Sensation, Perception and Attention MCQs 2026

Figure-ground organization refers to the ability to

1. A Change hormone levels voluntarily ✓
2. B Hear only low-frequency sounds ✓
3. C Measure reaction time only ✓
4. D Separate an object from its background ✓

A binocular cue for depth perception is

1. A Linear perspective ✓
2. B Texture gradient ✓
3. C Retinal disparity ✓
4. D Interposition ✓

Linear perspective is a

1. A Binocular cue requiring both eyes ✓
2. B Monocular depth cue ✓
3. C Taste cue ✓
4. D Hormonal cue ✓

Perceptual constancy means that we perceive objects as

1. A Always changing size randomly ✓
2. B Visible only in the fovea ✓
3. C Unrelated to prior experience ✓
4. D Stable despite changes in sensory input ✓

Top-down processing is strongly influenced by

1. A Expectations and prior knowledge ✓
2. B Only receptor fatigue ✓
3. C The absence of memory ✓
4. D Random muscle movement ✓

Bottom-up processing begins with

1. A Expectations before any stimulus ✓
2. B Sensory data from receptors ✓
3. C A fixed cultural belief ✓
4. D Long-term plans only ✓

Selective attention is the process of

1. A Sleeping during stimulation ✓
2. B Detecting only taste stimuli ✓
3. C Focusing on one stimulus while ignoring others ✓
4. D Remembering every detail equally ✓

The cocktail party effect refers to noticing

1. A One's name in an unattended conversation ✓
2. B Only bright colors in daylight ✓
3. C A louder taste sensation ✓
4. D The size of the pupil ✓

Inattentional blindness occurs when a person fails to notice a visible object because

1. A The retina has no rods ✓
2. B The object has no color ✓
3. C Hearing is blocked ✓
4. D Attention is focused elsewhere ✓

The Stroop effect demonstrates difficulty in

1. A Detecting dim light ✓
2. B Inhibiting an automatic response ✓
3. C Balancing while walking ✓
4. D Smelling familiar odors ✓

Signal detection theory emphasizes that detection depends on sensory sensitivity and

1. A Blood pressure ✓
2. B Eye color ✓
3. C Decision criterion ✓
4. D Muscle strength ✓

Transduction in sensation means the conversion of

1. A Physical energy into neural signals ✓
2. B Memories into dreams ✓
3. C Hormones into reflexes ✓
4. D Speech into grammar ✓

Sensory receptors are specialized cells that

1. A Produce only emotions ✓
2. B Detect specific forms of stimulation ✓
3. C Store long-term plans ✓
4. D Control grammar rules ✓

Visual accommodation refers to the

1. A Grouping of nearby objects ✓
2. B Loss of attention over time ✓
3. C Detection of sound pitch ✓
4. D Lens changing shape to focus images ✓

Dark adaptation is the process by which visual sensitivity

1. A Decreases permanently after sleep ✓
2. B Becomes unrelated to rods ✓
3. C Increases after entering darkness ✓
4. D Depends only on the iris color ✓

Feature detectors are neurons that respond selectively to

1. A Blood sugar levels ✓
2. B Specific visual features ✓
3. C Endocrine glands ✓
4. D Long-term goals ✓

Opponent-process theory of color vision is especially useful for explaining

1. A Color afterimages ✓
2. B Sound localization ✓
3. C Touch pressure ✓
4. D Taste adaptation only ✓

The trichromatic theory of color vision proposes

1. A One receptor for all colors ✓
2. B Only rod-based color vision ✓
3. C No role for cones ✓
4. D Three types of color receptors ✓

The Gestalt principle of closure means that we tend to

1. A Ignore all incomplete figures ✓
2. B Hear hidden sounds only ✓
3. C Fill in gaps to perceive a whole ✓
4. D See only moving objects ✓

The phi phenomenon refers to the perception of

1. A Apparent motion from still images ✓
2. B Pain without receptors ✓
3. C Smell without chemicals ✓
4. D Speech without sound ✓

Attention span refers broadly to the

1. A Size of the retina ✓
2. B Duration one can maintain focus ✓
3. C Number of endocrine glands ✓
4. D Pitch of a sound wave ✓

In Gestalt psychology, the principle of proximity means that we tend to group together objects that are

1. A Near each other ✓
2. B Opposite in color only ✓
3. C Very loud ✓
4. D Hidden from view ✓

The kinesthetic sense tells us about

1. A Blood oxygen level ✓
2. B Position and movement of body parts ✓
3. C Brightness of colors ✓
4. D Smell intensity ✓

The vestibular sense provides information about

1. A Taste quality ✓
2. B Language fluency ✓
3. C Balance and head movement ✓
4. D Blood glucose level ✓

The cochlea is the principal organ for

1. A Hearing ✓
2. B Vision ✓
3. C Taste ✓
4. D Smell ✓

Place theory of hearing explains pitch perception by the

1. A Number of taste buds activated ✓
2. B Size of the pupil ✓
3. C Speed of eye movement ✓
4. D Location of vibration on the basilar membrane ✓

