AP Psychology Sensation and Perception Test Review

Cones

Which receptor cells most directly enable us to distinguish different wavelengths of light?

Green; red

According to the opponent-process theory, cells that are stimulated by exposure to ________ light are inhibited by exposure to ________ light.

Pitch

The volley principle is most directly relevant to our perception of:

The pitch we hear is related to the place where the cochlea's basilar membrane is stimulated

Place theory suggests that:

Sensory adaptation theory

Which theory would suggest that watching a horror movie late at night could lower your absolute threshold for sound as you subsequently tried to fall asleep?

Rods and cones (2)

Which type of cell is responsible for the transduction of light into neural signals in the retina?

Specific shapes, angles, and movements

Feature detectors in the visual cortex are specialized neurons that respond to which of the following?

Occipital lobe

In which part of the brain are feature detectors primarily located?

Size constancy

As Sherod walked away from the camera, the image of his body filled a smaller area of the television screen. Nevertheless, viewers did not perceive Sherod as suddenly shrinking. This illustrates:

The cocktail party effect

Because she was listening to the news on the radio, Mrs. Schultz didn't perceive a word her husband was saying. Her experience best illustrates:

Retinal disparity

Holding two index fingers in front of the eyes can create the perception of a floating finger sausage. This best illustrates the effect of:

Inattentional blindness

In one experiment, most of the participants who viewed a videotape of men tossing a basketball remained unaware of an umbrella-toting woman sauntering across the screen. This illustrated:

Brightness constancy

Jody's horse looks just as black in the brilliant sunlight as it does in the dim light of the stable. This illustrates what is known as:

Hue

Frequency theory is to pitch as the Young-Helmholtz theory is to:

Olfactory receptors

Which of the following would play a role in quickly alerting you to a gas leak in your home?

Iris

The amount of light entering the eye is regulated by the:

Kinesthesis

Our sense of the position and movement of individual body parts is called:

Bottom-up processing

Berdine has developed cataracts in both eyes, preventing her from being able to identify even her mother's face. Berdine most clearly suffers a deficiency in:

Retina

In the visual system, where does transduction primarily occur?

Cochlea (2)

In which part of the ear does transduction take place, converting sound waves into neural impulses?

Nasal cavity

Where does the transduction of chemical stimuli into neural signals primarily occur in the olfactory system?

The experience of one sense triggering an involuntary experience in another sense

Which of the following best describes the phenomenon of synesthesia?

Opponent-process theory

The phenomenon of afterimages is best explained by which of the following theories of color vision?

Proximity

Because Carmella, Jorge, and Gail were all sitting behind the same bowling lane, Ruth perceived that they were all members of the same bowling team. This best illustrates the organizational principle of:

The phi phenomenon

The illusion of movement in animated neon signs is known as:

Closure

The perceptual tendency to fill in gaps in order to perceive disconnected parts as a whole object is called:

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events, is called:

Absolute threshold (2)

A person can detect a faint light 50% of the time. This is an example of:

Transduction (2)

Which of the following describes the process of converting one form of energy into another, specifically, environmental stimuli into neural impulses?

A person who expects to see a scary movie being more likely to interpret a dark shadow as a monster

A perceptual set is a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. Which of the following best illustrates this concept?

Linear perspective

Which of the following is a monocular depth cue?

Accommodation

What is the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina?

Red, green, blue

According to the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory, what are the three types of cones in the human eye?

Afterimages

The opponent-process theory of color vision explains why we see:

Color constancy, Shape constancy, and Size constancy

Perceptual constancy refers to the tendency to perceive objects as unchanging, even as illumination and retinal images change. Which of the following is an example?

The phi phenomenon (2)

A series of blinking lights that appear to be moving is an example of:

The ability to focus on one voice among many

The cocktail party effect illustrates:

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

Bottom-up processing is best described as:

Bottom-up processing (2)

A person is asked to identify an object based on touch alone. They correctly identify it as a spoon. This is an example of:

The spinal cord has a "gate" that can block or allow pain signals to pass to the brain

The gate-control theory of pain suggests that:

Recognizing faces

A person suffering from prosopagnosia would have difficulty:

By drawing the closer object to obscure the view of a more distant one

An architect creating a blueprint uses the monocular depth cue of interposition to show which object is closer. How is this achieved?

