Chapter 2 - Athabasca Quizz

Question 1

Many researchers argue that face perception is “special”; we process faces in a different way than we process other visual stimuli. According to this perspective,
Question options:

we process the colour of human faces before we process their shape.

unlike other objects, information about faces does not pass through the primary visual cortex.

we recognize faces in terms of their entire shape, rather than in terms of their isolated features.

because faces are so complex, we take a long time to recognize that an object is a face; in contrast, we recognize simpler objects much more quickly.

Answer 1

we recognize faces in terms of their entire shape, rather than in terms of their isolated features.

Question 2

The template model of object recognition would have the most difficulty explaining
Question options:

how people recognize letters of the alphabet if you turned the letters upside-down.

how computers recognize a standardized set of numbers.

how people can recognize an isolated letter, without any word context.

how people recognize neatly printed numbers.

Answer 2

how people recognize letters of the alphabet if you turned the letters upside-down.

Question 3

The recognition-by-components theory argues that we recognize an object by
Question options:

analyzing the arrangement of simple 3-dimensional shapes that form the object.

comparing each object to the idealized version of that object, as stored in long-term memory.

registering each major line, curve, and angle of an object.

perceiving the overall form of an object as one complete shape or gestalt.

Answer 3

analyzing the arrangement of simple 3-dimensional shapes that form the object.

Question 4

Chapter 2 discussed individual differences in the ability to recognize another person’s facial expressions. This research showed that individuals with schizophrenia are more likely than people in a control group
Question options:

to respond slowly.

to make errors in identifying the facial expression.

to use holistic processing.

to use a template that processes facial expression.

Answer 4

to respond slowly.

Question 5

The “general mechanism approach” to speech perception argues that
Question options:

we first obtain a general idea about a spoken message, and then we fill in the specific details.

we use similar processes for both speech perception and other auditory perception tasks.

learning does not play a major role in speech perception.

children are born with a general understanding about speech, and they fill in specific information as they grow older.

Answer 5

we use similar processes for both speech perception and other auditory perception tasks.

Question 6

Which of the following statements about object recognition is correct?
Question options:

Visual information is first processed in the primary visual cortex, but it is eventually stored in the retina.

In general, we need at least one second to recognize an object.

The primary visual cortex is responsible for identifying complex objects; in contrast, other portions of the brain identify lines and simple shapes.

Regions of the cortex beyond the primary visual cortex are active when we identify complex objects.

Answer 6

Regions of the cortex beyond the primary visual cortex are active when we identify complex objects.

Question 7

The “o” sound in the word “dog” influences the position of your mouth when you pronounce the remainder of the word. This phenomenon is called
Question options:

the McGurk effect.

categorical perception.

phonemic restoration.

coarticulation.

Answer 7

coarticulation.

Question 8

The research on speech perception demonstrates that
Question options:

each phoneme has a unique but consistent pronunciation.

context can be used to identify a missing vowel, but not a missing consonant.

people use visual cues from the speaker’s mouth in order to perceive an ambiguous sound.

listeners typically perceive a solid stream of language, without any breaks in the stream.

Answer 8

people use visual cues from the speaker’s mouth in order to perceive an ambiguous sound.

Question 9

According to the word superiority effect,
Question options:

we have trouble noticing when one of the letters in a word disappears from the stimulus.

we can recognize a letter faster and more accurately when it is part of a word, rather than when this letter appears by itself.

we can recognize an unfamiliar word more quickly than an isolated letter of the alphabet.

bottom-up processing is more helpful than top-down processing.

Answer 9

we can recognize a letter faster and more accurately when it is part of a word, rather than when this letter appears by itself.

Question 10

According to the introductory discussion about perceptual processes,
Question options:

humans have relatively primitive perceptual processes compared to models created by artificial intelligence.

although perception appears to be straightforward, it actually requires more cognitive effort than tasks such as problem solving.

unlike other cognitive tasks, perception requires only bottom-up processing.

perception requires both information from the stimulus and knowledge about previous perceptual experiences.

