5: Sensation
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Sensation refers to the process by which we detect
physical energy from the environment and encode it
as neural signals. This chapter describes the senses of
vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, kinesthesis, and
the vestibular sense. It also presents research findings
from studies of subliminal stimulation.
In this chapter there are many terms to learn and
several theories you must understand. Many of the
terms are related to the structure of the eye, ear, and
other sensory receptors. Doing the chapter review
several times, labeling the diagrams, and rehearsing
the material frequently will help you to memorize
these structures and their functions. The theories
discussed include the signal detection, Young-
Helmholtz three-color and opponent-process theories
of color vision, and the frequency and place theories
of pitch. As you study these theories, concentrate on
understanding the strengths and weaknesses (if any)
of each.
NOTE: Answer guidelines for all Chapter 5 questions
begin on page 145.
CHAPTER REVIEW
First, skim each section, noting headings and boldface
items. After you have read the section, review each
objective by answering the fill-in and essay-type
questions that follow it. As you proceed, evaluate
your performance by consulting the answers begin-
ning on page 145. Do not continue with the next sec-
tion until you understand each answer. If you need
to, review or reread the section in the textbook before
continuing.
Introduction (pp. 197–198)
David Myers at times uses idioms that are un-
familiar to some readers. If you do not know
the meaning of the following expression in the
context in which it appears in the text, refer to
page 154 for an explanation: . . . in a mirror she
is again stumped.
Objective 1: Contrast sensation and perception, and
explain the difference between bottom-up and top-
down processing.
1. The process by which we detect physical energy
from the environment and encode it as neural
signals is . The process by
which sensations are selected, organized, and
interpreted is .
2. Sensory analysis, which starts at the entry level
and works up, is called -
.
Perceptual analysis, which works from our expe-
rience and expectations, is called
-
.
3. The perceptual disorder in which a person has
lost the ability to recognize familiar faces is
.
129
130 Chapter 5 Sensation

Sensing the World: Some Basic Principles

(pp. 198–203) .
8. The principle that the difference threshold is not a
If you do not know the meaning of any of the
constant amount, but a constant proportion, is
following words, phrases, or expressions in the
context in which they appear in the text, refer known as
to page 154 for an explanation: A frog could . The proportion depends
starve to death knee-deep in motionless flies; The on the .
shades on our senses are open just a crack; the
faintest whimper from the cradle; “satanic mes- Objective 3: Describe sensory adaptation, and
sages”; hucksters; price hike . . . to raise the eye- explain how we benefit from being unaware of
brows; So everywhere that Mary looks, the scene is changing stimuli.
sure to go.
9. After constant exposure to an unchanging stimu-
lus, the receptor cells of our senses begin to fire
Objective 2: Distinguish between absolute and differ-
ence thresholds, and discuss whether we can sense less vigorously; this phenomenon is called
stimuli below our absolute threshold and be influ- .
enced by them. 10. This phenomenon illustrates that sensation is
1. The study of relationships between the physical designed to focus on
characteristics of stimuli and our psychological changes in the environment.
experience of them is . Explain why sensory adaptation is beneficial.
2. The
refers to the minimum stimulation necessary for a
stimulus to be detected
percent of the time.
3. The theory of
led to the concept that
absolute thresholds depend not only on the Vision (pp. 204–215)
strength of the signal but also on a person’s If you do not know the meaning of any of the
state. following words, phrases, or expressions in the
4. Some entrepreneurs claim that exposure to context in which they appear in the text, refer
“below threshold,” or , to pages 154–155 for an explanation: blind spot;
Rods have no such hotline; Holy Grail; blindsight;
stimuli can be persuasive, but their claims are
Color, like all aspects of vision, . . . the theater of
probably unwarranted. our brains.
5. Some weak stimuli may trigger in our sensory
receptors a response that is processed by the
brain, even though the response doesn’t cross the Objective 4: Define transduction, and specify the form
threshold into awareness. of energy our visual system converts into the neural
messages our brain can interpret.
6. Under certain conditions, an invisible image or
word can a person’s 1. Stimulus energy is converted into
response to a later question. The messages through the
illustrates that much of our process of sensory .
information processing occurs . 2. The visible spectrum of light is a small portion of
7. The minimum difference required to distinguish the larger spectrum of
two stimuli 50 percent of the time is called the radiation.
. 3. The distance from one light wave peak to the next
Another term for this value is the is called . This value
 Vision 131

determines the wave’s color, or network of cells. The axons

. of ganglion cells converge to form the
4. The amount of energy in light waves, or ,
, determined by a wave’s which carries the visual information to the
, or height, influences the .
of a light. 11. Where this nerve leaves the eye, there are no
receptors; thus the area is called the
Objective 5: Describe the major structures of the eye, .
and explain how they guide an incoming ray of light
toward the eye’s receptor cells. 12. Most cones are clustered around the retina’s
point of central focus, called the
5. Light enters the eye through the , whereas the rods are con-
, then passes through a centrated in more
small opening called the ; regions of the retina. Many cones have their own
the size of this opening is controlled by the cells to communicate with
colored . the visual cortex.
6. By changing its curvature, the 13. It is the (rods/cones) of the
can focus the image of an eye that permit the perception of color, whereas
object onto the , the light- (rods/cones) enable black-
sensitive inner surface of the eye. and-white vision.
7. The process by which the lens changes shape to 14. Unlike cones, in dim light the rods are
focus images is called . (sensitive/insensitive).
Clarity, or sharpness, of vision is called Adapting to a darkened room will take the retina
. approximately minutes.
8. In nearsightedness, light rays from
Objective 7: Discuss the different levels of processing
(nearby/distant) objects
that occur as information travels from the retina to
converge (in front of/in the brain’s cortex.
back of) the retina, rather than on it, and
(nearby/distant) objects 15. Visual information percolates through progres-
are seen more clearly than sively more levels. In the
(nearby/distant) objects. In brain, it is routed by the to
farsightedness, light rays from higher-level brain areas. Hubel and Wiesel dis-
(nearby/distant) objects converge covered that certain neurons in the
(in front of/in back of) the retina, and of the brain respond only to
(nearby/distant) objects are specific features of what is viewed. They called
seen more clearly than these neurons
(nearby/distant) objects. .
16. Feature detectors pass their information to
Objective 6: Contrast the two types of receptor cells
higher-level brain cells in the brain, including an
in the retina, and describe the retina’s reaction to
light. area in the cortex, which
responds to specific visual scenes. Research has
9. The retina’s receptor cells are the shown that in monkey brains such cells specialize
and . in responding to a specific
10. The neural signals produced in the rods and ,
cones activate the neighboring , , or
cells, which then activate a .
132 Chapter 5 Sensation

Researchers have also identified nerve cells that color, as an .

may respond or not, depending on how a 23. Hering’s theory of color vision is called the
monkey a given image. -
theory. According to this theory, after visual
Objective 8: Define parallel processing, and discuss its
information leaves the receptors it is analyzed in
role in visual information processing.
terms of pairs of opposing colors:
17. The brain achieves its remarkable speed in visual versus ,
perception by processing several subdivisions of versus ,
a stimulus (simultaneous- and also versus
ly/sequentially). This procedure, called .
, may Summarize the two stages of color processing.
explain why people who have suffered a stroke
may lose just one aspect of vision. Other brain-
damaged people may demonstrate
by responding to a stimulus
that is not consciously perceived.
18. Once the distributed parts of the brain have
processed sensory stimuli, EEG recordings reveal
a moment of neural , lasting
for about a fourth of a second and creating
waves. Other senses process
information with
Objective 10: Explain the importance of color con-
(similar/slower/faster) speed and intricacy. stancy.
Objective 9: Explain how the Young-Helmholtz and 24. The experience of color depends on the
opponent-process theories help us understand color
vision. in which an object is seen.
25. In an unvarying context, a familiar object will be
19. An object appears to be red in color because it
perceived as having consistent color, even as the
the long wavelengths of red
light changes. This phenomenon is called
and because of our mental
.
of the color.
20. One out of every 50 people is color deficient; this 26. We see color as a result of our brains’ computa-
is usually a male because the defect is genetically tions of the light by any
- . object relative to its
.
21. According to the -
Hearing (pp. 215–224)
theory, the eyes have three types of color
receptors: one reacts most strongly to If you do not know the meaning of any of the
, one to following words, phrases, or expressions in the
, and one to context in which they appear in the text, refer
to page 155 for an explanation: sensitive to faint
. Mixing lights, as Young
sounds, an obvious boon; A piccolo produces much
and von Helmholtz did, is shorter, faster sound waves than does a tuba; ear-
color mixing, unlike mixing paints, which is lids; If a car to the right honks; cock your head; the
. culprits are . . . ear-splitting noise or music.
22. After staring at a green square for a while, you
will see the color red, its
 Hearing 133

