test 2 Flashcards
sensation
receiving energy from stimuli in our internal or external environment, and transforming this energy into action potentials
transduction
specialized receptor cells converts energy from an external stimulus (light, sound, heat) to an internal electrical signal (action potentials)
3 things sensory systems have in common:
- specialized receptor cells
- transduction
- multiple subsystems
perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense
bottom-up processing
sensory receptors register information about the external environment and send it up to the brain for understanding
- taking information and trying to make sense of it
top-down processing
- sensation and perception
- started at brain higher levels
- ## allows for organism to sense what is happening and to apply the framework to information from the world
top-down and bottom-up work together
in sensation and perception to allow us to function accurately and efficiently
top-down bottom-up perception EG
when you first listen to a song for the first time you engage in bottom-up processing allowing you to get a feel of the tune. once you know the song well, you can create a perceptual experience in your minds ear, by “playing” it in your head which is top-down processing
sensations begin with…
afferent nerves
- nerves bring information from the world to the brain
- sensory receptors are the openings through which the brain and nervous system experience the world
sensory receptors
specialized cells that detect the stimulus information and transmit it to sensory (afferent) nerves and the brain
3 main categories of sense organs and sensory receptors fall into 3 main categories
- Photoreception: detection of light (sight)
- Mechanoreception: detection of pressure, vibration, and movement (touch, hearing, and equilibrium)
- Chemoreception: detection of chemical stimuli (smell and taste)
information processed in lobes
- visual information in occupational lobes
- hearing in the temporal lobes
- pain, touch, temp in partietal lobes
extrasensory perception (ESP)
person can detect information from the world without receiving concert sensory impulses like telepathy and precognition
noise
irrelevant and competing stimuli - not only sound but also any distracting stimuli for the sense
different threshold
the degree of difference that must exist between two stimuli before the difference is detected
Webers law
the principle that two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage (rather than a constant amount) to be perceived as different
subliminal perception
the detection of information below the level of conscious awareness
signal detection theory
an approach to perception that focuses on decision making about stimuli under conditions about uncertainty
decision making is a signal detection theory has 2 main components:
(information acquisitions and criterion)
- Information acquisition: refers to the gathering of relevant indicators
- Criterion: standards used to make a decision
attention
focusingawareness on a narrow aspect of the environment
selective attention
focusing on specific aspect of experience while ignoring others
emotional stimuli
words like torture capture our attention
- often quicker and more accurate at identifying emotional stimulus than neutral
emotion-induced blindness
the fact that when we encounter an emotionally charged stimulus we often fail to recognize a stimulus that is presented immediately after
inattentional blindness
the failure to detect unexpected events when our attention is engaged by a task
- more likely to occur when we are focusing and the task is difficult
perceptual set
a predisposition or readiness to perceive something in a particular way
sensory adaptation
change in the responsiveness of the sensory system to the average level of stimulation
light
electromagnetic energy described in terms of wavelengths
- wavelength is a visible light range from 400 to 700 nanometers
- wavelength of light is reflected from a stimulus to determine its hue or colour
- differ in their height or amplitude, determining amplitude of the stimulus
sclera
(eye part)
Outer part of the eye that helps to maintain shape of the eye and to protect it from injury
iris
(eye part)
coloured part of the eye
pupil
(eye part)
- black inner circle
- opening in the center of iris
- contains muscle that controls the size of the pupil and the amount of light that goes in
cornea
(eye part)
clear membrane just in front of the eye
lense
(eye part)
transparent and somewhat flexible disk-like structure filed with gelatinous material
rods
(eye part)
receptors in retina that are most sensitive to light but are not very useful for colour vision and do not allow us ti see in fine detail
cones
(eye part)
receptors used for colour perception and seeing small detail
fovea
(eye part)
tiny area in the centre of the retina which allows us to see fine detail
- only contains cones
optic nerves
(eye part)
carries the visual information to the brain for further processing
- structure of the back of the eye made up of axons from the ganglion cells that carries visual information to the brain for further processing
parallel processing
simultaneous distribution of information across different neural pathways
binding
in the sense of vision the bringing together and integration of what is processed by different neural pathways or cells
two main way see colour:
- trichromatic theory
- opponent-process theory
trichromatic theory
colour perception is produced by three types of cone receptors in the retina that are particularly sensitive to different, but overlapping ranges of wavelengths
opponent-processing theory
theory stating that cells in the visual system respond to complementary pairs of red-green and blue-yellow colours; a given cell might be excited by red and inhibited by green, whereas another cell might be excited by yellow and inhabited by blue
figure-ground relationship
we organize the perceptual field into stimuli that stand out and those that are left over
gestalt psychology
a school of thought interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns
3 main principles of gestalt:
- closure: when we view disconnected or incomplete figures, we fill in the spaces and see them as complete
- proximity: when we view objects that are near each other, they tend to be seen as a unit
- similarity: when we view objects that are similar to each other, they tend to be seen as a unit
convergence
cue to depth and distacne where the muscle movement in a persons eyes provide information about how deep and or far away something is
Breland and Breland’s work with “miserly raccoons” demonstrated
A. how principles of reinforcement (derived from studies of rats and pigeons) easily generalize to raccoons
B. differences in appropriate rewards for different species
C. that there are biologically imposed limits to the generality of conditioning principles
D. that raccoons are less conditionable, and therefore less intelligent, than rats and pigeons
C. that there are biologically imposed limits to the generality of conditioning principles
Simon cringes every time he hears a dentist’s drill, even when he is sitting in the waiting room of his dentist’s office. In this example, cringing in the waiting room is
A. an unconditioned response
B. a conditioned stimulus
C. a conditioned response
D. an unconditioned stimulus
C. a conditioned response
Which of the following drugs has the greatest number (and most diverse) negative effects on physical health?
