Sensation and Perception

What is a stimulus?

• Any physical change in the environment that goes unnoticed by an organism.

• A physical measurement of size, duration, or intensity.

• Any aspect of or change in the environment to which an organism responds.

• A sensory experience of loudness, brightness, or pain.

What is the main focus of psychophysics?

• To develop a quantified relationship between stimuli and sensory experience.

• To explore the psychological impact of sensory deprivation.

• To understand the internal structure of sensory receptors.

• To study the chemical composition of sensory stimuli.

What is the primary function of the vestibular system?

• To detect light waves in the air

• To convert taste sensations into nerve signals

• To provide information about magnetic fields

• To regulate the body sense of balance

Which sense is most closely connected with kinesthesis?

• Vestibular sense

• Taste

• Smell

• Hearing

Which qualities are proposed for the sense of smell?

• Sour, salty, bitter, sweet

• Flowery, fruity, spicy, resinous, putrid, burned

• Warmth, cold, pressure, pain

• Loudness, brightness, pain, heat

Humans have only five senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.

• False

• True

The retina in the eye contains rods and cones which are responsible for converting light energy into chemical and electrical impulses.

• True

• False

The sensation of loudness depends on the frequency of the vibrations in the air.

• True

• False

Smell receptors send messages over the auditory nerve to the brain.

• False
• True

Taste is composed of four primary qualities: sour, salty, bitter, and sweet.

• True

• False