Sensation & Perception Chapter 5

The local fire department sounds the 12 o’clock whistle. The process by which your ears transform the sound waves from the siren into neural impulses is an example of

A) an absolute threshold.

• a perceptual set.

• an absolute threshold.

• transduction.

• sensory adaptation.

A subliminal message is one that is presented

• below one’s absolute threshold for awareness.

• in a manner that is unconsciously persuasive.

• with very soft background music.

• repetitiously.

If you move your watchband up your wrist an inch or so, you will feel it for only a few moments. This best illustrates

• a perceptual set.

• priming.

• sensory adaptation.

• Weber’s law.

Receptor cells in the human eye that are the most sensitive to fine detail are called

• feature detectors.

• supercell clusters.

• cones.

• rods.

The opponent-process theory is most useful for explaining a characteristic of

• perceptual adaptation.

• retinal disparity.

• interposition.

• afterimages.

The point at which a change in sensory stimulation is detected is called the

• absolute threshold
• psychological equation
• just noticeable difference 
• Weber effect

Information picked up by the body's receptor cells is termed

• cognition
• perception
• adaptation
• sensation 

The effect of prior experience and current expectations on perception best illustrates the importance of

• accomodation
• transduction
• top-down processing
• bottom-up processing

After some time has passed, you can no longer smell the odor of wet paint that you noticed when you first walked into your classroom.  Which is the most likely reason for this?

• The smell has gone away

• You have adapted to the smell
• Your olfactory bulbs have failed
• Your olfactory receptor cells have died off

Alice is eating a piece of fruit.  After a while, she notices that the fruit tastes less sweet and tangy than it did when she first bit into it.  Alice is experiencing the process of ____.

• habituation
• accommodation
• sensory adaptation
• subliminal perception