Answer 10

perception requires both information from the stimulus and knowledge about previous perceptual experiences.

Question 11

The feature-analysis approach to object recognition argues that
Question options:

recognition involves a match between the overall shape of an item and the gestalt features stored in memory.

recognition involves detecting specific characteristics of the stimulus.

the match between the stimulus and the template must be exactly correct.

we need to explain how people are able to recognize the arrangement of objects in a specific scene.

Answer 11

recognition involves detecting specific characteristics of the stimulus.

Question 12

The term “change blindness” refers to the observation that
Question options:

people with poor eyesight tend not to notice that a visual object is rotating.

people often fail to see that an object in a scene has changed.

people often fail to notice that a new object has suddenly appeared in a scene.

infants are not able to create a gestalt in a subjective-contour figure.

Answer 12

people often fail to see that an object in a scene has changed.

Question 13

What can we conclude about the two major explanations for speech perception?
Question options:

Humans show categorical perception for nonspeech sounds, which argues against a phonetic module approach.

Humans show categorical perception for nonspeech sounds, which argues for a phonetic module approach.

Humans cannot use visual cues as aids to the perception of phonemes, which argues against a general mechanism approach.

Infants use a general mechanism approach, whereas adults typically use a phonetic module approach.

Answer 13

Humans show categorical perception for non speech sounds, which argues against a phonetic module approach.

Question 14

You are now reading a sentence on an examination. The actual stimulus (the words on the piece of paper) is called
Question options:

the distal stimulus.

the proximal stimulus.

the geon.

the template.

Answer 14

the distal stimulus.

Question 15

The term “phoneme” refers to
Question options:

the written representation of a basic speech sound.

the basic unit of spoken language.

the meaning of a word, within the context of a sentence.

the grammatical aspects of a word.

Answer 15

the basic unit of spoken language.

Question 16

If you were to study top-down processing as it applies to smell, which of the following topics would be most relevant?
Question options:

Whether people recognize a lemon fragrance more readily when they see a photo of a lemon than when they see a photo of a rose.

Whether the chemical structure of lemon-fragrance molecules is substantially different from the chemical structure of rose-fragrance molecules.

Whether the receptors in the nasal passages respond differently to lemon and rose fragrances.

Whether the brain stores lemon and rose fragrances in different locations.

Answer 16

Whether people recognize a lemon fragrance more readily when they see a photo of a lemon than when they see a photo of a rose.

Question 17

Your textbook discussed a study by Rueckl and Oden (the “bears/beans” study) in some detail. These researchers manipulated both the features of a letter within a word and the context in which the word appeared. This study demonstrated that
Question options:

both bottom-up and top-down processing operate.

under appropriate conditions, people only pay attention to distinctive features.

sensory memory can be extended when a word appears in context.

top-down processing almost always leads to more accurate pattern recognition.

Answer 17

both bottom-up and top-down processing operate

Question 18

According to the discussion of phoneme perception,
Question options:

this task is not very challenging because of our innate phoneme detectors.

this task is not very challenging because each phoneme is pronounced in such a standard fashion.

this task is challenging because the English language has over 200 distinct phonemes.

this task is challenging because of the variability in speakers’ pronunciation of phonemes.

Answer 18

this task is challenging because of the variability in speakers’ pronunciation of phonemes.

Question 19

According to the introductory discussion about perceptual processes,
Question options:

humans have relatively primitive perceptual processes compared to models created by artificial intelligence.

although perception appears to be straightforward, it actually requires more cognitive effort than tasks such as problem solving.

unlike other cognitive tasks, perception requires only bottom-up processing.

perception requires both information from the stimulus and knowledge about previous perceptual experiences.

Answer 19

perception requires both information from the stimulus and knowledge about previous perceptual experiences.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about object recognition is correct?
Question options:

Visual information is first processed in the primary visual cortex, but it is eventually stored in the retina.

