AP Psych Sensation and Perception 1

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

• parallel processing
• sensory adaptation
• accomodation
• Weber's Law

Makers of 3-D movies rely most heavily on:

• the visual cliff.
• The Lyer Illusion
• retinal disparity. 
• monocular cues. 

Which of the following activities requires you to use the absolute threshold for sensation?

• telling the difference between sweet and salty
• detecting a tiny, faint light on a radar screen
• deciding if two glasses contain the same amount of water
• telling if your guitar is in tune

As we perceive the environment, we use Gestalt principles of good form to help organize things into meaningful groups and forms.  In observing a football game on TV we are immediately able to recognize the players as members of their respective teams, regardless of their positions on the field.  Which Gestalt principle is most responsible for this ability?

• closure
• proximity
• similarity
• continuity

In the same football game, we watch as a team attempts a field goal.  Since the goal posts are distant and the time to make a decision is short, the referee must use many perceptual cues to decide whether the kick is good or not.  One important ability is depth perception.  Which of the following cues might be most helpful in deciding whether the field goal is successful?

• linear perspective
• motion parallax
• convergence
• interposition

You are an artist and you are interested in completing a painting that gives a three-dimensional appearance.  You want to show a beach in the foreground of the painting, people swimming in the ocean, and sailboats in the distance.  Which perceptual principles will be most helpful as you complete your painting?

• binocular depth cues
• monocular depth cues
• Gestalt principles of proximity and continuity
• perceptual principles only operate in “real life” situations

You are most likely to observe the phi phenomenon while:

• looking at a string of Christmas tree lights that blink quickly in succession.
• staring at a Necker cube.
• comparing the size of the moon while its in the sky to its size near the horizon.
• attempting to catch fly ball that is quickly coming toward you.

Which of the following statements is consistent with the Gestalt theory of perception?

• Perception develops largely through learning
• Perception is the product of heredity
• The mind organizes sensations into meaningful perceptions
• Perception results directly from sensation

Figures tend to be perceived as whole, complete objects, even if spaces or gaps exist in the representation, thus demonstrating the principle of:

• Closure
• Proximity
• Continuity
• Similarity

_______ refers to the minimum amount of stimulus energy required to be detected 50% of the time.

• Absolute threshold
• Difference threshold
• Just noticeable difference
• Transduction