Chapter 3

Which statement about feature nets is FALSE?

a) Network knowledge is represented in a distributed manner. b) Recognition based on geons is viewpoint independent. c) A network of detectors can interpret ambiguous inputs, recover from its own errors, and make inferences about barely viewed stimuli. d) The input layer is particularly sensitive to the overall configuration of a pattern.

What prediction could you make on the basis of the “recognition-via-multiple-views” approach to object recognition?

a) Words that resemble each other visually will be difficult to discriminate. b) It will be harder to recognize an object from some vantage points than from others. c) It will be possible to see the Necker cube in both possible orientations at once. d) Representations will most likely be supported by tissue in the “where” pathway.

Is overregularization in word recognition beneficial overall?

a) Yes, it allows us to perceive much more efficiently. b) Yes, it keeps new words from entering the language too quickly. c) No, it causes as many mistakes as it prevents. d) No, it has no real impact overall because tachistoscopes are not encountered outside a laboratory setting.

When Betty (an English speaker) is shown strings of letters tachistoscopically, she overregularizes them to follow the rules of common English spelling. This is because

a) of the word superiority effect. b) all humans are predisposed toward the visual configurations evident in “regular” bigrams; this is why English uses them. c) of a lifetime of strengthening the bigram detectors for common English letter pairs. d) Betty is reluctant to give answers that she cannot easily pronounce.

Which of the following illustrates a dissociation between form perception and object recognition?

a) being unable to identify an object that was requested verbally b) being unable to identify objects by sight, yet still able to identify them using touch c) being unable to identify an object by its smell d) being unable to identify objects by sight, despite having a visual impression of them

Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding the perception of briefly presented words?

a) Participants are better at identifying letters when they are presented in isolation compared to when they are presented as part of a word. b) Participants are equally poor at identifying all nonsense words, regardless of their well-formedness. c) Participants are better at recognizing words that were recently seen. d) Participants can avoid making overregularization errors if sufficient top-down processing is employed.

Which condition would produce the most accurate response?

a) Participants are asked whether they were shown a “d” or “b” when presented in the word ”LARD.” b) Participants are asked whether they were shown a “d” or “b” when presented with these letters only. c) Participants are asked whether they were shown a “d” or “b” when presented with these letters only. d) Participants are asked whether they were shown a “d” or “b” when presented in letter string ”LRSPD.”

If the word “trum” is presented, people are most likely to recognize it as

a) truck. b) murt. c) drum. d) none of the above

The existence of “bigram detectors” helps to explain which of the following?

a) People are more likely to recognize “TICE” when briefly presented than “EITC.” b) The fast presentation of a “crossbar” stimulus leads to the activation of the “A,” “E,” and “F” detectors. c) The network cannot distinguish between “false alarms” and true recognition. d) The network’s knowledge is locally represented in the brain.

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the existing data on face recognition?

a) Face recognition uses a feature-net system similar to the one used for word recognition. b) The ability to recognize faces is closely tied to other forms of general visual recognition, such that loss in one ability is linked with loss in the other. c) Recognition of faces is heavily dependent on orientation. d) The fusiform face area (FFA) is devoted entirely to recognizing faces.

Each of the following is evidence for a feature theory of perception, EXCEPT

a) the visual system is specialized with cells that detect single features. b) when researchers are able to stabilize the retinal image for an individual, preventing tiny eye movements (saccades) that refresh the rods and cones, the image begins to degrade (disappear) feature by feature. c) in visual search paradigms, in which a single target must be found in an array of other items, target identification is slower when it shares features with the distractors. d) detecting an embedded figure (including its features) is independent of the way the form is parsed.

Which of the following would be LEAST likely to serve as an effective prime for the word “bread”?

a) thread b) butter c) whole wheat d) pie

When you make an overregularization error in visual perception, what is the subjective experience like?

a) imagining b) guessing c) seeing d) remembering

Which of the following is evidence of a double dissociation, suggesting differing underlying neural systems?

a) The occipital-temporal pathway registers “what” information, but not “where” information. b) After H.M.’s surgery, he could remember events before the surgery but was no longer able to encode any new information into memory. c) fMRI research has identified an area of the brain that is more active when processing information about faces. d) Patients with agnosia can recognize faces but not objects, while patients with prosopagnosia show the opposite pattern.

What was the crucial innovation that defined the recognition-by-components (RBC) model?

a) an intermediate level of detectors sensitive to “geons” b) a hierarchy of detectors c) the use of inhibitory connections d) recognition of only fully visible objects

What is the BEST example of top-down processing?

a) Our processing often depends on our stimulus history, that is, what stimuli we have seen recently. b) When we perceive objects, we first detect basic features and then combine them into larger units. c) We begin processing a face at the hairline and move downward to the chin. d) We would recognize “aardvark” more quickly if we were expecting to see an animal word.

The Rumelhart and McClelland model is different from the simple feature model in all the following ways EXCEPT that it includes

a) inhibition as well as excitation. b) bidirectional activation. c) activation from the feature level to the letter level. d) top-down processing.

Which of the following illustrates a dissociation between form perception and object recognition?

a) being unable to identify an object that was requested verbally b) being unable to identify objects by sight, yet still able to identify them using touch c) being unable to identify an object by its smell d) being unable to identify objects by sight, despite having a visual impression of them

Which of the following is NOT generally true about perceptual systems?

a) When errors occur, they are usually in the direction of regularization. b) Unusual patterns, because of their rarity, are easier to recognize than common patterns. c) Perception always involves active processes of parsing and figure–ground organization. d) Repetition priming is found to be true for hearing as well as vision.

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Which of the following offers the most support for the idea that object recognition is viewpoint dependent?

a) Object recognition seems to involve a hierarchy of detectors, from feature detectors to whole object detectors. b) When pieces of an object are missing, it is still fairly easy to recognize the object as long as the geons are still identifiable. c) There are neurons in the “what” pathway that respond most to a certain type of object in a certain position relative to the eyes. d) Detection of objects employs both bottom-up and top-down processes.

Individuals with a lesion to the parietal lobe perform normally when asked to search for a single feature in a display (e.g., find the round shape) but have trouble when asked to find, for example, the “blue, round shape” among other shapes that are blue (but not round) and round (but not blue). What conclusion do these findings support?

a) Detection of features is separate from the association of those features. b) If you cannot detect a complex object, you cannot detect its constituent parts. c) Shapes are more difficult for the system to detect than colors. d) Object identification takes place in the parietal lobe.

Which of the following is a problem with the recognition-by-components model?

a) A “p” cannot be distinguished from a “q.” b) Occluded objects cannot be distinguished. c) Memory for upside-down houses is a bit worse than memory for upright houses. d) Participants are faster to identify a fire hydrant in a picture of a firehouse than in a picture of a kitchen.

What is the purpose of using a mask in word recognition tasks?

a) It serves to stop participants from continuing to process the stimulus. b) It allows experimenters to change subjects’ responses. c) It disguises the words so that a person cannot recognize them. d) It disrupts the word superiority effect.

In a word recognition study, participants were briefly shown words that differed in frequency and familiarity. After each word was shown, participants were asked to report aloud what word they had seen. Their accuracy recognizing these words is represented in the graph. Which of the following is the BEST interpretation of the data?

a) The words that are naturally easy to recognize are used more frequently. b) Low-frequency words are recognized about half the time, near the level that would be expected by chance. c) People only have difficulty with recognizing primed, high-frequency words. d) The results demonstrate both a priming effect and an effect of frequency.