AP psychology - final exam study topics

a double-blind control is essential for which of the following

assessment of a treatment designed to reduce schizophrenic symptoms

Every day Haiying tells her parents something new she would like to be when she grows up. Haiying's parents listen carefully and provide encouraging words. Even if Haiying's ideas are fanciful and impractical, her parents never pass judgment or suggest that she is being irrational. Haiying's parents' responses to their daughter demonstrate which concept?

unconditional positive regard

a devoted young father reads a news report that claims many people

the father will experience increased anxiety and make mistakes as a caretaker

Leo and Caitlin are both experiencing feelings about their date tonight. Leo has had bad dates lately

Leo and Caitlin have an immediate unconscious interpretation of the scenario, which leads them to simultaneously both label their feelings as either positive or negative and have the appropriate physiological response.

Which of the following scenarios best demonstrates a behavioral approach to therapy?

Finn has been acting out in school, so his therapist employs a token economy to reward Finn when he behaves well.

Throughout January and the beginning of February, the first two

Proactive interference

Ken fell off a float during a parade and was knocked unconscious.

The bystander effect

Jim has seen reports of a number of cases of Ebola on the news.

The availability heuristic

Dr. Crump is developing a new personality test that he hopes will

High reliability and low validity

The first time four-year-old Savannah attempted to make her bed,

Shaping

In the psychosocial theory of development, which of the following best

Nisha just graduated from college and is worried about balancing their new career and a committed relationship

Which of the following symptoms is characteristic of schizophrenia?

Hallucinations

Darnayia has been seeing a lot of social media ads about an exciting

confirmation bias

Which of the following best depicts the relationship between performance and arousal?

hump

Johanna, a high school senior, starts experiencing disruptions in

acetylcholine

Which of the following best describes the primacy effect?

When people have better recall of things that occur at the beginning of a sequence

Colleen likes to have others do things for her and is quick to criticize

projection

a rat always completes a maze successfully but is only rewarded every third trial. the rat is being rewarded using which of the following reinforcement schedules?

fixed-ratio

A psychologist administered the most recent edition of the

2

Which of the following is an example of an individual who demonstrates an internal locus of control?

A student decides to run for student government because he feels he can make some positive changes in the school.

Brain damage that leaves a person capable of understanding speech but with an impaired ability to

Broca's area

After Doug witnessed two cars involved in a car accident, a police

How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?

People who play slot machines in gambling casinos usually

variable ratio

Shanni loves to travel internationally, owns many unusual

openness to experience

Dr. Grayson is interested in studying the relationship between eating

meta-analysis

Studies of intrinsic motivation have shown that when people are

Work harder and enjoy their work more

a researcher wants to determine which studying technique would be more effective; massed practice or distributed practice

the vocabulary quiz scores

Josie was given a password by her teacher.

phonological loop

Murray is being treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy and

major depressive disorder

Zimbardo's prison experiment included the use of deception. Which of

debriefing

In a study, rats explore a maze without any reinforcement. When

latent learning

Hyrum is at a concert when a flute player hits a very loud, high-pitched

It has a short wavelength and high frequency

Genie was a girl who endured abusive and neglectful conditions and

critical periods

Angry with his professor because of a difficult exam, Martin

displacement

Brandon is superficially charming and skilled at exploiting people for his own gain. He is also

antisocial personality

In an experiment to test the effects of room temperature on test performance, the independent variable is:

the temperature of the room

Regina is experiencing symptoms most consistent with

Since she has returned from war, Regina has been having nightmares and is startled by every sound, believing she is in imminent danger.

Three-year-old Desiree is playing with her friend Jacob at the

theory of mind

Darrin is watching a horror movie. When the evil main character

the parasympathetic nervous system

Benjamin is five years old. He prefers four small pieces of sandwich over one large one because he believes there is more food. This shows he lacks:

conservation

Dr. Lee is studying the effect of lighting on concentration by manipulating lighting and measuring test scores. What method is this?

an experiment

At lunch with colleagues, Carlo discusses stories told by research participants with a phobic disorder. Which ethical principle is most likely violated?

confidentiality

Magali rehearsed for a play for weeks and became ill after the play ended. This best represents which stage of the general adaptation syndrome?

exhaustion

On Diane's first day of work, she eats a horrible cookie but smiles to make a good impression. This is an example of:

display rules

Nayanika is 50 and finds mentoring meaningful. Which stage of psychosocial development is she in?

generativity

Parents with five children follow strict rules, schedules, and expect obedience. Which parenting style does this describe?

authoritarian

As your friend walks away, their image on your retina gets smaller, but you don't perceive them as shrinking. This is:

size constancy

the purpose of random assignment is to:

reduce potential confounding variables

People who are color blind most likely have deficiencies in their:

cones

Barney misbehaves to get attention from his teacher, which he enjoys. The

positive reinforcement

What is the mean of the following data? 5, 5, 10, 35, 45

20

Which of the following scenarios most clearly describes the effects of a strong kinesthetic sense?

