Chapter 3: Perception

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which scenario is an example of sensing but not perceiving a stimulus?

a. the music playing in the background while you are studying

b. the argument you are having with your significant other while cooking dinner

c. the music you are singing along to while messaging a friend online

d. the painting you are working on while talking to your mother

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Marta is walking across campus when a car accident happens behind her. At the moment of impact, which part of Marta’s brain processes the sensory information that she is taking in?

a. insular cortex

b. parietal cortex

c. olfactory bulb

d. temporal lobe

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Chris is at a neighborhood cookout. Which part of his body processes the sound of the grill, the sight and smell of the food, and the warmth of sunlight on his skin?

a. distal stimuli

b. temporal lobes

c. receptor cells

d. occipital lobes

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Which of the following processes the sensations coming into each sense organ, allowing us to understand and interpret the sensations we receive?

a. stimulus

b. sensory system

c. brain

d. environment

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Why must humans’ sensory systems rapidly interpret sensations?

a. because humans have more executive function than other animals do

b. to prevent visual overload

c. because humans sense more than other primates can

d. to keep people out of physical danger

Learning Objective: 3-2: What is the purpose of perception?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Sound waves are to ______ as light waves are to ______.

a. hearing; vision

b. touch; vision

c. vision; hearing

d. touch; hearing

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Choose the answer with the correct sequence of events.

a. sense organ > receptor cell > nerve conduit > brain area

b. receptor cell > sense organ > nerve conduit > brain area

c. brain area > nerve conduit > sense organ > receptor cell

d. nerve conduit > receptor cell > sense organ > brain area

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Which of these is an example of a sense organ?

a. hair

b. nails

c. the eye

d. the brain

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. What is the difference between proximal stimuli and distal stimuli?

a. Primates perceive distal stimuli, and non-primates perceive proximal stimuli.

b. Primates perceive proximal stimuli, and non-primates perceive distal stimuli.

c. The human brain translates proximal stimuli into distal stimuli.

d. The human brain translates distal stimuli into proximal stimuli.

Learning Objective: 3-2: What is the purpose of perception?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. John suffered brain damage that caused deficits to his ability to recognize people he knows. What is likely damaged?

a. his sensation

b. his vision

c. his bottom-up processing

d. his top-down processing

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. A stimulus in the environment is to ______ as a stimulus in our mind is to ______.

a. a distal stimulus; a proximal stimulus

b. top-down processing; bottom-up processing

c. a proximal stimulus; a distal stimulus

d. bottom-up processing; top-down processing

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Which of these psychological approaches focuses on how humans use principles of organization to understand our surroundings?

a. perception-action

b. computational

c. Gestalt

d. top-down

Learning Objective: 3-2: What is the purpose of perception?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. If you perceive the simplest outlines or qualities of an object first, and then you add those parts to help you understand what the object is, which type of mental processing are you using?

a. computational

b. hierarchical

c. top-down

d. bottom-up

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. When the features of individual letters are combined to identify each letter, and then the letters are combined to identify a word, what does this illustrate?

a. top-down processing

b. bottom-up processing

c. a visual stimulus

d. sensation

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. How do geons help us to perceive objects?

a. by making it easier to accurately perceive partly covered three-dimensional objects

b. by making it easier to accurately perceive two-dimensional objects from different angles

c. by helping us process objects of varying retinal image sizes

d. by helping us process objects of similar retinal image sizes

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Which of these help us estimate objects’ size and distance to aid in our perception?

a. neurons

b. sensations

c. stimuli

d. cues

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Why does the Ponzo illusion work?

a. Viewers misunderstand cues related to linear perspective.

b. People mistakenly create retinal images that are the same size.

c. Viewers interpret visual cues inconsistently across stimuli

d. People use only retinal cues rather than linear perspective.