In general, we need at least one second to recognize an object.

The primary visual cortex is responsible for identifying complex objects; in contrast, other portions of the brain identify lines and simple shapes.

Regions of the cortex beyond the primary visual cortex are active when we identify complex objects.

Answer 20

Regions of the cortex beyond the primary visual cortex are active when we identify complex objects.

Question 21

In the current version of Anne Treisman’s feature-integration theory,
Question options:

we initially process a scene using focused attention; later, we process the scene using distributed attention.

distributed attention can occasionally resemble focus attention.

we examine familiar objects carefully to detect any unexpected new features; in contrast, we examine unfamiliar objects more quickly.

a bottleneck in human information processing limits the amount of information to which we can pay attention.

Answer 21

distributed attention can occasionally resemble focus attention.

Question 22

Chinese readers make saccadic eye movements when they are reading a book written in Chinese script. Compared to English readers, the Chinese readers
Question options:

move their eyes only two to three characters in a saccade because each Chinese character contains more information.

move their eyes a greater distance in a saccade because each Chinese character provides less information.

move their eyes a greater distance in a saccade because each Chinese character provides more grammatical information.

move their eyes a greater distance in a saccade because English has so many irregularities in its spelling.

Answer 22

move their eyes only two to three characters in a saccade because each Chinese character contains more information.

Question 23

Imagine that you need to meet someone at the airport. You would notice him more quickly if he had told you: “Look for the only person wearing a hat,” than if he told you: “Look for the only person not wearing a hat.” This situation is most similar to
Question options:

the Stroop effect.

the isolated-feature/combined-feature effect.

the feature-present/feature-absent effect.

Wolfe’s finding that we detect a target more accurately if the target appears frequently, rather than rarely.

Answer 23

the feature-present/feature-absent effect.

Question 24

Which of the following students provides the most complete, accurate information about the topic called “mind wandering”?
Question options:

Daphne: “When your mind wanders, your visual acuity actually improves.”

Dan: “When your mind wanders, you no longer can match an object’s shape with its colour.”

Evan: “Mind wandering occurs when your attention shifts from distributed attention to focused attention.”

Karolina: “Mind wandering occurs when your thoughts shift from the outside world to your inner thoughts.”

Answer 24

Karolina: “Mind wandering occurs when your thoughts shift from the outside world to your inner thoughts.”

Question 25

Which of the following is considered to be the best current explanation of the visual condition called “blindsight”?
Question options:

In reality, the visual cortex of these individuals is not physically damaged.

These individuals actually underestimate the extent of their visual deficit.

These individuals typically have difficulties with their executive attention network.

Some information from the retina travels to regions of the cortex outside the visual cortex.

Answer 25

Some information from the retina travels to regions of the cortex outside the visual cortex.

Question 26

Which of the following students provides the most accurate summary about phone use when someone is driving?
Question options:

Henri: “As long as someone other than the driver is talking on the phone, there’s no problem.”

Edith: “As long as a driver uses a hands-free phone, there’s no problem.”

Charles: “When drivers are talking on the phone, they pay less attention to objects that appear in the middle of their visual field.”

Jeanne: “When drivers are talking on the phone, the passengers can carry on a continuous conversation without affecting the driver.”

Answer 26

Charles: “When drivers are talking on the phone, they pay less attention to objects that appear in the middle of their visual field.

Question 27

Right now, you are moving your eyes as you read this question on your exam. The letters that you can see at any given moment—in between eye movements—would be called
Question options:

a fixation.

the perceptual span.

a saccadic eye movement.

the fovea.

Answer 27

the perceptual span.

Question 28

Imagine that you are listening to a friend complaining about a course assignment, but you are simultaneously trying to read the newspaper. This is an example of
Question options:

top-down processing.

divided attention.

selective attention.

the binding problem.

Answer 28

divided attention.

Question 29

An illusory conjunction occurs when
Question options:

people pay selective attention to unusual features and ignore ordinary, common features.

people are not able to use focused attention.

people use bottom-up processing.

people use templates during object recognition.

