3.1.2.6.3 Bruner and Minturn study of perceptual set Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. What did the Bruner and Minturn study examine?

   • How the serial position of items in a list changes the number of items recalled by the learners
   • How a perceptual set influences the way ambiguous figures are perceived after a set of expectations is given
   • How the sensory store holds visual information for a fraction of a second after it is shown
   • How monocular depth cues change the judgement of the size of far-away objects in a scene

2. Which factor is the Bruner and Minturn study mainly about?

   • Primacy, the better recall of the first items in a list of items shown to a learner
   • Interference, the disruption to memory caused by other information learnt before or after
   • Retinal disparity, the difference between the two images that the eyes receive of the same object
   • Perceptual set, the readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way shaped by prior expectations

3. What is the main finding of the Bruner and Minturn study?

   • Perception of an ambiguous figure is always the same, whatever expectations participants have been given
   • Perception of an ambiguous figure depends only on how many depth cues are visible in the figure
   • Perception of an ambiguous figure can be shaped by the expectations that participants have been given before
   • Perception of an ambiguous figure depends only on the number of items the sensory store can hold

4. How does a perceptual set in Bruner and Minturn's study work?

   • Participants are told to ignore the set, so the ambiguous figure is perceived as it really is
   • Participants are asked to store the set in the sensory store, so the figure is held for a second
   • Participants are asked to recall the set in serial order, so the figure is read from its position
   • Participants are primed with a set, so an ambiguous figure is read in a way that fits that set

5. Which example best illustrates the Bruner and Minturn finding?

   • A person primed with food words reads an ambiguous shape as a food word rather than a non-food word
   • A person primed with food words recalls the first shape they saw in a list more accurately
   • A person primed with food words stores each shape in the sensory store for one or two seconds
   • A person primed with food words sees a shape with clear depth cues that tell its distance accurately

6. Why is the Bruner and Minturn study important for understanding perception?

   • It shows that expectations only affect memory, not perception, so perception is never changed
   • It shows that expectations can change what is perceived, rather than perception being fixed by the input alone
   • It shows that expectations make the eyes detect more light, which improves all perception
   • It shows that expectations stop people from perceiving anything, so perception is always blank

7. Which statement describes a perceptual set most accurately?

   • A physical limit on how many objects the eyes can detect in one glance at a scene
   • A list of items that are recalled in the same order in which they were first presented to viewers
   • A fixed copy of a stimulus that is held in the sensory store for a second before decaying away
   • A readiness to perceive something in a particular way, based on what is expected

8. A participant shown an ambiguous figure after a set of prior words reads it in line with those words. What is shown?

   • Interference, because the prior words disrupted the participant's memory of the figure's shape
   • Retinal disparity, because each eye of the participant saw the figure from a different angle
   • Serial position, because the participant read the figure first among the items presented to them
   • Perceptual set, because the prior words primed a readiness to perceive the figure in that way

9. Which result would count against the idea of perceptual set in Bruner and Minturn's study?

   • Participants reading the ambiguous figure in the same way whatever set they had been given before
   • Participants reading the ambiguous figure in line with the set they had been given just before
   • Participants reading the ambiguous figure differently when different sets of words were shown
   • Participants showing a clear change in reading after they were primed with a particular set

10. Why might a perceptual set make an error more likely?

    • Because the expected reading increases the number of depth cues that are detected in the input
    • Because the expected reading moves the input into the long-term store before it is perceived
    • Because the expected reading can be applied to an ambiguous input even when it does not match the input
    • Because the expected reading removes the input from the sensory store before it can be processed

11. Which factor from the specification is closest to the set given in the Bruner and Minturn study?

    • Culture, because the set is shared by all people from the same country as the participants
    • Expectation, because the prior set makes participants expect a particular reading of the figure
    • Motivation, because the set is designed to satisfy a need that participants have at the time
    • Serial position, because the set is shown at the start of the list the participants recall later

12. Which example shows the Bruner and Minturn effect outside the laboratory?

    • Hearing a word in a conversation about food and taking an unclear sound to be a food-related word
    • Hearing a word in a conversation about food and forgetting it within a few seconds of hearing it
    • Hearing a word in a conversation about food and recalling it in the same order as other words
    • Hearing a word in a conversation about food and measuring the size of the room it was said in

13. What is a limitation of using ambiguous figures to study perceptual set?

    • Ambiguous figures are always too large to be seen in full by the participants in a test
    • Ambiguous figures use only binocular cues, so they cannot show any effect of perceptual set
    • Ambiguous figures remove all expectations, so perceptual set cannot be studied with them at all
    • Ambiguous figures are artificial, so the effect in everyday perception may differ from the lab result

14. Which statement about culture and expectation is consistent with the Bruner and Minturn study?

    • Expectations only matter for the first item in a list, so they have no effect on perception later
    • Expectations only affect what is stored in long-term memory, so they cannot change perception
    • Expectations shape how ambiguous input is read, so a person's prior set affects what they perceive
    • Expectations are fixed at birth, so no prior set can change how an ambiguous figure is perceived

15. Why is Bruner and Minturn's study used as evidence for expectation affecting perception?

    • Because the figure was stored in the sensory store, which made it easy to read in any way
    • Because the figure was always read the same way, showing that expectations have no effect at all
    • Because the figure was recalled in serial order, so expectation changed the order of recall
    • Because the same ambiguous figure was read differently depending on the set given before it was seen

16. Which idea links Bruner and Minturn's study with the idea of constructivist perception?

    • Perception is stored in the sensory store, where the input is copied and kept unchanged for later use
    • Perception is determined only by serial position, so expectations have no part in how it is built
    • Perception is shaped by expectations and prior knowledge, so the brain interprets input in light of them
    • Perception is a direct copy of the input, with no effect from expectations or prior knowledge at all

17. What is an ambiguous figure?

    • A figure drawn with so many depth cues that it looks three-dimensional to all viewers equally
    • A figure shown so briefly that it cannot be stored in the sensory store at all
    • A figure that can be perceived in only one way, so no expectation can change its reading
    • A figure that can be perceived in more than one way, so the reading depends on expectation or set

18. A researcher repeats the study with a different prior set of words. Which result would support the study's idea?

    • The ambiguous figure is recalled in serial order after the new set of words is shown
    • The ambiguous figure is read in line with the new prior set rather than the old one
    • The ambiguous figure is read the same way as before, whatever the new prior set happens to be
    • The ambiguous figure is not read at all, because the new set removes the figure from view

19. Why does the Bruner and Minturn study suggest that expectation shapes perception rather than just the input?

    • Because expectation changes the size of the image on the retina, so the figure is seen as larger
    • Because expectation changes the input before it reaches the eyes, so the eyes see something different
    • Because expectation changes the order of the items stored in the sensory store before they are read
    • Because the same input was read differently when prior knowledge or expectation was changed

20. A teacher notices students read an unclear exam question in the way they expect the topic to go. Which factor is at work?

    • Interference, because the question is disrupted by the other questions printed on the paper
    • Retinal disparity, because the question is seen by both eyes at the same time in the room
    • Expectation, because students read the unclear question in line with what they expect
    • Serial position, because the question is read at the start of the exam paper before the others

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