Intro to Psych Ch. 3&4

which of the following statements about research on color blindness is true? A. most individuals who are color-blind literally see the world in black and white. they are unable to perceive any colors other than black and white B. color blindness is more common among women than among men C. the nature of color blindness depends on which of the three kinds of cones (Green, red, and blue) is inoperative D. research on color blindness does not support the trichromatic theory of vision

C

which of the following is true of attention? A. attention is neither selective, nor shiftable B. novel sitmuli often fail to attract our attention C. inattentional blindness refers to the failure to detect unexpected events when attention is engaged by a task D. objects that are small, dull-colored, or stationary are more likely to grab our attention than objects that are large, vividly colored, or moving

C.

which of the following is true of sensation? A. sensory receptors are specialized cells that are not selective. B. Chemoreception helps in the detection of light, perceived as sight. C. Synaesthesia describes an experience in which the brain and nervous system experience the world D. Sensory receptors are the openings through which the brain and nervous system experience the world.

D

Linda is studying while listening to her iPod. She notices that when she raises the volume 5 decibels when the volume is initially low, the change is very noticeable. However, when the volume is initially high, increasing the volume by 5 decibels doesn't result in as noticeable of a change in sound. this phenomenon is best explained by what?

Weber's Law

which of the following principles states that two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion to be perceived as different?

Weber's Law

a predisposition or readiness to perceive something in a particular way

a perceptual set

Michael, a famous musician, is designing a new apartment that will serve as both his residence and his recording studio. Since the music studio shares a wall with his bedroom, Michael wants be sure that the recording studio is sound proof. this means that michael wants to be sure that sound from the studio is well under his what while he is in his bedroom?

absolute threshold

marks the point where we can just barely perceive a stimulus

absolute threshold

the smallest intensity of a stimulus that you can detect 50% of the time

absolute threshold

you are studying in your dorm room, but your neighbor is blasting the tv in the adjacent room. When you gently request that your neighbor turn the volume down until you cannot hear it, you are asking your neighbor to make the volume less than your what?

absolute threshold

the purpose of parallel processing

allow sensory information to travel rapidly through the brain

the process that involves coupling of the activity of various cells and pathways and helps integrate information about an object

binding

the area near the center of the retina where there are no rods and no cones

blind spot

Melanie is learning how to read Spanish by sounding out each word one letter at a time. What is Melanie engaging in?

bottom-up processing

what is the iris?

colored part of the eye that contains muscles that control the size of the pupil

Emily is selecting a new paint color for her bedroom. She detects a difference between sky blue and midnight blue. Emily's ability to distinguish these 2 colors from one another can best be explained by what concept?

difference threshold

the minimal change in stimulation that is required to detect whether one stimulus differs from another

difference threshold

means that a person can detect information from the world without receiving concrete sensory input

extrasensory perception

the principle by which we organize the perceptual field into stimuli that stand out and those that are left over

figure-ground relationship

The tiny area in the center of the retina that contains only cones is called the _____.

fovea

You try to note the incredibly fine details and colors of a computer microchip through a magnifying glass. On which area of the retina should you be focusing this image?

fovea

what is the major purpose of the sclera?

help maintain the shape of the eye and protect it from injury

the colored part of the eye

iris

a transparent and somewhat flexible, disklike structure filled with a gelatin-like material

lens

class of sensory receptors that play an important role in detecting pressure, vibration, movement, touch, and hearing

mechanoreception

what is the pupil?

opening in the center of the iris, which appears black

theory of vision that best explains the occurrence of afterimages (i.e. the sensations that remain after a stimulus is removed)

opponent-process theory

theory that states that cells in the visual system respond to complementary pairs of red-green and blue-yellow colors; a given cell might be excited by red and inhibited by green, whereas another cell might be excited by yellow and inhibited by blue

opponent-process theory

the crossover point where the right visual field info goes to the left hemisphere

optic chiasm

made up of axons of the ganglion cells, which carries visual information to the brain for further processing

optic nerve

the simultaneous distribution of sensory across different neural pathways

parallel processing

the process by which the brain actively organizes and interprets sensory information

perception

the process that involves organizing and interpreting incoming sensory information

perception

class of sensory receptors that provide information about sight and the detection of light

photoreception

as light enter the eye, eventually it reaches the light sensitive ___ at the back of the eye

retina

the multilayered light-sensitive surface in the eye that records electromagnetic energy and converts it to the neural impulses for processing in the brain

retina

where are rods and cones located?

retina

The process through which the senses detect environmental stimuli and transmit them to the brain

sensation

as you walk barefoot in the park, your nose conveys to your brain the smell of the freshly cut grass, your skin sends information about the feel of the gentle breeze, and your ears transmit the sound of children laughing on the playground to your auditory cortex. What is this process of acquiring "raw data" about the stimuli in the environment called?

sensation

you arrive at your friend's apartment for a big party at the end of the semester. When you first arrive, the music is so loud that it almost hurts your ears. After a couple of hours, even though the music is still the same volume, it no longer bothers you or seems that loud. this change in your sensations describes what process?

sensory adaptation

specialized cells that detect stimulus information and transmit it to afferent nerves and the brain

sensory receptors

explains the ability of an animal to distinguish among sight, sound, odor, taste, and touch

sensory receptors are selective and have different neural pathways

focuses on decision making about stimuli under conditions of uncertainty

signal detection theory

what theory of perception proposes that detection of stimuli depends on a variety of factors including physical intensity of the stimulus, fatigue of the oberver, and expectancy?

signal detection theory

what are cones in the eye?

specialized receptor cells that enable us to see color

refers to the detection of sensory information that occurs below the level of conscious awareness

subliminal perception

Jane is having trouble sleeping. As she sits in bed looking around the darkened room, she notices that her peripheral vision seems to be better than her central vision. This is because vision in low light conditions depends on what?

the rods

gestalt psychologists emphasize what?

the whole is more than the sum of its parts