A. LSD
B. heroin
C. alcohol
D. cocaine
C. alcohol
The most vivid dreams generally occur
A. during REM sleep
B. during NREM sleep
C. during the early hours of sleep
D. when alpha brain waves are present
A. during REM sleep
Continuous reinforcement occurs when
A. reinforcement is delivered continually, regardless of whether or not a response is made
B. it is not known in advance what responses will be reinforced
C. every behaviour engaged in by the subject is reinforced
D. every occurrence of the designated response is reinforced
D. every occurrence of the designated response is reinforced
The successive blinking on and off of the lights on the neon sign gave the impression of beer filling a glass. This illusion of motion is the
A. phi phenomenon
B. constancy principle
C. common-fate principle
D. motion parallax effect
A. phi phenomenon
Petra looked directly into a very bright light and damaged her retina. The opthamologist has told her that she has sustained massive damage to her cones, but for the most part her rods have not been affected. One change that you could predict for Petra’s vision is that she will now have
A. poor vision in low illumination
B. poor peripheral vision
C. no color vision
D. more accurate depth perception
C. no color vision
An electroencephalograph is a device that measures
A. glucose metabolism in the brain
B. muscle tension in the body
C. respiration rates as an index of arousal
D. electrical activity of the brain
D. electrical activity of the brain
Ken used to drool at the smell of peanut butter cookies as they baked, and he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into that first cookie. However, Ken’s new roommate makes terrible peanut butter cookies and the smell of them baking is no longer associated with a wonderful taste experience. Consequently, Ken finds that the smell of the cookies no longer makes him drool in anticipation. This illustrates the classical conditioning process known as
A. spontaneous recovery
B. second-order conditioning
C. extinction
D. avoidance
C. extinction
According to optimal foraging theory, predatory animals will usually
A. pursue small prey that requires little effort to catch
B. pursue large prey that requires greater effort to catch
C. pursue small prey only if foraging in large groups
D. maximize nutritional value relative to the energy they expend in hunting
D. maximize nutritional value relative to the energy they expend in hunting
Nathan is watching the cumulative recorder that is connected to a box where a rat is pressing a lever to receive food reinforcement. The slope of the line is becoming flatter and flatter over time. Based on this output, Nathan can conclude that the rat’s response rate
A. is increasing over time
B. will soon show spontaneous recovery
C. is decreasing over time
D. is caused by inadequate stimulus generalization
C. is decreasing over time
Which of the following statements about dreams is most accurate?
A. Only about 75 percent of all people dream.
B. The reason we do not remember our dreams is that the content of the dream is repressed.
C. People cannot remember their dreams because of too much time passing between when they dreamed and when they try to recall the dream.
D. Most dreams people can remember deal with sexually oriented topics.
C. People cannot remember their dreams because of too much time passing between when they dreamed and when they try to recall the dream.
When Antonio was sick as a child his mother would always make him vanilla pudding; to Antonio it seemed like the vanilla pudding made him feel better. Even now, he still gets a good feeling when he starts to prepare some vanilla pudding, but not when he starts to make any other type of pudding. This example illustrates the classical conditioning process of
A. stimulus generalization
B. instinctive drift
C. stimulus discrimination
D. negative avoidance
C. stimulus discrimination
Of the following, the only sensory system that does not project upward to the cerebral cortex through the thalamus, is
A. vision
B. hearing
C. gustation
D. olfaction
D. olfaction
If selectively deprived of REM sleep, a person will experience __________ later
A. hypochondriasis
B. emotionality
C. NREM
D. “REM rebound”
D. “REM rebound”
Interposition refers to
A. the relationship between bipolar and ganglion cells
B. the processing of auditory information at the cochlear level
C. an environmental depth cue in which closer objects overlap objects farther away
D. the lens’s ability to change shape and focus light directly on the retina
C. an environmental depth cue in which closer objects overlap objects farther away
One hypothesis regarding the cause of crib death in babies is that they stop breathing during sleep, a sleep disorder known as
A. narcolepsy
B. sleep apnea
C. night terror
D. hypersomnia
B. sleep apnea
Which of the following is not one of the four basic tastes?
A. salty
B. citrus
C. sweet
D. bitter
B. citrus
“Manny got out of bed and began doing calisthenics during REM sleep, probably because he was dreaming about boot camp.” What is wrong with this statement?
A. Sleep is a relaxed condition of the body and, as such, precludes physical activity.
B. Research shows that no dreaming takes place in REM sleep.
C. Research shows that we are virtually paralyzed in REM sleep.
D. Manny was never in boot camp so he is not likely to be dreaming about it.
C. Research shows that we are virtually paralyzed in REM sleep.
Alcohol appears to contribute to about __________ percent of student rapes on college campuses
A. 25
B. 50
C. 75
D. 90
D. 90
The kinesthetic system relates to
A. maintaining the relative position of body parts
B. the location of the body in space
C. the sense of forward acceleration
D. sensing body movement, as in a car
A. maintaining the relative position of body parts
Clifford was in an accident and he has lost all the hearing in his right ear. The deafness in this ear will mostly affect Clifford’s ability to
A. localize sounds accurately
B. separate speech sounds from background noise
C. detect high frequency sounds
D. detect high amplitude sounds
A. localize sounds accurately
If you project a red, a green, and a blue light into space, the point at which the three lights cross will lead to the perception of
A. black light
B. ultraviolet light
C. white light
D. “infrared light”
C. white light
Evelyn turned the thermostat up from 68 degrees to 70 degrees; however, she doesn’t think it feels any warmer and she wants to turn it up even higher. Her roommate thinks that it is now too hot, and she wants to turn the thermostat back down. Apparently Evelyn has
A. a smaller just noticeable difference for temperature than her roommate does
B. a lower absolute threshold for temperature than her roommate does
C. a larger just noticeable difference for temperature than her roommate does
D. a higher absolute threshold for temperature, compared to her roommate
C. a larger just noticeable difference for temperature than her roommate does
Which of the following statements about culture and dreams is not accurate?