Objective 11: Describe the pressure waves we experi- 9. (Close-Up) On tasks requiring alert performance,
ence as sound. people in noisy environments work
(more/less) efficiently.
1. The stimulus for hearing, or
People who live in noisy environments suffer ele-
, is sound waves, created by
vated rates of -related disor-
the compression and expansion of ders such as
. ,
2. The amplitude of a sound wave determines the , and
sound’s . .
3. The pitch of a sound is derived from the Noise is especially stressful when it is
of its wave. or .
4. Sound energy is measured in units called Objective 13: Contrast place and frequency theories,
. The absolute threshold for and explain how they help us to understand pitch
hearing is arbitrarily defined as perception.
such units.
10. One theory of pitch perception proposes that dif-
Objective 12: Describe the three regions of the ear, ferent pitches activate different places on the
and outline the series of events that triggers the elec- cochlea’s basilar membrane; this is the
trical impulses sent to the brain. theory. This theory has dif-
ficulty accounting for how we hear
5. The ear is divided into three main parts: the
-pitched sounds, which do
ear, the
not have such localized effects.
ear, and the
ear. 11. A second theory proposes that neural impulses,
sent to the brain at the same frequency as the
6. The outer ear channels sound waves toward the
sound wave, allow the perception of different
, a tight membrane that then
pitches. This is the theory.
vibrates.
This theory fails to account for the perception of
7. The middle ear transmits the vibrations through a
-pitched sounds, because
piston made of three small bones: the
individual neurons cannot fire faster than
, , and
times per second.
.
12. For the higher pitches, cells may alternate their
8. In the inner ear, a coiled tube called the
firing to match the sound’s frequency, according
contains the receptor cells
to the principle.
for hearing. The incoming vibrations cause the
to Objective 14: Describe how we pinpoint sounds.
vibrate the fluid that fills the tube, which causes
ripples in the 13. We locate a sound by sensing differences in the
, which is lined with and
. This with which it reaches our ears.
movement triggers impulses in adjacent nerve 14. A sound that comes from directly ahead will be
fibers that converge to form the auditory nerve, (easier/harder) to locate
which carries the neural messages (via the than a sound that comes from off to one side.
) to the 15. As with visual information, the brain uses
lobe’s auditory cortex. The brain interprets loud-
as
ness from the of hair cells a specialized neural teams work on different audi-
sound activates. tory tasks simultaneously.
134 Chapter 5 Sensation

Objective 15: Contrast the two types of hearing loss,
and describe some of their causes.
16. Problems in the mechanical conduction of sound
waves through the outer or middle ear may cause
. to touch—to kiss, to stroke, to snuggle; Rubbing the
17. Damage to the cochlea’s hair cell receptors or
their associated auditory nerves can cause
hearing loss. It may be
caused by disease, but more often it results from
the biological changes linked with
and prolonged exposure to
ear-splitting noise or music.
18. Scientists have discovered ways to
hair cell regeneration.
Objective 16: Describe how cochlear implants func-
tion, and explain why Deaf culture advocates object
to these devices.
19. An electronic device that restores hearing among
nerve-deafened people is a
. as tickle, itch, hot, and wetness, are
20. Advocates of
object to the use of these
implants on before they
have learned to . The basis
for their argument is that deafness is not a
. than someone else’s tickle.
21. Sign language (is/is not) a
complete language,
(with/without) its own grammar, syntax, and
semantics. Those who learn only sign language
during childhood (have/do
not have) difficulty later learning to read and
write. People who lose one channel of sensation
(such as hearing) (seem
to/do not seem to) compensate with a slight
enhancement in their other sensory abilities.
22. People who become deaf, or who lose another
channel of sensation, often experience
in
another ability.
23. (Close-Up) Deaf children raised in a household
where sign language is used express higher
and feel more .
Other Important Senses (pp. 224–235)
If you do not know the meaning of any of the
following words, phrases, or expressions in the
context in which they appear in the text, refer
to pages 155–156 for an explanation: we yearn
area around your stubbed toe; Sometimes the pain
in sprain is mainly in the brain; firewalking, . . .
putting his feet where his mouth was; A well-
trained nurse may distract needle-shy patients by
chatting with them; there is more to taste than
meets the tongue; bathing your nostrils in a stream
of scent-laden molecules; Words more readily por-
tray the sound of coffee brewing than its aroma; bio-
logical gyroscopes.
Objective 17: Describe the sense of touch.
1. The sense of touch is a mixture of at least four
senses: ,
, , and
. Other skin sensations, such
of the basic ones.
2. The -
influence on touch is illustrated by the fact that a
self-produced tickle produces less activation in
the
Objective 18: State the purpose of pain, and describe
the biopsychosocial approach to pain.
3. People born without the ability to feel pain may
be unaware of experiencing severe
. People with illness-related
experience extreme sensitivi-
ty to things others find only mildly painful.
4. Pain is a property of the
as well as of the and our
.
5. A sensation of pain in an amputated leg is
referred to as a
sensation. Another example
is , experienced by people
who have a ringing-in-the-ears sensation.
 Other Important Senses 135

6. Pain-producing brain activity may be triggered 12. Taste receptors reproduce themselves every
with or without . As
. we age, the number of taste buds
7. The pain system (is/is not) (increases/decreases/remains
triggered by one specific type of physical energy. unchanged) and our taste sensitivity
The body (does/does not) (increases/decreases/remains
have specialized receptor cells for pain. unchanged). Taste is also affected by
and by
8. Melzack and Wall have proposed a theory of pain
use.
called the -
theory, which proposes that 13. When the sense of smell is blocked, as when we
there is a neurological in have a cold, foods do not taste the same; this
the illustrates the principle of
that blocks pain signals or lets them through. It . The
may be opened by activation of effect occurs when we a
(small/large) nerve fibers speaker saying one syllable while
and closed by activation of another.
(small/large) fibers or by information from the
Objective 20: Describe the sense of smell, and explain
. why specific odors so easily trigger memories.
9. Individual differences in perceiving pain are an
example of influences on 14. Like taste, smell, or , is a
pain. Such influences demonstrate that pain is not sense. Unlike light, an odor
merely a phenomenon, as (can/cannot) be separated
proposed centuries ago by . into more elemental odors.
Rather, pain is created by the . 15. The ability to identify scents peaks in
List some pain control techniques used in the Lamaze and
method of prepared childbirth and in other health declines thereafter.
care situations.
16. The attractiveness of smells depends on
associations.
17. Odors are able to evoke memories and feelings
because there is a direct link between the brain
area that gets information from the nose and the
ancient centers associated
with memory and emotion.

Objective 19: Describe the sense of taste, and explain Objective 21: Distinguish between kinesthesis and
the principle of sensory interaction. the vestibular sense.

10. The basic taste sensations are , 18. The system for sensing the position and move-
, , ment of body parts is called
, and a meaty taste called . The receptors for this sense
. are located in the ,
11. Taste, which is a sense, is , and
enabled by the 200 or more of the body.
on the 19. The sense that monitors the position and move-
top and sides of the tongue. Each contains a ment of the head (and thus the body) is the
that catches food chemicals. .
136 Chapter 5 Sensation

The receptors for this sense are located in the 6. The process by which the lens changes its curva-
and ture is:
of the a. accommodation. c. feature detection.
inner ear. b. sensory adaptation. d. transduction.

7. The receptor of the eye that functions best in dim

light is the:
PROGRESS TEST 1
a. fovea. c. bipolar cell.
Multiple-Choice Questions b. cone d. rod.

Circle your answers to the following questions and 8. The Young-Helmholtz theory proposes that:
check them with the answers beginning on page 146. a. there are three different types of color-
If your answer is incorrect, read the explanation for sensitive cones.
why it is correct and then consult the appropriate b. retinal cells are excited by one color and inhib-
pages of the text (in parentheses following the correct ited by its complementary color.
answer). c. there are four different types of cones.
d. rod, not cone, vision accounts for our ability
1. Which of the following is true?
to detect fine visual detail.
a. The absolute threshold for any stimulus is a
constant. 9. Frequency is to pitch as is to
b. The absolute threshold for any stimulus varies .
somewhat. a. wavelength; loudness
c. The absolute threshold is defined as the mini- b. amplitude; loudness
mum amount of stimulation necessary for a c. wavelength; intensity
stimulus to be detected 75 percent of the time. d. amplitude; intensity
d. The absolute threshold is defined as the mini-
mum amount of stimulation necessary for a 10. Our experience of pain when we are injured
stimulus to be detected 60 percent of the time. depends on:
a. our biological make-up and the type of injury
2. Nearsightedness is a condition in which the:
we have sustained.
a. lens has become inflexible. b. how well medical personnel deal with our
b. lens is too thin. injury.
c. image falls behind the retina. c. our physiology, experiences and attention,
d. image falls in front of the retina. and our surrounding culture.
b. what our cultural allows us to express in
3. If you can just notice the difference between 10-
terms of feelings of pain.
and 11-pound weights, which of the following
weights could you differentiate from a 100-pound 11. The place theory of pitch perception cannot ac-
weight? count for how we hear:
a. 101-pound weight a. low-pitched sounds.
b. 105-pound weight b. middle-pitched sounds.
c. 110-pound weight c. high-pitched sounds.
d. There is no basis for prediction. d. chords (three or more pitches simultaneous-
ly).
4. A decrease in sensory responsiveness accompa-
nying an unchanging stimulus is called: 12. The hearing losses that occur with age are espe-
a. sensory fatigue. cially pronounced for:
b. accommodation. a. low-pitched sounds.
c. sensory adaptation. b. middle-pitched sounds.
d. sensory interaction. c. high-pitched sounds.
d. chords.
5. The size of the pupil is controlled by the:
a. lens. c. cornea.
b. retina. d. iris.
 Progress Test 1 137

13. According to the gate-control theory, a way to 17. One light may appear reddish and another green-
alleviate chronic pain would be to stimulate the ish if they differ in:
nerve fibers that the a. wavelength. c. opponent processes.
spinal gate. b. amplitude. d. brightness.
a. small; open c. large; open
b. small; close d. large; close 18. Which of the following explains why a rose ap-
pears equally red in bright and dim light?
14. The transduction of light energy into nerve im- a. the Young-Helmholtz theory
pulses takes place in the: b. the opponent-process theory
a. iris. c. lens. c. feature detection
b. retina. d. optic nerve. d. color constancy

15. The brain breaks vision into separate dimensions
such as color, depth, movement, and form, and
works on each aspect simultaneously. This is
called:
a. feature detection.
b. parallel processing.
c. accommodation.
d. opponent processing.
16. Kinesthesis involves:
a. the bones of the middle ear.
b. information from the muscles, tendons, and
joints.
c. membranes within the cochlea.
d. the body’s sense of balance.
19. Which of the following is an example of sensory
adaptation?
a. finding the cold water of a swimming pool
warmer after you have been in it for a while
b. developing an increased sensitivity to salt the
more you use it in foods
c. becoming very irritated at the continuing
sound of a dripping faucet
d. All of the above are examples.
20. Most color-deficient people will probably:
a. lack functioning red- or green-sensitive cones.
b. see the world in only black and white.
c. also suffer from poor vision.
d. have above-average vision to compensate for
the deficit.