Answer 29

when people are not able to use selective attention

Question 30

he neuroscience research on the executive attention network shows that this system

Question options:

primarily activates the prefrontal part of the cortex.

is fairly well developed in infants.

helps you search an area for a specific target.

helps you notice a new stimulus

Answer 30

primarily activates the prefrontal part of the cortex.

Question 31

The identification of a complex arrangement of visual stimuli is known as
Question options:

sensation.

recognition by components.

object recognition.

connectionism.

Answer 31

object recognition.

Question 32

Research on context and speech perception has demonstrated that
Question options:

people are amazingly accurate in identifying speech sounds that are missing in a sentence.

people often do not notice a missing sound when it occurs within the context of a sentence.

speech perception is almost entirely a bottom-up process.

when a phoneme in a sentence is mispronounced, people typically cannot understand the sentence.

Answer 32

people often do not notice a missing sound when it occurs within the context of a sentence.

Question 33

According to the general mechanism approach, speech perception can be explained by
Question options:

the same kind of learning mechanisms that humans use in acquiring other cognitive skills.

an innate ability to acquire language.

a neural unit in the temporal lobe of the cortex that is “programmed” shortly before birth.

listeners’ skills in coordinating phonemes with the lip position of a speaker.

Answer 33

the same kind of learning mechanisms that humans use in acquiring other cognitive skills.

Question 34

According to the research on the recognition-by-components theory,
Question options:

the theory is especially accurate in its ability to explain how we perceive moving objects.

the theory has difficulty explaining how we recognize three-dimensional objects, though it explains how we can perceive letters of the alphabet.

the theory primarily applies to the performance of people who have visual deficits.

the theory needs to include a mechanism for recognizing objects seen from an unusual point of view, or else it would be inadequate.

Answer 34

the theory needs to include a mechanism for recognizing objects seen from an unusual point of view, or else it would be inadequate.

Question 35

According to the gestalt psychology approach to visual perception,
Question options:

when we look at an object for the first time, we see a random arrangement of stimuli.

the distal stimulus is more important than the proximal stimulus.

we tend to see well-organized patterns, rather than random-looking stimuli.

we first extract the template, and then later we extract the geon

Answer 35

we tend to see well-organized patterns, rather than random-looking stimuli.

Question 36

Imagine that you are looking at a geometric drawing. At first, one shape in this drawing seems to be in front of other shapes. The next moment, this same shape seems to be located behind a second shape. This phenomenon is called
Question options:

depth perception.

an illusory contour.

an ambiguous figure-ground relationship.

holistic recognition.

Answer 36

an ambiguous figure-ground relationship.

Question 37

Feature-analysis theory of object recognition
Question options:

state that we store a template for each letter of the alphabet.

cannot explain how we manage to recognize handwritten letters of the alphabet,

are contradicted by neuroscience research.

make predictions about why an R would be confused with a P, rather than a W.

Answer 37

make predictions about why an R would be confused with a P, rather than a W

Question 38

Which of the following students provides the best overview of the research on theories of speech perception, as discussed in Chapter 2?
Question options:

Kaitlin: “Because speech is important to human survival, people have a specialized brain structure that helps them decode speech sounds.”

Anastazia: “The research on categorical perception provides the strongest evidence that the special mechanism approach to speech perception is correct.”

Samaria: “Most theorists believe that the human nervous system processes speech sounds in the same way it processes non-speech sounds.”

Jared: “The research on the McGurk effect demonstrates that the special mechanism approach to speech perception is correct.”

Answer 38

Samaria: “Most theorists believe that the human nervous system processes speech sounds in the same way it processes non-speech sounds.”

Question 39

Chapter 2 discussed individual differences in the ability to recognize another person’s facial expressions. This research showed that individuals with schizophrenia are more likely than people in a control group
Question options:

to respond slowly.

to make errors in identifying the facial expression.

to use holistic processing.

to use a template that processes facial expression.