A. Some basic dream themes appear to be nearly universal across cultures.
B. People in Western societies tend to recall their dreams vividly.
C. In many cultures, dreams are seen as a window into the spiritual world.
D. In Western cultures, dreams are largely written off as insignificant.
B. People in Western societies tend to recall their dreams vividly
The idea that hypnosis is associated with divided consciousness and is an altered state is most consistent with which of the following theories of hypnosis?
A. Barber’s role theory
B. Schachter’s cognitive theory
C. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
D. Hilgard’s dissociation theory
D. Hilgard’s dissociation theory
Harold begins to chew his fingernails every time his teacher enters the classroom. In this case the antecedent is
A. the teacher entering the classroom
B. the fear associated with the teacher
C. anticipated punishment
D. chewing the fingernails
A. the teacher entering the classroom
Sonja put on a new watch this morning and found it uncomfortable because it was so much heavier than her old watch. However, at noon, when a friend asks her if she knows what time it is, Sonja finds she has forgotten she is even wearing the watch. The change in Sonja’s sensitivity to the pressure of the watch illustrates the process known as
A. sensory adaptation
B. perceptual invariance
C. perceptual assimilation
D. adjusting just noticeable differences
A. sensory adaptation
A conditioned stimulus is
A. a stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response without previous conditioning
B. an unlearned reaction that occurs without previous conditioning
C. a previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to elicit a conditioned response
D. a learned reaction that occurs because of previous conditioning
C. a previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to elicit a conditioned response
Slow-wave sleep refers to stages __________ and an EEG rhythm of __________
A. 1 and 2; theta
B. 2 and 3; alpha
C. 1 and 4; theta
D. 3 and 4; delta
D. 3 and 4; delta
When Lindsay was nine years old the neighbor’s chihuahua bit her on the ankle. Today Lindsay is still terrified of chihuahuas, but she likes almost all other types of dogs. Lindsay’s fear illustrates the classical conditioning process of:
A. instinctive drift
B. stimulus discrimination
C. stimulus generalization
D. negative avoidance
B. stimulus discrimination
Rather than provide details about the party she just attended, Patty tried to give her overall impression, operating on the assumption of __________, that the whole may be greater than the mere sum of its parts.
A. psychophysics
B. holistic psychology
C. Gestalt psychology
D. psychodynamics
C. Gestalt psychology
Dissociation refers to
A. a loss of inhibition by hypnotized subjects
B. a hypnotized subject’s willingness to act out the hypnotist’s suggestions
C. a splitting of mental processes into two separate, simultaneous streams of awareness
D. role playing by hypnotized subjects in response to situational cues
C. a splitting of mental processes into two separate, simultaneous streams of awareness
In order to maximize visual acuity at night, you should
A. look directly at the object you wish to see
B. turn your head at a slight angle to the object
C. close one eye
D. blink your eyes several times to hasten dark adaptation
B. turn your head at a slight angle to the object
Primary reinforcers __________, while secondary reinforcers __________
A. depend on learning; satisfy biological needs
B. satisfy biological needs; depend on learning
C. are associated with classical conditioning; are associated with operant conditioning
D. are associated with operant conditioning; are associated with classical conditioning
B. satisfy biological needs; depend on learning
Pitch perception can best be explained by __________ for very low-pitched sounds, __________ for very high-pitched sounds, and __________ for pitches in the middle range
A. place theory; frequency theory; place theory
B. frequency theory; both theories; place theory
C. place theory; both theories; frequency theory
D. frequency theory; place theory; both theories
D. frequency theory; place theory; both theories
In classical conditioning, the stimulus that is originally neutral in regard to the response to be learned is the
A. unconditioned stimulus
B. unconditioned response
C. conditioned stimulus
D. conditioned response
C. conditioned stimulus
Voluntary muscle activity
A. is at its lowest during REM sleep
B. is at its highest during REM sleep
C. does not occur in NREM sleep
D. does not occur during either REM or NREM sleep
A. is at its lowest during REM sleep
The electroencephalograph is used in sleep research to measure brain-wave activity in the
A. corpus callosum
B. cerebral cortex
C. hypothalamus
D. medulla
B. cerebral cortex
Which of the following is not good advice for combating insomnia?
A. Develop a bedtime sleep ritual.
B. Read a dull textbook before going to bed.
C. Avoid taking naps during the day.
D. Have a cup of warm coffee just before going to bed.
D. Have a cup of warm coffee just before going to bed.
An antecedent in a behavior modification program is
A. a source of a reinforcement
B. an event that precedes a behavior
C. a consequent of performing a behavior
D. an emotional component associated with the receipt of reinforcement or punishment
B. an event that precedes a behavior
Which of the following describes how we hear according to place theory?
A. Different sound frequencies vibrate different portions of the basilar membrane, producing different pitches.
B. Our perception of pitch corresponds to the rate or frequency at which the entire basilar membrane vibrates.
C. We perceive differences in pitch according to the number of hair cells that vibrate at any one time.
D. Different sound frequencies affect the intensity with which the membrane separating the middle ear from the inner ear vibrates, producing different pitches.
A. Different sound frequencies vibrate different portions of the basilar membrane, producing different pitches.
Frederick cringes every time he hears a dentist’s drill, even when he is sitting in the waiting room of his dentist’s office. In this example, the pain of dental drilling is
A. a conditioned response
B. an unconditioned stimulus
C. an unconditioned response
D. a conditioned stimulus
B. an unconditioned stimulus
When an animal’s innate response tendencies interfere with the conditioning process, it is referred to as
A. learned helplessness
B. instinctive drift
C. counterconditioning
D. misbehavior
B. instinctive drift
Mixing many, varied paints together would tend to produce a __________, while projecting many varied colored spots on the same area of a screen would tend to produce a __________.