Matching Items
Match each of the structures with its function or
description.

Structures or Conditions Functions or Descriptions

1. lens a. amplifies sounds
2. iris b. closes pain gate
3. pupil c. vestibular sense
4. rods d. controls pupil
5. cones e. accommodation
6. middle ear f. eyeball is too short
7. inner ear g. opens pain gate
8. large nerve fiber h. admits light
9. small nerve fiber i. eyeball is too long
10. semicircular canals j. vision in dim light
11. sensors in joints k. transduction of sound
12. acuity l. sharpness of vision
13. farsightedness m. kinesthesis
14. nearsightedness n. color vision
138 Chapter 5 Sensation

PROGRESS TEST 2 9. The frequency theory of hearing is better than

place theory at explaining our sensation of:
Progress Test 2 should be completed during a final a. the lowest pitches.
chapter review. Answer the following questions after b. pitches of intermediate range.
you thoroughly understand the correct answers for c. the highest pitches.
the section reviews and Progress Test 1. d. all of the above.

Multiple-Choice Questions 10. Hubel and Wiesel discovered feature detectors in

the visual:
1. Which of the following is not one of the basic
a. fovea. c. iris.
tastes?
b. optic nerve. d. cortex.
a. sweet c. umami
b. salty d. bland 11. Weber’s law states that:
a. the absolute threshold for any stimulus is a
2. Of the four distinct skin senses, the only one that
constant.
has definable receptors is:
b. the jnd for any stimulus is a constant.
a. warmth. c. pressure. c. the absolute threshold for any stimulus is a
b. cold. d. pain. constant proportion.
d. the jnd for any stimulus is a constant propor-
3. The process by which sensory information is con-
tion.
verted into neural energy is:
a. sensory adaptation. c. signal detection. 12. The principle that one sense may influence an-
b. feature detection. d. transduction. other is:
a. transduction. c. Weber’s law.
4. The receptors for taste are located in the:
b. sensory adaptation. d. sensory interaction.
a. taste buds. c. fovea.
b. cochlea. d. cortex. 13. Which of the following is the correct order of the
structures through which light passes after enter-
5. The inner ear contains receptors for:
ing the eye?
a. audition and kinesthesis.
a. lens, pupil, cornea, retina
b. kinesthesis and the vestibular sense.
b. pupil, cornea, lens, retina
c. audition and the vestibular sense.
c. pupil, lens, cornea, retina
d. audition, kinesthesis, and the vestibular sense.
d. cornea, pupil, lens, retina
6. According to the opponent-process theory:
14. In the opponent-process theory, the three pairs of
a. there are three types of color-sensitive cones. processes are:
b. the process of color vision begins in the cortex.
a. red-green, blue-yellow, black-white.
c. neurons involved in color vision are stimulat-
b. red-blue, green-yellow, black-white.
ed by one color’s wavelength and inhibited by
c. red-yellow, blue-green, black-white.
another’s.
d. dependent upon the individual’s
d. all of the above are true.
experience.
7. Nerve deafness is caused by:
15. Wavelength is to as is to
a. wax buildup in the outer ear. brightness.
b. damage to the eardrum.
a. hue; intensity
c. blockage in the middle ear because of
b. intensity; hue
infection.
c. frequency; amplitude
d. damage to the cochlea.
d. brightness; hue
8. What enables you to feel yourself wiggling your
toes even with your eyes closed?
a. vestibular sense
b. sense of kinesthesis
c. the skin senses
d. sensory interaction
 Psychology Applied 139

16. Concerning the evidence for subliminal stimula-
tion, which of the following is the best answer?
a. The brain processes some information without
our awareness.
b. Stimuli too weak to cross our thresholds for
awareness may trigger a response in our sense
receptors.
c. Because the “absolute” threshold is a statisti-
cal average, we are able to detect weaker stim-
uli some of the time.
d. All of the above are true.
17. Which of the following is the most accurate de-
scription of how we process color?
a. Throughout the visual system, color process-
ing is divided into separate red, green, and
blue systems.
b. Red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white op-
ponent processes operate throughout the visu-
al system.
c. Color processing occurs in two stages: (1) a
three-color system in the retina and (2) oppo-
nent-process cells en route to the visual cortex.
d. Color processing occurs in two stages: (1) an
opponent-process system in the retina and (2)
a three-color system en route to the visual
cortex.
18. Which of the following is the most accurate
explanation of how we discriminate pitch?
a. For all audible frequencies, pitch is coded
according to the place of maximum vibration
on the cochlea’s basilar membrane.
b. For all audible frequencies, the rate of neural
activity in the auditory nerve matches the fre-
quency of the sound wave.
c. For very high frequencies, pitch is coded ac-
cording to place of vibration on the basilar
membrane; for lower pitches, the rate of neur-
al activity in the auditory nerve matches the
sound’s frequency.
d. For very high frequencies, the rate of neural
activity in the auditory nerve matches the fre-
quency of the sound wave; for lower frequen-
cies, pitch is coded according to the place of
vibration on the basilar membrane.
c. many rods, which are clustered in the fovea,
have individual bipolar cells to relay their
information to the cortex.
d. many cones, which are clustered in the fovea,
have individual bipolar cells to relay their in-
formation to the cortex.
20. Given normal sensory ability, a person standing
atop a mountain on a dark, clear night can see a
candle flame atop a mountain 30 miles away. This
is a description of vision’s:
a. difference threshold. c. absolute threshold.
b. jnd. d. signal detection.
PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED
Answer these questions the day before an exam as a
final check on your understanding of the chapter’s
terms and concepts.
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. In shopping for a new stereo, you discover that
you cannot differentiate between the sounds of
models X and Y. The difference between X and Y
is below your:
a. absolute threshold. c. receptor threshold.
b. signal detection. d. difference threshold.
2. In order to maximize your sensitivity to fine visu-
al detail you should:
a. stare off to one side of the object you are
attempting to see.
b. close one eye.
c. decrease the intensity of the light falling upon
the object.
d. stare directly at the object.
3. The phantom limb sensation indicates that:
a. pain is a purely sensory phenomenon.
b. the central nervous system plays only a minor
role in the experience of pain.
c. pain involves the brain’s interpretation of
neural activity.
d. all of the above are true.

19. One reason that your ability to detect fine visual

details is greatest when scenes are focused on the
fovea of your retina is that:
a. there are more feature detectors in the fovea
than in the peripheral regions of the retina.
b. cones in the fovea are nearer to the optic nerve
than those in peripheral regions of the retina.
140 Chapter 5 Sensation

4. While competing in the Olympic trials, marathon- 10. Dr. Frankenstein has forgotten to give his mon-
er Kirsten O’Brien suffered a stress fracture in her ster an important part; as a result, the monster
left leg. That she did not experience significant cannot transduce sound. Dr. Frankenstein omit-
pain until the race was over is probably attribut- ted the:
able to the fact that during the race: a. eardrum. c. semicircular canals.
a. the pain gate in her spinal cord was closed by b. middle ear. d. basilar membrane.
information coming from her brain.
b. her body’s production of endorphins de- 11. Seventy-five-year-old Claude has difficulty hear-
creased. ing high-pitched sounds. Most likely his hearing
c. an increase in the activity of small pain fibers problem involves:
closed the pain gate. a. his eardrum.
d. a decrease in the activity of large pain fibers b. his auditory canal.
closed the pain gate. c. the bones of his middle ear.
d. the hair cells of his inner ear.
5. Which of the following is an example of sensory
interaction? 12. Which of the following is true of cones?
a. finding that despite its delicious aroma, a a. Cones enable color vision.
weird-looking meal tastes awful b. Cones are highly concentrated in the foveal
b. finding that food tastes bland when you have region of the retina.
a bad cold c. Cones have a higher absolute threshold for
c. finding it difficult to maintain your balance brightness than rods.
when you have an ear infection d. All of the above are true.
d. All of the above are examples.
13. Assuming that the visual systems of humans and
6. In comparing the human eye to a camera, the film other mammals function similarly, you would
would be located in the eye’s: expect that the retina of a nocturnal mammal (one
a. pupil. c. cornea. active only at night) would contain:
b. lens. d. retina. a. mostly cones.
b. mostly rods.
7. Sensation is to as perception is to c. an equal number of rods and cones.
. d. more bipolar cells than an animal active only
a. recognizing a stimulus; interpreting a during the day.
stimulus
14. As the football game continued into the night,
b. detecting a stimulus; recognizing a stimulus
LeVar noticed that he was having difficulty dis-
c. interpreting a stimulus; detecting a stimulus
tinguishing the colors of the players’ uniforms.
d. seeing; hearing
This is because the , which enable color
8. I am a cell in the thalamus that is excited by red vision, have a absolute threshold for
and inhibited by green. I am a(n): brightness than the available light intensity.
a. feature detector. c. bipolar cell. a. rods; higher c. rods; lower
b. cone. d. opponent-process cell. b. cones; higher d. cones; lower

9. Which of the following correctly lists the order of 15. After staring at a very intense red stimulus for a
structures through which sound travels after en- few minutes, Carrie shifted her gaze to a beige
tering the ear? wall and “saw” the color . Carrie’s experi-
a. auditory canal, eardrum, middle ear, cochlea ence provides support for the theory.
b. eardrum, auditory canal, middle ear, cochlea a. green; trichromatic
c. eardrum, middle ear, cochlea, auditory canal b. blue; opponent-process
d. cochlea, eardrum, middle ear, auditory canal c. green; opponent-process
d. blue; trichromatic
 Psychology Applied 141

16. Elderly Mrs. Martinez finds that she must spice Essay Question
her food heavily or she cannot taste it. Unfor-
A dancer in a chorus line uses many sensory cues
tunately, her son often finds her cooking inedible
when performing. Discuss three senses that dancers
because it is so spicy. What is the likely explana-
rely on and explain why each is important. (Use the
tion for their taste differences?
space below to list the points you want to make, and
a. Women have higher taste thresholds than organize them. Then write the essay on a separate
men. sheet of paper.)
b. Men have higher taste thresholds than wo-
men.
c. Being elderly, Mrs. Martinez probably has
fewer taste buds than her son.
d. All of the above are likely explanations.
17. When admiring the texture of a piece of fabric,
Calvin usually runs his fingertips over the cloth’s
surface. He does this because:
a. if the cloth were held motionless, sensory
adaptation to its feel would quickly occur.
b. the sense of touch does not adapt.
c. a relatively small amount of brain tissue is
devoted to processing touch from the finger-
tips.
d. of all the above reasons.