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. The Ponzo illusion happens when there is a discrepancy between ______.

a. computational approaches and Gestalt approaches

b. top-down processing and bottom-down processing

c. actual images and retinal images

d. distal stimuli and proximal stimuli

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. When we use knowledge of objects to aid in our perception of them, we are using ______.

a. the “where” pathway

b. bottom-up processing

c. top-down processing

d. sensations

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. If you were to hold a pen in each hand, with one held five inches from your face and the other at arm’s length, the one closer to your face will look larger, even though they are the same size. This is based on cues from ______.

a. the retinal image

b. brain functioning

c. top-down processing

d. a linear perspective

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. You see a puppy’s head poking out of a box. You assume that there is, in fact, an entire puppy in the box even though you cannot see it. This is because of ______.

a. the puppy being a proximal stimulus

b. top-down processing

c. the “where” pathway

d. the theory of unconscious inference

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. You are eating a meal at an open-air restaurant a few hundred yards from the ocean. You hear a constant whooshing sound. According to the likelihood principle, what would you assume caused the noise?

a. an earthquake

b. waves crashing on the beach

c. a series of airplanes landing

d. traffic a few miles away

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. A key component of Gestalt approaches to perception is ______.

a. top-down processing

b. sensation

c. bottom-up processing

d. the computational approach

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. According to Gestalt psychologists, which of these organizing principles do people use as they perceive the world?

a. People group similar objects.

b. They group items that are far apart.

c. People use bottom-up processing before any other method.

d. They do not see objects that are partly covered as continuous.

Learning Objective: 3-6: What does it mean for something to be "more than the sum of its parts"?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Which organizational principle of Gestalt perception would be responsible for our perception that an airplane has continued along its flight path even though we can no longer see it?

a. good continuation

b. closure

c. simplicity

d. proximity

Learning Objective: 3-6: What does it mean for something to be "more than the sum of its parts"?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. You come home, and your house is a mess. The garbage is spilled all over the kitchen, there are rolls of toilet paper strewn about, and all of your decorative trinkets are broken on the floor, but nothing is missing. Your dog and cat are sitting calmly in the middle of the mess. According to the principle of Pragnanz, what would you assume caused the mess?

a. an earthquake

b. a robber

c. your cat and dog

d. your neighbor’s child

Learning Objective: 3-6: What does it mean for something to be "more than the sum of its parts"?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. You see a photo of someone jumping rope, with the rope behind him. Although it is possible that there are two different ropes, since you cannot see the whole thing, you assume that the person is holding one continuous rope. This illustrates ______.

a. similarity

b. good continuation

c. closure

d. simplicity

Learning Objective: 3-6: What does it mean for something to be "more than the sum of its parts"?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Pomerantz and Portillo (2012) found that larger arrays of stimuli containing basic feature elements and more complex stimuli are easier to perceive than smaller basic arrays and stimuli. This is called ______.

a. the theory of unconscious inference

b. the configural superiority effect

c. the computational approach

d. perception

Learning Objective: 3-6: What does it mean for something to be “more than the sum of its parts”?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. Which of these is an example of an unconscious inference we make about the world?

a. When we see an image of a cat crossing some railroad tracks, we are uncertain whether the converging lines indicate distance.

b. When we see an image of pencils in an opaque jar, the jar and the pencils blend in a single retinal image that is of consistent size.

c. When we see an image of pencils in an opaque jar, we understand that parts of the pencils are inside the jar even though we cannot see those parts.

d. When we see an image of a cat crossing some railroad tracks, we process the cat and the tracks in one retinal image.

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Analyze

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. When making a decision, we are likely to weigh all of the possible choices we could make. This is most similar to the concept of ______ in perception.

a. top-down processing

b. closure

c. proximity

d. affordances

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. The ventral pathway is to ______ as the dorsal pathway is to ______.

a. what; where

b. top-down processing; bottom-up processing

c. where; what

d. bottom-up processing; top-down processing

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. A neuropsychological discovery that provided support for the link between perception and action was the discovery of ______.

a. top-down processing

b. the visual cortex

c. mirror neurons

d. perception

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. In which of these studies would scientists expect the subjects’ mirror neurons to be most likely to engage?

a. A karate expert observes a karate demonstration.

b. A monkey watches a karate expert.

c. A ballet expert who has not danced in years watches classical ballet.

d. A ballet dancer watches a monkey.