A. bright, light color; dark, dull color
B. dull, dark color; light, whitish color
C. reddish color; bluish color
D. dull, dark color; dull, dark color
B. dull, dark color; light, whitish color
The brain receives information about the positions of the various parts of the body through the
A. vestibular sense
B. kinesthetic sense
C. kinetic sense
D. homeostatic sense
B. kinesthetic sense
Carly used to be afraid of visits to her family doctor because she associated the sight of his waiting room with the pain of having a blood sample drawn. However, Carly’s new doctor’s lab worker is “painless” and the sight of the waiting room is no longer associated with pain. Consequently, Carly finds her fear of visits to her family doctor has disappeared. This illustrates the classical conditioning process known as
A. spontaneous recovery
B. extinction
C. second-order conditioning
D. “avoidance”
B. extinction
You are watching a pigeon pecking a disk in a small chamber. There is a cumulative recorder connected to the disk. While you are watching, the pigeon is pecking at a slow, steady rate. Based on this information, you can predict that the line on the cumulative recorder will
A. have a steep, upward slope
B. have a shallow, upward slope
C. have a shallow, downward slope
D. have a steep, downward slope
B. have a shallow, upward slope
Studies indicate that partial sleep deprivation can impair which of the following?
A. attention
B. reaction time
C. decision making
D. attention, reaction time, or decision making
D. attention, reaction time, or decision making
In the __________ culture, dreams are viewed as the focal point of existence that determines an individual’s way of life.
A. Marakesh of Morocco
B. aborigines of Australia
C. Arapesh of New Guinea
D. Parintinin of Brazil
B. aborigines of Australia
Jacob has been working at his computer for the past 2 hours, and the hum that he found so annoying when he started no longer bothers him. The change in Jacob’s sensitivity to the noise from the computer illustrates the process known as
A. perceptual invariance
B. perceptual assimilation
C. adjusting just noticeable differences
D. sensory adaptation
D. sensory adaptation
Which of the following has been used with modest success in the treatment of narcolepsy?
A. group therapy
B. cognitive-behavioral therapy
C. sedative drugs
D. stimulant drugs
D. stimulant drugs
The sense associated with the perception of smell is
A. gustation
B. olfaction
C. kinesthesis
D. audition
B. olfaction
Stage 1 sleep is represented by EEG brain-wave patterns referred to as
A. alpha waves
B. REM waves
C. synchronisitic waves
D. theta waves
D. theta waves
The most widely used recreational drug in the United States is
A. cocaine
B. alcohol
C. marijuana
D. “the barbiturates”
B. alcohol
The matching law states that under concurrent schedules of reinforcement, organisms’ relative rate of responding to each alternative
A. tends to increase steadily over time
B. tends to decrease steadily over time
C. tends to match each alternative’s relative rate of reinforcement
D. tends to fluctuate randomly across the alternatives
C. tends to match each alternative’s relative rate of reinforcement
Images that occupy more space on your retina are seen as nearer relative to images that occupy less space. This is a cue to depth perception known as
A. accommodation
B. foveal disparity
C. phrenetic search
D. relative size
D. relative size
Which of the following drugs is least likely to result in a fatal overdose?
A. LSD
B. heroin
C. cocaine
D. barbiturates
A. LSD
What appears to be responsible for regulating the circadian rhythm?
A. amount of time spent sleeping
B. amount of time spent awake
C. cultural practices
D. exposure to light
D. exposure to light
If a 100-Hz tone had to be increased to 110 Hz for a subject to just notice the difference, you would predict that a 1000-Hz tone would have to be increased to
A. 1010 to be noticed
B. 1050 to be noticed
C. 1100 to be noticed
D. 1200 to be noticed
C. 1100 to be noticed
An EEG would indicate primarily __________ activity in a person who is meditating with eyes closed.
A. alpha
B. beta
C. delta
D. theta
A. alpha
Kara has just fallen asleep and immediately slips into REM. Kara has probably experienced or undergone
A. sleep deprivation
B. alcohol overdose
C. NREM rebound
D. biofeedback training
A. sleep deprivation
The overall effect of a drug on an individual is influenced by which of the following?
A. the individual’s motivation and expectations
B. the personality of the individual taking the drug
C. the dose and potency of the drug
D. all of these factors
D. all of these factors
A woman reported feeling “weak in the knees” whenever she smelled cigarette smoke and Beemans gum, because of the association of these smells with her first love. In this example, her “weak knees” would be
A. an unconditioned response
B. a conditioned stimulus
C. an unconditioned stimulus
D. a conditioned response
D. a conditioned response
The reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction and a period of rest is called
A. disinhibition
B. reconditioning
C. stimulus generalization
D. spontaneous recovery
D. spontaneous recovery
Among the physiological changes that occur when you are dreaming is (are)
A. transition to alpha waves
B. rapid eye movements
C. increased voluntary muscle activity
D. all of these
B. rapid eye movements
You are watching a cumulative recorder that is connected to a small disk in a chamber. The pigeon has been trained to peck the disk when a red light is turned on, and not to peck the disk when a green light is turned on. Based on this information you should observe that when the green light is turned on,
A. the slope of the line on the cumulative recorder will be steeper than when the red light is turned on
B. the pen on the cumulative recorder will start to move downward
C. the slope of the line on the cumulative recorder will be shallower than when the red light is turned on
D. the roll of paper in the cumulative recorder will stop moving
C. the slope of the line on the cumulative recorder will be shallower than when the red light is turned on
Severing the ascending reticular activating system in cats caused them to
A. become very aggressive
B. become very fearful
C. remain in continuous wakefulness
D. “remain in continuous sleep”
D. “remain in continuous sleep”
Juan and Karletta were walking one night when they heard a car backfire. Juan was convinced the sound came from directly in front of them, and Karletta was convinced the sound came from directly behind them. One reason they might have difficulty localizing the sound is
A. the sound waves would have arrived at both ears at the same instant
B. we are able to judge distance better than direction for sounds
C. sound localization is more difficult in the dark
D. only speech sounds can be accurately localized
A. the sound waves would have arrived at both ears at the same instant
Breland’s trained raccoons would deposit single tokens into a slot but would not deposit two tokens, which they rubbed together. This is due to
A. instinctive drift to food-washing behavior
B. poor conditioning of token placing
C. insufficient reinforcement of token placing
D. lack of interest in the single tokens
A. instinctive drift to food-washing behavior
Timothy was painting a picture of a jet on a runway; however in his painting the sides of the runway are parallel to each other. Timothy’s picture will seem to lack depth because he has failed to make use of the monocular depth cue of
A. convergence
B. motion parallax
C. linear perspective
D. height in plane
C. linear perspective
Assuming the reinforcer is the sound of the rattle, a baby’s response of shaking a rattle is reinforced according to which type of schedule?
