Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception

Which of these effects has been demonstrated for subliminal perception?

People slightly imitate facial expressions that they saw subliminally

What is meant by "the moon illusion"?

Perceiving the moon as larger when it is near the horizon

Why is it difficult to perceive color in faint light?

Perception in faint light depends on the rods

Research on human perception leads to this conclusion?

Perception is an inference we make about what the objects really are

On a dark night, why do you see a faint star better if you focus slightly to the side of it?

Perception of faint light is better outside the fovea

Which aspect of hearing relates most closely to the wavelength of a sound?

Pitch

What type of sensation does the vestibular sense control?

Position of the head

Which of these does the vestibular system detect?

Position of your head

Exciting a particular bipolar cell in the retina produces a green sensation. According to the opponent-process theory, what sensation comes from inhibiting that cell?

Red

Why is color vision poor or absent toward the periphery of the retina?

The periphery has few cones

Why is color vision so poor in your extreme peripheral vision?

The periphery of the retina consists almost entirely of rods

When you hear a 4000 Hz tone, hair cells at one point on the basilar membrane become active. What happens when they double their rate of activity

The pitch is the same, but it is louder

Which type of cone, if any, is the least numerous in the retina?

The short-wavelength ("blue") cones are the least numerous

The cutaneous senses detect stimuli in what part of the body?

The skin

What do you infer if you hear a steady high-pitch sound with few reverberations (echoes)?

The sound source is probably nearby

By what means do we perceive the pitch of a high-frequency sound (such as 4000 Hz)?

The sound wave excites a particular location on the basilar membrane

How do we hear the difference between two high-pitched sounds (such as 8000 Hz and 9000 Hz)?

The sounds produce activity in different parts of the basilar membrane

What is a phantom limb?

A sensation as if an amputated limb were still present

In what way do odors affect women's romantic responses to a man?

A woman becomes less interested if the man smells similar to her relatives

Which of the following is NOT one of the Gestalt principles of perception?

Adaptation

How do we know that itch differs from pain?

After anesthesia, itch sensations return before pain

Which of these is evidence favoring the opponent-process theory of color vision?

After staring at a bright-colored image, we see a negative afterimage

The opponent-process theory of color vision explains which of these observations?

After you stare at a bright color for a minute, you look away and see a different color

Which animal species, if any, can see farther than others?

All animals with vision can see equally far

Americans like wintergreen smell more than the British do. Why?

Americans associate wintergreen with candy, and the British don't

How can we explain many optical illusions?

An object might appear to be closer or farther than it really is

Brightness contrast is responsible for which of these observations?

An object seems brighter if it is next to something dark

The moon appears larger at the horizon than when straight above because of what?

An optical illusion unrelated to any physical distortion

Which of these is an example of motion parallax?

As you travel, nearby objects pass by faster than distant objects do

How can psychologists determine what the world looks like to a red-green color-blind person?

Ask someone who is red-green color-blind in one eye to describe what he or she sees

From what point in the retina does the optic nerve exit?

At the fovea

What makes the blind spot of the retina blind?

Axons exit from the retina at that point

How do we perceive the pitch of a low-frequency sound, such as 30 Hz?

Each hair cell produces an impulse for each sound wave

By what means do we perceive the pitch of an intermediate-frequency sound (such as 1000 Hz)?

Each sound wave excites a group, or volley, of hair cells

Pain stimulates a brain area responsible for sensation, and another responsible for what?

Emotion

How do people acquire their emotional responses to smells?

Emotional responses to smells are almost entirely learned

Which of these is responsible for vision?

Energy goes out of your eyes to the object

Some people believe that subliminal "evil" messages recorded backward on rock music produce dangerous effects on listeners' behavior. What have psychological researchers concluded?

Even if there were backward messages, they would have no effect on behavior

In an experiment measuring detection of weak stimuli, you would like to increase the number of "hits." However, if you shift your criterion to increase the number of hits, you probably also increase what?

