CHAPTER 5                 Perception

A little trashcan icon on your computer shows where to click in order to delete a file. This is an example of a(n)a.    parallel distributed processing model.                b.         human-computer interaction.

c.     object superiority effect.                                                                   d.         artificial intelligence.

If sensation equals raw data, then perception equals

Pierre is painting a picture and would like to make the bear in the painting appear closer than the forest. One way he could do this is by using the principle of

a.     Gestaltian proximity.             b.         closure.            c.         common region.            d.         interposition.

While waiting at the end of a long line, Roger notices that he can’t determine the hair color or facial features of the people at the front of the line, but he can do so with people near him.  Roger would perceive people at the front of the line to be farther away due to what depth perception cue?

a.     Interposition b.         Texture gradient            c.         Convergence    d.         Binocular disparity

Which one of the following statements is not true of perception?

a.     It involves interpretation of sensations.           b.         It utilizes knowledge of the world.

c.     It sometimes causes people to fill in information that the senses do not actually provide.

d.     It is a relatively passive process.

Dr. N. Sane is busy creating a robot to wreak havoc on Earth.  As he programs his robot’s “brain computer,” he is most concerned with the computations that must be performed to solve perceptual problems such as recognition and reading skills.  Dr. N. Sane supports the______ approach to perception.

a.     computational           b.         constructivist     c.         ecological         d.         robotic

Sensation is to perception as

a.     simplicity is to constancy.      b.         collection is to interpretation.

c.     storage is to recall.                                        d.         interpretation is to collection.

While visiting Dr. Evil in prison, Austin perceives Dr. Evil as a normal, whole, person even though parts of him are hidden behind the jail cell bars.  This is consistent with the ______ approach to perception, which emphasizes using knowledge and expectations to perceive objects as unified wholes.

a.     ecological     b.         computational   c.         constructivist     d.         eclectic

Stevie believes that perception is heavily based on past experiences and expectations, while Dana believes that most of what is perceived already exists in the stimuli in the environment. Stevie adheres to the _____ view of perception while Dana adheres to the ___ view.

a.     constructionist; ecological                             b.         ecological; computational

c.     computational; constructionist                       d.         computational; ecological

As Sujada looks at her dog in the bushes, the leaves partially block her view, but she can still see enough of the dog to perceive it as a dog. The fact that Sujada perceives an entire dog even though she cannot actually see all of it best illustrates the ___ nature of perception.

a.     adaptive       b.         categorical        c.         inferential          d.         metric

A psychologist conducts an experiment in which he presents tones to subjects at various levels of intensity (that is, soft, moderate, and loud). The point at which the tone can be detected 50 percent of the time is known as

a.     the absolute threshold.          b.         Fechner’s threshold.     c.         the stimulus threshold.

d.     the psychophysical threshold.

In a recent movie, there are a couple of frames where an image of a monkey playing an accordion is flashed on the screen, yet most people do not notice this. If Kathy is watching the movie and notices these flashed images 20% of the time, the image would be classified as

a.     supraliminal. b.         subliminal.         c.         absolute.           d.         psychophysical.

If our perceptual system did not follow the organizing principle of constancy,

a.     external stimuli would be unidentifiable.

b.     objects and people would appear to change size as their distance from us varied.

c.     sensory information would be delivered to the brain in incomplete units.

d.     perceptual processing would be inefficient during times of stress.

When Jefferson is on vacation, he loves to eat at The Great Homestyle Buffet restaurants. Although many other restaurants have signs as prominent as The Great Homestyle Buffet’s, Jefferson notices the The Great Homestyle Buffet signs first. This occurs mainly because of ______________ processing.

a.     bottom-up                b.         parallel distributed         c.         Stroop  d.         top-down

Ronald McDonald knows about Weber’s law from taking Introductory Psychology at clown college.  He understands that if he usually salts his fries with 2 cups of salt, he would have to salt his fries with 2.4 cups of salt for his customers to perceive that he is using more salt than usual.  Ronald has determined the ____ of the salt on his fries.

Jackie is expecting a phone call. She mistakenly believes she hears the phone ringing two times even though it does not actually ring. The next evening, when Jackie is not expecting any calls, she does not experience this phenomenon. Jackie’s experience is predicted by

Hunter is taking a shower when, after ten minutes, the hot water starts to run out. The point at which Hunter can tell that the water is getting colder represents his

a.     absolute threshold.                b.         just-noticeable difference.

c.     subliminal threshold.  d.         supraliminal threshold.

Milo just had a new stereo system installed in his car.  The speakers are perfectly adjusted so that the front and back are equally loud.  Milo then adjusts the speaker balance until he can just notice that the front speakers are louder.  Milo’s detection of the change in loudness is an example of a(n)

a.     absolute threshold.    b.         false alarm.       c.         difference threshold.      d.         subliminal stimulus.

You are a master chef working in a fancy restaurant. To decide how much salt needs to be added to your latest creation, in order for you to perceive that it contains twice as much salt, you should use ___ law.

a.     Gestalt’s                   b.         Fechner’s                     c.         Weber’s                       d.         Ebbinghaus’s

When you look at the pattern below, you tend to perceive three “groups” of two items each rather than perceiving six separate items.     XX  XX  XX

This tendency is best explained by the Gestalt principle of

a.     common fate.           b.         closure.            c.         similarity.          d.         proximity.

 “While watching a crowd of people, one does not focus on individual colors, movements, and shapes. Instead, one perceives the event as a whole.” This statement has most likely been made by a

a.     cognitive psychologist.          b.         functionalist.      c.         Gestalt psychologist.     d.         structuralist.