Learning Objective: 3-2: What is the purpose of perception?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

34. An area near the occipital lobe has been shown to become active when motion stimuli are perceived and when the direction of an object’s movement is accurately detected. This is the ______ pathway.

a. “how”

b. “when”

c. “where”

d. “what”

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. You are in Times Square on New Year’s Eve and are watching all of the giant screens. You detect apparent movement on these digital billboards, although what you actually perceive are light pixels flashing on and off or changes in color. This is known as ______.

a. the computational approach

b. bottom-up processing

c. the phi phenomenon

d. good continuation

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Medium

36. Why must there be a variety of approaches to studying how people perceive motion?

a. This perception varies depending on one’s age and brain condition.

b. Perception of motion likely involves several processes.

c. Scientists have not yet discovered an accurate way to study this topic.

d. Currently, there is too little academic interest in this topic.

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Medium

37. You volunteer for an experiment in which scientists find out how you perceive the location of objects. Which pathway of your brain will the scientists monitor?

a. ventral

b. dorsal

c. lateral

d. variable

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. After a severe illness that caused her to suffer a brain injury, Mi Jeong cannot detect the movement of a stimulus. Which area of her brain is likely damaged?

a. lower occipital lobe

b. lateral stream

c. dorsal pathway

d. ventral pathway

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

39. According to research, which of these is most important in perceiving apparent motion?

a. nearness

b. similarity

c. color

d. stability

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Medium

40. Neurons in the “when” pathway become extremely active if they detect ______.

a. the outline of a moving object

b. the outline of a stationary object

c. the direction of a moving object

d. the distance of a stationary object

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Easy

41. Based on what you have read about perception/action researchers, which of these studies would be most helpful for their research?

a. how dogs know it is time to go to sleep

b. how changes in retinal images occur over time

c. how people perceive changing letters on digital billboards

d. how cats catch mice or rats

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Hard

42. Which of these do pilots use to help them land planes?

a. optic flow

b. the phi phenomenon

c. digital illusion

d. the Ebbinghaus size illusion

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Our skin is one of our sense organs.

Learning Objective: 3-1: What is perception?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Every stimulus sensed by your sense organs is consciously perceived.

Learning Objective: 3-2: What is the purpose of perception?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. A distal stimulus is to a proximal stimulus as the environment is to our mind.

Learning Objective: 3-2: What is the purpose of perception?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sensory Systems: How Sensations Become Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. An example of bottom-up processing is sensing a dog running toward you.

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. The theory of unconscious inference is based on the use of cues such as linear perception and retinal image size in object perception.

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Top-down processing is a key component in Gestalt approaches to perception.

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. According to the principle of Pragnanz, we generally perceive scenes in complex and unreliable ways.

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

Gestalt

8. An example of an affordance would be thinking that you can fly to class.

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Gestalt-Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. The dorsal pathway of the brain processes “what” information about the environment.

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. When you look at a football player running on television, it is easier to track the player's motion if there are patterns or landmarks in the background than if you can see only the player on a solid green field.

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comparison of Approaches to Perception: Motion Perception

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. List, define, and give an example of each of the five organizational principles of Gestalt perception discussed in your text.

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Gestalt Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Using the ideas of top-down and bottom-up processing, describe a recent event in your life and how you used each of these processes throughout the event.

Learning Objective: 3-3: How do our sensory systems affect our perception of the world?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Describe one of the visual illusions you learned about in this chapter, and explain how it fools the eye.

Learning Objective: 3-5: Why do we sometimes perceive things incorrectly?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Computational Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Explain what optic flow is, and give an example of how you use it in your everyday life.

Learning Objective: 3-7: How does perception aid in action?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Compare and contrast the dorsal pathway and the ventral pathway, giving an example of how you might use each in your everyday environment.

Learning Objective: 3-4: Do we control our perceptions or can we perceive automatically?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Perception/Action Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard