Question 1

The ability to focus on some parts of the environment and block out others is referred to as _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  sensory deprivation 
B)  selective attention 
C)  sensory overload 
D)  inattentional blindness

Question 2

In a signal detection task, Jenny tends to be a "yea-sayer." She will have:

Accepted Answer

A)  more misses than "naysayers." 
B)  more correct rejections than "naysayers." 
C)  more false alarms than "naysayers." 
D)  fewer hits than "naysayers."

Question 3

The _______________ protects the eye and bends incoming light rays toward a lens located behind it.

Accepted Answer

A)  pupil 
B)  iris 
C)  cornea 
D)  retina

Question 4

The amplitude of a sound wave is related to our perception of _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  pitch 
B)  timbre 
C)  loudness 
D)  tonal quality

Question 5

_______________ psychologists studied how people organize the world visually into meaningful units and patterns.

Accepted Answer

A)  Psychophysical 
B)  Organizational 
C)  Gestalt 
D)  Ground

Question 6

If the sensory nerves all use exactly the same form of communication (a neural impulse), how, then, do we experience so many different kinds of sensations?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If the sensory nerves all use exactly...

Question 7

The difference threshold is also known as the:

Accepted Answer

A)  just noticeable difference. 
B)  signal detection difference. 
C)  absolute threshold. 
D)  comparison threshold.

Question 8

The fact that some perceptual processes appear to be innate doesn't mean that all people perceive the world in the same way. List four psychological factors that can influence what we perceive and how we perceive it.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The fact that some perceptual processes appear...

Question 9

Freddy is looking for his girlfriend in a large crowd of people. Because he is so focused on finding her, he fails to notice when a man in a clown costume walks by, despite looking directly at him. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

A)  a feature detection failure. 
B)  sensory overload. 
C)  sensory adaptation. 
D)  inattentional blindness.

Question 10

The tendency to perceive what you expect is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  a perceptual set 
B)  the expectancy effect 
C)  misperception 
D)  the Müller-Lyer effect

Question 11

When Miles and Mandi leave the bright lobby and enter the movie theatre, they cannot tell where the empty seats are. Explain why this occurs and describe the process through which they will gradually be able to see.

Accepted Answer

The answer of When Miles and Mandi leave the bright...

Question 12

DJ is asked to participate in the replication of a famous experiment. The researchers place virtual-reality goggles on him so he sees the world from a camera placed on top of a mannequin. The researchers then stroke the mannequin's arm while simultaneously doing the same thing to DJ's arm. If the results of the experiment are consistent with the original study, DJ is likely to:

Accepted Answer

A)  develop temporary phantom limb pain. 
B)  become upset and disoriented. 
C)  feel that his arm is paralyzed. 
D)  experience the illusion that the mannequin's body is his own.

Question 13

The turning inward of the eyes, which occurs when they focus on a nearby object, is called _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  convergence 
B)  retinal disparity 
C)  monocular depth 
D)  binocular depth

Question 14

Grant perceives snow as remaining white on cloudy days as well as on bright ones. He is not fooled, even though the amount of light the snow reflects is different on cloudy days. Grant's perception is due to _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  convergence 
B)  relative clarity 
C)  texture gradients 
D)  brightness constancy

Question 15

After playing tennis, Briana hurries home because her mother always bakes Briana's favourite scones on Saturday afternoons. As Briana opens the front door, she notices the kitchen trash can smells horrible, but her mother says, "I don't smell anything." The most likely explanation for this is that Briana's mother:

Accepted Answer

A)  experienced a decline in her sense of smell as she reached middle age. 
B)  has a different absolute threshold for olfaction than does her daughter. 
C)  adapted to the smell of the trash can because it is an unchanging stimulus. 
D)  is a naysayer, while Briana is a yea-sayer.

Question 16

Zoe is a participant in a psychophysical study and is having her absolute threshold for brightness measured. Describe a likely procedure for determining this measurement.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Zoe is a participant in a psychophysical...

Question 17

The doctrine of specific nerve energies states that:

Accepted Answer

A)  each type of sensory receptor releases a different type of energy. 
B)  different sensory nerves release different neurotransmitters. 
C)  each sensory neuron can respond to all sensory modalities. 
D)  what a person experiences depends on which nerve was stimulated.

Question 18

Kai is talking with his friend Sunir after class. He is listening to Sunir talk about his weekend plans when a fire truck goes by with sirens blaring. While the fire truck is in ear shot, Sunir's voice is probably the ______ of your current auditory experience.

Accepted Answer

A)  ground 
B)  figure 
C)  white noise 
D)  focus

Question 19

When the lens of the eye focuses light on the retina, the result is a(n):

Accepted Answer

A)  sideways image. 
B)  colourless image. 
C)  peripheral image. 
D)  upside-down image.

Question 20

When she goes into her mother's kitchen, Amelia doesn't know how long she will be able to stay in the room because of the overpowering smell of onions. But when her sister comes home an hour later and complains about the smell, Amelia realizes that she no longer smells the onions at all. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

A)  sensory adaptation. 
B)  a just noticeable difference. 
C)  a correct rejection. 
D)  a miss.

Exam 6: Sensation and Perception