AP psychology Unit 4

Complete sensation in the absence of complete perception is best illustrated by

prosopagnosia

As you look at an apple, its reflected light travels to the eye. The rods and cones absorb the light and help transmit the information to the brain. This process best illustrates

sensation

As the brain receives information about the lines, angles, and edges of objects in the environment, higher-level cells process and interpret the information to consciously recognize objects. This process best illustrates

perception

The process of receiving and representing stimulus energies by the nervous system is called

sensation

The detection and encoding of stimulus energies by the nervous system is called

sensation

The process by which we select, organize, and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events is called

perception

Sensation is to ________ as perception is to ________.

detection; interpretation

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

sensation; perception

Patients' negative expectations about the outcome of a surgical procedure can increase their postoperative experience of pain. This best illustrates the importance of

top-down processing

Heather Sellers suffers from prosopagnosia and is unable to recognize her own face in a mirror. Her difficulty stems from a deficiency in

top-down processing

The effect of prior experience and current expectations on perception best illustrates the importance of

top-down processing

Trying to see a hidden representational image in a piece of abstract art by looking carefully at each element in the picture and trying to form an image employs which kind of perceptual process?

bottom-up processing

Bottom-up processing involves analysis that begins with the

sensory receptors

You typically fail to consciously perceive that your own nose is in your line of vision. This best illustrates

selective attention

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

selective attention

The ability to pay attention to only one voice at a time is called

the cocktail party effect

In University of Utah driving-simulation experiments, students conversing on cell phones were slower to detect and respond to traffic signals. This best illustrates

selective attention

Researchers found that 40 percent of people focused on repeating a list of challenging words failed to notice a change in the person speaking. This best illustrates

change deafness

Ohio State University pedestrians were more likely to cross streets unsafely if they were talking on a cell phone. This best illustrates the impact of

selective attention

Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, Jerry kept looking at his watch to see the time. As a result, he failed to see that a store employee was being robbed by a person just in front of him. Jerry most clearly suffered

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

inattentional blindness

When Jason briefly turned to summon the waiter, his wife quickly switched her glass of red wine with his glass of white wine. Jason's failure to notice that his chosen wine had been replaced best illustrates

change blindness

While a man provided directions to a construction worker, two experimenters rudely interrupted by passing between them carrying a door. The student's failure to notice that the construction worker was replaced by a different person during this interruption illustrates

change blindness

Research participants picked one of two photographed faces as more attractive. When researchers cleverly switched the photos, participants readily explained why they preferred the face they had actually rejected. Their behavior illustrated

choice blindness

The pop-out phenomenon illustrates that some stimuli almost inevitably trigger

selective inattention

The minimum amount of stimulation a person needs to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time is called the

absolute threshold

Although Manuel was sitting right next to his parents, he smelled a skunk minutes before they did. Apparently, Manuel has a lower ________ for skunk odor than his parents have.

absolute threshold

If an adult develops cataracts, his or her

absolute threshold for light is likely to increase

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

absolute threshold

Standing atop a mountain on an utterly dark, clear night, most of us would see a candle flame atop another mountain 30 miles away. This best illustrates

the absolute threshold

Which theory emphasizes that personal expectations and motivations influence the level of absolute thresholds?

signal detection theory

Which theory can best explain why people respond differently to the same stimuli?

signal detection theory

An exhausted forest ranger may notice the faintest scent of a forest fire, whereas much stronger but less important odors fail to catch her attention. This fact would be of greatest relevance to

signal detection theory

The fact that fear may increase your sensitivity to an almost imperceptible pain stimulus is of most relevance to

signal detection theory

When you are expecting an incoming text message, you are much more likely to notice it the second it arrives. This best illustrates

signal detection theory

A subliminal message is one that is presented

below one's absolute threshold for awareness

Audiotapes of soothing ocean sounds accompanied by faint and imperceptible verbal messages designed to increase a desire to lose weight best illustrate

subliminal stimulation

In experiments, an image is quickly flashed and then replaced by a masking stimulus that inhibits conscious perception of the original image. In these experiments, the researchers are studying the effects of

priming

Photographs of people were rated more positively if the photos immediately followed a briefly flashed image of kittens. This best illustrates the impact of

priming

News about the supposed effects of briefly presented messages on people's feelings of being thirsty involved false claims regarding

subliminal stimulation

Those who believe in the value of subliminal audiotapes would be wrong to claim that

unconsciously processed information is unusually persuasive

When informed that a brief imperceptible message would be flashed repeatedly during a popular TV program, many viewers reported feeling strangely hungry or thirsty during the show. Since the imperceptible message had nothing to do with hunger or thirst, viewers' strange reactions best illustrate

a placebo effect

Some people are better than others at detecting slight variations in the tastes of various blends of coffee. This best illustrates the importance of

difference thresholds

If the just-noticeable difference for a 10-ounce weight is 1 ounce, the just noticeable difference for an 80-ounce weight would be ________ ounce(s).