18. Superman’s eyes used , while his

brain used .
a. perception; sensation
b. top-down processing; bottom-up processing
c. bottom-up processing; top-down processing
d. sensory adaptation; subliminal perception

19. How does pain differ from other senses?

a. It has no special receptors.
b. It has no single stimulus.
c. It is influenced by both physical and psycho-
logical phenomena.
d. All the above are true.

20. Tamiko hates the bitter taste of her cough syrup.

Which of the following would she find most help-
ful in minimizing the syrup’s bad taste?
a. tasting something very sweet before taking
the cough syrup
b. keeping the syrup in her mouth for several
seconds before swallowing it
c. holding her nose while taking the cough
syrup
d. gulping the cough syrup so that it misses her
tongue
142 Chapter 5 Sensation

Summing Up

Use the diagrams to identify the parts of the eye and

ear, then list them in the order in which they con-
tribute to vision and hearing. Also, briefly explain the
role of each structure.

The Eye

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

The Ear
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.
 Key Terms 143

Key Terms 22. nearsightedness

23. farsightedness
Writing Definitions
24. rods and cones
Using your own words, on a piece of paper write a
25. optic nerve
brief definition or explanation of each of the follow-
ing terms. 26. blind spot
1. sensation 27. fovea

2. perception 28. feature detectors

29. parallel processing
3. bottom-up processing
30. Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color)
4. top-down processing
theory
5. psychophysics
31. opponent-process theory
6. absolute threshold
32. color constancy
7. signal detection theory
33. audition
8. subliminal
34. pitch and frequency
9. priming
35. middle ear
10. difference threshold
36. cochlea
11. Weber’s law
37. inner ear
12. sensory adaptation
38. place theory
13. transduction
39. frequency theory
14. wavelength and hue
40. conduction hearing loss
15. intensity
41. sensorineural hearing loss
16. pupil
42. cochlear implant
17. iris
43. gate-control theory
18. lens
44. sensory interaction
19. accommodation
45. kinesthesis
20. retina
46. vestibular sense
21. acuity
144 Chapter 5 Sensation

Cross-Check 1 2

As you learned in the Prologue, 3 4 5

reviewing and overlearning of 6 7 8 9 10
material are important to the
learning process. After you
have written the definitions of 11 12 13
the key terms in this chapter,
you should complete the cross-
14 15
word puzzle to ensure that you
can reverse the process—
recognize the term, given the 16
definition.

ACROSS 17

1. The retina’s point of central 18

focus. 19 20
7. Types of fibers that close
the “pain gate.”
12. Nerve that carries visual 21 22 23
information to the brain. 24
13. Aspect of light and sound
25 26 27 28
determined by the ampli-
tude of energy waves.
14. Unit of measurement for 29
electromagnetic energy.
15. The perceptual experience
of color. 30 31
16. Membrane that lies at the
end of the auditory canal.
6. -down processing is information processing
17. Term for the color seen after staring at its oppo-
guided by higher-level mental processes.
nent for a while.
8. Sense of the position and movement of body
19. Physical dimension of light and sound that deter-
parts.
mines brightness and loudness, respectively.
9. Ability of some brain-damaged patients to
21. Type of deafness that results from damage in the
respond to something that is not consciously per-
mechanics of the outer or middle ear.
ceived.
22. Membrane “window” at the entrance to the ear’s
10. Study of the relationship between the physical
cochlea.
characteristics of stimuli and our psychological
28. Adjustable opening in the eye through which
experience of them.
light enters.
11. Perception of color is strongly influenced by the
29. Sense of hearing.
object’s .
30. Transparent protective membrane through which
18. Region of the retina where the optic nerve leaves
light enters the eye.
the eye.
31. Inner surface of the eye that contains the rods and
20. Part of the eye that changes shape to focus images
cones.
on the retina.
DOWN 23. Sharpness of vision.
24. Region of the ear that contains the hammer, anvil,
1. Theory of hearing that the rate of auditory nerve and stirrup.
impulses matches the frequency of tones, 25. Region of the ear that contains the cochlea.
enabling us to sense pitch. 26. Theory that the region of maximum vibration
2. Type of vision caused by a shorter-than-normal along the basilar membrane is the basis of pitch
eyeball. discrimination.
3. Energy spectrum that contains visible light. 27. Visual receptors that are concentrated in the
4. Type of brain cell discovered by Hubel and periphery of the retina.
Wiesel.
5. The basis of a “bionic ear.”
 Answers 145

ANSWERS 18. integration; gamma; similar

19. reflects (rejects); construction
Chapter Review 20. sex-linked
Introduction 21. Young-Helmholtz trichromatic; red; green; blue;
additive; subtractive
1. sensation; perception
2. bottom-up processing; top-down processing 22. opponent; afterimage
3. prosopagnosia 23. opponent-process; red; green; yellow; blue; black;
white
Sensing the World: Some Basic Principles In the first stage of color processing, the retina’s red,
green, and blue cones respond in varying degrees to
1. psychophysics different color stimuli, as suggested by the three-color
2. absolute threshold; 50 theory. The resulting signals are then processed in the
3. signal detection; psychological thalamus by red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white
opponent-process cells, which are stimulated by one
4. subliminal
wavelength and inhibited by its opponent.
5. conscious
24. context
6. prime; priming effect; automatically
25. color constancy
7. difference threshold; just noticeable difference
26. reflected; surrounding objects
8. Weber’s law; stimulus
9. sensory adaptation Hearing
10. informative
1. audition; air molecules
Although sensory adaptation reduces our sensitivity,
2. loudness
it enables us to focus our attention on informative
changes in the environment without being distracted 3. frequency
by the uninformative, constant stimulation that bom- 4. decibels; 0
bards our senses. 5. outer; middle; inner
6. eardrum
Vision
7. hammer; anvil; stirrup
1. neural; transduction 8. cochlea; oval window; basilar membrane; hair
2. electromagnetic cells; thalamus; temporal; number
3. wavelength; hue 9. less; stress; high blood pressure; anxiety; feelings
4. intensity; amplitude; brightness of helplessness; unanticipated; uncontrollable
5. cornea; pupil; iris 10. place; low
6. lens; retina 11. frequency; high; 1000
7. accommodation; acuity 12. volley
8. distant; in front of; nearby; distant; nearby; in 13. speed (timing); loudness
back of; distant; nearby 14. harder
9. rods; cones 15. parallel processing
10. bipolar; ganglion; optic nerve; brain 16. conduction hearing loss
11. blind spot 17. sensorineural; aging
12. fovea; peripheral; bipolar 18. stimulate
13. cones; rods 19. cochlear implant
14. sensitive; 20 20. Deaf culture; children; speak; disability
15. abstract; thalamus; visual cortex; feature detectors 21. is; with; have; seem to
16. temporal; gaze; head angle; posture; body move- 22. sensory compensation
ment; perceives 23. self-esteem; accepted
17. simultaneously; parallel processing; blindsight
146 Chapter 5 Sensation
Other Important Senses
1. pressure; warmth; cold; pain; variations
2. top-down; somatosensory cortex
3. injury; hyperalgesia
4. senses; brain; expectations
5. phantom limb; tinnitus
6. sensory input
7. is not; does not
8. gate-control; gate; spinal cord; small; large;
brain
9. social; physical; René Descartes; brain
The Lamaze method of prepared childbirth combines
several pain control techniques, including distraction,
deep breathing and muscle relaxation, and counter-
stimulation through gentle massage. Similarly, for
burn victims, distraction during painful wound care
can be created by immersion in a computer-generated
3-D world.
10. sweet; sour; salty; bitter; umami (meat)
11. chemical; taste buds; pore
12. week or two; decreases; decreases; smoking;
alcohol
13. sensory interaction; McGurk; see; hearing
14. olfaction; chemical; cannot
15. early adulthood
16. learned
17. limbic
18. kinesthesis; muscles; tendons; joints
19. vestibular sense; semicircular canals; vestibular
sacs
Progress Test 1
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. b. is the answer. Psychological factors can affect
the absolute threshold for a stimulus. (pp.
199–200)
a. The absolute threshold for detecting a stimulus
depends not only on the strength of the stimulus
but also on psychological factors such as experi-
ence, expectations, motivation, and fatigue. Thus,
the threshold cannot be a constant.
c. & d. The absolute threshold is defined as the
minimum stimulus that is detected 50 percent of
the time.
2. d. is the answer. In nearsightedness, objects con-
verge in front of the retina; one cause of this is an
eyeball longer than normal in relation to the lens.
(p. 206)
a. Inflexibility of the lens may cause the emer-
gence of farsightedness as we get older.
b. Thinness of the lens is unrelated to near- or far-
sightedness.
c. A shorter-than-normal eyeball is related to far-
sightedness.
3. c. is the answer. According to Weber’s law, the
difference threshold is a constant proportion of
the stimulus. There is a 10 percent difference
between 10 and 11 pounds; since the difference
threshold is a constant proportion, the weight
closest to 100 pounds that can nonetheless be dif-
ferentiated from it is 110 pounds (or 100 pounds
plus 10 percent). (p. 201)
4. c. is the answer. (p. 202)
a. “Sensory fatigue” is not a term in psychology.
b. Accommodation refers to an adaptive change
in shape by the lens of the eye.
d. Sensory interaction is the principle that one
sense may influence another.
5. d. is the answer. (p. 205)
a. The lens lies behind the pupil and focuses light
on the retina.
b. The retina is the inner surface of the eyeball
and contains the rods and cones.
c. The cornea lies in front of the pupil and is the
first structure that light passes through as it
enters the eye.
6. a. is the answer. (p. 205)
b. Sensory adaptation is our diminishing sensitiv-
ity to an unchanging stimulus.
c. Feature detection is the process by which neur-
al cells in the brain respond to specific visual fea-
tures.
d. Transduction refers to the conversion of an
environmental stimulus, such as light, into a
neural impulse by a receptor—a rod or a cone.
7. d. is the answer. (p. 208)
a. The fovea is not a receptor; it is a region of the
retina that contains only cones.
b. Cones have a higher threshold for brightness
than rods and therefore do not function as well in
dim light.
c. Bipolar cells are not receptors; they are neurons
in the retina that link rods and cones with gan-
glion cells, which make up the optic nerve.
8. a. is the answer. The Young-Helmholtz theory
proposes that there are red-, green-, and blue-
sensitive cones. (p. 212)
b. This answer describes Hering’s opponent-
process theory.
c. The Young-Helmholtz theory proposes that
there are three types of cones, not four.
 Answers 147

