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Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Module 6 & are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam two. You can, in fact, expect to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, however, may deal with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You are responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities, & material on the web site.

Use these sample questions to test yourself & to practice for the test. Click on your choice to see if you are right.

1. An absolute threshold is the intensity level that you

•  just barely detect.
 •  detect 50 percent of the time.
  •  detect every time it is presented.
   •  guess is there, even if you can’t quite detect it.

2.  A stimulus that is detected less than 50% of the time is called a(n) ________ stimulus.

•  absolute
 •  detectable
  •  subliminal
   •  just noticeable

3. The just noticeable difference serves as the foundation for:

Weber's Law
transduction
Ponzo illusion
absolute threshold

4. Fechner is to Weber as ________ is to just noticeable difference.

sensation
interposition
figure-ground
absolute threshold

5. Which of the following best represents sensation?

an aircraft pilot making an adjustment in altitude
a college student interpreting an essay by Plato
a fourteen-year-old seeing a bright flash of light
deciding to wear shorts today because the weather is nice

6. An orange blob is to a tiger as ________ is to ________.

sensation; perception
perception; sensation
proximity; figure-ground
Weber's law; sensation

7. Sensation is to ________ as perception is to ________.

JND; Weber's Law
similarity; simplicity
monocular; binocular
meaningless; meaningful

8. Structuralism is to Gestalt as ______ is to _______.

rules; JND
rules; addition
addition; rules
Weber's Law; JND

9. Looking up at the blue sky, Kyle imagined that he saw the clouds as animal shapes. Viewing clouds against the sky is an example of which principle of perceptual organization?

closure
continuity
simplicity
figure & ground
hallucination

10. Professor Redd walks into her filled classroom, immediately perceiving students as sitting in rows rather than in a haphazard fashion. This is similar to what principle of perceptual organization?

closure
similarity
simplicity
figure & ground

12. Given that size constancy appears to be learned, what would a blind person whose sight is suddenly restored say as he looked out the window of an airplane as it flies high above in the sky?

"Very small people must live in those very small houses down there."
"It seems that the cars down on the ground are moving very slowly."
"Why does the color of those houses down there keep changing?"
"Amazing I can really see those houses very clearly."

13. What are the three dimensions that our visual system allows us to perceive? Of the three, which one is added by our visual system?

depth, width, height - depth
depth, convergence, height - depth
width, height, diameter - diameter
accommodation, disparity, depth - disparity

15.  If one object partially overlaps another object, the partially overlapping object will appear closer because of the ________ depth cue.

relative size
interposition
retinal disparity
motion parallax

16. A brochure displays a long stretch of road. The lines that make up the road are drawn so that they converge at the horizon. The result is that the brochure creates a sense of distance. This is based on a monocular cue called

relative size.
convergence.
texture gradient.
linear perspective.

17. If you are looking at a lighthouse in the fog, the lighthouse will appear farther away than it really is because of a monocular depth cue called

interposition.
linear perspective.
retinal disparity.
atmospheric perspective.

18. An artist wishing to use texture as a cue to depth in his painting would

space his objects evenly from near to far.
put finer detail in objects he wanted to appear close.
put finer detail in objects that he wanted to appear farther away.
put finer detail into an object that bordered the area to be viewed.

19. The brain transforms the speed of moving objects into indicators of distance because of a depth cue called:

interposition
retinal disparity
motion parallax
linear perspective

20. The Ponzo illusion illustrates that in some illusions:

distance cues can distort size cues
monocular cues are very misleading
eye convergence is susceptible to misapplication
previous experience with corners of rooms leads us to
      make incorrect judgments

21. The key idea in a perceptual set is:

monocular depth perception
figure-ground rule
phi movement
expectation

22.   The illusion of lights moving that are actually stationary is called:

real motion
phi movement
motion parallax
apparent motion

24. Receptor cells for a sense are activated, the process of _________ has begun.

•  sensation
 •  adaptation
  •  perception
   •  sublimination

25. Which supposed ESP ability involves being able to percieve events or objects that are out of sight, that is to"see" something that is not physically present by touching another object?

•  telepathy
 •  telekinesis
  •  clairvoyance
   •  precognition

26. If you have to add 1 teaspoon of sugar to a cup of coffee that already has 5 teaspoons of sugar in it to notice a difference in sweetness. A cup of coffee with 10 teaspoons of sugar in it, would require how many teaspoons for you to notice the difference in sweetness at least half the time?

•  1
 •  2
  •  4
   •  8

27. The Müller-Lyer illusion would most likely exist in cultures in which there are

•  lots of trees.
 •  more women than men.
  •  more men than women.
   •  buildings with lots of corners.

28. You perceive these lines: ||||| ||||| as two groups of five, rather than as 10 separate lines due to the Gestalt principle of

•  closure.
 •  similarity.
  •  continuity.
   •  proximity.
    •  common fate.

29. __________ occurs when one object seems to block another object.

•  overlap
 •  convergence
  •  texture gradient
   •  linear perspective

31. A reversible figure makes use of which principle of perception?

•  expectancy
 •  shape constancy
  •  depth perception
   •  figure-ground relationships

32. The tendency to perceive a dime as being round even when it is viewed at an angle is called

•  size constancy.
 •  color constancy.
  •  shape constancy.
   •  brightness constancy.

33. Which of the following is not a monocular depth cue?

•  overlap
 •  convergence
  •  texture gradient
   •  linear perspective

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"The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions." - Bishop Mandell Creighton