A. continuous reinforcement
B. fixed-interval
C. variable-interval
D. variable-ratio
A. continuous reinforcement
Which of the following statements regarding dreams is not accurate?
A. Dream recall is best when people are awakened during or very soon after a dream.
B. Dreams flash through consciousness instantaneously.
C. We dream whether we remember our dreams or not.
D. Trying to remember dreams can aid dream recall.
B. Dreams flash through consciousness instantaneously.
The use of dreams to satisfy ungratified needs is referred to as
A. id idealization
B. self-centeredness
C. wish fulfillment
D. sublimation
C. wish fulfillment
A conscious attempt to focus one’s attention in a nonanalytical manner is called
A. meditation
B. dissociation
C. Zen Buddhism
D. hypnosis
A. meditation
Which of the following can cause disruption of your vestibular system?
A. riding on an amusement park thrill ride that spins you around
B. having an upset stomach
C. having a cold that temporarily robs you of your sense of taste
D. “temporarily losing sensation in your arm because you slept on it”
A. riding on an amusement park thrill ride that spins you around
The sensory receptors for smell are referred to as
A. smell buds
B. gustatory bulbs
C. olfactory cilia
D. psiatic receptors
C. olfactory cilia
The lights around the movie marquee flashed on-and-off in succession. However, Jerome did not perceive them as separate lights flashing, but instead saw a continuous band of light moving around the edge of the marquee. Jerome’s perception illustrates
A. the phi phenomenon
B. bottom-up processing
C. feature detection
D. preattentive processing
A. the phi phenomenon
Sleep apnea is characterized by
A. a sudden, irresistible urge to sleep during normal waking hours
B. a reflexive gasping for air during sleep
C. an extremely low rate of REM
D. “night terrors”
B. a reflexive gasping for air during sleep
There is the greatest amount of debate on the risks associated with which of the following drugs?
A. marijuana
B. alcohol
C. cocaine
D. heroin
A. marijuana
Sensory adaptation can explain all of the following except
A. getting used to the smell of the perfume you are wearing
B. hearing your name spoken in a noisy room
C. feeling comfortable in a cold swimming pool after being in for a few minutes
D. getting used to the touch of your clothes on your skin
B. hearing your name spoken in a noisy room
__________ means treating two stimuli alike; __________ means treating two stimuli differently.
A. Acquisition; extinction
B. Generalization; discrimination
C. Extinction; acquisition
D. Discrimination; generalization
B. Generalization; discrimination
Receptors for the kinesthetic sense are found in the
A. cochlea
B. semicircular canals
C. basilar membrane
D. joints and muscles
D. joints and muscles
Ron is making potato soup. His roommate tastes it and tells Ron it is great, but Ron thinks it needs more salt. He adds just a little salt, and thinks the soup now tastes perfect. However, his roommate tastes it again and tells Ron that the soup is ruined because it is too salty. Apparently, for the taste of salt
A. Ron can detect a smaller just noticeable difference than his roommate
B. Ron’s roommate can detect a smaller just noticeable difference than Ron can
C. Ron has a higher absolute threshold than his roommate does
D. Ron has a lower absolute threshold than his roommate does
C. Ron has a higher absolute threshold than his roommate does
Positive reinforcement involves
A. the presentation of a pleasant stimulus
B. the presentation of an unpleasant stimulus
C. the removal of a pleasant stimulus
D. the removal of an unpleasant stimulus
A. the presentation of a pleasant stimulus
In setting up reinforcement contingencies in a self-modification program, you should
A. choose a reinforcer that is readily available and relatively potent
B. use delayed reinforcement
C. arrange to reinforce yourself only after there has been a drastic change in the frequency of the target response
D. use continuous rather than intermittent reinforcement
A. choose a reinforcer that is readily available and relatively potent
The major difference between a CS and a UCS is
A. the order in which they are presented
B. that one reliably elicits the response of interest prior to conditioning while the other does not
C. that during conditioning the response to one increases while the response to the other decreases
D. the strength of the response that each stimulus elicits
B. that one reliably elicits the response of interest prior to conditioning while the other does not
If you mix red, green, and blue paint, you will get
A. purple
B. white
C. orange
D. black
D. black
Imagine that biologists have discovered an animal that has eyes very similar to human eyes, but that the only receptor cells in the retina are rods; there are no cones. Based on what is known about human vision you might expect that this animal would
A. have poor vision in low illumination
B. have no color vision
C. have poor peripheral vision
D. be able to detect extremely fine details
B. have no color vision
Alexander is hooked up to an electroencephalograph (EEG) in a sleep lab. As the researcher watches the printout from the EEG, theta waves appear. Based on this information, the researcher can conclude that Alexander
A. has just entered Stage 3 sleep
B. is still awake, but is relaxed and drowsy
C. has just entered Stage 1 sleep
D. is currently in REM sleep
C. has just entered Stage 1 sleep
The EEG pattern associated with normal, waking, alert states is
A. gamma
B. beta
C. alpha
D. delta
B. Beta
Gabriella was looking for shelter from the sudden cloud burst, and at first she had difficulty judging whether the old barn or the farmhouse was closer. However, when she noticed that the barn partially obscured the corner of the house she headed for the barn. She was able to judge which building was closer based on
A. texture gradient
B. interposition
C. relative size
D. linear perspective
B. interposition
Which of the following sleep disorders is most life threatening?
A. nightmares
B. narcolepsy
C. sleep apnea
D. somnambulism
B. narcolepsy
Joshua experiences reflexive gasping for air during sleep several times a night and frequently wakes up because of it. Joshua most likely has
A. night terrors
B. narcolepsy
C. sleep apnea
D. lack of NREM rebound
C. sleep apnea
At the musical he attended over the weekend, Andrew noticed that whenever the red and green spotlights overlapped, they seemed to change to a yellow spotlight. This can be explained using the principles of
A. additive color mixing
B. subtractive color mixing
C. hypercomplex feature detection
D. opponent-processing of colors
A. additive color mixing
A police officer asked Stanley to close his eyes and touch the tip of his nose using first his right index finger and then his left index finger. To complete this test of coordination Stanley would need to rely on
A. his vestibular sense
B. his reticular sense
C. sensory accommodation
D. his kinesthetic sense
D. his kinesthetic sense
Mariah developed a fear of the water when she fell off a river raft last summer. This year she took swimming lessons and thought she had finally overcome her fear of water. She was eagerly looking forward to an upcoming rafting trip, however, as soon as she stepped onto the raft she was instantly terrified again. This illustrates the classical conditioning process known as
A. extinction
B. second-order conditioning
C. stimulus generalization
D. spontaneous recovery
D. spontaneous recovery
The process of selectively reinforcing responses that are closer and closer approximations of some desired response is called
A. stimulus discrimination
B. selection
C. shaping
D. step-wise conditioning
C. shaping
Tessa really likes to mow the lawn during the summer months, but her parents will only let her mow the lawn if all the dishes are washed. Consequently, every Saturday Tessa has the table cleared and all the dishes washed as soon as everyone has finished breakfast. In this case
A. mowing the lawn is a negative reinforcer for doing the dishes
B. doing the dishes is a positive reinforcer for mowing the lawn
C. mowing the lawn is a positive reinforcer for doing the dishes
D. doing the dishes is a negative reinforcer for mowing the lawn
C. mowing the lawn is a positive reinforcer for doing the dishes
David is asleep and his eyelids are evidencing little ripples back and forth. We can conclude that David is
A. in alpha state
B. having a seizure
C. dreaming
D. doing none of these
C. dreaming
Mateen has been selectively deprived of slow-wave sleep for five nights. You would expect that on the sixth, undisturbed night, he will
A. show increased stage 4 sleep
B. show increased REM sleep
C. show decreased stage 4 sleep
D. show decreased REM sleep
A. show increased stage 4 sleep
Dan was able to tell that the voice he heard calling his name was coming from the building on his left because of
A. auditory localization
B. depth perception
C. perceptual constancy
D. perceptual set
A. auditory localization
Katrina is trying to put a dollar bill into a vending machine in her office. Sometimes the machine will take a dollar bill on the first try, other times it can take up to five or six tries before the dollar bill is finally accepted. In this example, inserting a dollar bill into the vending machine is reinforced on
A. a continuous reinforcement schedule
B. a noncontingent reinforcement schedule
C. an intermittent reinforcement schedule
D. a short-delay reinforcement schedule
C. an intermittent reinforcement schedule
Which of the following most clearly shows that an animal’s biological makeup greatly affects ease of learning an association?
A. Pavlov’s dogs, bells, and salivation
B. Thorndike’s cats in a puzzle box
C. Skinner’s rats in an operant chamber
D. Seligman’s sauce béarnaise phenomenon
D. Seligman’s sauce béarnaise phenomenon
Overall, it appears that we perceive
A. changing stimuli better than constant ones
B. constant stimuli better than changing ones
C. long-acting better than short-acting stimuli
D. stimuli that are steady in the environment
A. changing stimuli better than constant ones
Meditation has its roots in
A. early Christianity
B. Eastern religions
C. transcendental psychology
D. “the scientific study of the relaxation response”
B. Eastern religions
The idea of multifactorial causation in drug effects suggests
A. that taking several different drugs at the same time reduces their effects
B. that taking several different drugs at once increases their effectiveness
C. that the effect of a drug depends on dosage, user’s age, mood, motivation, experience, and personal makeup
D. none of these things
C. that the effect of a drug depends on dosage, user’s age, mood, motivation, experience, and personal makeup
According to Freud, the manifest content of a dream is the
A. hidden meaning of the dream
B. sexual content of the dream
C. content of the dream indicative of the person’s hostility
D. actual content of the dream at the surface level
D. actual content of the dream at the surface level
Imagine that biologists have discovered an animal that has eyes very similar to human eyes, but that the only receptor cells in the retina are cones; there are no rods. Based on what is known about human vision you might expect that this animal would have
A. poor visual acuity
B. poor peripheral vision
C. poor vision in bright illumination
D. no color vision
B. poor peripheral vision
A system for administering symbolic reinforcers that can later be exchanged for “genuine” reinforcers is referred to as
A. vicarious conditioning
B. a token economy
C. a behavioral contract
D. antecedent control
B. a token economy
A woman reported feeling “weak in the knees” whenever she smelled cigarette smoke and Beemans gum, because of the association of these smells with her first love. In this example, the combined smell of cigarettes and Beemans gum would be
A. a conditioned response
B. an unconditioned response
C. a conditioned stimulus
D. an unconditioned stimulus
C. a conditioned stimulus
When Celeste was playing her stereo at 40 decibels and she turned it up to 44 decibels, she could notice that it was louder. Based on this information you could predict that if Celeste has her stereo playing at 80 decibels, her just noticeable difference for loudness would be
A. 4 decibels, the same as it was at 40 decibels
B. 2 decibels , half as much as it was at 40 decibels
C. impossible to determine without more information
D. 8 decibels, twice as much as it was at 40 decibels
D. 8 decibels, twice as much as it was at 40 decibels
Our sense of smell shows evidence of sensory adaptation. The perceived strength of an odor usually
A. fades to less than half its original strength within about four minutes
B. increases to more than twice its original strength within about four minutes
C. fades to less than half its original strength within a few seconds
D. “slowly increases over time, reaching a maximum in about 15 minutes”
A. fades to less than half its original strength within about four minutes
Carson used to really enjoy lime sherbet and when he was in Mexico he tried frozen lime margaritas. After his fourth margarita Carson became extremely ill. Now he finds that even the sight of lime sherbet in a bowl can make him feel queasy. In this example, the unconditioned stimulus is
A. the lime margaritas that Carson consumed
B. the illness that followed the fourth margarita
C. the sight of lime sherbet
D. the queasiness that Carson feels when he sees lime sherbet
B. the illness that followed the fourth margarita
Shelby created an animated scene using her computer. She drew a frog as he started to jump, and then drew the frog landing. The computer created 24 pictures between these two points, which adjusted the frog’s position very slightly. When the entire sequence of 26 pictures is displayed in rapid succession, the frog appears to hop smoothly. This perception of smooth action is one example of
A. preattentive processing
B. the phi phenomenon
C. bottom-up processing
D. feature detection
B. the phi phenomenon
There is strong evidence that marijuana causes __________ in humans
A. permanent brain damage
B. male sterility
C. birth defects
D. none of these effects
D. none of these effects
Sleep spindles, which appear against a background of mixed, mostly lower frequency EEG activity, are characteristic of
A. stage 1 sleep
B. stage 2 sleep
C. stage 4 sleep
D. REM sleep
B. stage 2 sleep
The theorist who advanced the wish-fulfillment idea about dreaming was
A. Cartwright
B. Hobson
C. McCarley
D. Freud
D. Freud
A dog is first conditioned to salivate to a tone. Then, a light is paired with the tone for a number of trials; finally, the light is presented alone, and the dog responds. This procedure is known as
A. chaining
B. higher-order conditioning
C. compound conditioning
D. sensory preconditioning
B. higher-order conditioning
Psychophysics
- Sensation is the stimulation of sense organs
- Perception is the selection, organization, and interpretation of sensory input.
Thresholds
- Sensory receptors are tuned to a particular form of energy
- Auditory receptors in the ear code for sound pressure changes, not for light
- Sensory systems require a minimum amount of energy for activation (absolute threshold)
- Just-noticeable difference (JND): The minimum difference in stimulation that is just noticeable
- Weber noted that the JND is a fraction of the original stimulus intensity: the fraction is different for different senses
- Just-noticeable difference (JND): The minimum difference in stimulation that is just noticeable
The Visual System
- The eye detects electromagnetic radiation (light)
- Vision is functional
- Allows for detection of movement (predator or prey?)
- Allows for detection of color (ripe or spoiled?)
- Vision is functional
- Light detection is useful because:
- Light travels rapidly (no delay, unlike hearing)
- Light travels in straight lines (no distortion)
- Light interacts with the surfaces of objects in the environment (is reflected or absorbed)
Transduction of Light
- Light travels through the retina to impinge on photoreceptors at the back of the eye
- Light bleaches a pigment contained within the photoreceptors:
- Bleaching leads to a graded receptor potential that eventually produces an action potential in the ganglion cell
- Light bleaches a pigment contained within the photoreceptors:
- Two types of photoreceptors
- Cones: found in center of retina (fovea) and are sensitive to fine detail and color
- Rods: found in periphery of retina and are sensitive to movement but not fine detail
Perception of Color
- Color is a psychological perception
- Three dimensions of colour:
- Hue is the apparent colour of an object (blue)
- Brightness is the intensity of a colour
- Saturation is the purity of the colour
- Three dimensions of colour:
Three different types of cones are found in the eye
- Each is sensitive to different wavelengths of light
- S-cones: blue
- M-cones: green
- L-cones: red
Color Vision Theories
Young-Helmholtz:
- Color is explained by differential activation of 3 colour elements in eye
- Could not account for negative colour afterimages
Hering: Opponent-Process Theory
- Colours are derived from activity of 3 antagonistic systems
- Black-white
- Red-green
- Blue-yellow
Sound
Sound waves are vibrations of molecules that travel through air.
Amplitude - decibels
Wavelength - frequency (cps or hertz)
Purity - timbre
The Auditory System
External ear – pinna, eardrum
Middle ear – ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup)
Inner ear – cochlea
basilar membrane –hair cells
Taste: the Gustatory System
Taste buds
Primary tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty
Perception of flavor
Papillae: circumvallate, foliate, & fungiform
Smell: the Olfactory System
Smell: chemical substances dissolved in mucus
Olfactory cilia
Olfactory nerves
Olfactory bulb
Skin Senses
- Receptors are localized within the skin to detect physical stimuli in the outside world
- Three classes of skin receptors:
- Touch: physical contact of objects with the skin
- Temperature of objects
- Pain: destruction of skin tissue
Pain
- Pain is a source of information that relates to tissue destruction
- Force
- Heat
- Chemical
- Pain is a adaptive to a degree (motivates behaviors to terminate the source of the pain)
- Pain is influenced by
- Cultural beliefs
- Emotional states
- Exogenous drugs (opiates)
- Internal transmitters (endorphins)
- Pain is influenced by
Cortex and Consciousness
- The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is activated during conscious control tasks
- Subjects asked to name the ink colour in the Stroop task below have difficulty when the word name and colour are different
- This colour-naming task was associated with activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Attention
- Our conscious awareness is limited in capacity and we are aware of only a small amount of the stimuli around us at any one time
- Attention refers to the process by which we focus our awareness
- Three functions of attentional processes:
- Orienting function toward the environment
- Control of the content of consciousness
- I will think about this issue but not that one…
- Maintaining alertness
Subliminal Perception
- Notion that brief exposure to sub-threshold stimuli can influence awareness
- Study: subjects are shown aggressive (A) or positive (B) stimuli
and then rate a neutral stimulus (C)- Subjects shown panel A first subsequently rated the boy in panel C more negatively
Unconscious Cognitive Processes
- Information-processing view can be extended to analyses of unconscious processes
- Notion is that many brain mechanisms operate in parallel
- Some of these mechanisms operate outside of the level of consciousness
- Functional significance of unconscious mechanisms:
- Are efficient and rapid
- Can operate simultaneously
- Operate in the absence of consciousness?