False alarms

You stare at narrow black-and-white lines for a minute and then look at wider lines. The second set of lines appears even wider than usual. What did staring at the first set of lines cause?

Fatigue of feature detectors

Hubel and Wiesel's research on the visual cortex provided evidence for what?

Feature detectors

Which of the following helps explain the waterfall illusion?

Feature detectors

One reversible figure can be seen either as a vase or as two profiles looking toward each other. Which Gestalt principle does this observation illustrate?

Figure and ground

To see something in detail, what should you do?

Focus the object onto the fovea

In old age, the lens becomes more rigid. What is the effect on vision?

Focusing on nearby objects becomes more difficult

It difficult to tell whether a sound source is directly in front of you or behind. Why?

From either location, both ears respond equally

The tendency to interpret drawings as simple and symmetrical represents which Gestalt principle?

Good figure

When certain neurons increase their firing rate, you see red. According to the opponent-process theory of color vision, what do you see when they inhibit their firing?

Green

Imagine Uncle Charlie who wears hearing aids. Suddenly the battery for the hearing aid in the left ear fails. What will be the effect on hearing?

He will localize sounds as coming from the right side

Suppose Jennifer reports hearing extremely faint sounds. According to signal-detection theory, what else do we need to know before evaluating her sensitivity to sounds?

How often does she claim to hear something when no sound is present?

What does Gestalt psychology emphasize?

How we perceive a complex pattern as a whole

How many types of olfactory receptors do people have?

Hundreds

Acetaminophen, which relieves pain, also reduces which of the following?

Hurt feelings

Which of the following supports the opponent process theory of color vision?

If you stare at a blue object and look away, you see yellow

Why do you see faint light better in the periphery of your vision than in the center?

In the periphery, more receptors converge their input onto the next cells

Which type of color vision deficiency is most common?

Inability to distinguish red from green

How do most heterosexual women react to the smell of a sweaty man?

Increased secretion of stress hormones

The smell of a sweaty person of the opposite sex has what effect on heterosexual people?

Increased sexual arousal for men, but not for women

When clouds move across the moonlit sky, the moon appears to move. This is an example of what?

Induced movement​

If you rub capsaicin (from jalapeño peppers) onto your sore muscles, what happens?

​A temporary burning sensation followed by decreased pain sensitivity

How often, if at all, can someone detect a stimulus that is slightly weaker than the absolute sensory threshold?

​Almost half the time

In adult humans, where are most of the taste buds?

​Along the edge of the tongue

What is a "top-down" approach to visual perception?

​Applying expectations to guide interpretation of vision

What is present in the blind spot of the retina?

​Axons and blood vessels

If you watch words flash briefly and faintly, which of these are you least likely to identify correctly?

​BITCH

What does the retinex theory of color vision emphasize?

​Changes in an apparent color based on the colors of surrounding objects

What might lead you to think you see a huge UFO traveling extremely fast?

You thought it was far away, when really it was nearby

A neuron in the visual cortex responds only when light of a particular shape (such as a line) strikes the retina. What is that neuron said to be?

A feature detector​

What is meant by a "feature detector" in the visual system?

A neuron that responds to a particular visual pattern

Which of these is an example of "color constancy"?

A banana still looks yellow in a room illuminated with green light

What is meant by subliminal perception?

A behavioral influence based on something you didn't perceive consciously

A jury's verdict risks either convicting an innocent person or freeing a guilty person. In the terminology of signal-detection theory, convicting an innocent person is which of the following?

A false alarm

What is a consequence of the properties of bitter receptors?

Because we have many types of bitter receptor, we do not taste low bitter concentrations

In which way is emotional pain (such as feeling rejected) similar to physical pain?

Both activate many of the same brain areas

According to the trichromatic theory, what is the difference between bright orange and dim orange?

Bright orange excites the same receptors, but more strongly

What evidence most directly supports the idea of feature detectors?