Answer 39

to respond slowly.

Question 40

The “o” sound in the word “dog” influences the position of your mouth when you pronounce the remainder of the word. This phenomenon is called
Question options:

the McGurk effect.

categorical perception.

phonemic restoration.

coarticulation.

Answer 40

coarticulation.

Question 41

Imagine that you have been on a strict diet for several weeks. No matter how hard you try, you can’t avoid thinking about chocolate chip cookies and lemon meringue pie. You are having difficulty with
Question options:

thought suppression.

divided attention.

illusory conjunctions.

shadowing.

Answer 41

thought suppression.

Question 42

Suppose that researchers show you one blue X surrounded by 25 red Xs. According to the discussion of visual search, you would locate that blue X
Question options:

significantly more slowly than if there were only 3 other red Xs.

significantly more quickly than if there were only 3 other red Xs.

just as quickly as if there were only 3 other red Xs.

significantly more quickly than if the other items were blue and red Os.

Answer 42

just as quickly as if there were only 3 other red Xs.

Question 43

Which of the following students provides the most accurate summary of the neuroscience research on attention?
Question options:

Lucy: “One kind of attention task activates the frontal lobe, and a different kind of attention activates the parietal lobe.”

Nipon: “The orienting attention network is activated when people work on the Stroop task.”

Daniel: “The executive attention network is activated when people search for a specific target.”

Elena: “At present, the neuroscience research shows contradictory findings, so that it is too early to draw any conclusions about this topic.”

Answer 43

Lucy: “One kind of attention task activates the frontal lobe, and a different kind of attention activates the parietal lobe.”

Question 44

Suppose that some students are participating in a dichotic listening task. Which of the following kinds of students would be most likely to notice their names in the irrelevant message?
Question options:

students with high working-memory capacity

students with low working-memory capacity

students who hear both messages presented quickly

students who make many errors on the Stroop task

Answer 44

students with low working-memory capacity

Question 45

Suppose that you are worried about a test that you took yesterday. Therefore, you decide to try to forget about this problem, and concentrate on something more pleasant. However, this strategy backfires, and you think about the test even more frequently. This phenomenon is called
Question options:

mind wandering.

ironic effects of mental control.

blindsight.

an illusory conjunction.

Answer 45

ironic effects of mental control.

Question 46

When you try the Stroop task, you need to say the name of the colours, and inhibit your automatic tendency to read the words. This kind of search typically activates
Question options:

your executive attention network.

your orienting attention network.

your saccadic eye movements.

your parietal lobe.

Answer 46

your executive attention network.

Question 47

Research on dichotic listening shows that
Question options:

most people have great difficulty attending to one task while ignoring another task.

when people pay attention to one task, they typically notice little about other tasks.

selective attention is an unfortunate problem that limits our performance enormously.

we can usually shadow one series of items and process another series very accurately.

Answer 47

when people pay attention to one task, they typically notice little about other tasks.

Question 48

The bottleneck theory is inadequate in accounting for attention because
Question options:

it proposes that humans have many different kinds of attention, and the current research shows that they have only one kind.

it explains only the data gathered with the event-related potential technique, and not with other neuroscience research methods.

it argues that people actually filter out very little irrelevant information.

it underestimates the flexibility of our attention.

Answer 48

it underestimates the flexibility of our attention.

Question 49

Suppose that you are searching a list of college I.D. numbers to determine what grade you received on an exam. The system in your brain that is most involved in this search is the
Question options:

cerebral blood flow system.

executive attention network.

frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex.

orienting attention network.

Answer 49

orienting attention network.

Question 50

You need saccadic eye movements when you are reading this sentence in order to
Question options:

focus on the consonants, rather than the vowels.

increase the size of your perceptual span.

decrease the number of fixations necessary for accurate reading.

move your eye so that the next words are registered in the fovea.

Answer 50

move your eye so that the next words are registered in the fovea.