PSYC 230 UIUC UPDATED EXAM SCRIPT QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔occipital face area - ✔✔an area of the brain in the occipital lobe, associated with
recognizing faces as distinct from other objects; located in the extrastriate cortex and is
strongly connected to the FFA
✔✔Prosopagnosia - ✔✔inability to recognize faces but other forms of visual object
recognition are relatively intact. For example, a person with prosopagnosia will have
difficulty recognizing particular people but will not have difficulty identifying roses or
gloves.
✔✔Grill-Spector experiment - ✔✔examined the role of the FFA in face recognition using
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. participants briefly saw
Harrison Ford's face followed by a mask, or a control stimulus followed by a mask (a). In
(b), we can see the activity in the FFA when the participant recognized the photo as
Harrison Ford and when the participant did not. Note that the highest response in the
FFA is for correct recognition.
✔✔parahippocampal place area (PPA) - ✔✔an area within the inferotemporal cortex
that appears to have the specific function of scene recognition; tuned for recognition of
spatial landscapes, both indoor and outdoor scenes
✔✔topographic agnosia - ✔✔a deficit in recognizing spatial landscapes, related to
damage to the parahippocampal place area
✔✔Extrastraite Body Area (EBA) - ✔✔an area within the inferotemporal cortex that is
activated when its cells view bodies or body parts but not faces
✔✔grandmother cell theory - ✔✔Theory that there is a particular cell in the ventral
processing stream whose job is to fire when you see a particular object or person (such
as your grandmother).
✔✔results of the Quiroga et al. Study (2005) - ✔✔these data are from single cells within
the human temporal cortex. One cell responded to the image of Kobe Bryant but not to
the images of other people. Similarly, one cell responded to the image of the Golden
Gate Bridge but not to images of other landmarks
✔✔face inversion effect - ✔✔The inability to detect facial features that are inverted on
an inverted face (i.e., the features would be upside down, and very obvious, if the face
were turned right-side up), because we are so used to processing faces in the upright
orientation.
, ✔✔Capgras syndrome - ✔✔The delusional belief that an acquaintance has been
replaced by an identical-looking imposter. It is more commonly seen in schizophrenia,
dementia, and brain trauma.
✔✔results of looser and Wheatley's study of animacy - ✔✔data show participants'
perceptions of whether the figures were animate or not (alive or not, realistic or not, has
a mind or doesn't, can feel pain or can't); results showed we have a high criterion for
recognizing animacy in a human face.
✔✔Accidental viewpoints & features - ✔✔A viewing position that produces some
regularity in the visual image that is not present in the world
Perceptual committees assume viewpoints are not accidental
✔✔wavelength of light and color - ✔✔humans see wavelengths of light that vary
between 400 and 700 nm
✔✔visual spectrum - ✔✔the range of wavelengths that our eyes can detect (400-700)
✔✔heterochromatic light - ✔✔white light, consisting of many wavelengths
✔✔monochromatic light - ✔✔light consisting of one wavelength
✔✔spectral reflectance - ✔✔the ratio of light reflected by an object at each wavelength
✔✔achromatic lightness - ✔✔when objects reflect all light wavelengths equally; white
(90%) to gray (50%) to Black (10%)
✔✔hue - ✔✔the color quality of light, corresponding to the color names we use, such as
orange, green, indigo, and cyan; hue is the quality of color
✔✔quality - ✔✔the value that changes but does not make the value larger or smaller
✔✔saturation - ✔✔the purity of light; the more saturated the stimulus is, the stronger the
color experience; the less saturated the stimulus, the more it appears white or gray or
black (achromatic)
✔✔lightness - ✔✔the psychological experience of the amount of light that gets reflected
by a surface
✔✔Brightness - ✔✔the perceived intensity of the light present
✔✔additive color mixing - ✔✔the creation of a new color by a process that adds one set
of wavelengths to another set of wavelengths
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔occipital face area - ✔✔an area of the brain in the occipital lobe, associated with
recognizing faces as distinct from other objects; located in the extrastriate cortex and is
strongly connected to the FFA
✔✔Prosopagnosia - ✔✔inability to recognize faces but other forms of visual object
recognition are relatively intact. For example, a person with prosopagnosia will have
difficulty recognizing particular people but will not have difficulty identifying roses or
gloves.
✔✔Grill-Spector experiment - ✔✔examined the role of the FFA in face recognition using
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. participants briefly saw
Harrison Ford's face followed by a mask, or a control stimulus followed by a mask (a). In
(b), we can see the activity in the FFA when the participant recognized the photo as
Harrison Ford and when the participant did not. Note that the highest response in the
FFA is for correct recognition.
✔✔parahippocampal place area (PPA) - ✔✔an area within the inferotemporal cortex
that appears to have the specific function of scene recognition; tuned for recognition of
spatial landscapes, both indoor and outdoor scenes
✔✔topographic agnosia - ✔✔a deficit in recognizing spatial landscapes, related to
damage to the parahippocampal place area
✔✔Extrastraite Body Area (EBA) - ✔✔an area within the inferotemporal cortex that is
activated when its cells view bodies or body parts but not faces
✔✔grandmother cell theory - ✔✔Theory that there is a particular cell in the ventral
processing stream whose job is to fire when you see a particular object or person (such
as your grandmother).
✔✔results of the Quiroga et al. Study (2005) - ✔✔these data are from single cells within
the human temporal cortex. One cell responded to the image of Kobe Bryant but not to
the images of other people. Similarly, one cell responded to the image of the Golden
Gate Bridge but not to images of other landmarks
✔✔face inversion effect - ✔✔The inability to detect facial features that are inverted on
an inverted face (i.e., the features would be upside down, and very obvious, if the face
were turned right-side up), because we are so used to processing faces in the upright
orientation.
, ✔✔Capgras syndrome - ✔✔The delusional belief that an acquaintance has been
replaced by an identical-looking imposter. It is more commonly seen in schizophrenia,
dementia, and brain trauma.
✔✔results of looser and Wheatley's study of animacy - ✔✔data show participants'
perceptions of whether the figures were animate or not (alive or not, realistic or not, has
a mind or doesn't, can feel pain or can't); results showed we have a high criterion for
recognizing animacy in a human face.
✔✔Accidental viewpoints & features - ✔✔A viewing position that produces some
regularity in the visual image that is not present in the world
Perceptual committees assume viewpoints are not accidental
✔✔wavelength of light and color - ✔✔humans see wavelengths of light that vary
between 400 and 700 nm
✔✔visual spectrum - ✔✔the range of wavelengths that our eyes can detect (400-700)
✔✔heterochromatic light - ✔✔white light, consisting of many wavelengths
✔✔monochromatic light - ✔✔light consisting of one wavelength
✔✔spectral reflectance - ✔✔the ratio of light reflected by an object at each wavelength
✔✔achromatic lightness - ✔✔when objects reflect all light wavelengths equally; white
(90%) to gray (50%) to Black (10%)
✔✔hue - ✔✔the color quality of light, corresponding to the color names we use, such as
orange, green, indigo, and cyan; hue is the quality of color
✔✔quality - ✔✔the value that changes but does not make the value larger or smaller
✔✔saturation - ✔✔the purity of light; the more saturated the stimulus is, the stronger the
color experience; the less saturated the stimulus, the more it appears white or gray or
black (achromatic)
✔✔lightness - ✔✔the psychological experience of the amount of light that gets reflected
by a surface
✔✔Brightness - ✔✔the perceived intensity of the light present
✔✔additive color mixing - ✔✔the creation of a new color by a process that adds one set
of wavelengths to another set of wavelengths