Certain neurons respond mainly to the presence of certain shapes

Which of the following does the retinex theory explain?

Changing the surrounding color changes the apparent color of an object

Which of these might help relieve pain in your mouth?

Chew a jalapeño pepper

Which of the following experiences apparently caused some people to develop synesthesia?

Childhood play with colored refrigerator magnets

What kind of people can hear higher frequencies of sound than others can?

Children hear higher frequencies than anyone older can

What is the snail-shaped structure that contains the receptors for hearing?

Cochlea

Which of the following contains the hair receptors responsible for hearing?

Cochlea

If you hear someone talking, but buzzing sounds interrupt part of the speech, you fill in the gaps and "hear" the words that you know must have been there. This illustrates what Gestalt principles?

Continuation and closure

You might know something is close to you because you have to pull your eyes toward the center to focus on it. What do we call this cue to distance?

Convergence​

What type of question does a feature detector in the visual system answer?

Does this part of the retina see a straight vertical line

Which of these is a practical use of capsaicin, the chemical that makes jalapeños hot?

It can relieve aching muscles

Why is color vision deficiency more common in men than in women?

It depends on a recessive gene on the X chromosome

What is true for vision in the periphery of the retina?

It has high sensitivity to faint light

According to gate theory, distraction relieves pain by doing what?

It inhibits transmission of messages in the spinal cord

What was the theoretical significance in the discovery of color vision deficiency?

It showed that color is in the brain, not in the light

How does itch differ from pain?

Itch relies on different receptors

What structure changes its shape to focus our vision on objects at various distances?

Lens

What happens to enable you to see something?

Light bouncing off the object strikes your eyes.

Which of the following is necessary for vision?

Light comes into your eyes

When you see something, what happens?

Light goes into your eye

An older person with hearing problems would probably hear a voice best under which condition?

Listening to the spouse while watching his/her face

Which aspect of hearing relates most closely to the amplitude of a sound?

Loudness

How do our taste receptors detect MSG (monosodium glutamate)?

MSG stimulates its own receptors

How does vision differ among animal species, if at all

Many birds and insects see ultraviolet radiation that we do not see.

Of the following, which is the biggest contributor to optical illusions?

Misestimates of depth

In addition to sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, what else do our taste receptors detect?

Monosodium glutamate

Imagine someone reporting whether he does or does not see a faint light that appears on some trials and not others. If you offer a reward for every time he correctly reports its presence, and no penalty for errors, what will be the result?

More hits and more false alarms

Scientists estimate that a person could distinguish among how many odors?

More than a trillion

Which aspect of his vision did Clyde Tombaugh use to discover the dwarf planet Pluto?

Motion perception

Damage to the hair cells in the cochlea produces which of these?

Nerve deafness

A feature detector in the visual system is a type of what?

Neuron

What causes a phantom limb sensation?

Neurons form altered connections in the cerebral cortex

Is it true that cats can see in complete darkness? If so, how?

No, vision in complete darkness is impossible

Many optical illusions result from which of these?

Our tendency to interpret drawings as if they were three-dimensional

What makes the electromagnetic radiation from 400 nm to 700 nm visible?

Our visual receptors are adapted to respond to those wavelengths

Intense emotional distress activates some of the same brain areas as what does?

Pain

How does itch relate to pain?

Pain suppresses itch

Some have claimed that messages recorded backward on rock music are perverting the minds of American youth. Which of these is the best supported evidence against that claim?

People do not understand or respond to backward messages

Why do we notice weak sweet or salty tastes more easily than weak bitter tastes?

People have many types of bitter receptors, and not many of any one type

Which of these explains many optical illusions?

People misjudge distances and therefore misjudge sizes

People heard subliminal audiotapes that contained messages different from what they were told to expect. For example, tapes about memory or self-esteem might be mislabeled as the opposite. What is the usual outcome of such studies?

People report improvement in whatever they thought the tapes contained

Certain medical tests are controversial because they correctly report the presence of a disease most of the time, but also falsely report it in many healthy people. This problem is an example of what?

