Unit 5 Retake

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation is the process of receiving and representing stimulus energies, while perception is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information.

Our perceptions are guided by past experiences and expectations. Our brains try to make sense of the world around us by 'filling in' information and often blending the real with the imagined. When we assume that our senory systems are infallible and that our perception is a perfect representation of the world around us, we are abiding by the principle of...

Naive Realism

What is the difference between absolute thresholds and difference thresholds?

Absolute thresholds refer to the minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus, while difference thresholds refer to the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection.

The _______ is a peceptual phenomenon that demostrates an interaction between hearing and vision in speech perception. For example: When we hear the sound “ba” while seeing the face of a person articulate “ga,” many adults perceive the sound “da,” a third sound which is a blend of the two.

McGurk effect

How does sensory adaptation help us in perceiving the environment?

It allows us to filter out irrelevant information and focus on important changes

How does context influence our perceptions?

It shapes how we interpret ambiguous stimuli

You see this image and automatically assume that it is a '13' based on the way that it looks. This assumption is a good example of which of the following:

Bottom-up processing

When you see the image above, you initially think that the middle character is a '13', but then you decide that it must be a 'B' because of the letters surrounding it. This is a good example of:

Top-down processing

Which perceptual phenomenon allows us to understand that a door is still a rectangle, even as it opens and its retinal image changes to a trapezoid-like shape?

Shape constancy

The fact that a shaded square on a checkerboard still appears lighter than an adjacent white square (even though they are the same color on a screen) demonstrates the brain's autocorrection for light and shadow, known as:

Color Constancy

The fact that it is easier to read the words rather than their color shows that our brain automatically selected the word rather than the color as the most important thing to pay attention to. The term applied to this concept is:

The Stroop Effect

Attending to many sense modalities simultaneously, such as seeing, hearing, and touching at the same time, is referred to as:

Parallel Processing

Processing of sensory information that occurs below the conscious level, as demonstrated by the legally blind woman who could still pick out what was in her blind spot, is known as:

Subliminal perception

What is the main function of the iris in the eye?

To control the size of the pupil opening in response to light intensity

What determines the pitch of a sound?

The frequency (length) of sound waves

Which part of the ear contains the fluid-filled cochlea?

Inner ear

The phenomenon where an individual, despite actively listening to one conversation in a crowded room, can suddenly have their attention drawn by hearing their name mentioned in a different, ignored conversation, is called the:

Cocktail Party Effect

The primary goal of the brain in perception is to:

Make the best guess and find shortcuts using as few neurons as possible