CHAPTER 4
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
Questions
1. Johannes Müller proposed that whether a neural message is experienced as light, sound, or some other
sensation results less from differences in stimuli than from the particular neurons excited by them.
This hypothesis is known as:
a. the Müller-Lyer illusion
b. Müller's law
c. opponent-process theory
d. the doctrine of specific nerve energies
2. Focusing in the eye occurs in the
a. iris
b. retina
c. lens
d. aqueous humor
3. Transduction in the eye starts with
a. impulses from the optic nerve passing through the optic tracts
b. visual information traveling to the primary visual cortex, in the occipital lobes
c. neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus receiving input from the reticular formation
d. the focusing of images onto the retina
4. Which of the following theories argues that all colors are derived from three color systems: a blackwhite system, a blue-yellow system, and a red-green system?
a. place theory
b. opponent-process theory
c. Stevens's power law
d. the doctrine of specific nerve energies
5. People recognize each other's voices, as well as the sounds of different musical instruments, from their
characteristic
a. frequency
b. pitch
c. timbre
d. amplitude
6. In terms of sensing pitch, place theory holds that
a. different areas of the basilar membrane are maximally sensitive to different frequencies
b. the more frequently a sound wave cycles, the more frequently the basilar membrane vibrates and
hair cells fire
c. neurons may stagger their responses, so that the combined pattern produces a signal of a particular
frequency
d. the location or place from which a sound originates can be identified by means of sound
localization
7. The approximately _______ square feet of skin covering the human body constitutes a complex,
multilayered organ.
a. 2
b. 10
c. 18
d. 25
8. Chronic pain patients tend to
a. blame their physical condition for all life's difficulties, while denying emotional and interpersonal
problems
b. be anxious, needy, and dependent
c. have difficulty expressing anger
d. all of the above
9. Which of the following is not a major perceptual rule by which the brain automatically and
unconsciously organizes sensory input into meaningful wholes, as proposed by Gestalt psychologists?
a. proximity
b. shading
c. good continuation
d. simplicity
10. According to current thinking, perception involves
a. top-down processing
b. bottom-up processing
c. both of the above
d. neither of the above
Answers
1. d
2. c
3. d
4. b
5. c
6. a
7. c
8. d
9. b
10. c