Deck 3: Sensory Perception and Processing

Question 1

Sensory adaptation is the result of:

A) a decrease in our attention to environmental stimuli.
B) a decrease in the responsiveness of sensory neurons.
C) a decline in the brain's ability to process sensory information.
D) an increase in noise in the environment.

Answer 1

a decrease in the responsiveness of sensory neurons.

Question 2

When you first put your clothes on in the morning, you feel them on your skin. However, within minutes, you no longer notice them. What is this an example of?

A) accommodation
B) adaptation
C) habituation
D) sensory amnesia

Answer 2

adaptation

Question 3

Which of the following statements is/are TRUE regarding the architecture of the visual cortex?

A) Many neurons in the visual cortex respond only to very specific visual features or stimuli.
B) Some neurons in the cortex respond only to perception of human faces and some only respond to the sight of animals.
C) both of these
D) none of these

Answer 3

both of these

Question 4

You're in the mall looking at a blue sweater. How do you know it's blue?

A) Blue/yellow opponent-process cells increase their rate of firing.
B) Cones responsive to blue light in the retina begin responding.
C) both of these answers
D) none of these answers

Question 5

How do trichromatic and opponent-process theories differ?

A) In opponent-process theory, the cells responsive to colour operate in opposition to each other rather than independently.
B) Opponent-process theory suggests that in addition to black and white, there are four, rather than three, primary colours.
C) both of these answers
D) none of these answers

Question 6

Sound waves cause the ________ to vibrate and pass the energy to the middle ear.

A) cochlea
B) basilar membrane
C) eardrum
D) auditory canal

Question 7

The observation that sounds of different frequencies cause the basilar membrane to vibrate in different places along its length is used to support the:

A) frequency theory of hearing.
B) frequency-volley theory of hearing.
C) place theory of hearing.
D) rate theory of hearing.

Question 8

In auditory cortex, neurons that respond specifically to a sound's ________ have been discovered.

A) location
B) features
C) pattern
D) All of these

Question 9

What is the sense of smell called?

A) gustation
B) nasal expectancy
C) otoliths
D) olfaction

Question 10

We have ________ types of receptor cells for smell; we can distinguish more than ________ separate smells.

A) more than 1,000; more than 10,000
B) four or five; more than 10,000
C) more than 1,000; more than 1,000
D) four or five; more than 1,000

Question 11

The receptor cells for smell are called ________ cells.

A) nasal
B) gustation
C) olfactory
D) smell

Question 12

How many basic types of taste are there?

A) four
B) four, maybe five
C) five
D) five or six

Question 13

Taste receptors that are sensitive to a meaty or savoury taste are categorized as ________

A) sour.
B) salty.
C) umami.
D) bitter.

Question 14

The skin senses include ________

A) pressure.
B) pain.
C) temperature.
D) all of these

Question 15

The "supertaster" phenomenon:

A) is largely genetic in origin.
B) is found in women more often than men.
C) reflects a larger-than-normal number of taste receptors.
D) all of these answers

Question 16

Which of the following exemplifies a method of closing the pain gate?

A) listening to distracting music
B) undergoing acupuncture
C) both of these options
D) neither of these options

Question 17

You've had enough of your chronic headaches. Which of the pain management techniques described in your text is probably the most appropriate and effective remedy?

A) biofeedback/relaxation training
B) surgery
C) hypnosis
D) light therapy

Question 18

Which of the following does your text offer as a potential explanation for the phenomenon of synesthesia?

A) an unusually large number of excitatory connections between sensory areas of the brain
B) fewer inhibitory links between different sensory areas of the brain
C) both of these options
D) none of these options

Question 19

The ability to perceive the depth and three-dimensional locations of objects in the world around us is known as:

A) perceptual constancy.
B) figure-ground perception.
C) depth perception.
D) top-down processing.

Question 20

When standing on a street corner, taxis way down the street project smaller images to your eye than the one parked next to you. Of course, you know they are not toy cars; they are just really far away. This example illustrates the ________ depth cue of ________.

A) monocular; relative size
B) binocular; relative size
C) monocular; texture gradient
D) binocular; texture gradient

Question 21

In a beginning drawing class, you attempt to depict depth when drawing a city scene by drawing the sides of the road so that they converge in the distance. You are using the monocular depth cue known as________

A) linear perspective.
B) linear parallax.
C) relative size.
D) texture gradient.

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT a monocular cue?

