Psychology Chapter 5:Sensations

The process by which we select, organize, and interpret sensory information in order to recognize meaningful objects and events is called

• parallel processing.

• perception.

• accommodation.

• sensation.

The detection and encoding of stimulus energies by the nervous system is called

• signal detection.
• synaesthesia
• sensation
• accommodation.

Because she was listening to the news on the radio, Mrs. Schultz didn't perceive a word her husband was saying. Her experience best illustrates

• gate-control theory.
• choice blindness.
  
• selective attention.
  
• opponent-process theory.

In one experiment, most of the participants who viewed a videotape of men tossing a basketball remained unaware of an umbrella-toting woman sauntering across the screen. This illustrated

• opponent-process theory.
• inattentional blindness.
• blind spot.
• visual cliff.
  

Although Manuel was sitting right next to his parents, he smelled a skunk minutes before they did. Apparently, Manuel has a lower ________ for skunk odor than his parents have.

• accommodation level
  
• absolute threshold
  
• tolerance level
• adaptation level

Which theory emphasizes that personal expectations and motivations influence the level of absolute thresholds?

• signal detection theory
  
• frequency theory
• opponent-process theory
• place theory
  

Weber's law is relevant to an understanding of

• absolute thresholds.
• difference thresholds.
• sensory interaction.
• parallel processing.

The amplitude of electromagnetic waves determines the ________ of light.

• absolute threshold
• hue
• difference threshold
• brightness

The amount of light entering the eye is regulated by the

• iris
• optic nerve
• retina
• lens

Accommodation refers to the

• quivering eye movements that enable the retina to detect continuous stimulation.
• process by which the lens changes shape to focus images on the retina.
• diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus.
• process by which stimulus energies are changed into neural messages.