{"id":870,"date":"2012-12-04T09:16:13","date_gmt":"2012-12-04T14:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cedarsdigest.wordpress.com\/?p=870"},"modified":"2012-12-04T09:16:13","modified_gmt":"2012-12-04T14:16:13","slug":"final-exam-for-sensation-and-perception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/psychology\/final-exam-for-sensation-and-perception\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Exam for Sensation and Perception"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought some of my readers might be interested in seeing the final exam I give for my introduction to Sensation and Perception class. I’d welcome any feedback, if people had it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are welcome to use your own books, notes, and lecture slides, but do not seek or give help to your classmates on this exam.\u00a0 I strongly suggest that you start early and give yourself ample time to complete it.\u00a0 Normally, you might spend a certain amount of time studying, and then take a 3 hour exam.\u00a0 Since this exam is open book, open notes, and untimed, I would expect it to take that time which would combine studying and taking an exam, which would be considerably longer than 3 hours.\u00a0 I think allotting 8-9 total hours to complete the exam is likely a good estimate.\u00a0 You may skip one question, leading to a total of 15 questions.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Why is it not quite accurate to say that we have 5 senses? Pick one of your senses and describe how we might consider it more than one sense. Describe two sensory experiences in which it seems that we are experiencing the same sense, but in fact there are separate biological detectors and pathways in the brain.<\/li>\n
  2. Compare the processes of transduction for hearing and for taste.\u00a0 How are they similar?\u00a0 How are they different? (2-3 paragraphs)<\/li>\n
  3. The first chapter draws the distinction between \u201cperception\u201d and \u201crecognition.\u201d\u00a0 Describe a time when you \u201cperceived\u201d something without \u201crecognizing\u201d it.\u00a0 Did you recognize it eventually? Use some of the knowledge you have learned in this class to apply to your recognition process in this case.\u00a0 (2 paragraphs)<\/li>\n
  4. Our perception of color is similar in many ways to our perception of pitch.\u00a0 Describe at least 4 similarities and 4 differences between these two different perceptual dimensions (and no, the fact that one is seen and the other is heard does not count as a difference).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Focus on both the physical qualities of the energy in the world, as well as the biological and psychological aspects of the sensations and perceptions. (3-4 paragraphs)<\/li>\n
  5. Watch the video of the cheetah running here: http:\/\/vimeo.com\/53914149<\/a>\u00a0 Describe the optic flow field for this cheetah. Why might it be advantageous to the cheetah (considering again the optic flow field) to hold its head as steady as it does? Compare the optic flow field of the cheetah running to that of a human running. What might be different between the two? Use elements of the optic flow field from the book and those that you\u2019ve learned in class.<\/li>\n
  6. Take the Magic School Bus book and make your own set of full facing pages (two pages in the book).\u00a0 They should include two little lined notebook pages, with fun facts, and text in the style of the rest of the book.\u00a0 To give you some idea, I think we have covered a fair amount between pages 15 and 17 (more on rods and cones, or receptor activity in the retina) that you could fill in, or after page 19 (depth perception?\u00a0 Object perception?), or you could fill in our spatial localization of sounds (the headphones and ringing bells demonstration), or something on speech.\u00a0 You get the idea.\u00a0 I would prefer that you draw yourself, but you are welcome to use computer collage techniques, but do not simply cut and paste from the textbook.\u00a0 I won\u2019t grade on your artistic ability, but I want you to put some thought into summarizing what you know on a topic and putting it into an accessible and fun format.<\/li>\n
  7. Draw a figure explaining how lateral inhibition leads to Mach bands.\u00a0 Draw a neural diagram that would NOT result in our perception of Mach bands.\u00a0 \u00a0Which two kinds of cells in the retina, if removed, would lead to a reduction of lateral inhibition?\u00a0 (2 drawings, and two words)<\/li>\n
  8. Why is the sky blue? Without getting into more detail than the physics of light that we have described in class, why do we see the sky as blue? Describe the wavelengths of light and the relative activity of photoreceptors. How is this related to the pictorial depth cue of atmospheric perspective?<\/li>\n
  9. Pick a photograph from the National Geographic Photo Contest at the following website: http:\/\/ngm.nationalgeographic.com\/ngm\/photo-contest\/2012\/entries\/gallery\/nature-week-12\/<\/a> or from the selections at this website: http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/infocus\/2012\/11\/national-geographic-photo-contest-2012-part-ii\/100414\/<\/a> For this photograph pick four (4) pictorial depth cues and describe how they help to arrange the objects in depth. Also, describe the depth of field in the photograph, how depth of field is changed in a camera, and how it is different for our eyes (2 paragraphs)<\/li>\n
  10. Pick another photograph from one of those sites and describe how 4 Gestalt principles of perceptual organization apply to specific elements of the photograph. (1 paragraph, at least 4 sentences)<\/li>\n
  11. In one movie clip shown in class describing an experiment by Dan Simons, an unknowing participant was asked for directions.\u00a0 While they were giving the directions, the person listening to the directions was changed, and the directions-giver did not notice.\u00a0 This video shows another example of inattentional blindness https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UGR7hh0se2k<\/a> .\u00a0 Can you explain this referring to the relative density of cones in the fovea (how tightly the cones are packed) vs. the peripheral retina?\u00a0\u00a0 If you can, explain using the density of cones in the fovea.\u00a0 If not, explain why this happens.<\/li>\n
  12. Describe your Thanksgiving dinner, in terms of taste, smell, and flavor.\u00a0 First, start with the preparation.\u00a0 How do the smells go from the cooking in the kitchen to your nose, and then to your brain? (describe the pathway in one paragraph)\u00a0\u00a0 When you sit down to eat, how do the foods activate your taste buds?\u00a0\u00a0 Can you account for the flavor of the food just by the activity of the taste buds?\u00a0 Let\u2019s say that there is a special family recipe that uses hot sauce to flavor the stuffing.\u00a0 What kind of receptor activity accounts for the spicy flavor of the stuffing?<\/li>\n
  13. Watch the following video: http:\/\/vimeo.com\/33480080<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Describe how this video was made (you may google, but also use concepts covered in class).\u00a0 Is this real motion?\u00a0 Is anything on TV motion?\u00a0 How is this video similar to a normal TV show, in terms of the process of visual perception of motion? (2-3 paragraphs)<\/li>\n
  14. Below is an illusion of brightness.\u00a0 The front face of the words \u201cblack\u201d and \u201cwhite\u201d are each the same color (they are shown to the right without the rest of the picture).\u00a0 How does this illusion work?\u00a0 You may want to make a drawing and refer to luminance, illumination, and reflectance.<\/li>\n
  15. What was your favorite demonstration, movie, or activity from the class?\u00a0 How did the particular aspects of this demonstration illustrate the relevant concept (please be specific)?<\/li>\n
  16. Briefly describe what you learned from your favorite student presentation.\u00a0\u00a0 What made this presentation or topic particularly interesting or memorable? \u00a0(1 paragraph \u2013 5-6 sentences)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I thought some of my readers might be interested in seeing the final exam I give for my introduction to Sensation and Perception class. I’d welcome any feedback, if people had it.   You are welcome to use your own books, notes, and lecture slides, but do not seek or give help to your classmates…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[54,67,5,38],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psychology","tag-classes","tag-exam","tag-highered","tag-perception"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Pqh9-e2","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riener.us\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}