Chapter 06: Sensation, Perception, and Action
1. Sensation refers to
a.
interpretation of incoming sensory messages.
b.
stimulation of nerve cells in the sense organs.
c.
perceiving the surrounding environment.
d.
innate processes of understanding the world.
2. A wave of light proceeds through to the back of the eye where it encounters and stimulates a receptor neuron. What
process has taken place?
a.
Perception
b.
Thinking
c.
Cognition
d.
Sensation
3. Which of the following is the best example of a perceptual process?
a.
b.
c.
d.
4. A wave of sound proceeds through the auditory canal to the inner ear where receptor neurons on the basilar membrane
are stimulated. The neurons send a message to the brain. When the brain receives the message, the result is a person
thinking, “That sounds like my mom calling me for dinner.” What has taken place?
a.
Sensation and perception
b.
Sensation but not perception
c.
Perception but not sensation
d.
Neither sensation nor perception
5. Gibson’s theory proposes that the features of an object reveal its
a.
affordances.
b.
assimilations.
c.
accommodations.
d.
affectations.
6. What type of theorist is most likely to argue that all of the information needed to interpret the current perceptual
situation is available in the current perceptual situation?
a.
constructivist
b.
ecological
c.
biological
d.
neurological
7. Habituation is best defined as the process of “learning to be _____” with a stimulus.
a.
smart
b.
you
c.
bored
d.
free
8. Anita jingles her keys in front of baby Leslie’s face, and she watches and smiles. Anita continues the game because
Leslie appears to enjoy it. After a while, though, Leslie seems to lose interest and no longer focuses on the keys when
Anita jingles them. This illustrates the process of
a.
cross-modal perception.
b.
constancy.
c.
preferential looking.
d.
habituation.
9. Dr. Violet is interested in how young children perceive color. In her study, Dr. Violet simultaneously shows young
children two blobs of different color and measures the amount of time they focus on each blob. Dr. Violet’s technique is
known as a(n) _____ task.
a.
habituation
b.
preferential looking
c.
evoked potentials
d.
operant conditioning
10. Within a minute after birth, a typical infant
a.
sees colors and can track slow-moving objects.
b.
sees colors but cannot track any moving objects.
c.
can visually track slow-moving objects but sees only in black/white.
d.
cannot track any moving objects and sees only in black/white.
11. Visual accommodation involves the ability of the _____ of the eye to change shape and bring objects into focus.
a.
retina
b.
lens
c.
iris
d.
fovea
12. Which of the following is true regarding newborn infants’ vision?
a.
Infants do not have color vision until around six months of age.
b.
Much of what young infants see is blurry.
c.
Pattern complexity has no impact on infants’ visual preferences.
d.
Initial visual accommodation skills allow infants to focus clearly on far objects but not near objects.
13. Marisol has been developing normally since the moment of conception. When will she have mature color vision?
a.
near the end of the fetal stage
b.
within a day after birth
c.
about three to four months after birth
d.
around her first birthday
14. Visual contour is specifically defined as the amount of _____ of a visual object.
a.
curvature
b.
light/dark transition
c.
size
d.
movement
15. Which object would have the greatest amount of visual contour?
a.
A series of black circles on a white background
b.
A gray ship on the ocean
c.
A pillow with pastel blobs of blue and yellow
d.
A clear baby-bottle filled with breast milk
16. Which of the following is LEAST likely to draw the visual attention of a young infant?
a.
A moving object
b.
A high contour object
c.
A highly complex object
d.
A face
17. Martin Banks and colleagues suggest that _____ is the most important overall factor in determining what an infant
will stare at the longest.
a.
the degree of contours that the object has
b.
whether the object is moving or not
c.
how complex the object is in terms of colors and patterns
d.
whether or not the infant can see it well
18. When looking at faces, infants between age one and two months shift from
a.
looking at the top of the face to looking at the bottom of the face.
b.
looking at the bottom of the face to looking at the top of the face.
c.
looking at the outer contour of the face to looking at the interiors of the face.
d.
looking at the interiors of the face to looking at the outer contour of the face.
19. Which child has acquired perceptual size constancy?
a.
Raven, who looks out a window on a plane and realizes that people in the terminal look like ants but that they
are actually much bigger.
b.
Yasmin, who knows that she will get bigger when she is older
c.
Robbie, who can perceive the difference in size between a one-story building and a 10-story building
d.
Carlos, who uses Lego building blocks to create a tower that is taller than he is
20. Three-month-old Jordan reacts as if he believes that the basketball he is playing with actually shrinks as it rolls away
from him. This reaction would indicate that Jordan lacks
a.
object permanence.
b.
cross-modal perception.
c.
attention.
d.
size constancy.