Being able to tell exact bodily position without looking at the body

Jeff lives in the U.S. and flew to Spain. He slept on the plane but still felt lethargic for days. Why?

his circadian rhythm has been disrupted

Group 1 reviewed a story nightly, Group 2 reviewed it only once. Group 1 recalled more details. This is due to:

distributed practice

Charlie believes anorexia results from cultural pressure in media. His viewpoint is best described as:

sociocultural

Researchers conducted a correlational study about daylight and depressive symptoms. Which interpretation is most accurate?

The relationship between daylight and depressive symptoms may also be linked to a third variable

Which of the following examples represents the concept of the mere-exposure effect?

Ryan grows to like a commercial for a local diner the more he watches that commercial

A football player who intentionally injures others gets injured and a fan says "he deserved it." This reflects:

just-world hypothesis

A daily drinker needs more alcohol to feel the same effects. This shows:

alcohol tolerance

Which of the following disorders is associated with degeneration of the myelin sheath?

multiple sclerosis

A researcher wants to determine the effects of a new drug on fetal development. Which of the following would be the most appropriate method to use?

an experiment using pregnant rats

Kent washes his hands dozens of times per day because he fears germs. He is distressed by this behavior but feels he cannot stop. Which of the following diagnoses best applies?

obsessive-compulsive disorder

Dr. Min conducted a study to investigate creativity. Five volunteers were presented with a series of three objects, one at a time. The volunteers were asked to generate as many alternative uses for the objects as possible in five minutes. The data collected on the number of alternative uses each volunteer generated for each object are displayed in the table.

functional fixedness

Which of the following statements best describes the role of biological processes in classical conditioning?

Certain species are biologically predisposed to learn particular associations that enhance their survival

A study was conducted with fifty-five preteens (ages 9-12) who were not getting the recommended amount of sleep for their age. All preteens agreed to participate in the study. The participants were told they did not have to complete the study and could leave the study at any time. During the study, participants were randomly placed into either a group that gradually moved bedtimes earlier by five minutes each night or a control group that slept on their normal sleep cycle. The study's purpose was disclosed to participants once the study was over.

Which of the following ethical considerations was most problematic for this study?

Informed consent was not given for the preteens to participate in the study

Tuong wakes up several times during the night gasping for air. He does not recall waking up but feels exhausted in the morning. Tuong is most likely experiencing which of the following disorders?

sleep apnea

Brad enters his house and smells baked goods, but within a few minutes he no longer notices the smell. What concept does this best illustrate?

sensory adaptation

Participants in the Milgram obedience study often thought that people would refuse to obey the experimenter. When people did obey, participants explained it as a personality flaw rather than a situational effect. This explanation most clearly illustrates:

fundamental attribution error

Jason is at a loud pep rally and his friend is trying to talk to him from across the gym. Jason is able to pick out his friend's voice among the noise. This ability is best explained by which concept?

selective attention

Bill believes that Natalia does not like him. As a result, he starts avoiding her and being short with her in conversation. Natalia eventually begins to dislike Bill. Which of the following best explains this situation?

self-fulfilling prophecy

Which of the following classifications of drugs includes caffeine?

stimulant

An intelligence test is administered twice to the same individuals and the correlation between the two sets of scores is +1.0. This means that the test has:

perfect test-retest reliability

Little Andrea has just learned that robins are birds. She now sees a sparrow, points to it, and calls out "Bird!" According to Jean Piaget, Andrea is showing the cognitive process of:

assimilation

Respondents to surveys and questionnaires often report that they are healthier, happier, and less prejudiced than would be expected based on the results of other types of research. This finding can best be explained by which of the following?

the social desirability bias

Professor Whitmore conducted research to examine changes in cognitive development across the life span. He recruited 400 participants and then grouped them by age. The study included 20-year-olds, 40-year-olds, 60-year-olds, and 80-year-olds (100 in each group). Each group in the study took several different tests. Some of the tests were fact-based and drew upon knowledge from several years. Other tests required participants to solve new problems as quickly as they could. Based upon research on fluid intelligence, which of the following is a likely hypothesis for Dr. Whitmore's study?

The 20-year-old cohort will likely outperform all other groups on the tests that involve solving new problems quickly.

In high school, it did not seem to make a difference how much Clive studied Spanish; he always earned poor grades. Now that Clive is in college, he is required to take Spanish again. According to the concept of learned helplessness, which of the following statements can be most expected from Clive as he starts the new Spanish class?

"Why study? There isn't anything I can do to improve my Spanish skills."