d. The Young-Helmholtz theory concerns only
color vision, not the detection of visual detail.
9. b. is the answer. Just as wave frequency deter-
mines pitch, so wave amplitude determines loud-
ness. (p. 216)
a. Amplitude is the physical basis of loudness;
wavelength determines frequency and thereby
pitch.
c. & d. Wavelength, amplitude, and intensity are
physical aspects of light and sound. Because the
question is based on a relationship between a
physical property (frequency) of a stimulus and
its psychological attribute (pitch), these answers
are incorrect.
10. c. is the answer. The biopsychosocial approach
tells us that our experience of pain depends on
biological, psychological, and social-cultural fac-
tors.. (p. 226)
11. a. is the answer. (p. 219)
b. & c. Although the localization of low-pitched
sounds along the basilar membrane is poor, that
for sounds of middle and, especially, high pitch is
good. Therefore, place theory accounts well for
high-pitched sounds and, together with fre-
quency theory, can account for middle-pitched
sounds.
d. As long as the notes of a chord are within the
range of responsiveness of the basilar membrane,
chord perception can be accounted for by place
theory.
12. c. is the answer. (p. 220)
d. Chord perception, except for chords comprised
exclusively of high-frequency notes, shows no
age-dependent decline.
13. d. is the answer. The small fibers conduct most
pain signals; the large fibers conduct most other
sensory signals from the skin. The gate either
allows pain signals to pass on to the brain or
blocks them from passing. When the large fibers
are stimulated, the pain gate is closed and other
sensations are felt in place of pain. (p. 227)
14. b. is the answer. (pp. 206–207)
a. The iris controls the diameter of the pupil.
c. The lens accommodates its shape to focus
images on the retina.
d. The optic nerve carries nerve impulses from
the retina to the visual cortex.
15. b. is the answer. (p. 210)
a. Feature detection is the process by which nerve
cells in the brain respond to specific visual fea-
tures of a stimulus, such as movement or shape.
c. Accommodation is the process by which the
lens changes its curvature to focus images on the
retina.
d. The opponent-process theory suggests that
color vision depends on the response of brain
cells to red-green, yellow-blue, and black-white
opposing colors.
16. b. is the answer. Kinesthesis, or the sense of the
position and movement of body parts, is based on
information from the muscles, tendons, and
joints. (p. 233)
a. & c. The ear plays no role in kinesthesis.
d. Equilibrium, or the sense of balance, is not in-
volved in kinesthesis but is, rather, a companion
sense.
17. a. is the answer. Wavelength determines hue, or
color. (pp. 204–205)
b. & d. The amplitude of light determines its
brightness.
c. Opponent processes are neural systems in-
volved in color vision, not properties of light.
18. d. is the answer. Color constancy is the percep-
tion that a familiar object has consistent color,
even if changing illumination alters the wave-
lengths reflected by that object. (pp. 213–214)
a. & b. These theories explain how the visual sys-
tem detects color; they do not explain why colors
do not seem to change when lighting does.
c. Feature detection explains how the brain recog-
nizes visual images by analyzing their distinctive
features of shape, movement, and angle.
19. a. is the answer. Sensory adaptation means a
diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimu-
lus. Only the adjustment to cold water involves a
decrease in sensitivity; the other examples in-
volve an increase. (p. 202)
20. a. is the answer. Thus, they have difficulty dis-
criminating these two colors. (p. 212)
b. Those who are color deficient are usually not
“color blind” in a literal sense. Instead, they are
unable to distinguish certain hues, such as red
from green.
c. Failure to distinguish red and green is separate
from, and does not usually affect, general visual
ability.
d. Color deficiency does not enhance vision. A
deficit in one sense often is compensated for by
overdevelopment of another sense—for example,
hearing in blind people.
Matching Items
1. e (p. 205) 6. a (p. 217) 11. m (p. 233)
2. d (p. 205) 7. k (p. 217) 12. l (p. 206)
3. h (p. 205) 8. b (p. 227) 13. f (p. 206)
4. j (p. 206) 9. g (p. 227) 14. i (p. 206)
5. n (p. 206) 10. c (p. 234)
148 Chapter 5 Sensation
Progress Test 2
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. d. is the answer. (p. 229)
2. c. is the answer. Researchers have identified re-
ceptors for pressure but have been unable to do
so for the other skin senses. (p. 225)
3. d. is the answer. (p. 204)
a. Sensory adaptation refers to the diminished
sensitivity that occurs with unchanging stimula-
tion.
b. Feature detection refers to the process by
which nerve cells in the brain respond to specific
aspects of visual stimuli, such as movement or
shape.
c. Signal detection is a task in which the observer
must judge whether a faint signal is present.
4. a. is the answer. (p. 230)
b. The cochlea contains receptors for hearing.
c. The fovea contains receptors for vision (the
cones).
d. The cortex is the outer layer of the brain, where
information detected by the receptors is pro-
cessed.
5. c. is the answer. The inner ear contains the recep-
tors for audition (hearing) and the vestibular
sense; those for kinesthesis are located in the
muscles, tendons, and joints. (pp. 217, 234)
6. c. is the answer. After leaving the receptor cells,
visual information is analyzed in terms of pairs of
opponent colors; neurons stimulated by one
member of a pair are inhibited by the other. (p.
213)
a. The idea that there are three types of color-
sensitive cones is the basis of the Young-
Helmholtz three-color theory.
b. According to the opponent-process theory, and
all other theories of color vision, the process of
color vision begins in the retina.
7. d. is the answer. Sensorineural hearing loss is
caused by destruction of neural tissue as a result
of problems with the cochlea’s receptors or the
auditory nerve. (p. 220)
a. & c. Wax buildup and blockage because of
infection are temporary states; sensorineural
hearing loss is permanent. Moreover, sensori-
neural hearing loss involves the inner ear, rather
than the outer or middle ear.
b. Damage to the eardrum impairs the mechani-
cal system that conducts sound waves; it could
therefore cause conduction hearing loss, not sen-
sorineural hearing loss.
8. b. is the answer. Kinesthesis, the sense of move-
ment of body parts, would enable you to feel
your toes wiggling. (p. 233)
a. The vestibular sense is concerned with move-
ment and position, or balance, of the whole body,
not of its parts.
c. The skin, or tactile, senses are pressure, pain,
warmth, and cold; they have nothing to do with
movement of body parts.
d. Sensory interaction, the principle that the sens-
es influence each other, does not play a role in
this example, which involves only the sense of
kinesthesis.
9. a. is the answer. Frequency theory best explains
the lowest pitches. Place theory best explains the
highest pitches, and some combination of the two
theories probably accounts for our sensation of
intermediate-range pitches. (p. 219)
10. d. is the answer. Feature detectors are cortical
neurons and hence are located in the visual cor-
tex. (p. 209)
a. The fovea contains cones.
b. The optic nerve contains neurons that relay
nerve impulses from the retina to higher centers
in the visual system.
c. The iris is simply a ring of muscle tissue, which
controls the diameter of the pupil.
11. d. is the answer. Weber’s law concerns difference
thresholds (jnd’s), not absolute thresholds, and
states that these are constant proportions of the
stimuli, not that they remain constant. (p. 202)
12. d. is the answer. (p. 230)
a. Transduction is the process by which stimulus
energy is converted into nerve impulses.
b. Sensory adaptation is diminished sensitivity to
unchanging stimulation.
c. Weber’s law states that the jnd is a constant
proportion of a stimulus.
13. d. is the answer. (p. 205)
14. a. is the answer. (p. 213)
15. a. is the answer. Wavelength determines hue, and
intensity determines brightness. (pp. 204–205)
16. d. is the answer. (pp. 200–201)
17. c. is the answer. (p. 211)
a. This answer is incorrect because separate red,
green, and blue systems operate only in the
retina.
b. This answer is incorrect because opponent-
process systems operate en route to the brain,
after visual processing in the receptors is
completed.
d. This answer is incorrect because it reverses the
correct order of the two stages of processing.

