Chapter 3 Practice Test Questions

Study Guide

The following are practice multiple-choice test questions on some of the chapter content. Click the Show Answer button below each question to see the answer. If you guessed on a question or incorrectly answered a question, restudy the relevant section of the chapter.

Question 3.28

1.

The amount of energy in a sensory stimulus detected 50% of the time is called the ______.

  1. difference threshold

  2. absolute threshold

  3. false alarm rate

  4. miss rate

b; absolute threshold

Question 3.29

2.

If a person is using a very strict criterion for a signal detection task, the false alarm rate will be ______, and the miss rate will be ______.

  1. high; high

  2. high; low

  3. low; high

  4. low; low

c; low; high

Question 3.30

3.

According to Weber’s law, if the difference threshold constant = 1/50, then the difference threshold for a standard stimulus of 100 units would be ______.

  1. 1

  2. 2

  3. 5

  4. 10

b; 2

Question 3.31

4.

Red wavelengths of light are ______, and violet wavelengths of light are ______.

  1. long; long

  2. long; short

  3. short; long

  4. short; short

b; long; short

Question 3.32

5.

The rods in the retina are responsible for ______ vision, and the cones are responsible for ______ vision.

  1. color; dim light

  2. bright light; dim light

  3. color; bright light

  4. dim light; color

d; dim light; color

Question 3.33

6.

According to the opponent-process theory of color vision, if you stared at a blue circle for a while and then looked at a white surface, you would see a circular ______ afterimage.

  1. blue

  2. green

  3. yellow

  4. black

c; yellow

147

Question 3.34

7.

Transduction of sound waves into neural impulses is performed by the ______.

  1. eardrum

  2. oval window

  3. malleus, incus, and stapes

  4. hair cells in the basilar membrane

d; hair cells in the basilar membrane

Question 3.35

8.

The best explanation for how we perceive low pitches (< 500 Hz) is the ______ theory, and the best explanation for how we perceive high pitches (> 5,000 Hz) is the ______ theory.

  1. place; place

  2. place; frequency

  3. frequency; place

  4. frequency; frequency

c; frequency; place

Question 3.36

9.

Perceptual set is a good example of ______.

  1. the figure-ground principle

  2. perceptual constancy

  3. bottom-up processing

  4. top-down processing

d; top-down processing

Question 3.37

10.

Which of the following is a binocular depth cue?

  1. linear perspective

  2. interposition

  3. retinal disparity

  4. all of the above

c; retinal disparity

Question 3.38

11.

What is the purpose of transduction?

  1. increasing the intensity of a stimulus so it is easier for the brain to detect

  2. translating physical energy into neural signals that the brain can understand

  3. determining whether or not a stimulus is detectable

  4. integrating visual signals with auditory signals

b; translating physical energy into neural signals that the brain can understand

Question 3.39

12.

Damage to the hair cells in the cochlea causes ______ deafness, and ______ occurs when light waves from distant objects come into focus in front of the retina.

  1. nerve; nearsightedness

  2. conduction; nearsightedness

  3. nerve; farsightedness

  4. conduction; farsightedness

a; nerve; nearsightedness

Question 3.40

13.

Even though the image of your dog on your retina changes as your dog runs to fetch a stick, you do not perceive your dog as getting smaller. Which process of perception explains this phenomenon?

  1. perceptual set

  2. perceptual constancy

  3. dark adaptation

  4. accommodation

b; perceptual constancy

Question 3.41

14.

Perceiving either a vase or two facial silhouettes looking at each other was used to illustrate the Gestalt principle of ______; perceiving two ambiguous characters numerically as 13 or alphabetically as the letter B was used to illustrate ______.

  1. closure; subjective contours

  2. figure and ground; contextual effects

  3. closure; contextual effects

  4. figure and ground; subjective contours

b; figure and ground; contextual effects

Question 3.42

15.

Although Henry’s watchband was bothering him when he first put it on, a short while later he did not even notice he was wearing it. This illustrates ______.

  1. accommodation

  2. sensory adaptation

  3. subliminal perception

  4. perceptual constancy

b; sensory adaptation