The size of the pupil is controlled mainly by the

1. A Retina ✓
2. B Iris ✓
3. C Cochlea ✓
4. D Cornea only ✓

The blind spot of the eye occurs where

1. A The optic nerve leaves the retina ✓
2. B The lens becomes transparent ✓
3. C Cones are most concentrated ✓
4. D The iris changes color ✓

The optic nerve carries visual information from the retina to the

1. A Middle ear ✓
2. B Spinal cord only ✓
3. C Brain ✓
4. D Adrenal gland ✓

Cones in the retina are mainly responsible for

1. A Balance in the inner ear ✓
2. B Pain perception in skin ✓
3. C Smell identification ✓
4. D Color and fine-detail vision ✓

Rods in the retina are most useful for

1. A Vision in dim light ✓
2. B Color vision in bright light ✓
3. C Detecting taste chemicals ✓
4. D Hearing high pitch sounds ✓

Sensory adaptation refers to

1. A Learning a new motor skill ✓
2. B Reduced sensitivity to constant stimulation ✓
3. C Damage to a sensory nerve ✓
4. D A sudden increase in attention ✓

Weber's law states that the just noticeable difference depends on

1. A The observer's age only ✓
2. B A fixed physical amount for all stimuli ✓
3. C A constant proportion of original intensity ✓
4. D The number of choices in a test ✓

The just noticeable difference is another name for the

1. A Difference threshold ✓
2. B Absolute threshold ✓
3. C Subliminal threshold ✓
4. D Terminal threshold ✓

The absolute threshold is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus about

1. A 10 percent of the time ✓
2. B 25 percent of the time ✓
3. C Always without error ✓
4. D 50 percent of the time ✓

The clearest distinction between sensation and perception is that sensation detects stimuli while perception

1. A Replaces sensory receptors ✓
2. B Organizes and interprets sensory input ✓
3. C Occurs only during sleep ✓
4. D Depends only on reflexes ✓

Divided attention is required when a person

1. A Sleeps without dreaming ✓
2. B Sees only one color ✓
3. C Performs two tasks at the same time ✓
4. D Closes both eyes ✓

Sustained attention is best described as the ability to

1. A Notice only one color ✓
2. B Sleep through stimulation ✓
3. C Change the lens shape ✓
4. D Maintain focus over time ✓

Shape constancy is the tendency to perceive an object as having the same shape even when

1. A The object stops existing ✓
2. B The retina has no cones ✓
3. C Its retinal image changes with viewing angle ✓
4. D The sound becomes louder ✓

The attentional blink refers to difficulty detecting a second target when it appears

1. A After a full night of sleep ✓
2. B In a different language only ✓
3. C Outside the visual field ✓
4. D Soon after a first target ✓

Gustation is the sense of

1. A Hearing ✓
2. B Taste ✓
3. C Vision ✓
4. D Balance ✓

Olfaction is the sense of

1. A Smell ✓
2. B Taste ✓
3. C Balance ✓
4. D Touch ✓

Gate-control theory explains pain as being influenced by a neural gate in the

1. A Lens of the eye ✓
2. B Cochlea ✓
3. C Spinal cord ✓
4. D Pituitary gland ✓

Psychophysics studies the relationship between

1. A Dreams and personality only ✓
2. B Physical stimuli and sensory experience ✓
3. C Hormones and digestion only ✓
4. D Brain size and intelligence only ✓

A subliminal stimulus is one that is

1. A Always consciously reported ✓
2. B Stronger than pain threshold ✓
3. C Identical to attention span ✓
4. D Below the threshold of conscious awareness ✓

Convergence is a depth cue based on

1. A Inward turning of the eyes for near objects ✓
2. B Color contrast in the retina ✓
3. C Adaptation of taste buds ✓
4. D Sound wave frequency only ✓

Relative size is used in perception as a

1. A Taste cue ✓
2. B Hearing threshold ✓
3. C Monocular depth cue ✓
4. D Hormonal signal ✓

A perceptual set is a readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way due to

1. A Random nerve damage only ✓
2. B Expectations and context ✓
3. C Absence of learning ✓
4. D Pupil size alone ✓

Habituation is a decrease in response after

1. A Repeated presentation of the same stimulus ✓
2. B A single spinal injury ✓
3. C Total loss of receptors ✓
4. D A change in chromosome number ✓