18. c. is the answer. (p. 219)
a. This answer describes how pitch is sensed in
the case of high-pitched, but not low-pitched,
sounds.
b. This answer describes how pitch is sensed in
the case of low-pitched, but not high-pitched,
sounds.
d. This answer is incorrect because it reverses the
range of frequencies.
19. d. is the answer. (p. 207)
a. Feature detectors are nerve cells located in the
visual cortex, not in the fovea of the retina.
b. The proximity of rods and cones to the optic
nerve does not influence their ability to resolve
fine details.
c. Rods are concentrated in the peripheral regions
of the retina, not in the fovea; moreover, several
rods share a single bipolar cell.
20. c. is the answer. The absolute threshold is the
minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimu-
lus. (p. 199)
a. & b. The difference threshold, which is also
known as the jnd, is the minimum difference
between two stimuli that a person can detect. In
this example, there is only one stimulus—the
sight of the flame.
d. Signal detection is a research task, not a senso-
ry phenomenon.
Psychology Applied
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. d. is the answer. (p. 201)
a. The absolute threshold refers to whether a sin-
gle stimulus can be detected, not to whether two
stimuli can be differentiated.
b. Signal detection is a task in which one must
determine whether or not a faint stimulus is
present.
c. A receptor threshold is a minimum amount of
energy that will elicit a neural impulse in a recep-
tor cell.
2. d. is the answer. Greater sensitivity to fine visual
detail is associated with the cones, which have
their own bipolar cells to relay information to the
cortex. The cones are concentrated in the fovea,
the retina’s point of central focus. For this reason,
staring directly at an object maximizes sensitivity
to fine detail. (p. 207)
a. If you stare off to one side, the image falls onto
peripheral regions of the retina, where rods are
concentrated and sensitivity to fine visual detail
is poor.
Answers 149
b. Sensitivity to detail is not directly influenced
by whether one or both eyes are stimulated.
c. Decreasing the intensity of light would only
impair the functioning of the cones, which are
sensitive to visual detail but have a high thresh-
old for light intensity.
3. c. is the answer. Since pain is felt in the limb that
does not exist, the pain is simply the brain’s
(mis)interpretation of neural activity. (p. 227)
a. If pain were a purely sensory phenomenon,
phantom limb pain would not occur, since the
receptors are no longer present.
b. That pain is experienced when a limb is miss-
ing indicates that the central nervous system,
especially the brain, is where pain is sensed.
4. a. is the answer. (p. 227)
b. Since endorphins relieve pain, a decrease in
their production would have made Kirsten more
likely to experience pain. Moreover, because en-
dorphins are released in response to pain, their
production probably would have increased.
c. Neural activity in small fibers tends to open the
pain gate.
d. An increase in large-fiber activity would tend to
close the pain gate.
5. d. is the answer. Each of these is an example of
the interaction of two senses—vision and taste in
the case of a., taste and smell in the case of b., and
hearing and the vestibular sense in the case of c.
(p. 230)
6. d. is the answer. Just as light strikes the film of a
camera, visual images entering the eye are pro-
jected onto the retina. (p. 206)
a. The pupil would be analogous to the aperture
of a camera, since both control the amount of
light permitted to enter.
b. The lens of the eye performs a focusing func-
tion similar to the lens of the camera.
c. The cornea would be analogous to a camera’s
lens cap in that both protect delicate inner struc-
tures.
7. b. is the answer. (p. 197)
a. Both recognition and interpretation are exam-
ples of perception.
c. This answer would have been correct if the
question had read, “Perception is to sensation as
is to .”
d. Sensation and perception are important pro-
cesses in both hearing and seeing.
8. d. is the answer. (p. 213)
a. Feature detectors are located in the visual cor-
tex and respond to features such as movement,
shape, and angle.
b. & c. Cones and bipolar cells are located in the
150 Chapter 5 Sensation
retina. Moreover, neither are excited by some col-
ors and inhibited by others.
9. a. is the answer. (p. 217)
10. d. is the answer. The hair cells, which transduce
sound energy, are located on the basilar mem-
brane. (p. 207)
a. & b. The eardrum and bones of the middle ear
merely conduct sound waves to the inner ear,
where they are transduced.
c. The semicircular canals are involved in the
vestibular sense, not hearing.
11. d. is the answer. Hearing losses that result from
aging are greatest in the higher frequencies and
involve damage to the hair cells on the basilar
membrane of the cochlea. (p. 220)
a., b., & c. Damage to the eardrum, auditory
canal, or bones of the middle ear would probably
cause conduction hearing loss and reduced sensi-
tivity to sounds of all frequencies.
12. d. is the answer. (p. 207)
13. b. is the answer. Rods and cones enable vision in
dim and bright light, respectively. If an animal is
active only at night, it is likely to have more rods
than cones in its retinas. (p. 208)
d. Bipolar cells link both cones and rods to gan-
glion cells. There is no reason to expect that a
nocturnal mammal would have more bipolar
cells than a mammal active both during the day
and at night. If anything, because several rods
share a single bipolar cell, whereas many cones
have their own, a nocturnal animal (with a visual
system consisting mostly of rods) might be ex-
pected to have fewer bipolar cells than an animal
active during the day (with a visual system con-
sisting mostly of cones).
14. b. is the answer. (p. 208)
a. & c. It is the cones, rather than the rods, that
enable color vision.
d. If the cones’ threshold were lower than the
available light intensity, they would be able to
function and therefore detect the colors of the
players’ uniforms.
15. c. is the answer. (p. 213)
a. The trichromatic theory cannot account for the
experience of afterimages.
b. & d. Afterimages are experienced as the com-
plementary color of a stimulus. Green, not blue, is
red’s complement.
16. c. is the answer. As people age they lose taste
buds and their taste thresholds increase. For this
reason, Mrs. Martinez needs more concentrated
tastes than her son to find food palatable. (p. 230)
a. & b. There is no evidence that women and men
differ in their absolute thresholds for taste.
17. a. is the answer. (pp. 202–203)
b. The sense of touch (pressure) adapts very
quickly.
c. On the contrary, the extreme sensitivity of the
fingertips is due to the relatively large amount of
cortical tissue that processes neural impulses
from the fingertips.
18. c. is the answer. (p. 197)
19. d. is the answer. (pp. 226–227)
20. c. is the answer. Because of the powerful sensory
interaction between taste and smell, eliminating
the odor of the cough syrup should make its taste
more pleasant. (p. 230)
a. If anything, the contrasting tastes might make
the bitter syrup even less palatable.
b. If Tamiko keeps the syrup in her mouth for
several seconds, it will ensure that her taste pores
fully “catch” the stimulus, thus intensifying the
bitter taste.
d. It’s probably impossible to miss the tongue
completely.
Essay Question
The senses that are most important to dancers are
vision, hearing, kinesthesis, and the vestibular sense.
Your answer should refer to any three of these senses
and include, at minimum, the following information.
Dancers rely on vision to gauge their body posi-
tion relative to other dancers as they perform specific
choreographed movements. Vision also helps dancers
assess the audience’s reaction to their performance.
Whenever dance is set to music, hearing is necessary
so that the dancers can detect musical cues for certain
parts of their routines. Hearing also helps the dancers
keep their movements in time with the music.
Kinesthetic receptors in dancers’ muscles, tendons,
and joints provide their brains with information
about the position and movement of body parts to
determine if their hands, arms, legs, and heads are in
the proper positions. Receptors for the vestibular
sense located in the dancers’ inner ears send mes-
sages to their brains that help them maintain their
balance and determine the correctness of the position
and movement of their bodies.

