Biology

Mary Ann Clark, Jung Choi, Matthew Douglas

Chapter 36

Sensory Systems - all with Video Answers

Educators

Chapter Questions

Problem 1

Figure 36.5 Which of the following statements about mechanoreceptors is false?
a. Pacini corpuscles are found in both glabrous and hairy skin.
b. Merkel's disks are abundant on the fingertips and lips.
c. Ruffini endings are encapsulated mechanoreceptors.
d. Meissner's corpuscles extend into the lower dermis.

Rikhil Makwana

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Problem 2

Figure 36.14 Cochlear implants can restore hearing in people who have a nonfunctional cochlea. The implant consists of a microphone that picks up sound. A speech processor selects sounds in the range of human speech, and a transmitter converts these sounds to electrical impulses, which are then sent to the auditory nerve. Which of the following types of hearing loss would not be restored by a cochlear implant?
a. Hearing loss resulting from absence or loss of hair cells in the organ of Corti.
b. Hearing loss resulting from an abnormal auditory nerve.
c. Hearing loss resulting from fracture of the cochlea.
d. Hearing loss resulting from damage to bones of the middle ear.

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Problem 3

Figure 36.18 Which of the following statements about the human eye is false?
a. Rods detect color, while cones detect only shades of gray.
b. When light enters the retina, it passes the ganglion cells and bipolar cells before reaching photoreceptors at the rear of the eye.
c. The iris adjusts the amount of light coming into the eye.
d. The cornea is a protective layer on the front of the eye.

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Problem 4

Where does perception occur?
a. spinal cord
b. cerebral cortex
c. receptors
d. thalamus

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Problem 5

If a person's cold receptors no longer convert cold stimuli into sensory signals, that person has a problem with the process of ____________.
a. reception
b. transmission
c. perception
d. transduction

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Problem 6

After somatosensory transduction, the sensory signal travels through the brain as a(n) _____________ signal.
a. electrical
b. pressure
c. optical
d. thermal

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Problem 7

Many people experience motion sickness while traveling in a car. This sensation results from contradictory inputs arising from which senses?
a. Proprioception and Kinesthesia
b. Somatosensation and Equilibrium
c. Gustation and Vibration
d. Vision and Vestibular System

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Problem 8

_____________ are found only in _____________ skin, and detect skin deflection.
a. Meissner's corpuscles; hairy
b. Merkel's disks; glabrous
c. hair receptors; hairy
d. Krause end bulbs; hairy

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Problem 9

If you were to burn your epidermis, what receptor type would you most likely burn?
a. free nerve endings
b. Ruffini endings
c. Pacinian corpuscle
d. hair receptors

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Problem 10

Many diabetic patients are warned by their doctors to test their glucose levels by pricking the sides of their fingers rather than the pads. Pricking the sides avoids stimulating which receptor?
a. Krause end bulbs
b. Meissner's corpuscles
c. Ruffini ending
d. Nociceptors

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Problem 11

Which of the following has the fewest taste receptors?
a. fungiform papillae
b. circumvallate papillae
c. foliate papillae
d. filiform papillae

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Problem 12

How many different taste molecules do taste cells each detect?
a. one
b. five
c. ten
d. It depends on the spot on the tongue.

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Problem 13

Salty foods activate the taste cells by ______________.
a. exciting the taste cell directly
b. causing hydrogen ions to enter the cell
c. causing sodium channels to close
d. binding directly to the receptors

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Problem 14

All sensory signals except __________ travel to the ____________ in the brain before the cerebral cortex.
a. vision; thalamus
b. olfaction; thalamus
c. vision; cranial nerves
d. olfaction; cranial nerves

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Problem 15

How is the ability to recognize the umami taste an evolutionary advantage?
a. Umami identifies healthy foods that are low in salt and sugar.
b. Umami enhances the flavor of bland foods.
c. Umami identifies foods that might contain essential amino acids.
d. Umami identifies foods that help maintain electrolyte balance.