The early filter model of attention is associated with

1. A Jean Piaget ✓
2. B Ivan Pavlov ✓
3. C Carl Rogers ✓
4. D Donald Broadbent ✓

Perceptual constancy refers to perceiving objects as

1. A changing with every retinal change ✓
2. B identical to their retinal images ✓
3. C stable in size, shape, and color despite changing sensory input ✓
4. D always larger when closer ✓

Interposition (overlap) as a depth cue means that

1. A closer objects cast larger retinal images ✓
2. B texture becomes denser with distance ✓
3. C higher objects are always farther ✓
4. D an object that blocks another is perceived as closer ✓

Conductive hearing loss typically results from problems in the

1. A auditory cortex ✓
2. B cochlear hair cells ✓
3. C auditory nerve ✓
4. D outer or middle ear ✓

Linear perspective is an example of a

1. A binocular depth cue ✓
2. B monocular depth cue ✓
3. C chemical sense cue ✓
4. D vestibular cue ✓

The sense of smell is called

1. A olfaction ✓
2. B gustation ✓
3. C kinesthesia ✓
4. D proprioception ✓

Taste buds detect which basic taste qualities including

1. A only sweet and bitter ✓
2. B sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami ✓
3. C sweet, sour, and spicy only ✓
4. D metallic and alkaline only ✓

Flavor perception depends heavily on the interaction of

1. A vision and hearing only ✓
2. B touch and pain only ✓
3. C balance and kinesthesia ✓
4. D taste and smell ✓

The skin senses include pressure, temperature, and

1. A olfaction ✓
2. B gustation ✓
3. C pain ✓
4. D equilibrium ✓

Gate-control theory of pain was proposed by

1. A Pavlov and Watson ✓
2. B Melzack and Wall ✓
3. C Skinner and Thorndike ✓
4. D Weber and Fechner ✓

Convergence as a depth cue depends on

1. A the inward turning of the eyes for near objects ✓
2. B relative size of familiar objects ✓
3. C linear perspective in drawings ✓
4. D texture gradients on surfaces ✓

Kinesthesis refers to the sense of

1. A body position and movement of body parts ✓
2. B balance from the inner ear only ✓
3. C smell of chemical molecules ✓
4. D pain from tissue damage ✓

The vestibular sense is primarily concerned with

1. A hearing high frequencies ✓
2. B detecting light intensity ✓
3. C balance and spatial orientation ✓
4. D detecting chemical tastes ✓

Binocular disparity is a cue for

1. A color constancy ✓
2. B loudness perception ✓
3. C pitch discrimination ✓
4. D depth perception ✓

The Gestalt principle of closure refers to the tendency to

1. A ignore incomplete figures ✓
2. B perceive only straight lines ✓
3. C fill in gaps to perceive a complete object ✓
4. D focus exclusively on background ✓

Transduction in sensation means

1. A converting stimulus energy into neural impulses ✓
2. B storing sensory data in STM ✓
3. C comparing two stimuli ✓
4. D selecting which sense to attend to ✓

Figure-ground organization means that we tend to

1. A separate an object from its background ✓
2. B ignore all depth cues ✓
3. C see only colors, not shapes ✓
4. D adapt completely to constant stimuli ✓

According to the trichromatic theory of color vision, the three cone types are most sensitive to

1. A black, white, and gray ✓
2. B red, green, and blue ✓
3. C yellow, blue, and black ✓
4. D orange, purple, and cyan ✓

The fovea is specialized for

1. A sharp central vision and color detail ✓
2. B peripheral motion detection only ✓
3. C night vision via rods ✓
4. D balance and vestibular sense ✓

Phi phenomenon is the illusion of

1. A color afterimages ✓
2. B size constancy failure ✓
3. C apparent motion from stationary flashing lights ✓
4. D taste adaptation ✓

Visual agnosia is an inability to

1. A hear high pitches ✓
2. B feel pain ✓
3. C maintain balance ✓
4. D recognize objects despite intact basic vision ✓

Prosopagnosia specifically involves difficulty recognizing

1. A faces ✓
2. B spoken words ✓
3. C musical melodies ✓
4. D body position ✓

Subliminal stimuli are those that are

1. A above absolute threshold and always conscious ✓
2. B painful by definition ✓
3. C detected only by rods ✓
4. D below absolute threshold and not consciously detected ✓

The just noticeable difference (JND) is also called the

1. A absolute threshold ✓
2. B difference threshold ✓
3. C terminal threshold ✓
4. D subliminal threshold ✓

Rods are primarily responsible for

1. A color vision in bright light ✓
2. B fine visual acuity ✓
3. C vision in dim light ✓
4. D detecting only red wavelengths ✓

Gestalt psychology emphasizes that

1. A perception is built only from isolated sensations ✓
2. B learning is purely association ✓
3. C behavior is shaped only by reinforcement ✓
4. D the whole is different from the sum of its parts ✓

Opponent-process theory of color vision was proposed by

1. A Young and Helmholtz ✓
2. B Fechner ✓
3. C Ewald Hering ✓
4. D Weber ✓

Signal detection theory emphasizes that detection depends on

1. A stimulus intensity alone ✓
2. B receptor density alone ✓
3. C wavelength of light only ✓
4. D stimulus strength and the observer's decision criterion ✓

Afterimages that appear in complementary colors support which theory

1. A place theory ✓
2. B frequency theory ✓
3. C gate-control theory ✓
4. D opponent-process theory ✓

Weber's law states that the just noticeable difference is

1. A a fixed absolute amount for all stimuli ✓
2. B independent of stimulus intensity ✓
3. C a constant proportion of the original stimulus ✓
4. D determined only by neural fatigue ✓

The visible spectrum for humans is approximately

1. A 400–700 nanometers ✓
2. B 100–300 nanometers ✓
3. C 800–1200 nanometers ✓
4. D 10–50 nanometers ✓

Accommodation in vision refers to

1. A adaptation to darkness ✓
2. B changing lens shape to focus near or far objects ✓
3. C dilation of the pupil ✓
4. D movement of the eyeballs together ✓

Myopia (nearsightedness) occurs when the image focuses

1. A exactly on the retina ✓
2. B behind the retina ✓
3. C on the cornea ✓
4. D in front of the retina ✓

The minimum stimulus intensity that can be detected 50% of the time is called the

1. A absolute threshold ✓
2. B difference threshold ✓
3. C terminal threshold ✓
4. D adaptation level ✓

Sensation is best defined as

1. A interpretation of sensory information ✓
2. B detection of physical energy by sense organs ✓
3. C storage of sensory memories ✓
4. D organization of stimuli into patterns ✓

Inattentional blindness refers to

1. A failing to notice a visible stimulus when attention is elsewhere ✓
2. B permanent damage to rods ✓
3. C inability to smell ✓
4. D loss of vestibular function ✓

Selective attention is demonstrated by the

1. A Weber fraction ✓
2. B cocktail party effect ✓
3. C blind spot ✓
4. D opponent process ✓

Dark adaptation involves increased sensitivity of the

1. A cones only within 1 second ✓
2. B ossicles of the middle ear ✓
3. C rods as rhodopsin regenerates ✓
4. D taste buds on the tongue ✓

Top-down processing in perception is guided by

1. A only wavelength of light ✓
2. B only amplitude of sound ✓
3. C prior knowledge, expectations, and context ✓
4. D receptor adaptation alone ✓

The ossicles of the middle ear are the

1. A cochlea, vestibule, and semicircular canals ✓
2. B pinna, canal, and eardrum ✓
3. C malleus, incus, and stapes ✓
4. D basilar membrane, tectorial membrane, and hair cells ✓

The organ of Corti is located in the

1. A middle ear ✓
2. B cochlea ✓
3. C semicircular canals ✓
4. D eustachian tube ✓

The blind spot in the eye occurs because

1. A there are no rods in the fovea ✓
2. B the cornea lacks blood vessels ✓
3. C cones are absent at the periphery ✓
4. D there are no photoreceptors where the optic nerve exits ✓

The amplitude of a sound wave is most closely related to perceived

1. A loudness ✓
2. B pitch ✓
3. C timbre only ✓
4. D location only ✓

Feature detectors in the visual cortex were studied extensively by

1. A Pavlov and Skinner ✓
2. B Hubel and Wiesel ✓
3. C Maslow and Rogers ✓
4. D Wundt and Titchener ✓

A perceptual set is

1. A the absolute threshold for vision ✓
2. B a mental predisposition that influences perception ✓
3. C damage to the optic nerve ✓
4. D the blind spot itself ✓

Place theory of hearing best explains perception of

1. A high-frequency sounds ✓
2. B low-frequency sounds only ✓
3. C loudness exclusively ✓
4. D localization in darkness ✓

Size constancy is aided by

1. A accurate depth information ✓
2. B complete sensory adaptation ✓
3. C absence of monocular cues ✓
4. D closing one eye permanently ✓

Frequency theory of pitch perception is most applicable to

1. A ultrasonic frequencies ✓
2. B very high pitches above 5000 Hz ✓
3. C low-frequency sounds ✓
4. D color afterimages ✓

The Gestalt principle of proximity states that elements that are

1. A different in color are grouped ✓
2. B close together are perceived as a group ✓
3. C moving in opposite directions form a group ✓
4. D identical in size are never grouped ✓