Neurology of Consciousness
- Consciousness is distributed throughout the brain
- Hindbrain and midbrain are important for arousal and for sleep
- Damage to the reticular formation can lead to coma
- Prefrontal cortex is key for conscious control of information processing
Function of Sleep
- Memory consolidation
- Energy conservation
- Preservation from predators
- Restoring bodily functions
- Sleep deprivation can alter immune function and lead to early death
- Sleep deprivation can also lead to hallucinations and perceptual disorder
REM Sleep
Characteristics of REM sleep
- Presence of rapid-eye-movements
- Presence of dreaming
- Increased autonomic nervous system activity
- EEG resembles that of awake state (beta wave)
- Motor paralysis (except for diaphragm)
Dreaming
- Psychoanalytic view: Dreams represent a window into the unconscious
- The latent content (meaning) can be inferred from the manifest content (the actual dream)
- Cognitive view: Dreams are constructed from the daily issues of the dreamer
- Biological view: Dreams represent the attempt of the cortex to interpret the random neural firing of the brain during sleep
Dreaming evo view
- Evolutionary view: on-line threat simulation and behavioral rehearsal system
- Virtual reality training center
- Problem solving Perspective
Lucid Dreaming
(how to activate)
- Dream journaling – note dream signs
- Reality testing
- Relaxation techniques
- Pre-sleep suggestions
- Sleep in a different place or position
Altered States of Consciousness
- Changes in consciousness can be brought on by
-Meditation- Hypnosis
- Drug ingestion
- Religious experiences
Meditation
- Focused Breathing
- Physiological responses
- Cognitive responses
- Attentional Focus
- Quieting the mind (self-talk)
- Alpha waves (EEG)
Learning
- Learning refers to an enduring change in the way an organism responds based on its experience
- Distinct from
- Drug effects (caffeine-induced jitters are not learning)
- Fatigue or illness
- Distinct from
- Three assumptions of learning theories
- Responses are learned rather than innate
2.Learning is adaptive - Our experiments can uncover the laws of learning
- These laws will apply to animals and to humans
- Responses are learned rather than innate
Classical Conditioning
The Russian physiologist Pavlov noted that reflexive salivation in dogs could be elicited by stimuli associated with feeding
- Reflex: Response that is reliably elicited by a stimulus
- Food elicits salivation
- Air puff elicits eye blink
- Reflexive stimulus and response are unconditioned
- Neutral stimulus is referred to as the conditioned stimulus (CS)
- CS is paired with the UCS over many trials
- Eventually comes to elicit a conditioned response (CR: resembles the UCR)
Acquisition and Extinction
- Acquisition of classical conditioning:
- Repeated pairings of CS and UCS
- Extinction: Refers to the weakening of conditioning evident when the CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS
- Spontaneous recovery: Refers to the reemergence of a previously extinguished CR
Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination
- Stimulus generalization occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
- Stimulus discrimination occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Classical Conditioning Issues
Temporal order of presentation of CS and UCS is important
- Best conditioning: CS precedes UCS (forward)
- Worst conditioning: UCS precedes CS (backward)
Conditioned Taste Aversion
If a flavour is followed by an illness experience, animals will avoid the flavour in the future
Positive Reinforcement
Reinforcer: An environmental stimulus that occurs after the response and increases the likelihood that the response will occur in the future
- Positive reinforcement: Process by which presentation of a stimulus after a response makes the response more likely to occur in the future
- Negative reinforcement: Termination of an aversive event makes a behavior more likely to occur in the future
Issues in Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement involves a situation in which a response that terminates an aversive stimulus will strengthen that response
- Taking an aspirin will reduce the headache and strengthen the behavior of aspirin-taking (sometimes referred to as escape-learning)
- Avoidance learning: A response prevents a potentially aversive event from occurring
Child cleans his room to avoid parental nagging
Punishment
Punishment decreases the likelihood that a response will occur
- Examples of punishing situations
- Presentation of an aversive stimulus (Positive)
- Parent spanks a child for taking candy…
- Owner swats a dog who has chewed her slippers…
- Removal of a reward (Negative)
- Teenager who stays out past curfew is not allowed to drive the family car for 2 weeks…
- Husband who forgets anniversary sleeps on couch for a week…
- Presentation of an aversive stimulus (Positive)
Difficulties in Punishment
- Learner may not understand which operant behavior is being punished
- Learner may come to fear the teacher, rather than learn an association between the action and punishment (then avoids the teacher)
- Punishment may not undo existing rewards for a behavior
- Using punishment when the teacher is angry
- Punitive aggression may lead to future aggression
Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement: Reinforcer is obtained for every response
- Intermittent schedules: Reinforcer is not obtained for every response
- Ratio Schedules
- Fixed Ratio: Every Nth response
- Variable Ratio: The average is every Nth response
- Interval Schedules:
- Fixed Interval: After the elapse of N minutes
- Variable Interval: On average, after N minutes
Observational Learning
Social Learning Theory (Bandura)
Modeling
Vicarious learning
Acquisition vs. Performance