21. Four month-old infants can best organize the world into distinct objects when the objects they are trying to make sense
of are
a.
stationary.
b.
moving.
c.
identical.
d.
multicolored.
22. Six-month-old Kara watches as two dolls are placed behind a screen. When the screen is removed, Kara sees either
two dolls (possible) or one doll (impossible). Which of the following reactions is the infant likely to show?
a.
Kara will not notice any difference between the possible and impossible outcomes, as evidenced by no
difference in looking times at the two outcomes.
b.
Kara will look longer at the impossible outcome than the possible outcome.
c.
Kara will look longer at the possible outcome because it is familiar to her.
d.
Kara will not look at either outcome because they will have habituated to the original stimulus.
23. According to the intuitive theorist perspective, infants
a.
have innate knowledge of the world and can reason about the world like adults do.
b.
must construct their knowledge of the world from a blank slate.
c.
learn what they need to know about the world by observing people around them.
d.
may have some innate knowledge of the world, but do not yet have the capabilities to reason about the world.
24. Which of the following is the best example of the infant as an intuitive theorist?
a.
Infants look away when an object disappears from view.
b.
Infants get bored and look away when an object is repeatedly presented.
c.
Infants show surprise when a ball that is dropped behind a screen is later shown to be suspended in the air.
d.
Infants show surprise when a ball rolling down a hill is shown reaching the bottom of the hill.
25. Typically, newborns can
a.
see and hear equally well.
b.
see better than they hear.
c.
hear better than they see.
d.
neither see nor hear well.
26. How should you react to a policy that supports the initial testing of hearing at age three and a half years?
a.
Great idea, because this is the beginning of a sensitive period for development of potential auditory problems.
b.
Great idea, but since few hearing problems occur before this age, you are unlikely to identify any children with
hearing problems.
c.
Bad idea, because by the time those with significant hearing loss reach this age, they are at significant risk for
life-long speech and language difficulties.
d.
Bad idea, as accurate assessment of hearing is not possible until age five.
27. The fact that two-month-olds can detect the difference between the sound “pa” and the sound “ba” indicates that they
a.
can differentiate phonemes.
b.
have cross-modal perception.
c.
have semantic awareness.
d.
possess visual accommodation.
28. Three-month-old infants can discriminate between phonemes. This means that they can discriminate between
a.
basic speech sounds.
b.
a doorbell and the bell on a telephone.
c.
various familiar odors.
d.
familiar and novel tastes.
29. What can we conclude regarding developmental changes in speech perception?
a.
With age, we become more sensitive to sound discriminations that are relevant in our own language and less
sensitive to sound discriminations that are irrelevant.
b.
With age, we become more sensitive to all sound discriminations.
c.
There are no detectable differences in sound discriminations with age.
d.
With age, we become more sensitive to differences in consonant sounds and less sensitive to differences in
vowel sounds.
30. Within days of their baby’s birth, Ben and Jen are having an argument about their son. Jen claims that he recognizes
her voice, but Ben says that this is impossible. Knowing the research in this area, you are able to tell them that
a.
Ben is correct (voice recognition does not occur until around six months of age).
b.
both could be correct, as babies can recognize only the first voice that they heard immediately following
delivery (if this was Jen’s voice, then she is correct; if it was not Jen’s voice, then Ben is correct).
c.
Jen is correct (maternal voice recognition is evident a few days after birth).
d.
we can not know who is correct because infants this young cannot be accurately tested.
31. Laura and Stan are discussing the abilities of their two-month-old son Jack. Laura claims that Jack can recognize both
of his parent’s voices. Stan says that Jack cannot recognize either voice. If Jack is a typical two-month-old, then who is
correct?
a.
Laura
b.
Stan
c.
Neither, as Jack can likely recognize Laura’s voice but not Stan’s voice
d.
Neither, as Jack can likely recognize Stan’s voice but not Laura’s voice
32. What is the best explanation for young infants’ ability to recognize their mother’s voices shortly after birth?
a.
An instinctive mother-baby bond
b.
Postnatal linguistic experiences
c.
Innate phonetic receptors
d.
Prenatal exposure to mom’s voice
33. Newborns will produce certain facial expressions depending on the taste of the liquid that they are offered. They smile
when offered sugar water and frown when offered quinine. This demonstrates that newborns
a.
prefer salty tastes to sour ones.
b.
inherit their mother’s taste preferences.
c.
can discriminate between various tastes.
d.
learn to avoid substances that might contain poison.