Signal-detection theory

How does the anatomy of vision vary among people, if at all?

Some people have far more cones than rods

What evidence shows that synesthesia is real, not pretended?

Some people with synesthesia can find a 2 among many 5s faster than average

Women tend to decrease their sexual arousal toward which type of man?

Someone who smells similar to her relatives

Which of these would cause you to experience negative afterimages?

Stare at a bright blue object for a minute and then look at a white surface

Although motion pictures are actually a rapid series of still photos, we perceive movement. This is an example of what?

Stroboscopic movement

Which condition might cause someone to insist that some melody smells like a rose?

Synesthesia

What is responsible for nearly all cases of color vision deficiency?

The absence of one type of cone

The retinex theory of color vision tries to explain which of these observations?

The apparent color of an object depends on the color of nearby objects

Which of the following observations supports the retinex theory of color vision?

The apparent color of an object depends on the surrounding objects

How does the opponent-process theory explain color vision?

The brain has a red-versus-green system and a yellow-versus-blue system

How does the trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz theory) explain color vision?

The brain responds to the ratio of firing among three types of cones

Which part of the retina, if any, has the greatest proportion of cones, relative to rods?

The fovea

Why is vision most detailed in the fovea?

The fovea has the greatest receptor density and most numerous connections to the brain

Why do you have better color vision in the fovea than in the periphery of the retina?

The fovea has the highest density of cones

You form a negative afterimage of an object, and now you try to focus on a different part of the object. Why does the image move?

The image is on your eyes themselves

Many older people have hearing problems despite good hearing aids. What is a common reason?

The language areas of the brain deteriorated after inadequate input

How do we focus on objects at different distances?

The lens changes its thickness

Why do older people have difficulty focusing on nearby objects?

The lens is more rigid

According to the trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) theory, what causes perception of green?

The medium-wavelength cones are more active than the other ones

A single frame in a movie gives the subliminal message "EAT POPCORN." What is the effect, if any?

The message has no measurable effect

Why does the human retina have a blind spot?

The optic nerve exits from the retina at that point

Acc\cording to the trichromatic theory, how do we distinguish red from orange?

The two colors produce different ratios of responses by types of cones

It is easier to read while shaking your head than while shaking the page. Why?

The vestibular sense moves your eyes to compensate for head movements

What is the slogan of Gestalt psychology?

The whole is different from the sum of its parts

Which of these is the slogan of Gestalt psychology?

The whole is different from the sum of its parts

Compared to the cones, which of these is more true of the rods?

They are more abundant toward the periphery of the retina

Which of the following is true for the rods of the retina?

They are more abundant toward the periphery of the retina

Which of the following is true of people with conduction deafness?

They can hear their own voice better than anything else

The arrangement of receptors in the retina explains which of the following about hawks and owls?

They can see objects below them better than objects above

Which of the following is true about animals with good color vision, such as most birds?

They have many cones in their retina

Why do some people have stronger taste experiences than others do?

They have more taste buds

Many older people have hearing problems despite good hearing aids. What is one reason?

They have trouble filtering out the irrelevant sounds

Some people have three times as many retina-to-brain connections as others do. What is the consequence for their vision if any?

They more precisely detect faint lights and tiny movements

After you stare at a pattern of narrow black lines for a minute, you now stare at slightly wider lines. How will your perception of those lines differ from your usual perception?

They will appear to be wider than usual

Suppose someone's retina contains only rods, no cones. What should we expect to find?

This person has no perception of color

According to the trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz theory) of color vision, we perceive color by what means?

Three types of cones produce different ratios of response

The trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) theory emphasizes which of these points?

Three types of cones react differently depending on the wavelength of light

Why is it difficult to tickle yourself?

Tickle requires surprise

Regardless of what they are playing, we can tell the difference between a string instrument and a woodwind, based on what?

Timbre

Where do the rods and cones send their messages (directly)?

