Description

Short answer

Below are 13 short answer style questions. You may pick 12 of these two answer (no more, no less).

Each answer is worth 12 points. Partial credit will be given for partially correct or partially complete

answers. There is no length requirement for these answers as long as you fully answer the question. If a

question has multiple parts, you must answer all parts for full credit, so read carefully. Please indicate

which question you are responding to by writing your answer below the appropriate question.

1. When the head turns towards the left, the left horizontal semicircular canal undergoes

excitation. What happens to the right horizontal semicircular canal? Why does this happen?

2. Explain why ITDs and ILDs provide only ambiguous information about sound location

elevation. What cue(s) do we use instead to localize sounds in the elevation direction?

3. Having an irregularly shaped pinna is an important advantage when it comes to localizing

sounds. Why is this irregular shape important in sound localization? What sound location

information does the irregularly shaped pinna provide that binaural cues cannot?

4. Give at least two reasons that explain why perception of fine tactile details is better with our

fingertips than with our arms.

5. What important purpose do the ossicles serve in audition?

6. Give one example of evidence that refutes the direct pathway model of pain perception.

7. Give evidence that EITHER the auditory OR the somatosensory cortex is plastic (can change

with experience). *Note: you can pick just one of the two sensory systems and describe the

evidence

8. What are the characteristics of multisensory receptive fields?

9. Why is studying the physical structure of odorant molecules insufficient to explain how we

perceive smells?

10. What evidence supports the idea that our knowledge of language enhances improves speech

perception?

11. What is an example of a bottom-up effect on olfaction? What is an example of a top-down

effect on olfaction?

12. How is the firing rate of hair cells in the inner ear affected by sound frequency?

13. Why are ITDs more useful for localizing low frequency sounds and ILDs more useful for

localizing high frequency sounds?

Extra credit

This question is worth 6 points total (each part is worth 3 points). You do not have to complete this

question.

In the cutaneous senses, a disproportionate amount of cortex is devoted to processing tactile

information from the fingertips, where we are best at detecting tactile details. A similar process occurs

in vision, where a disproportionate amount of cortex is devoted to a region used for detail perception.

1. In vision, what is the region best suited to detail perception called?

2. What is it called when a disproportionate amount of cortex is devoted to processing detailed visual

information in this region?