A low cloud has drifted across the middle of the skyscraper, partially obscuring it.  You perceive the top and bottom of the skyscraper as forming a single object due to the Gestalt principle of

a.     closure.        b.         proximity.         c.         common fate.    d.         common region.

Tanya is riding on a train and notices that the wildflowers by the side of the tracks seem to be moving by much faster than the mountains in the distance. This is an example of

a.     binocular disparity.   b.         figure-ground disparity. c.         a schema.         d.         motion parallax.

You are driving and staring at two trees far off in the distance.  You can estimate the distance between the trees by the way they appear to move relative to one another, using the cue of

a.     motion parallax.        b.         accommodation.           c.         linear perspective.         d.         binocular disparity.

During a war, soldiers wear camouflage clothing to not be perceived by enemies.  The perceptual cue which is being manipulated in this example is

a.     common region.        b.         proximity.         c.         common fate.    d.         figure-ground.

Which of the following best illustrates the figure-ground property of perceptual organization?

a.     When you look at a field of flowers, you notice that the details of the flowers fade as you look toward the horizon.

b.     As you drive in a car, the mailboxes seem to fly by you faster than buildings in the distance.

c.     While at a party, you can clearly see the person with whom you are talking, but you don’t really notice all the other people behind her.

d.     Monkeys appear pretty big if they are close to you, but they appear small if they are far away.

After a fencing accident, Jerome had to wear a patch over one eye for several weeks. He was advised by his doctor not to drive a car, because the patch would affect Jerome’s use of the _ cue for depth perception.

a.     convergence b.         linear perspective          c.         interposition      d.         accommodation

Wes lost total vision out of his left eye. This means that Wes is unable to use the depth perception cue of

a.     interposition. b.         binocular disparity.        c.         relative size.      d.         linear perspective.

Malcolm was born with a unique birth defect that does not allow the lenses in his eyes to change shape. Which of the following visual cues will this affect?

Oscar is in a fight and he sees the image of a fist that expands so that it fills his retina.  He realizes that the fist is coming at him, rather than growing in size, because of

a.     induced motion.        b.         convergence.    c.         looming.           d.         binocular disparity.

Patrice is surprised when a researcher tells her that her reaction time is quicker to images she has seen before, even though she doesn’t remember having seen them. The reason for Patrice’s quicker reaction time is

a.     the mere-exposure effect.     b.         parallel processing.       c.         perceptual set.  d.         unconscious awareness.

Jamel is trying to teach Kathryn to draw a cartoon monkey. Jamel shows Kathryn that if you use simple forms, such as cones and cylinders, you can form a monkey’s face and ears. Jamel is helping Kathryn to create objects using                 

According to research on perception in infants, the first thing that infants should be able to do after birth is to

a.     focus on the corner of a triangle.                   b.         pay attention to a human face.

c.     perceive the pattern of an object.                  d.         be able to perceive depth.

Nine-month-old Keisha watches her ball bounce down the stairs. As she approaches the top of the stairs, she backs up and hesitates to go down the stairs. This indicates that Keisha has developed

Martensenussell wants to know what things newborns can discriminate between. If Martensenussell presented a series of green displays to a newborn, you would expect the infant to ______________ with a blue display and _____ with a black-and-white display.

a.     dishabituate; habituate                                               b.         habituate; dishabituate

c.     dishabituate; dishabituate                              d.         habituate; habituate

During psychology class, Marissa is watching the instructor when someone accidentally drops a book, making a loud sound.  Marissa immediately shifts her attention to look at the book.  This is an example of _____ orientating which involved _____ control.

On a rainy night, Melissa is busily scanning the crowd outside a concert hall for her date, Gail. Gail has dark hair and is wearing a raincoat. Because nearly everyone is wearing a raincoat and has dark hair, Melissa is most likely using ______________ to locate Gail.

a.     distributed perception                       b.         multiplicative perception            c.         parallel processing

d.     serial processing

A study tested drivers for reaction times to road hazards while they were using cell phones, listening to the radio, and exposed to a conversation inside the vehicle.  These drivers reacted much more slowly to the hazards than did drivers not engaged in these activities.  Which of the following statements could apply to the results of the study?

a.     Driving is automatic, so there is no explanation for increased reaction times.

b.     PDP processing is superior to top-down processing.

c.     The attentional resources of the drivers were exhausted.

d.     Drivers are more vigilant when paying attention to multiple stimuli.

Jackie is looking for her friend Alison at a football game. Alison told Jackie that she would be wearing her blue sweatshirt and a baseball hat to the game. However, many people are wearing blue sweatshirts and baseball hats. Jackie will have to perform a ______ search to find Alison.

a.     parallel                     b.         overt                c.         serial                d.         covert

While working at your computer, you are able to quickly find the cursor because of

a.     serial processing.      b.         covert orientation.         c.         effortless orientation.     d.         parallel processing.

Essay Questions

1.     Many depth cues are used by artists to show distance in their paintings. Please choose 4 of the many depth cues described in your text and discuss how they can affect depth perception.

2.     Because much of our perception can be determined by the experiences we have had and the inferences we make, it is important to understand top-down processing. Describe how expectancy, motivation, and schemas influence top-down processing of perceptions.

3.     In math class, while trying to understand a complicated problem on the chalkboard, you look over your physics notes in preparation for a physics quiz scheduled for the next hour. How successful will you be at these dual-attention tasks, and why? Include at least three influences on attention in your discussion.