Sensation, Perception, Physiology

Question 1

The two major divisions of the nervous system are the central and the ________ nervous systems.

Answer 1

peripheral

Question 2

The central nervous system is made up of

Answer 2

the brain and spinal cord

Question 3

The somatic nervous system is a component of the ___________ nervous system.

Answer 3

peripheral nervous system

Question 4

You come home one night to find a burglar in your house. Your heart starts racing and you begin to perspire. These physical “fight-or-flight” reactions are triggered by the:

Answer 4

Sympathetic nervous system controls your “fight-or-flight” response. Danger or stress activates your sympathetic nervous system, which can cause several things to happen in your body.

Question 5

The motor cortex is located within the _________ lobe whereas the sensory cortex is located in the _________ lobe.

Answer 5

frontal and parietal

Question 6

The axons of certain neurons are covered by a layer of fatty tissue that helps speed neural transmission. This tissue is:

Answer 6

myelin sheath

Question 7

The chemical messengers released into the spatial junctions between neurons are called:

Answer 7

neurotransmitters

Question 8

Reuptake refers to the:

Answer 8

reabsorption of excess neurotransmitter molecules by a sending neuron

Question 9

A drug that mimics the effects of a particular neurotransmitter is called a(n):

Answer 9

opiate

Question 10

Who would have been most likely to claim that a slight protrusion in a certain region of someone’s skull indicated that the individual had an optimistic personality?

Answer 10

Franz Gall

Question 11

Surgical destruction of brain tissue is called a(n):

Answer 11

lesion

Question 12

Which technique is most useful for seeing which regions of the brain are most active while a person performs a mental activity (e.g., reads a poem)?

Answer 12

PET

Question 13

Perception is the process by which:

Answer 13

sensory input is selected, organized, and interpreted

Question 14

The minimum amount of stimulation a person needs to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time is called the:

Answer 14

absolute threshold

Question 15

In one experiment, most of the participants who viewed a videotape of men tossing a basketball remained unaware of an umbrella-toting woman sauntering across the screen. This illustrated:

Answer 15

inattentional blindness

Question 16

Humans experience the longest visible electromagnetic waves as the color ________ and the shortest visible waves as ________.

Answer 16

red; blue-violet

Question 17

Brightness is to intensity as hue is to:

Answer 17

wavelength

Question 18

Accommodation refers to the:

Answer 18

process by which the lens changes shape in order to focus images on the retina

Question 19

The eye’s “blind spot” is related to:

Answer 19

An area without receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves the eye

Question 20

If images of distant objects are typically focused at a point in front of the retina, a person will:

Answer 20

have unusually good visual acuity

Question 21

Which of the following is true regarding cone-shaped and rod-shaped visual receptors in the eyes?

Answer 21

cones are highly sensitive to color

Question 22

Evidence that some cones are especially sensitive to red light, others to green light, and still others to blue light is most directly supportive of the ________ theory.

Answer 22

Young- Helmholtz