unit 3 sensation and perception

what is the vestibular system?

what is the vestibular system?

in the inner ear; helps with balance and maintaining our equilibrium in space

people who are colorblind most likely have deficiencies in their

cones

an individuals ability to focus on a particular conversation in a noisy and crowded room is called

selective attention (cocktail party effect)

how does the human eye detect the color red? what eye part does it rely on?

trichromatic theory, retina

what phenomenon can the opponent-process theory of color vision explain that the trichromatic theory cannot?

afterimage

what are monocular depth cues?

relative size, texture gradient, interposition, linear perspective, height in plane, light and shadow

Anna injured her eye in an accident out and has to wear a patch over the eye while it heals. Which clue what she best be able to use to make judgments about the distance objects are from her

linear perspective

research has shown that a major reason for poor performance while multitasking is that while multitasking, people

switch their attention rapidly from task to task, so they miss critical information associated with a task that is not receiving their attention

while attending a concert, tony finds that he can clearly recognize a melody coming from the lead violin above all the other instruments playing in the orchestra, even though the other instruments may be louder. gestalt psychologists would explain tony's ability using the principle of

figure-ground

nikki is practicing her trumpet and produces a loud sound. what is it about the sound wave that is the best explanation for the soundness of the sound?

the sound has a high amplitude sound wave

the process of converting incoming physical energy into a neural code that can be processed is called

transduction

how does the gestalt principles of closure and continuity allow our ability to see illusions a certain way?

we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones; it allows people to see lines when broke

negative afterimages are explained by

opponent-process theory

Eleanor Gibson and her colleagues have used the visual cliff to measure an infant's ability to perceive

depth perception

a person is asked to listen to a series of times presented in pairs, and asked to say whether the tones in each pair are the same or different in pitch. in this situation, the experimenter is most likely measuring the individuals

difference threshold

the gestalt principle that refers to an individuals tendency to perceive an incomplete figure as whole is called

closure

Receptors for olfaction are located

nasal cavity

what refers to the just noticeable difference between the two stimuli

difference threshold

what occurrence supports the opponent-process theory of color vision?

we see afterimages after staring at a bright colored image

which part of the brain receives messages from the hair-like receptors that are involved in the vestibule sense?

cerebellum

what theory explains why someone would begin rubbing the area injured and brushing until the pain subsided?

gate-control theory

In vision, transduction occurs within the

retina

the difference in perception would be an example of what type of processing? (this is why people might see a venn diagram differently)

top-down processing

A person with sight in only one eye lacks which of the following visual cues for seeing in depth?

retinal disparity

a reversible figure illustrates the gestalt organizing principle of

figure-ground

The intensity at which a sound becomes audible for a given individual is known as the individual's

absolute threshold

when viewed from the window of a moving train, nearby objects seem to pass by more quickly than do more distant objects. this cue for depth perception is called

motion parallax

climbing an irregular set of stairs is more difficult for an individual who wears a patch over one eye primarily because

some depth perception is lost

explain what a person could do if they were described as a superstar

experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average; would be very sensitive to hot peppers

A sound is often detected by one ear more intensely and a fraction of a second earlier than it is detected by the other ear. These cues help individuals determine the

location of the source

People listening to rock music played backward often perceive an evil message if specifically told what to listen for. That phenomenon best illustrates

top-down processing

If Carmelita stares at a red spot for one minute and then shifts her gaze to a white piece of paper, she is likely to experience an afterimage that is

green

Ernst Weber & Gustav Fechner's psychophysical laws concern the relation between

which of the intensity of a stimulus and its corresponding psychological sensation

what is the correct path a neural impulse will follow through the different layers of the retina?

rods and cones, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve

jan has a condition in which tiny crystals break loose and randomly touch and bend the hair cells in her semicircular canals. what is the most likely effect of this condition?

dizziness and loss of balance

feature detectors are neurons that are turned on or off by specific features of visual stimuli like edges and movement. where in the visual system are these feature detectors located?

occipital cortex

all summer jamal hears the sounds of the ice cream truck approaching before his brother lenny hears it. jamal most likely has a lower

absolute threshold

what is the light-sensitive surface of the eye that contains photoreceptors?