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Problem 16

In sound, pitch is measured in __________ , and volume is measured in _____________.
a. nanometers (nm); decibels (dB)
b. decibels (dB); nanometers (nm)
c. decibels (dB); hertz (Hz)
d. hertz (Hz); decibels (dB)

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Problem 17

Auditory hair cells are indirectly anchored to the _____________.
a. basilar membrane
b. oval window
c. tectorial membrane
d. ossicles

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Problem 18

Which of the following are found both in the auditory system and the vestibular system?
a. basilar membrane
b. hair cells
c. semicircular canals
d. ossicles

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Problem 19

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is a disorder where some of the calcium carbonate crystals in the utricle migrate into the semicircular canals. Why does this condition cause periods of dizziness?
a. The hair cells in the semicircular canals will be constantly activated.
b. The hair cells in the semicircular canals will now be stimulated by gravity.
c. The utricle will no longer recognize acceleration.
d. There will be too much volume in the semicircular canals for them to detect motion.

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Problem 20

Why do people over 55 often need reading glasses?
a. Their cornea no longer focuses correctly.
b. Their lens no longer focuses correctly.
c. Their eyeball has elongated with age, causing images to focus in front of their retina.
d. Their retina has thinned with age, making vision more difficult.

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Problem 21

Why is it easier to see images at night using peripheral, rather than the central, vision?
a. Cones are denser in the periphery of the retina.
b. Bipolar cells are denser in the periphery of the retina.
c. Rods are denser in the periphery of the retina.
d. The optic nerve exits at the periphery of the retina.

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Problem 22

A person catching a ball must coordinate her head and eyes. What part of the brain is helping to do this?
a. hypothalamus
b. pineal gland
c. thalamus
d. superior colliculus

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Problem 23

A satellite is launched into space, but explodes after exiting the Earth's atmosphere. Which statement accurately reflects the observations made by an astronaut on a space walk outside the International Space Station during the explosion?
a. The astronaut would see the explosion, but would not hear a boom.
b. The astronaut will not sense the explosion.
c. The astronaut will see the explosion, and then hear the boom.
d. The astronaut will feel the concussive force of the explosion, but will not see it.

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Problem 24

If a person sustains damage to axons leading from sensory receptors to the central nervous system, which step or steps of sensory perception will be affected?

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Problem 25

In what way does the overall magnitude of a stimulus affect the just-noticeable difference in the perception of that stimulus?

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Problem 26

Describe the difference in the localization of the sensory receptors for general and special senses in humans.

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Problem 27

What can be inferred about the relative sizes of the areas of cortex that process signals from skin not densely innervated with sensory receptors and skin that is densely innervated with sensory receptors?

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Problem 28

Many studies have demonstrated that women are able to tolerate the same painful stimuli for longer than men. Why don't all people experience pain the same way?

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Problem 29

From the perspective of the recipient of the signal, in what ways do pheromones differ from other odorants?

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Problem 30

What might be the effect on an animal of not being able to perceive taste?

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Problem 31

A few recent cancer detection studies have used trained dogs to detect lung cancer in urine samples. What is the hypothesis behind this study? Why are dogs a better choice of detectors in this study than humans?

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Problem 32

How would a rise in altitude likely affect the speed of a sound transmitted through air? Why?

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Problem 33

How might being in a place with less gravity than Earth has (such as Earth's moon) affect vestibular sensation, and why?

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Problem 34

How does the structure of the ear allow a person to determine where a sound originates?

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Problem 35

How could the pineal gland, the brain structure that plays a role in annual cycles, use visual information from the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus?

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Problem 36

How is the relationship between photoreceptors and bipolar cells different from other sensory receptors and adjacent cells?

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Problem 37

Cataracts, the medical condition where the lens of the eye becomes cloudy, are a leading cause of blindness. Describe how developing a cataract would change the path of light through the eye.

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