This best illustrates:
Weber's Law
A neutral facial expression may be perceived as sadder at a funeral than at a circus. This best illustrates the impact of:
a context effect
Visual information is processed by ganglion cells:
after it is processed by rods and cones
The opponent-process theory is most useful for explaining on of the characteristics of:
afterimages
Damage to the basilar membrane is most likely to affect one's:
audition
Receptor cells for the vestibular sense sends messages to the:
cerebellum
Selective attention is best illustrated by:
change blindness
Even when seen through sunglasses, grass appears equally as green as it does without glasses. This best illustrates:
color constancy
The phenomenon of blindsight best illustrates that visual information can be processed without:
conscious awareness
The central focal point in the retina where cones are heavily concentrated is known as the:
fovea
Pedro recognized that his son was closer to him than his daughter because his son partially obstructed his view of his daughter. Pedro's perception was most clearly influenced by a distance cue known as:
interposition
The ring of muscle tissue that controls the pupil's size s called the:
iris
Railroad tracks appear to converge in the distance. This provides a cue for depth perception known as:
linear perspective
Some stroke victims lose the capacity to perceive motion but retain the capacity to perceive shapes and colors. Others lose the capacity to perceive colors but retain the capacity to perceive movement and form. These peculiar visual disabilities best illustrate our normal capacity for:
parallel processing
After hearing that Bryce had served a prison sentence, Janet began to perceive his friendly behavior as insincere and manipulative. The best illustrates the impact of:
perceptual set
The volley principle is most relevant to understanding how we sense:
pitch
Damage to a region of the temporal lobe essential to recognizing faces results in a condition known as:
prosopagnosia
Jordan claims that with intense metal concentration, he can make objects float in mid-air. Jordan is claiming to possess the power of:
psychokinesis
The distance between our right and left eyes functions to provide us with a cue for depth perception known as:
retinal disparity
If you move your watchband up your wrist inch or so, you will feel it only for a few moments. This best illustrates:
sensory adaptation
The rubber-hand illusion best illustrates.
sensory interaction
Which of the following activities most clearly takes place in the rods and cones?:
sensory transduction
A door casts an increasingly trapezoidal image on our retinas as it opens, yet we still perceive it as rectangular. This illustrates:
shape constancy
The impact of boredom and fatigue on people's absolute thresholds is highlighted by:
signal detection theory
Which of the following is most notable for its short-term effects on thinking?
subliminal stimulation
If a visual image is first presented subliminally, the chance of a person later recognizing the same briefly presented image is improved. This best illustrates:
that information can be processed outside of conscious awareness
The specific perceptual processes that underlie the Moon illusion also contribute to:
the Ponzo illusion
Interpreting new sensory information within the framework of a past memory illustrates:
top-down processing
Our shifting perceptions of a Necker cube best illustrate the importance of:
top-down processing
Racial and ethnic stereotypes can sometimes bias our perceptions of others' behaviors. This best illustrates the impact of:
top-down processing
Perceiving the voice of a ventriloquist as originating from the mouth of a dummy best illustrates:
visual capture