To other cells within the retina

Which of the following would stimulate or increase a phantom hand sensation?

Touch the person's face

How do you feel the position and acceleration of the head?

Vestibular system

When we use retinal disparity to perceive depth, what do we compare?

Views seen by the left and right eyes

How does vision in the periphery differ from vision in the fovea?

Vision in the periphery is more likely to be color-blind

Your vision adapts to faint light through what mechanism?

Visual receptors build more of the molecules that respond to light

Red, yellow, and other colors differ physically in which regard?

Wavelength

Which of these is evidence favoring the retinex theory of color vision?

We can still recognize all colors even if the lighting is green

According to the retinex theory of color vision, how do we perceive color?

We compare an object to other objects in the scene

What is one reason why the moon appears larger at the horizon?

We compare the moon at the horizon to other objects we see there

How do we localize the source of a sound?

We compare the responses of the left and right ears

Why does all light have a wavelength between about 400 and 700 nm?

We define light as the wavelengths that stimulate our receptors

Many optical illusions result from which of these? 2.0

We often interpret two-dimensional drawings as if they had depth

Gestalt psychology emphasizes which of the following?

We perceive a pattern as a whole, not just as the sum of its parts

According to the trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) theory, when do we perceive white?

We see white when all types of cones are equally active

Which of these impairs the functioning of the vestibular system?

Weightlessness

Which of these explains many optical illusions?

When we misestimate distances, we also misestimate sizes

Which of the following varies most strongly from one person to another?

Which smells they like or dislike

Can people track an odor trail, as dogs do?

Yes, if they crawl on their hands and knees

Do smell experiences differ significantly from one person to another? Why or why not?

Yes, people differ in their smell experiences because of genetic differences in receptors

How do you estimate how far you are from a sound source?

You attend to reverberations (echoes)

Which of these, if any, results from subliminally viewing a face with an emotional expression?

You change your evaluation of that same face with a neutral expression

Imagine you are staring at the center of a page with one eye, and an X is elsewhere on the page. You move the page toward your eye and away, and at one location the X seems to disappear. Why?

You have a blind spot in your retina

If you move farther from a paper with many tiny dots, the blue dots start to look black, although you can still see the tiny red and green dots. Why?

You have fewer short-wavelength cones than the other types

After you have thoroughly adapted to extremely dim light, which of these occurs?

You see best in the periphery of your retina

What is the blind spot of the retina?

it is the point where the optic nerve exits the retina

Which of these is an example of synesthesia?

someone says that B-flat tastes like a tomato

A magician has two people concealed in a long wooden box. One person's head and arms stick out of the front, and the other's legs stick out of the back. When the magician saws down the center, it appears the magician is sawing someone in half. This trick is based on which Gestalt principle?

​Closure

The fovea is specialized for perception of which aspects of vision?

​Color and detail

The retinex theory of color vision attempts to explain which of these?

​Color constancy

Suppose someone claims that color can be explained by the physics of light. What evidence argues against that claim?

​Color vision deficiency

The rods in the retina contribute most strongly to which of these?

​Detection of faint light

What is the usual consequence, if any, of having more taste buds than average?

​Dislike for strong-flavored or highly spiced foods

Morphine stimulates the same brain synapses as which of these transmitters?

​Endorphin

How many people have a blind spot in their eye?

​Everyone

Compared to the fovea, the periphery of the retina is more sensitive to what?

​Faint light

Experimenters Hubel and Wiesel found cells in the visual cortex that respond only to a pattern of light in a particular shape and location. We would describe those cells as what?

​Feature detectors

What happens if you rub capsaicin (from jalapeño peppers) on your skin?

​First a burning sensation, then decreased pain sensitivity

The optic nerve consists of axons from which type(s) of cell?

​Ganglion cells

Which theory attempts to explain the variation in people's pain in response to an injury?

​Gate theory

Which psychologists have the slogan "The whole is different from the sum of its parts"?