34. Aaliyah was born five weeks premature. What would help her to gain weight faster?
a.
being fed formula with sugar
b.
being kept in a warm environment
c.
being stroked over her entire body
d.
being lulled with soothing music
35. Breast feeding an infant who is receiving a vaccination
a.
leads the infant to produce more antibodies.
b.
is ill advised as it promotes connecting pleasure with pain.
c.
reduces the behavior signs that they are in pain.
d.
has been banned by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
36. Newborns look in the direction of a sound that they hear. They also try to grasp objects that they can see. This
suggests that newborns
a.
use the senses of sight, hearing, and touch, more than taste and smell.
b.
use vision to coordinate all the senses.
c.
cannot distinguish between their senses.
d.
can integrate two or more senses.
37. Cross-modal perception is the ability to
a.
perceive three-dimensionality from a two-dimensional display.
b.
perceive an object through two senses at the same time.
c.
stop responding to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented.
d.
recognize with one sense an object that was learned through another sense.
38. One-month-old infants were given either a smooth pacifier or one with hard nubs on which to suck. Although they had
not seen the pacifier while sucking on it, when given the opportunity to look, the infants stared longer at the type of
pacifier that they had sucked on. This shows that they have
a.
cross-modal perception.
b.
evoked potential.
c.
inter-sensory sensation.
d.
dynamic systems.
39. Which of the following is NOT an example of cross-modal perception?
a.
Recognizing a person’s face in a photograph that you have only seen in person one time
b.
Picking out by sight a toy that you had previously only touched
c.
Identifying which of your two pet cats has jumped onto the bed in the dark by running your hands over it
d.
Correctly identifying a Tootsie Roll pop because of the way it feels in your mouth, after a friend tells you to
closer your eyes and open your mouth for a treat
40. All of the major sensory systems begin to function
a.
before birth.
b.
shortly after birth.
c.
about one month after birth.
d.
by a child’s first birthday.
41. Research has shown that children who undergo surgery for congenital cataracts, but who missed out on early visual
experience,
a.
see the details of faces but with dark spots in the center of the image.
b.
are able to see details of faces, but have difficulty identifying different orientation of the same face.
c.
are able to see details of faces, but have difficulty telling two different people apart.
d.
have face discrimination abilities identical to children born without cataracts.
42. Which of the following best describes the “sleeper effect of early visual deficits?”
a.
If an infant does not experience normal visual experience, even after corrective surgery, it may never develop
a normal perception of vision
b.
Naps are critical to the development of the depth receptors found on the retina
c.
The brain is so plastic, that even with complete absence of visual stimulation for up to a year, human infants
will not show any detrimental effects
d.
Children tend to inherit visual problems that show up suddenly around age six
43. Whose exploratory behavior would most likely involve mouthing an object to learn more about it?
a.
2-month-old Drishti
b.
6-month-old Miguel
c.
12-month-old Phoebe
d.
18-month-old Cedric
44. Whose exploratory behavior would most likely just begin to involve exploring an item with both their eyes and hands?
a.
2-month-old Tom
b.
6-month-old Heather
c.
12-month-old Montell
d.
18-month-old Tameeka
45. As a typical four-month-old, Dakota’s attention process is best described as
a.
being focused on the most relevant items.
b.
adult-like.
c.
being caught by objects in the environment.
d.
non-existent.
46. The fact that infants’ attention seems to involve reacting to environmental stimulation rather than being deliberately
focused, illustrates the concept of a(n) _____ system.
a.
dynamic
b.
orienting
c.
fail-safe
d.
intentional
47. Which of the following is NOT a typical change in attention during childhood?
a.
Attention becomes more selective
b.
Attention span becomes longer
c.
Attention becomes more focused on irrelevant objects
d.
Attention becomes systematic
48. Which indicates that Maria has well-developed selective attention skills?
a.
She can pay attention to two people talking at the same time.
b.
She can pay attention to her teacher’s voice while ignoring the voices of classmates.
c.
It takes a great deal of noise to get Maria to notice that someone is talking to her.
d.
It takes her a long time to complete a task that requires vigilance.
49. The most effective way to increase the performance of a young child on a task requiring attention skills would be to
a.
increase the complexity of the task.
b.
increase the number of senses involved.
c.
decrease distractions.
d.
decrease time spent on the task.
50. Who is demonstrating a fine motor skill?
a.
Tina, who is kicking
b.
Akbar, who is jumping
c.
Nancy, who is grasping a pencil
d.
Max, who is throwing a ball
51. Attention skills of adolescents are advanced relative to those of children. This advantage appears to be due, in part, to
_____ commonly found in adolescents.
a.
improvements in visual acuity
b.
increased distractibility
c.
myelination of brain cells
d.
androgens released by the ovaries/testes
52. Ozzie is planning on attending a very loud rock concert. As such, he should be prepared to experience _____ unless he
takes precautions to protect his hearing.
a.
presbyopia
b.
macular degeneration
c.
presbycusis
d.
tinnitus