Significant damage to which of the following parts of the brain will most likely cause a person to fall into a deep coma from which the person will be unable to awaken?

reticular formation

Training in the construction of an anxiety hierarchy and in relaxation techniques is likely to be part of the treatment for which of the following?

specific phobia

Audra sees a full figure of a circle even though part of it is missing. What Gestalt principle best explains this phenomenon?

closure

A researcher has a hypothesis that men are more likely to be influenced by the central route to persuasion when buying a car than women are. The researcher asks thirty men and thirty women to observe while they buy a car, and the researcher finds that women pay attention to information about the reliability of the car, whereas men pay attention to available colors that the car comes in. Which conclusion can the researcher draw?

The hypothesis is not supported, because the results indicate that women are influenced more by the central route to persuasion than men are.

Dimitri and Dominic are identical twins who were separated at birth and raised by different families. When they found each other through DNA tracking, they were surprised to see how different they were. Which research method would a psychologist most likely use to document their behavioral differences?

correlation

To explore the concept of the "imaginary audience," a researcher gave the Imaginary Audience Scale to 6th, 8th, and 10th graders who submitted a local shopping mall survey. Results indicated that students in 10th grade had the lowest ratings on the scale and concluded that the "imaginary audience" declines through adolescence. Which of the following best explains the limitations of the researcher's decision to do this study?

He would need to obtain a random sample of participants from each of the three grade levels.

Chuck asked Jane out on a date and he offered her two possible options—to see a movie or to go ice skating. Jane felt a bit stressed about making the decision because she liked both activities. Which of the following conflicts was Jane experiencing?

approach-approach

As a child, Annie experienced a serious fall that damaged her cerebellum. Which of the following memory systems would be most affected by this?

procedural

Tom believes he performed poorly on his last three history exams because of bad luck. As a result, he believes he is due for a good score on the next exam and does not study because he is sure he will perform well. The error in his thinking is most likely attributable to:

the gambler's fallacy

Ten-month-old Jacqueline is seated on a couch. A researcher takes a toy from her hands and hides it under a blanket. Jacqueline reaches for the toy under the blanket. Which of the following concepts is being tested in this study?

object permanence

A teacher gave a standardized test to students measuring their achievement in school. A student's test score of 86 is at the 42nd percentile. This means that this student:

Scored the same as or higher than 42 percent of her fellow students

Which of the following is an example of a thought that would need cognitive restructuring according to cognitive therapy?

"If I don't get all As in college, then my degree will be worth nothing."

What is the name for the observed phenomenon that intelligence test scores have increased over time, as shown in the graph?

the flynn effect

Dr. Castro is interested in investigating the effectiveness of behavioral therapy on the fear of spiders. Without telling the participants, she puts each of them in a room filled with cages of spiders. Which ethical guideline did Dr. Castro violate?

informed consent

After school, George and his friends complain of intense hunger. They go to George's home and immediately open his refrigerator to look for a snack. Which of the following theories of motivation best explains their behavior?

drive reduction

A researcher conducted a study with a group of babies that were between 6 and 9 months of age. The researcher, using the visual cliff apparatus, recorded the type of response the babies gave to the visual cliff. The results are depicted in the graph. Which of the following is a conclusion that the researcher can make regarding the babies' responses to the visual cliff?

Babies between 6 and 9 months of age can perceive depth

After spending hours in the kitchen, Rebecca no longer notices the strong smell of garlic until her guests arrive and mention the smell. Her failure to notice the garlic odor is an example of:

sensory adaptation

Leonard's therapist suggests that Leonard's anxiety may be the result of an unconscious fear of his father's disapproval. What might a critic say about the therapist's approach in terms of treating Leonard's anxiety?

The psychodynamic approach is difficult to support because unconscious drives are not falsifiable.

Dr. Levine is interested in studying how one's sexual orientation influences behavior. Which of the following explains why it is important for Dr. Levine to provide an operational definition of sexual orientation in the research plan?

The operational definition helps everyone involved with the research understand and collect data in the same manner

Which of the following explains transduction?

The process by which sensory stimuli are converted into neural signals

Tina is reading an important letter when she accidentally splashes water on the paper. The water has smudged a few words, but she is still able to understand what the letter says. This can be explained by:

top-down processing

Joseph never sleeps through the night. He wakes up at least once per hour to check all the doors and windows in his house to make sure they are locked and to check the stove to make sure it is turned off. Joseph's behavior would be classified as:

a compulsion

A team of investigators discovered that taxi drivers who had memorized all the streets in their city had a larger hippocampus than bus drivers who did not have the same spatial demands. This type of difference between these two groups most likely reflects:

brain plasticity

Which method should a psychology researcher use if she is interested in testing whether a specific reward in a classroom situation causes students to behave better?

experiment