w4 mc qs Flashcards
A person detects a faint sound in a silent room but fails to hear the same sound in a noisy café. What principle explains this?
(A) Absolute threshold
(B) Sensory adaptation
(C) Signal detection theory
(D) Just noticeable difference
Answer: (C) (Signal detection theory accounts for how background noise affects perception of weak stimuli.)
Which of the following best explains why perception is subjective rather than an exact reflection of reality?
(A) Sensation and perception occur in different brain regions.
(B) The brain actively interprets and organizes sensory input, influenced by prior experiences and expectations.
(C) Sensory receptors passively transmit raw data without any modification.
(D) Sensation is unreliable, but perception is always accurate.
Answer: (B) (Perception involves interpretation, influenced by experience, context, and expectations.)
What would happen if the thalamus were damaged in terms of sensory processing?
(A) Visual information would reach the occipital lobe more quickly.
(B) Most sensory signals (except for smell) would fail to reach the appropriate cortical areas.
(C) The perception of pain would be amplified.
(D) Sensory transduction would no longer occur.
Answer: (B) (The thalamus acts as a relay station for sensory information except olfaction.)
Why does sensory adaptation occur when you enter a room with a strong smell, but after a while, you stop noticing it?
(A) The absolute threshold for smell has increased.
(B) Sensory neurons fire less in response to constant stimulation, reducing perception.
(C) The olfactory receptors become more sensitive over time.
(D) The brain completely stops processing the smell.
(B) (Sensory adaptation reduces receptor firing in response to unchanging stimuli.)
How does olfactory information differ from other sensory modalities in its neural pathway?
(A) It bypasses the thalamus and projects directly to the olfactory cortex.
(B) It is processed in the occipital lobe.
(C) It does not require transduction to be processed.
(D) It relies on mechanoreceptors rather than chemical receptors.
(A) (Unlike other senses, olfactory signals bypass the thalamus.)
If a person experiences a reduced ability to taste food after a severe cold, what is the most likely explanation?
(A) Their gustatory receptors have been permanently damaged.
(B) Their olfactory receptors are impaired, reducing flavor perception.
(C) The somatosensory cortex is no longer processing taste.
(D) Their taste buds have been replaced with non-functional receptors.
Answer: (B) (Taste and smell work together to create flavor perception.)
A patient with damage to the primary somatosensory cortex would likely experience:
(A) Loss of voluntary movement in the affected limb.
(B) Impaired sensory perception in the corresponding body region.
(C) Heightened pain sensitivity.
(D) Enhanced perception of touch.
Answer: (B) (The primary somatosensory cortex processes touch and body sensation.)
What does the gate control theory of pain suggest about how pain signals reach the brain?
(A) Pain intensity is directly proportional to the amount of tissue damage.
(B) Pain perception depends on whether the spinal cord “gate” allows signals to pass to the brain.
(C) The more neurons fire, the less pain is perceived.
(D) Pain is solely determined by nociceptor activation.
Answer: (B) (The “gate” in the spinal cord regulates pain signal transmission.)
A person with damage to the dorsal “where” pathway would have difficulty with:
(A) Recognizing faces.
(B) Identifying objects.
(C) Locating objects in space and interacting with them.
(D) Perceiving colors.
Answer: (C) (The dorsal stream processes spatial awareness and movement.)
What role do rods and cones play in vision, and why are rods more useful in low-light conditions?
(A) Rods detect color, while cones detect motion.
(B) Rods are more sensitive to dim light but cannot detect color, while cones function best in bright light.
(C) Cones function only in peripheral vision.
(D) Both rods and cones function equally in all lighting conditions
Answer: (B) (Rods are more light-sensitive but do not detect color.)
How does the principle of closure explain why we perceive incomplete shapes as whole objects?
(A) The brain automatically fills in missing information to create a complete perception.
(B) The retina reconstructs missing parts of an image.
(C) Closure relies solely on bottom-up processing.
(D) It depends on color contrast rather than spatial relationships.
Answer: (A) (Closure allows the brain to “complete” incomplete figures.)
Which of the following is an example of top-down processing in perception?
(A) Recognizing a familiar song even when some notes are missing.
(B) Detecting a faint sound in a quiet room.
(C) Perceiving a color shift due to a change in lighting.
(D) Experiencing sensory adaptation to a strong smell.
Answer: (A) (Top-down processing relies on prior knowledge and expectations.)
The Müller-Lyer illusion demonstrates the role of:
(A) Linear perspective in depth perception.
(B) Motion parallax in depth processing.
(C) Color constancy in object recognition.
(D) Binocular cues in vision.
Answer: (A) (The illusion exploits linear perspective cues to create depth misperception.)
How do motion-sensitive neurons contribute to the waterfall illusion?
(A) They fatigue when exposed to prolonged motion in one direction, creating a rebound effect.
(B) They enhance static visual perception.
(C) They detect changes in brightness rather than movement.
(D) They allow objects to appear stationary.
Answer: (A) (Neurons adapt to prolonged motion, creating the illusion of motion in the opposite direction when the stimulus stops.)
How does the cochlea contribute to pitch perception?
(A) Hair cells along different parts of the basilar membrane respond to different frequencies.
(B) The cochlea amplifies all sounds equally, regardless of frequency.
(C) Pitch is determined by the number of neurons firing rather than their location.
(D) All frequencies are processed at the same location in the cochlea.
Answer: (A) (The cochlea’s tonotopic organization allows for pitch discrimination.)
What role do mechanoreceptors play in both audition and touch?
(A) They transduce mechanical stimuli into electrical signals for neural processing.
(B) They detect chemical changes in the external environment.
(C) They allow for color perception.
(D) They only function in the somatosensory system.
Answer: (A) (Mechanoreceptors convert physical stimuli into neural signals in both systems.)
