Prep Guide
Chapter 3: Sensation and Perception
Define sensation in your own words.
Define perception in your own words.
Now that you have a basic understanding of how to define these two concepts,
differentiate between sensation and perception.
What is transduction?
Define psychophysics.
What are absolute thresholds? Provide your own example for an absolute threshold in
your own life.
Define difference threshold and provide your own example.
Is the just-noticeable difference the same or different from a difference threshold?
The official definition of Weber’s law can be somewhat confusing; use the example on
page 62 to help you discuss this law in your own words.
What is sensory adaptation?
What are perceptual sets and how do they influence our perception?
Define top-down processing and provide your own example.
Define bottom-up processing and provide your own example.
What are Gestalt laws of organization?
Briefly describe the Gestalt laws of organization (i.e., closure, proximity, similarity, and
simplicity).
Describe what is meant by perceptual constancy and provide an example of the various
kinds.
What factor determines our ability for depth perception?
Briefly describe binocular disparity, monocular cues, motion parallax, relative size,
texture gradient, and linear perspective.
What are visual illusions?
What cross-cultural evidence is there that previous experience can influence people’s
perception of illusions and other aspects of their environment?
Draw a picture of the eye (don’t worry, it does not have to be pretty) and label the cornea,
iris, pupil, lens, fovea, blind spot, optic nerve, and retina.
Discuss the features of rods and cones, the light-sensitive receptor cells in the retina.
Briefly summarize how someone is able to see and perceive an object such as a dog
standing on the sidewalk (i.e., outline the parts of the eye and brain that are involved in
this process).
What is colour blindness and how would the trichomatic and opponent-process theories
of colour vision explain why some people are colour blind?
Briefly summarize how someone is able to hear a dog barking (i.e., outline the parts of
the ear and brain involved in the process of hearing).
Differentiate between the place theory and the frequency theory of hearing.
Briefly summarize the parts of our nose involved in smelling.
What are the five basic taste qualities?
Why are some people considered “supertasters,” and how do they differ from
“nontasters”?
What are our skin senses?
Why do some people experience pain differently than others?
What did Dr. Ronald Melzack from McGill University discover about pain?
Briefly describe the gate-control theory.
How might the gate-control theory explain the effectiveness of acupuncture?
Briefly describe the various methods for managing pain.
What is synesthesia and what are some of the hypothesis for why this happens in some
individuals?
Now it’s time to apply your knowledge! Go to McGraw-Hill ConnectTM at
www.mcgrawhillconnect.com.
Check to see if your instructor has assigned any homework or posted any quizzes or tests,
and then click on the LearnSmartTM study modules and complete the study module for
Chapter 3.
Open the eBook and view the three videos associated with this chapter (Sensation: The
Mind-Body Connection, Change Blindness, and the Inability to Feel Pain).
Remember, you can highlight or add notes to your eBook (see the links at the top of your
eBook) and they will automatically be saved to your “my notebook” for further study.
Want more practice with the content of this chapter? Go to: http://highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/0071056742/student_view0/chapter3/ and test your knowledge using the
flash cards, complete the crossword puzzle, and then see how you do on the pop quiz!