Summing Up
The Eye
1. Cornea. Light enters the eye through this trans-
parent membrane, which protects the inner struc-
tures from the environment.
2. Iris. The colored part of the eye, the iris functions
like the aperture of a camera, controlling the size
of the pupil to optimize the amount of light that
enters the eye.
3. Pupil. The adjustable opening in the iris, the
pupil allows light to enter.
4. Lens. This transparent structure behind the pupil
changes shape to focus images on the retina.
5. Retina. The light-sensitive inner surface of the
eye, the retina contains the rods and cones, which
transduce light energy into neural impulses.
6. Blind spot. The region of the retina where the
optic nerve leaves the eye, the blind spot contains
no rods or cones and so there is no vision here.
7. Optic nerve. This bundle of nerve fibers carries
neural impulses from the retina to the brain.
The Ear
1. Outer ear. Hearing begins as sound waves enter
the auditory canal of the outer ear.
2. Auditory canal. Sound waves passing through
the auditory canal are brought to a point of focus
at the eardrum.
3. Eardrum. Lying between the outer and middle
ear, this membrane vibrates in response to sound
waves.
4. Middle ear. Lying between the outer and inner
ear, this air-filled chamber contains the hammer,
anvil, and stirrup.
5. Hammer, anvil, and stirrup. These tiny bones of
the middle ear concentrate the eardrum’s vibra-
tions on the cochlea’s oval window.
6. Inner ear. This region of the ear contains the
cochlea and the semicircular canals, which play
an important role in balance.
7. Cochlea. This fluid-filled multichambered struc-
ture contains the hair cell receptors that transduce
sound waves into neural impulses.
8. Auditory nerve. This bundle of fibers carries
nerve impulses from the inner ear to the brain.
Key Terms
Writing Definitions
1. Sensation is the process by which we detect
physical energy from the environment and en-
code it as neural signals. (p. 197)
Answers 151
2. Perception is the process by which we select,
organize, and interpret sensory information.
(p. 197)
3. Bottom-up processing is analysis that begins
with the sensory receptors and works up to the
brain’s integration of sensory information.
(p. 197)
4. Top-down processing is information processing
guided by higher-level mental processes. (p. 197)
5. Psychophysics is the study of relationships
between the physical characteristics of stimuli
and our psychological experience of them.
(p. 199)
6. The absolute threshold is the minimum stimula-
tion needed to detect a stimulus 50 percent of the
time. (p. 199)
7. Signal detection theory explains precisely how
and when we detect the presence of a faint stimu-
lus (“signal”). Detection depends partly on expe-
rience, expectations, motivation, and alertness. (p.
199)
8. A stimulus that is subliminal is one that is below
the absolute threshold for conscious awareness.
(p. 200)
Memory aid: Limen is the Latin word for “thresh-
old.” A stimulus that is subliminal is one that is
sub- (“below”) the limen, or threshold.
9. Priming is the activation of an association by an
imperceptible stimulus, the effect of which is to
predispose a perception, memory, or response.
(p. 200)
10. The difference threshold (also called the just
noticeable difference, or jnd), is the minimum dif-
ference between two stimuli that a subject can
detect 50 percent of the time. (p. 201)
11. Weber’s law states that the just noticeable differ-
ence between two stimuli is a constant minimum
proportion of the stimulus. (p. 202)
Example: If a difference of 10 percent in weight is
noticeable, Weber’s law predicts that a person
could discriminate 10- and 11-pound weights or
50- and 55-pound weights.
12. Sensory adaptation refers to the decreased sensi-
tivity that occurs with continued exposure to an
unchanging stimulus. (p. 202)
13. In sensation, transduction refers to the process by
which receptor cells in the eye, ear, skin, and nose
convert stimulus energies into neural impulses.
(p. 204)
152 Chapter 5 Sensation
14. Wavelength, which refers to the distance from
the peak of one light (or sound) wave to the next,
gives rise to the perceptual experiences of hue, or
color, in vision (and pitch in sound). (pp.
204–205)
15. The intensity of light and sound is determined by
the amplitude of the waves and is experienced as
brightness and loudness, respectively. (p. 205)
Example: Sounds that exceed 85 decibels in ampli-
tude, or intensity, will damage the auditory
system.
16. The pupil is the adjustable opening in the eye
through which light enters. (205)
17. The iris is a ring of muscle tissue that forms the
colored part of the eye that controls the diameter
of the pupil. (p. 205)
18. The lens is the transparent structure of the eye
behind the pupil that changes shape to focus
images on the retina. (p. 205)
19. Accommodation is the process by which the lens
of the eye changes shape to focus near objects on
the retina. (p. 205)
20. The retina is the light-sensitive, multilayered
inner surface of the eye that contains the rods and
cones as well as neurons that form the beginning
of the optic nerve. (p. 205)
21. Acuity refers to the sharpness of vision. (p. 206)
Example: If your acuity is 20/10, you are able to
see clearly at a distance of 20 feet a visual detail
that most people cannot see beyond a distance of
10 feet.
22. Nearsightedness is a condition in which nearby
objects are seen clearly but distant objects are
blurred because light rays reflecting from them
converge in front of the retina. (p. 206)
23. Farsightedness is a condition in which distant
objects are seen clearly but nearby objects are
blurred because light rays reflecting from them
strike the retina before converging. (p. 206)
Memory aid: To help you remember that farsight-
edness is caused by a shorter-than-normal eye-
ball, think of something falling “far short of the
mark.”
24. The rods and cones are visual receptors that
transduce light into neural impulses. The rods are
concentrated in the periphery of the retina, the
cones in the fovea. The rods have poor sensitivity;
detect black, white, and gray; function well in
dim light; and are needed for peripheral vision.
The cones have excellent sensitivity, enable color
vision, and function best in daylight or bright
light. (p. 206)
25. Comprised of the axons of retinal ganglion cells,
the optic nerve carries neural impulses from the
eye to the brain. (pp. 206–207)
26. The blind spot is the region of the retina where
the optic nerve leaves the eye. Because there are
no rods or cones in this area, there is no vision
here. (p. 207)
27. The fovea is the retina’s point of central focus. It
contains only cones; therefore, images focused on
the fovea are the clearest. (p. 207)
28. Feature detectors, located in the visual cortex of
the brain, are nerve cells that selectively respond
to specific visual features, such as movement,
shape, or angle. Feature detectors are evidently
the basis of visual information processing.
(p. 209)
29. Parallel processing is information processing in
which several aspects of a stimulus, such as light
or sound, are processed simultaneously. (p. 210)
30. The Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color)
theory maintains that the retina contains red-,
green-, and blue-sensitive color receptors that in
combination can produce the perception of any
color. This theory explains the first stage of color
processing. (p. 212)
31. The opponent-process theory maintains that
color vision depends on pairs of opposing retinal
processes (red-green, yellow-blue, and white-
black). This theory explains the second stage of
color processing. (p. 213)
32. Color constancy is the perception that familiar
objects have consistent color despite changes in il-
lumination that shift the wavelengths they reflect.
(pp. 213–214)
33. Audition refers to the sense of hearing. (p. 215)
34. The pitch of a sound is determined by its fre-
quency, that is, the number of complete wave-
lengths that can pass a point in a given time.
Frequency, in turn, is directly related to wave-
length: longer waves produce lower pitch; shorter
waves produce higher pitch. (p. 216)
35. The middle ear is the chamber between the
eardrum and cochlea containing the three bones
(hammer, anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the
eardrum’s vibrations on the cochlea’s oval win-
dow. (p. 217)
36. The inner ear contains the semicircular canals
and the cochlea, which includes the receptors that
transduce sound energy into neural impulses.
Because it also contains the vestibular sac, the
inner ear plays an important role in balance, as
well as in audition. (p. 217)
 Answers 153

37. The cochlea is the coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube of these opiatelike chemicals may be the brain’s
the inner ear where the transduction of sound mechanism for closing the spinal gate.
waves into neural impulses occurs. (p. 217) 44. Sensory interaction is the principle that one sense
38. The place theory of hearing states that we hear may influence another. (p. 230)
different pitches because sound waves of various 45. Kinesthesis is the sense of the position and move-
frequencies trigger activity at different places on ment of the parts of the body. (p. 233)
the cochlea’s basilar membrane. (p. 219)
46. The sense of body movement and position,
Memory aid: Place theory maintains that the place
including the sense of balance, is called the
of maximum vibration along the cochlea’s mem-
vestibular sense. (p. 234)
brane is the basis of pitch discrimination.
39. The frequency theory of hearing presumes that Cross-Check
the rate, or frequency, of nerve impulses in the
auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, ACROSS DOWN
thus enabling us to sense its pitch. (p. 219) 1. fovea 1. frequency
40. Conduction hearing loss refers to the hearing loss 7. large 2. farsighted
that results from damage in the mechanics of the
12. optic 3. electromagnetic
outer or middle ear, which impairs the conduc-
tion of sound waves to the cochlea. (p. 220) 13. intensity 4. feature detector
41. Sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness) is 14. nanometer 5. cochlear implant
hearing loss caused by damage to the auditory 15. hue 6. top
receptors of the cochlea or to the auditory nerve
16. eardrum 8. kinesthesis
due to disease, aging, or prolonged exposure to
ear-splitting noise. (p. 220) 17. afterimage 9. blindsight
42. A cochlear implant is an electronic device that 19. amplitude 10. psychophysics
converts sounds into electrical signals that stimu- 21. conduction 11. context
late the auditory nerve. (p. 221) 22. oval 18. blindspot
43. Melzack and Wall’s gate-control theory maintains 28. pupil 20. lens
that a “gate” in the spinal cord determines
whether pain signals are permitted to reach the 29. audition 23. acuity
brain. Neural activity in small nerve fibers opens 30. cornea 24. middle
the gates; activity in large fibers or information 31. retina 25. inner
from the brain closes the gate. (p. 227) 26. place
Example: The gate-control theory gained support 27. rods
with the discovery of endorphins. Production of
154 Chapter 5 Sensation
FOCUS ON VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE
Page 198: Shown her own face in a mirror she is
again stumped. This person (E. H.) is suffering from
prosopagnosia and cannot recognize faces and even
fails (she is stumped) to recognize her own face in the
mirror. What is interesting in this case is that she can
process incoming sensory information (bottom up)
but is unable to make any sense of it (top down). As
Myers notes earlier, she has sensation (bottom-up pro-
cessing), but her perception (top-down processing) is
not working properly.
Sensing the World: Some Basic Principles
Page 198: A frog could starve to death knee-deep in
motionless flies. But let one zoom by and the frog’s
“bug detector” cells snap awake. The frog’s eyes and
brain are organized in such a way that only fast
moving (zooming), small, dark objects will cause
these specialized feature detector nerve cells (“bug
detectors”) to become active (snap awake). If the frog is
surrounded by flies that don’t move (knee-deep in
motionless flies), it will die of hunger, completely
unaware of the food at its feet.
Page 199: The shades on our senses are open just a
crack, allowing us only a restricted awareness of this
vast sea of energy. Just as sunblinds or curtains
(shades) let only a little light in through any small
opening (a crack), our sensory system is only able to
detect a very small part of the large amount (vast sea)
of the physical energy that exists in the world.
Page 199: Exhausted parents of a newborn will
notice the faintest whimper from the cradle. . . . In sig-
nal detection theory there is no single absolute
threshold for detecting stimuli; it all depends on the
situation. Thus, parents who are sleeping soundly
are more likely to become aware of the quietest cry
of distress (the faintest whimper) from the infant in its
small bed (cradle) than much louder but irrelevant
noise.
Page 200: . . . ”satanic messages” . . . It has been sug-
gested that some rock music recordings have hidden
or subliminal messages and that behavior can be
influenced or manipulated by them (i.e., hidden per-
suasion). Claims have been made that some of these
messages are antireligious and promote devil wor-
ship (diabolical or satanic). As Myers makes clear,
there is not a shred of evidence to support these
ideas.
Page 201: . . . hucksters . . . A huckster is someone who
sells merchandise that may be of dubious value.
Those who promote and sell subliminal tapes (huck-
sters) make claims that are not supported by scientif-
ic research. In fact, the available evidence suggests
that subliminal tapes do not have the profound,
enduring effects on behavior claimed by their mar-
keters.
Page 202: . . . it might take a £4000 price hike in a
£40,000 Mercedes to raise the eyebrows of its potential
buyers. Raised eyebrows express surprise. So a £4000
increase in the cost (price hike) of a luxury car
(Mercedes-Benz), which normally costs £40,000,
would be noticed by interested buyers (would raise
their eyebrows). Weber’s law states that a constant
proportion of the original stimulus is needed in
order for the difference to be detected, and the pre-
cise proportion will change depending on the stimu-
lus. Thus, a $5 increase in the price of the car would
not be a just noticeable difference, or jnd, but a $5
dollar increase (price hike) in the cost of a hamburger
and fries would exceed a jnd.
Page 202: So everywhere that Mary looks, the scene is
sure to go. In order to understand this sentence you
need to be familiar with the old nursery rhyme:
Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow,
and everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.
When a volunteer (Mary) is fitted with a special con-
tact lens and miniature projector she sees the same
image no matter where her eyes “look” (everywhere
that Mary looks the scene is sure to go). When an image
is projected onto the retina in this manner the scene
disappears bit by bit and then reappears and disap-
pears again (in meaningful units). This happens
because the image, which normally would be mov-
ing back and forth rapidly (quivering) as a result of
tiny eye movements, is now stationary with respect
to the retina and its receptors. As the receptors
fatigue the image disappears.
Vision
Page 207: . . . blind spot . . . You can use the sugges-
tion in Figure 5.10 of your text to demonstrate that
there are two small parts of your visual field (one in
the left and one in the right) where you have no
sight. These tiny areas (blind spots) are where the
optic nerve exits the eye.
Page 207: Rods have no such hotline [to the brain]. . . .
Cones, which are mostly clustered in the fovea and
detect color and fine detail, have many more indi-
vidual connections to the brain than the rods. Rods,
which give us our black-and-white vision, have to
share bipolar cells and so do not have as many indi-
vidual connections (hotlines) to the brain (in dim
light, however, this can be an advantage as several
rods can focus or funnel their individual faint ener-
gy output onto a single bipolar cell).

