Quiz on Perception - Unit 5 coming up 12/16 (b) and 12/17 (a)

The quiz will cover Bernstein Chapter 5 as well as some review questions from Chapter 4 about sensation.


Be sure to have your Cornell Notes for all of Chapter 5 as well as your 33 flash cards done before the quiz.

Discovering Psychology Sensation and Perception Video

See Dr. Philip Zimbardo's psychology video series at http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/index.html . The Sensation and Perception episode is at http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/07/e07expand.html .


You need to click on the VoD button for "Video on Demand" on that page and make sure your pop-up blocker is disabled since a new window with the video in it will pop up when you click the VoD button.

If you missed the Unit 4 Sensation Quiz...

If you missed the quiz because you were absent or giving blood at the blood drive you will need to be ready to take it on 11/30 or 12/1 upon return from our Thanksgiving break.

Unit 5 - Perception Reading - Part one due on Mon. 11/30 (a) and Tues. 12/1 (b)

Bernstein Text Chapter 5 Pp. 150 – 192

Perception... How we make sense of our senses.

As you read the text take Cornell Notes and be sure you understand the concepts represented be the following questions:

Part 1 (pages 150-172) Mon. 11/30 and Tues. 12/1

1. What is the “Perception Paradox?”
2. Explain and compare the three main approaches to perception: ecological, constructivist, and computationalist.
3. What is psychophysics? (not just Niebuhr, Moore and Guerrero being crazy)
4. What is an “Absolute Threshold?”
5. Explain the difference between “subliminal” and “supraliminal” perception.
6. What do YOU think about the power of subliminal messages?
7. What is “Signal Detection” theory?
8. Describe what a “Just-noticeable Difference” is and explain “Weber’s Law.”
9. Explain how Fechner’s law and Stevens’s Power Law relate to our perception of intensity of stimuli.
10. Explain how our brains organize the perceptual world.
• Figure- Ground, Grouping, Auditory Scene Analysis (Gestalt principles)
11. Explain perception of distance and location
• Two dimensional location
• Depth Perception via: interposition, relative size, height in visual field, texture gradients, linear perspective, motion parallax.
• Accommodation, convergence and binocular disparity in visual system.
12. Explain perception of motion

· Looming, stroboscopic motion

13. Why do we perceive consistency in our world when our sense data is always changing? Explain perceptual consistency.

· Size, Shape and Brightness consistency.

Part 2 (pages 173-192) Due Wed. 12/2 and Thurs. 12/3

14. How do culture, and experience shape perception of reality?
15. Explain the concepts of “Bottom-Up” and “Top-Down” processing.
16. What is the parallel distributed processing (PDP) model?
17. How do developing infants demonstrate various aspects of perceptual processing?
18. What is “attention?” How is it directed? What is “selective attention?”
19. When is it possible to “multi-task” and when is it not possible? Why?
20. How is perceptual research applied in the following fields?

• Aviation, human-computer interaction, traffic safety, architecture & design

Bernstein Study Guide Chapter 5 Pp. 126 – 157 Due 12/7 (a) and 12/8 (b)

(You will be graded for completing and correcting the study guide assignments not for how many you got right.)

1. Skim outline Pp. 126-130 – Make sure you know underlined terms and that they are in your notes.

2. Meaningful Flashcards of ALL Key Terms Pp. 130- 133 - Note examples and mnemonics (only 33 this unit)

3. Do the fill-in-the-blanks key terms quiz on Pp. 134-135. Write the question with your answer. Check your work (P. 144) and write the correct answer for any you got wrong.

4. Review the “Learning Objectives” on Pp. 153-136 – These are good sources for possible FRQ questions.

5. Do Sample Quiz 1 on Pp. 138-141 and check your answers. For each wrong answer, write the correct answer and be sure the information is in your notes. (Answers start on P. 146)

Color Vision Simulator

How can only 3 types of color sensitive cone cells allow us to see millions of colors?
You can download a small Java application which will let you run a simulation of how Red, Green and Blue light can form all colors in our visual field at http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Color_Vision#topics .

Are you a "Supertaster?"

We didn't get to this activity in class, but it is easy enough to do at home.

From http://www.thetech.org/genetics/supertaster.php

1. Draw a simple blank map of the tongue

2. Swab the blue food coloring on the front of the tongue (cover the tip and about 1/2 inch back). Have the subject move the tongue around in the mouth and swallow. This distributes the dye. Swallowing the dye is not hazardous. You will see pink circles emerge from the blue background. The pink circles are the fungiform papillae. The fungiform papillae appear pink because they do not stain.

3. Now use a hole-punched cards to take 4 or 5 samples from your partner’s tongue. Count how many papillae you find in the circle. Map these areas on your tongue drawing. What is the average number of papillae per sample?

Supertasters have an average of over 30 papillae hole punch.

Unit 4 Sensation Quiz on Monday 11/23 and Tuesday 11/24

Your homework which is due the day of the quiz is to:

Do both multiple choice sample quizzes in the Berntstein Study Guide starting on P. 108. Check your work and use it to guide your studies. Do sample quiz 1 first and use it as a guide for your studying. About a day or two before our quiz, do sample quiz 2 to see how much you have improved and to target your remaining studying.


Make 40 (meaningful) Flash Cards of Key Terms from the Study Guide book. Be sure to include # 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 17, 20, 22, 23, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 46, 49, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58,60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70 - You should select the other 8 terms on your own based on those concepts you are having the hardest time remembering.

Remember, distributed practice is best.