Exam 5: Sensation and Perception

One theory of how we perceive visual information is that all objects are composed of simplistic,three-dimensional shapes called __________.

The tendency to perceive objects that are the same shape,size,or color as part of a related pattern is the Gestalt principle of __________.

Parallel processing in the human brain is analogous to multitasking in a computer.

The human brain is capable of distinguishing over 700 million different color variations.

Mixing colors with light is an additive process,while mixing colors with paints is a subtractive process.

People who are experiencing a temporary blockage of oxygenated blood to parts of their heart muscle - a condition that is called a heart attack - often experience pain in their shoulders and their left arm.This is an example of ___________ pain.

__________ is the process through which we detect physical energy from the environment and code that energy as neural signals.

The colored part of the eye that controls the opening of the pupil is called the cornea.

According to recent research conducted at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh,what happens to the brain when we attempt to multitask?

Jim and Jamal are lifting weights together before football practice.Jim is doing a bench press with 240 pounds,and just to be funny Jamal slides an extra 5 pounds on the bar when Jim is not looking.Jim bench presses the new weight,245 pounds,without even noticing that the weight had increased.If Jamal had added 50 pounds,however,Jim would probably have noticed .Which law explains why a small change to a large stimulus will be harder to detect than a small change to a small stimulus?

The process through which physical energy such as light or sound is converted into an electrical charge is known as __________.

When light is shined onto the retina,that energy is received and then sent to the brain via the __________.

A good friend of yours tells you that he has a new job at a bakery."Oh man,you are so lucky," you tell him."You get to smell that fresh bread and the donuts all day long.I'd LOVE to work there." Your buddy shakes his head and says,"You know,that's what I thought,but after I'm there for a few minutes I don't even smell the baked goods that much anymore." Because you've studied psychology,you know that his loss of responsiveness to the great scents is explained by sensory __________.

The __________ face area is a part of the visual cortex that is responsible for recognizing and responding to faces.

Our ability to process information in an automatic fashion that is outside of our awareness is referred to as __________ processing.

The fact that sensory systems are need-specific is demonstrated by which of the following examples?

Dominic goes to a laboratory to be a subject in a psychological test.In this test,he watches as the words of certain colors are flashed on a computer screen.Sometimes the word is flashed in its own color (e.g.,the word "blue" is flashed in a blue font)and sometimes the word is flashed in a different color (e.g.,the word "yellow" appears in a green font).This type of test,which can be used to test synesthesia,is called a __________ test.

__________ processing describes the process of doing several things at the same time.

A common form of synesthesia is called __________-color synesthesia in which a person perceives letters as a certain color.

Sensory __________ is the process in which sensory receptor cells become less responsive to an unchanging stimulus.