8

Giulio's bag of marbles is twice as heavy as Jim's. If it takes 5 extra marbles to make Jim's bag feel heavier, it will take 10 extra marbles to make Giulio's bag feel heavier. This best illustrates

Weber's law

Weber's law is relevant to an understanding of

difference thresholds

The principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion for their difference to be perceived is known as

Weber's law

Diminished sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus is known as

sensory adaptation

Sensory adaptation refers to

diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

Sensory adaptation helps us to focus our attention on what kind of stimuli?

novel

After listening to your high-volume car stereo for 15 minutes, you fail to realize how loudly the music is blasting. This best illustrates

sensory adaptation

If we could stop our eyes from quivering as we stared at a stationary object, the object would probably

vanish from sight

The constant quivering movements of our eyes enable us to

minimize sensory adaptation

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

transduction

The local fire department sounds the 12 o'clock whistle. The process by which your ears convert the sound waves from the siren into neural impulses is an example of

transduction

Why is transduction important to sensation?

It converts physical stimuli, such as light, into neural messages

Light-wave amplitude determines the

intensity of colors

Humans experience the longest visible electromagnetic waves as

the color red and the shortest visible waves as blue-violet

The amplitude of electromagnetic waves determines the ________ of light.

brightness

Intensity is to brightness as wavelength is to

hue

Brightness is to intensity as hue is to

wavelength

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye is the

pupil

The amount of light entering the eye is regulated by the

iris

Dilation and constriction of the pupil are controlled by the

iris

Which process allows more light to reach the periphery of the retina?

dilation of the pupil

Accommodation refers to the

process by which the lens changes shape to focus images on the retina

Objects are brought into focus on the retina by changes in the curvature and thickness of the

lens

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the rods and cones, is the

retina

Which of the following is the correct order of structures light passes through in the eye?

cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina

Which cells for visual processing are located closest to the back of the retina?

rods and cones

The receptor cells that convert light energy into neural signals are called

rods and cones

Bipolar cells are located in the

retina

The axons of ganglion cells converge to form

the optic nerve

The most light-sensitive receptor cells are the

rods

Compared with rods, cones are

less sensitive to dim light and more sensitive to fine detail

Under very dim levels of illumination

rods are more light-sensitive than cones

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

cones

Rods are

more light-sensitive and less color-sensitive than are cones

The area of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye is called the

blind spot

If an image falls on the eye's blind spot, you do not detect it. Which of the following best explains this phenomenon?

The image is not perceived because without receptor cells, transduction cannot occur

The direct link between a single cone and a single ________ preserves the fine details in the cone's message.

bipolar cell

Damage to the fovea would have the greatest effect on

visual acuity

Visual information is processed by

ganglion cells before it is processed by feature detectors

The feature detectors identified by Hubel and Weisel respond to specific aspects of ________ stimulation.

visual

Which of the following types of cells are located in the brain's occipital lobe?

feature detectors

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

feature detection

Damage to the temporal lobe area of the brain essential for facial recognition produces a loss of

perception

Feature detectors

pass information to other cortical areas where complex patterns are processed by supercell clusters

Feature detectors

are nerve cells in the brain's visual cortex that fire in response to specific edges, lines, and angles

Supercell clusters are

teams of cells that fire in response to complex patterns, such as the human face

The ability to simultaneously recognize the color, shape, size, and speed of an oncoming automobile best illustrates

parallel processing

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

parallel processing

The human ability to speedily recognize familiar objects best illustrates the value of

parallel processing

Perceiving the color, motion, and form of a bird in flight illustrates

parallel processing

Researchers found that if they temporarily disrupted one region of the visual cortex with magnetic pulses, people were unable to recognize faces but could still recognize houses. This suggests that

two separate brain regions process information about faces and objects

Certain stroke victims report seeing nothing when shown a series of sticks, yet they are able to correctly report whether the sticks are vertical or horizontal. This best illustrates

blindsight

Ms. Shields, a recent stroke victim, cannot consciously perceive the large book on the coffee table in front of her. Yet, when urged to identify the book, she correctly reads aloud the printed title on the book cover. Her response best illustrates

blindsight

People who demonstrate blindsight have most likely suffered damage to their

visual cortex

Evidence that some cones are especially sensitive to red light, others to green light, and still others to blue light is most directly supportive of the ________ theory.

Young-Helmholtz

According to the Young-Helmholtz theory

the retina contains three kinds of color receptors