A) linear perspective
B) motion parallax
C) relative size
D) binocular disparity

Question 23

Muller-Lyer is a

A) depth perception test.
B) law that explains motion parallax.
C) Gestalt psychologist.
D) visual illusion.

Question 24

With respect to visual perception, cross-cultural differences have been found in:

A) the use of cues to depth perception.
B) observers' susceptibility to certain visual illusions.
C) both of these options
D) none of these options

Question 25

With respect to the "devil's tuning fork" drawing described in your text, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Westerners perceive the drawing as an impossible three-dimensional object.
B) Westerners reproduce the drawing more easily than do members of African tribes.
C) Members of African tribes see the figure as a two-dimensional line drawing.
D) The center tine of the fork alternates between appearing and disappearing.

Question 26

Research investigating potential cross-cultural differences in the use of depth cues and observers' susceptibility to various visual illusions:

A) affirms the influence of bottom-up processes in perception.
B) offers no support, thus far, for the hypothesized role of top-down processes in perception.
C) discredits the notion that bottom-up processes are important in perception.
D) underscores the importance of top-down processes in perception.

Question 27

The process of converting physical energy into an electrical impulse is called ________

A) adaptation
B) transduction
C) sensation
D) perception

Question 28

A(n) ________ occurs when our expectations and beliefs impact what we see

A) absolute threshold
B) difference threshold
C) perceptual set
D) sensory adaptation

Question 29

Approximately ________ million Canadians between the ages of 12-44 experience chronic pain.

A) 1.5
B) 2
C) 3.5
D) 4

Question 30

Dr. Ronald Melzack believed that pain was not one-dimensional, but instead involved many other psychological variables including:

A) personality.
B) cognition.
C) abnormal brain disorders.
D) motivations and emotions.

Question 31

Dr. Ronald Melzack created the ______ Pain Questionnaire

A) Laval
B) McGill
C) Queen's
D) McMaster

Question 32

Telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis are all examples of ________.

A) subliminal perception
B) subliminal persuasion
C) extrasensory perception
D) all of these options

Question 33

Psychokinesis is the claimed ability to:

A) predict future events.
B) read other people's minds.
C) perceive events or objects in out of sight places.
D) move objects without touching them.

Question 34

The ability to perceive information that is below our conscious awareness is known as:

A) subliminal perception
B) subliminal persuasion
C) extrasensory perception
D) none of these options

Question 35

The study of the relationship between the physical aspects of stimuli and our psychological experience of them is called ________.

Question 36

Weber's Law states that a __________ is a constant proportion of the intensity of an initial stimulus.

Question 37

The process by which cells in the visual cortex respond selectively to specific visual stimuli is termed________.

Question 38

The rods play a key role in ________, which is seeing objects that are outside the main center offocus.

Question 39

Olfaction is to ________ as smell is to taste.

Question 40

Gustation is the sense of ________.

Question 41

Receptor cells for taste are found on the ________.

Question 42

Opening a bag of frozen vegetables with a large, sharp knife rather than kitchen shears can sometimes result in a chemical termed ________ sending pain messages to your brain.

Question 43

Similarity, proximity, and closure may be seen as specific Gestalt principles subordinate to the more general principle of ________.

Question 44

When we are anxious, our ability to perceive potentially threatening stimuli is enhanced. This is an example of a ________ influence on perception.

Question 45

Motion parallax and texture gradient are two ________ cues to depth.

Question 46

Believing that we witnessed a Sasquatch or there is a picture of a religious icon on our grilled cheese sandwich is an example of a ________.

Question 47

In Canada, approximately 1.5 million Canadians between the ages of 12-44 experience ________pain.

Question 48

The McGill Pain Questionnaire not only assesses the sensory aspect of pain, but the ________ aspects ofpain as well.

Question 49

The condition in which individuals report feeling pain and burning in a limb that was amputated is known as ________.

Question 50

The claimed ability to read other people's minds is known as ________.

Question 51

Most claims of ESP (extrasensory perception) are ________ and cannot be replicated by scientificexperiments.

Question 52

The ability for our behaviour to be influenced by information that is below our conscious awareness is known as ________.

Question 53

Distinguish between top-down and bottom-up processes in perception. Making explicit reference to several of the pain management techniques described in your text, suggest how top-down and bottom-up processes may contribute to the relief of pain.

Question 54

Distinguish between top-down and bottom-up processing. Provide an original example of a top-down influence on perception. Your example may be based directly on your own experience or may be simply hypothetical yet plausible.