The sense of balance

The vestibular sense is responsible for:

Linear perspective (2)

An artist is painting a picture of a winding road leading to a mountain. To create the illusion of depth, she draws the sides of the road as two parallel lines that appear to get closer and closer together as they extend toward the horizon. The artist is using the monocular depth cue of:

Opponent-process theory (2)

After staring at a green, black, and yellow flag for several minutes, you look away and see a red, white, and blue afterimage. This phenomenon provides evidence for the:

The vestibular sense

The semicircular canals are most directly relevant to:

Absolute threshold

During a hearing test, many sounds were presented at such a low level of intensity that Mr. Antall could hardly ever detect them. These sounds were below Mr. Antall's:

Feature detection

When looking at the hands of a clock signifying 8 o'clock, certain brain cells in the visual cortex are more responsive than if the hands signify 10 o'clock. This is most indicative of:

In all of the above places

Taste receptors are located:

Transduction

The process by which our sensory systems convert stimulus energies into neural messages is called:

Rods and cones

Hair cells are to audition as ________ are to vision.

Activation of specific neural fibers in your spinal cord

According to the gate-control theory, a back massage would most likely reduce your physical aches and pains by causing the:

Sensation; perception

Hearing a sequence of sounds of different pitches is to ________ as recognizing the sound sequence as a familiar melody is to ________.

Lower absolute

Jennifer can tune her guitar more effectively than Maria because Jennifer is better at detecting whether specific strings are playing too sharp or too flat. With respect to tone sensitivity, Maria apparently has a ________ threshold than does Jennifer.

Diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

Sensory adaptation refers to:

Parallel processing

The ability to simultaneously process the pitch, loudness, melody, and meaning of a song best illustrates:

Cochlea

As a rock musician who has experienced prolonged exposure to high-amplitude music, Rodney is beginning to lose his hearing. It is most likely that this hearing loss involves problems in the:

Fluid-filled tube in which sound waves trigger nerve impulses

The cochlea is a:

The decreased sensitivity to a constant stimulus

Sensory adaptation refers to:

Parallel processing (2)

The brain's ability to process multiple aspects of a problem or stimulus simultaneously is known as:

The slightly different images seen by the left and right eyes

The retinal disparity cue for depth perception relies on:

Top-down processing

A woman is walking through a dark forest and hears a rustle in the bushes. She assumes it is an animal. This is an example of:

Convergence

Which of the following is a binocular depth cue?

Sensory adaptation

A person living in a large city with constant traffic noise eventually stops noticing the noise. This is an example of:

Chemical sense

The sense of taste is best described as a:

Outer ear

The pinna, ear canal, and eardrum are all part of the:

The cocktail party effect (2)

Maria is walking through a bustling city park. She can hear snippets of conversations, music, and the sounds of children playing. However, she's able to focus her attention on her friend's voice as they talk on the phone, tuning out all the background noise. This scenario best illustrates:

Interposition

A magician holds up two cards of the same size, but one is in the foreground and the other is slightly overlapped by the first card. The magician's audience perceives the overlapped card as being farther away. This trick takes advantage of the monocular depth cue of:

Sensory adaptation (2)

David has been living near a noisy train track for several months. At first, the sound of the trains passing was very disruptive, but now he barely notices it. This reduced sensitivity to the constant stimulus is an example of:

Closure (2)

A woman is walking down a street she's never been on before. She sees a sign that is partially obscured by a tree branch, but her brain automatically fills in the missing parts, allowing her to read the word "BAKERY." This ability to mentally complete the image is best explained by the Gestalt principle of:

Motion parallax

While riding a train, a person sees distant telephone poles passing by slowly, while the nearby bushes and fences seem to be whizzing past. This difference in apparent speed of objects at varying distances is a powerful monocular depth cue known as:

Proximity (2)

A young child is playing with toy cars. He arranges them in a single row and sees them as a single group, rather than as 10 individual cars. This is an example of the Gestalt principle of:

Top-down processing (2)

A detective at a crime scene is looking at a series of footprints. Based on his prior experience and knowledge of how a person would likely run, he's able to deduce that the person was in a hurry. The detective's use of past experience to interpret the sensory information is a clear example of:

Color constancy

While standing in a kitchen, a person perceives a white napkin as white, even though a shadow is cast on it, making it reflect less light than a nearby bowl. This is due to the process of:

Retinal disparity (2)

A person closes one eye and then opens it, then closes the other eye, and so on. They notice that a nearby pen seems to shift position more than a distant clock. This shift in the image on the retina as a result of the change in viewpoint is a depth cue called:

Gestalt psychology

A child is shown an image of a Dalmatian dog made of black and white dots. At first, the child only sees a bunch of random dots, but then they suddenly perceive the dog within the image. This "aha" moment is a result of the brain's ability to create a meaningful whole from the fragmented parts, which is a key concept of:

Sensory interaction

A person with a severe cold finds that their food tastes bland. The loss of taste is largely due to their inability to perceive smells. This interaction between the senses is an example of:

Selective attention

A student is trying to study in a noisy library. The student's ability to concentrate on the words on the page and mentally block out the chatter around them is a process that relies on:

Still learning (45)

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