AP Psychology Sensation and Perception

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.

Trying to see a hidden representational image in a piece of abstract art by looking carefully at each element in the picture and trying to form an image employs which kind of perceptual process?

• bottom-up processing
• selective attention
• retinal disparity
• perceptual adaptation

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
  

Audiotapes of soothing ocean sounds accompanied by faint and imperceptible verbal messages designed to increase a desire to lose weight best illustrate

• synaesthesia.
• sensory interaction.
• parallel processing.
• subliminal stimulation.

If the just-noticeable difference for a 10-ounce weight is 1 ounce, the just noticeable difference for an 80-ounce weight would be ________ ounce(s).

• 8
• 4
• 2
• 1

Weber's law is relevant to an understanding of

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