Module 17

Question 1

What is sensation?

Answer 1

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment

Question 2

What is perception?

Answer 2

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Question 3

What is bottom up processing?

Answer 3

starts at the sensory receptors and works up to higher levels of processing

Question 4

What is top down processing?

Answer 4

constructs perceptions from the sensory input by drawing on our experience and expectations

Question 5

What three steps are basic to all our sensory systems?

Answer 5

R - Receive sensory stimulation
T - Transform that stimulation into neural impulses
D - Deliver the neural information to our brain

Question 6

What is transduction?

Answer 6

conversion of one form of energy into another

Question 7

What is psychophysics?

Answer 7

the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them

Question 8

What is absolute threshold?

Answer 8

the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

Question 9

Detecting a weak stimulus depends on what two things?

Answer 9

1. the signal’s strength

2. our psychological state (experience, expectations, motivation, alertness)

Question 10

What is signal detection theory?

Answer 10

a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation.

Question 11

What does signal detection theory assume?

Answer 11

there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s expectations, experience, motivation, and alertness

Question 12

What is an example of a study for signal detection theorists?

Answer 12

Why do exhausted parents notice the faintest whimper from a newborn’s cradle while failing to notice louder, unimportant sounds.

Question 13

What does subliminal mean?

Answer 13

below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness

Question 14

True or False. Under certain conditions, you can be affected by stimuli so weak that you don’t consciously notice them.

Answer 14

True

Question 15

What does priming mean?

Answer 15

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response

Question 16

What three factors will make it more likely that you correctly detect a text message?

Answer 16

1. Expecting it.
2. You see the message and respond.
3. You are alert

Question 17

When will a stimulus reach our consciousness?

Answer 17

when it triggers synchronized activity in several brain areas

Question 18

True or False. Much of our information processes occur only when we concentrate upon them.

Answer 18

False. Much of this occurs automatically, out of sight, off the radar.

Question 19

What is difference threshold?

Answer 19

the minimum difference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of the time

Question 20

What is another name for difference threshold?

Answer 20

just noticeable threshold

Question 21

True or False. The difference threshold decreases with the size of the stimulus.

Answer 21

False. it increases

Question 22

What is Weber’s law?

Answer 22

the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a given percentage (rather than a given amount)

Question 23

What is sensory adaptation?

Answer 23

diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation

Question 24

Why is it that after wearing shoes for a while, you cease to notice them?

Answer 24

The shoes provide constant stimulation. Sensory adaptation allows us to focus on changing stimuli.

Question 25

What is perceptual set?

Answer 25

a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another

Question 26

True or false? Perceptual set is an example of top down processing.

Answer 26

True

Question 27

What determines our perceptual set?

Answer 27

Through experience we form concepts, or schemas, that organize and interpret unfamiliar information.

Question 28

True or False. Context does not affect perceptions of a stimulus.

Answer 28

False. Context can drastically change how a stimulus is perceived. As when a tall man may appear shorter when standing beside a taller man.

Question 29

True or False. Perceptions can be influenced by our emotions and motivations.

Answer 29

True. hearing sad music can predispose people to perceive a sad meaning in spoken homophobic words like morning or mourning.

Question 30

True or False. A target will not seem farther away just because one is throwing a heavy object.

Answer 30

False.