Page 210 (caption): The answer to this question is the
Holy Grail of vision research. The reference here is to
the medieval legend that the cup (grail) Jesus Christ
drank from at the Last Supper, and which was later
used to catch his blood when he was crucified, sur-
vived and may have been brought to England. The
quest, or search, for this sacred cup (Holy Grail) sym-
bolized spiritual regeneration and enlightenment.
Similarly, attempting to answer the question about
how the brain deals with multiple aspects of a visual
scene at the same time, automatically, and without
our awareness (parallel processing), is an important
undertaking that, if successful, will enlighten us
about brain functioning (the Holy Grail of vision
research).
Page 211: . . . blindsight . . . Blindsight refers to the fact
that some people with neurological damage have
the ability to see, to some degree, without any con-
scious awareness of the visual experience. They are
blind, yet they can see (blindsight). This suggests that
there are two parallel processing systems operating,
one that unconsciously guides our actions (the zom-
bie within), and one that gives us our conscious per-
ceptions.
Page 212: Color, like all aspects of vision, resides not
in the object but in the theater of our brains. Myers
notes that when we view a colored object (for exam-
ple, a blue balloon), it absorbs all the wavelengths
except its own (blue) and reflects the wavelengths of
blue back to us. The color we perceive is a product
of our brain and exists only in the perceiver’s mind
(theater of the brain).
Hearing
Page 215: We also are remarkably sensitive to faint
sounds, an obvious boon for our ancestors’ survival
when hunting or being hunted or detecting a child’s
whimper. Humans are very good at detecting very
quiet noises (faint sounds), which was clearly benefi-
cial (a boon) to our predecessors’ ability to survive
when they were both predator (hunter) and prey
(being hunted). Likewise, the ability to notice and
respond to a youngster's quiet cry of distress (a
child's whimper) would have had adaptive value. We
are also very sensitive to changes in sounds and we
have the ability to differentiate among thousands of
human voices.
Page 216: A piccolo produces much shorter, faster
sound waves than does a tuba. Musical instruments
produce stimulus energy called sound waves—
molecules of air that bump and push each other
Focus on Vocabulary and Language 155
along—and these may be long (low frequency) or
short (high frequency). A tuba (a large, deep-toned,
brass-wind instrument) produces low-frequency
sound waves and thus has a lower pitch than a picco-
lo (a small flute), which produces high-frequency
waves and has a higher pitch.
Page 218 (Close-Up): If only our ears had earlids.
Myers makes it clear that prolonged exposure to
loud and unpredictable noise can affect our well-
being and seriously damage our hearing. So, in a
noisy urban environment it would be nice if we
could close our ears (with earlids) as we can our eyes
(with eyelids).
Page 219: If a car to the right honks, your right ear
receives a more intense sound, and it receives sound
slightly sooner than your left ear. We locate sounds
because our ears are about 6 inches apart and there
is a time, as well as a loudness difference, between
auditory reception in each ear. If we hear the sound
of a car horn (it honks) to our right, the left ear
receives a less intense sound somewhat later than
the right ear, and thus we locate the direction of the
sound to the right.
Page 220: That is why, when trying to pinpoint a
sound, you cock your head, so that your two ears will
receive slightly different messages. When a sound is
equidistant from our two ears (directly ahead,
behind, or above), and there is no visual clue, we
have trouble locating (pinpointing) the source. In
this situation it helps to tilt (cock) our heads so that
each ear receives a slightly different message (the
sound will be a little louder and sensed a little soon-
er by one ear, and the brain uses this information to
detect where the sound is coming from).
Page 220: Occasionally, disease causes sensorineural
hearing loss, but more often the culprits are biologi-
cal changes linked with heredity, aging and pro-
longed exposure to ear-splitting noise or music
(Figure 5.26). Sensorineural hearing loss, or nerve
deafness (cochlear damage), can sometimes be
caused by illness, but the agents responsible (the cul-
prits) are more likely to be age-related biological fac-
tors and extended encounters with extremely loud
(ear-splitting) music or noise. While digital hearing
aids are a partial remedy, the latest cochlear
implants can restore hearing for children and most
adults.
Other Important Senses
Page 224: As lovers, we yearn to touch—to kiss, to
stroke, to snuggle. Our sense of touch involves a mix-
ture of at least four distinct senses: pressure,
156 Chapter 5 Sensation
warmth, cold, and pain. Intimate relations often
involve a desire or longing (we yearn) to caress, kiss,
and closely embrace each other (snuggle).
Page 227: Rubbing the area around your stubbed toe
will create competing stimulation that will block
some of the pain messages. If you hit your toe
against a solid object (stub your toe), it really hurts. If,
however, you massage (rub) the part around the sore
spot, it makes you feel better because stimulation
interferes with (blocks) some of the pain messages.
This supports the gate-control model, which sug-
gests that this stimulation (rubbing) will activate
“gate-closing” in large neural fibers and, thus, will
reduce pain.
Page 228: Sometimes the pain in sprain is mainly in the
brain. Myers is doing a parody of the lyrics from a
song in the musical My Fair Lady, “The rain in Spain
stays mainly in the plain.” The main point: reports
of repetitive strain injury (the pain in sprain) were, in
the case of groups (pockets) of Australian keyboard
operators, due to social and psychological influences
(mainly in the brain) and were not the result of dam-
aged ligaments or muscles in the hands or arms, as
is usually the case.
Page 228 (caption): After explaining heat-diffusion
principles that permit firewalking, he then joined sev-
eral others in putting his feet where his mouth was. The
expression “put your money where your mouth is”
means that you should be willing to back or support
your words or claims with appropriate behavior. So
physicist David Willey was willing to support his
explanation of firewalking, which was based on sci-
entific facts, by taking the necessary action. By actu-
ally walking or stepping across the hot coals without
burning his bare feet, he put his feet (firewalking)
where his mouth was (his scientific explanation) and
showed that the claims of the “mind over matter”
promoters were wrong in this case.
Page 229: A well-trained nurse may distract needle-
shy patients by chatting with them and asking them
to look away when inserting the needle. One
method of pain control is through distraction. If you
are nervous or anxious about being injected with a
hypodermic needle (a needle-shy patient), the nurse
may talk to you about unimportant matters (she
chats with you) and request that you do not watch the
procedure. This type of distraction can reduce the
intensity of the pain.
Page 230: Taste buds are certainly essential for taste,
but there is more to taste than meets the tongue. The
common expression “there is more to this than meets
the eye” suggests that there is something extra going
on over and above the obvious or apparent. Myers
creates a variation of this expression using a differ-
ent sense (taste). The flavors we experience are a
function of more than just the taste buds in the
tongue; they involve sensory interaction with the
sense of smell (olfaction). Thus, the sense of taste
involves more than simply responding to the chemi-
cals that stimulate taste receptors in the tongue
(there is more to taste than meets the tongue).
Page 231: Each day, you inhale and exhale nearly
20,000 breaths of life-sustaining air, bathing your
nostrils in a stream of scent-laden molecules. Smell
(olfaction) is a chemical sense and as substances
(flowers, feet, fish, fertilizer, etc.) release molecules,
they are carried by the air we breathe (a stream of
scent-laden molecules) and wash over (bathe) receptors
in our nasal cavities (nostrils).
Page 232: Words more readily portray the sound of
coffee brewing than its aroma. It is easier to talk
about and describe (portray) the subtle aspects of
coffee brewing than to put into words the sensory
qualities involved in the smell (aroma) of coffee.
Olfaction seems to be a more primitive sense than
vision or audition.
Page 234: The biological gyroscopes for this sense of
equilibrium are in the inner ear. A gyroscope is a
mechanical device used as a stabilizer in navigation
and scientific instruments. Likewise, we have bio-
logical stabilizers that monitor the movement and
position of our bodies and provide us with a sense
of balance (equilibrium). They are called the semicir-
cular canals and the vestibular sacs and are located in
the inner ear.