​Gestalt psychologists

What kind of sound do we hear based entirely on which place along the cochlea responds?

​High frequency sounds (above 4000 Hz)

Where is the abnormality that causes a phantom limb sensation?

​In the brain

Where in the retina are the rods most abundant?

​In the periphery

Where are the rods and cones?

​In the retina

Why does the moon appear larger at the horizon than when it is higher in the sky?

​It is an optical illusion.

If you misjudge the distance to something you see, what will you probably also misjudge?

​Its size

If someone is completely deaf in one ear, which aspect of hearing is most likely to be impaired?

​Localization of sounds

Which drug stimulates endorphin synapses?

​Morphine

The opponent-process theory does better than the trichromatic theory at explaining which of these?

​Negative afterimages

Which of these does the opponent-process theory explain better than the trichromatic theory?

​Negative afterimages

At the point where the optic nerve exits from the retina, what do we perceive?

​Nothing at all

What causes conduction deafness?

​Obstruction to the bones connected to the eardrum

When people report the presence or absence of a stimulus, they make correct judgments, misses, and false alarms. Which field deals with analyzing their answers?

​Opponent-process theory

Which theory explains negative color afterimages?

​Opponent-process theory

What is likely to occur when we misjudge the distance to some object or objects?

​Optical illusions

Placebos most strongly relieve which two conditions?

​Pain and depression

Gestalt psychology emphasizes the way our perception depends on which of the following?

​Patterns and configurations

Who are most likely to have absolute pitch, the ability to hear a tone (such as B-flat), and name it?

​People who had music lessons in childhood

Which of the following are more likely than average to develop absolute pitch?

​People who speak tonal languages such as Mandarin Chinese

The gate theory of pain emphasizes how which of the following reduces pain?

​Pleasant events

The spaces between words help us group letters together, so that GOT ROT means something different from GO TROT.? Which of the Gestalt principles is at work here?

​Proximity

Which of the following is a binocular cue to depth perception?

​Retinal disparity

What are two ways in which a one-eyed person CANNOT detect depth?

​Retinal disparity and convergence

Which of these theories best explains the phenomenon of color constancy?

​Retinex theory

Which of these is evidence against the idea that feature detectors explain everything about vision?

​Reversible figures

What causes a phantom limb?

​Rewiring in the brain

When you view a tabletop, its front side makes a bigger image on your retina than the back side does, but you perceive it as rectangular. This fact is an example of what?

​Shape constancy

Hubel and Wiesel's research on the visual cortex found feature detectors that respond to what?

​Shapes

As a car approaches you, you do not perceive it as growing larger, even though its image on your retina increases. What do we call this phenomenon?

​Size constancy

In which condition does a stimulus such as color also produce another experience, such as sound?

​Synesthesia

Which structure focuses light to the same degree, regardless of the distance to the object?

​The cornea

Which part of the retina, if any, has the best color vision?

​The fovea

What discovery first demonstrated that color is in the eye and brain, not in the light itself?

​The inability of some people to distinguish red from green

The ability to perceive high frequencies (above 4000 Hz) depends on what?

​The place principle

If a radio has only one speaker, which of these sounds is it unable to make?

​The sound of something moving left to right

Someone cannot read while walking, because the words seem blurry. What is probably impaired?

​The vestibular system

After prolonged adaptation to dim light, where in your retina do you see best?

​Toward the periphery

What makes it difficult to determine the minimum intensity of stimulus that a person can detect?

​Variations in anyone's sensitivity depending on recent experiences

Astronauts experiencing weightlessness in space suffer major impairments of which sensation?

​Vestibular sensation

What keeps your eyes focused on something while your head is moving?

​Vestibular system

Your absolute sensory threshold for a faint light would depend mostly on which of these?

​Where you were during the time before the test

According to signal-detection theory, the probability that you will report seeing a dim light depends on the sensitivity of your vision, but also on what?

​Your willingness to risk making a false alarm