5 Steps to a 5: AP Psychology - McGraw Hill 2021
Review Questions
7 Sensation and Perception
STEP 4 Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
1. Mechanical energy of vibrations is transduced to the electrochemical energy of neural impulses at the
(A) retina
(B) lens
(C) cochlea
(D) olfactory mucosa
(E) taste buds
2. Of the following, which bend incoming light rays to focus an image on the retina?
I. cornea
II. iris
III. lens
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, III
3. When food supplies may be unsafe, which of the following would have an adaptive advantage over most other people?
I. Supertasters
II. Average Tasters
III. Nontasters
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, III
4. On its way to the cones and rods of the eye (in order), light passes through the
(A) cornea, vitreous humor, lens, iris, aqueous humor
(B) sclera, lens, pupil, iris, vitreous humor
(C) cornea, aqueous humor, pupil, lens, vitreous humor
(D) sclera, aqueous humor, lens, pupil, vitreous humor
(E) retina, vitreous humor, lens, iris, aqueous humor, fovea
5. Neural impulses go directly to the cortex without passing through the thalamus from receptors in the
(A) retina
(B) joints
(C) cochlea
(D) olfactory epithelium
(E) taste buds
6. Of the following, which is NOT a basic taste?
(A) sweet
(B) salty
(C) peppery
(D) bitter
(E) sour
7. Receptors for kinesthesis are located in the
(A) retina
(B) joints
(C) semicircular canals
(D) olfactory epithelium
(E) taste buds
8. Carlos was just able to perceive a difference in weight when Maria removed two of the 50 jelly beans from his plastic bag. It is most likely that if Carlos had the jumbo bag of 100 jelly beans, the smallest number of jelly beans he could notice removed would be
(A) 2
(B) 4
(C) 8
(D) 16
(E) 20
9. Conventional hearing aids may restore hearing by
(A) restoring functionality to a badly punctured eardrum
(B) amplifying vibrations conducted by facial bones to the cochlea
(C) translating sounds into electrical signals wired into the cochlea’s nerves
(D) stimulating the semicircular canals to transduce sound waves
(E) converting sound waves to radio waves
10. The theory that best accounts for the experience of pain is
(A) the opponent-process theory
(B) Weber’s law
(C) the trichromatic theory
(D) the direct perception theory
(E) the gate-control theory
11. Which sense is least involved in enabling you to maintain your balance when you stand on one foot?
(A) kinesthesis
(B) olfaction
(C) vision
(D) vestibular sense
(E) somatosensation
12. Although sound comes from speakers on the sides of the room, viewers watching a movie perceive the sound to be coming from the screen. This phenomenon is best accounted for by
(A) visual capture
(B) proximity
(C) closure
(D) opponent-processes
(E) feature-detection
13. Your tendency to see the words went and ties, rather than the word twenties when you look at T WENT TIES is best explained by the organizing principle of
(A) bottom-up processing
(B) closure
(C) continuity
(D) figure—ground
(E) proximity
14. A landscape painting shows boats on a lake in the foreground and mountains farther away. Of the following, which cue would not contribute to your perception that the mountains are farther away than the boats in the picture?
(A) texture gradient
(B) linear perspective
(C) relative height
(D) retinal disparity
(E) interposition
Answers and Explanations
1. C—Hair cells of the cochlea transduce the mechanical energy of sound waves to the electrochemical energy of neural impulses. Rods and cones of the retina transduce light energy; cells of the olfactory epithelium and taste buds transduce chemical energy.
2. D—The curved transparent cornea and curved lens both bend light rays, focusing an image on the retina.
3. A—Supertasters are especially sensitive to the sensation of bitterness that they dislike intensely and that is characteristic of many poisons. Tasters and nontasters are less sensitive to bitter substances and could die from eating them.
4. C—Light passes through mainly transparent structures. The iris and sclera are not transparent.
5. D—Smell is our most direct sense. Neurons from the olfactory mucosa synapse with neurons in the olfactory bulbs of the brain.
6. C—Peppery is sensed by pain and temperature receptors and is not a basic taste. Sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami are considered basic tastes by psychologists.
7. B—Receptors for your sense of body position are located primarily in your joints and tendons. Receptors for your vestibular sense, or sense of balance, are located in the semicircular canals of your inner ears.
8. B—According to Weber’s Law, the jnd is proportional to the intensity of the stimulus. So if the strength of the stimulus is doubled, the strength of the change in the stimulus that is just noticed must be doubled also.
9. B—Conventional hearing aids are primarily amplifiers. Facial bones other than the ossicles can transmit vibrations to the cochlea when vibrations are intense. Choice C describes cochlear implants.
10. E—According to gate-control theory, you experience pain when pain messages can pass through the spinal cord via small nerve fibers (open gate) that carry pain signals.
11. B—Your sense of smell or olfaction is not important for helping you to maintain your balance. To experience that vision is important, stand on one foot with your eyes closed.
12. A—In this case there is a conflict between audition signals and visual signals. When you perceive a conflict between senses, you tend to perceive what your vision tells you—visual capture.
13. E—The Gestalt organizing principle of proximity explains that you perceive objects that are close together as parts of the same group.
14. D—Retinal disparity is a binocular cue to depth. Since the picture is two dimensional, the mountains aren’t actually any farther away from your eyes than the boats, so retinal disparity will not provide information that the mountains are farther away than monocular cues will offer.