The retina is the light-sensitive tissue that lines the inside surface of the eye

which photoreceptors are responsible for color vision?

cones

what are the nerves that carry neural impulses from the eye to the brain? what forms them?

optic nerve, ganglion cells

the most common form of color blindness is related to deficiencies in which color system?

red-green

a subliminal stimulus is a stimulus that

falls below the threshold for conscious detection

deven is at a concert when a singer hits a very high note at the end of a song. why is the pitch of the note so high?

frequency is higher

the place in the retina where the optic nerve exists to the brain is called the

blind spot

the fovea has the greatest visual acuity in bright light primarily because the fovea

is made up of only cones

why do babies turn away in disgust if a bitter substance is placed on their tongue?

they do not have developed taste buds

what is the correct order of information processing in vision?

rods and cones, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve

in visual perception, size consistency occurs as an object comes closer to the viewer because the

perceived assistance of the object becomes smaller

When a pair of lights flashing in quick succession seems to an observer to be one light moving from place to place, the effect is referred to as

phi phenomenon

what is perceptual expectancy? what is a scenario of this?

a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way; a runner in a track meet is set to respond in a certain way

what is the role of the cerebellum in the kinesthetic senses?

position and orientation in space

donna arrived at a park that is located very close to a factory that produces pies. she immediately noticed the strong odor of pies, but after a while she no longer detects the smell of the pies. this can be best explained by

sensory adaptation

A reason that one typically does not notice a blind spot in the visual field is that

the brain fills in missing information so there is no awareness that the visual field is incomplete

What is color constancy?

perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

damage to what part of the ear best explains conduction deafness?

hammer, anvil, stirrup

photoreceptors relay visual information to the brain through which type of cells?

ganglion and bipolar cells

based on the structure of the ear, what will sound waves contact first after moving through the auditory canal?

tympanic membrane

The change in the curvature of the lens that enables the eye to focus on objects at various distances is called

accommodation

the perceived pitch of a tone is largely determined by its

frequency

The coiled tube in the inner ear that contains the auditory receptors is called the

cochlea

which theories most accurately explain pitch perception?

frequency, volley, place

visual acuity is the best in

fovea

What causes the blind spot in the eye?

The point where the optic nerve leaves the eye and where there are no rods or cones.

to which taste qualities are gustatory receptors sensitive?

sweet

how might a researcher study the effects of smoking on sense of smell?

longitudinal study

what aspects must be included in the design of a study if a researcher wanted to draw correct cause and effect conclusions about the sense of smell likely to conduct?

longitudinal study where 100 smokers and a matched sample of 100 non-smokers to determine whether the smokers senses of smell decline more overtime than non-smokers

what sense run through the thalamus and which sense does not?

sight, touch, vision go through brain, smell and taste do not

what is a longitudinal study?

data gathered of same subjects repeatedly over time. looks for correlations

What is a cross-sectional study?

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

what happens to our perception of taste as we age?

taste buds decrease which makes things blander

balance is influenced by what part that is located in the ear?

inner semicircular canals

what scenario would most clearly describe the effect of a strong kinestetic sense?

body senses provide information about position and orientation in space

what is the vestibular system?

the three fluid-filled semicircular canals and adjacent organs located next to the cochlea in each inner ear which provide for a sense of balance and equilibrium

what is context effects?

I walk into my bedroom and remember I need my glasses in the living room. I go into the living room and forget what I came in there for. I return to my bedroom I suddenly remember.

What is a schema?

a mental model/framework for how we view the world

What is top-down processing?

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

What is bottom-up processing?

analysis that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

what is the gestalt principle of proximity?

things that are close to one another seem to belong together

what is the gestalt principle of similarity?

when objects look similar people tend to recognize a pattern and perceive them as a united whole

what is the gestalt principle of closure?

we fill in gaps to create a complete, whole object

what is the gestalt principle of continuation?

we perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones

what is the gestalt principle of common fate?

things that move together are more likely to be grouped

what are scenarios for perceptual sets?

readiness for detecting a particular stimulus, priming, framing, procedural memories

what do people develop as a result of experiences in their lives?

perceptual hypothesis