Psych Midterm Test Questions and Answers

What philosopher said that the mind at birth is a “tabula rossa” or blank slate?

John Locke

The survival of organisms best suited to a particular environment is best known as __________.

Natural Selection

The self reflected observation of one’s own sensations and feelings is __________.

Introspection

Functionalism was a school of psychology that focused attention on ____________________.

the adaptive value of conscious thoughts and emotions

Contemporary psychology is best defined as the study of _____________.

behavior and mental processes

Lina has low self esteem because she is teased for being overweight. Appreciating the complexity of her difficulties requires what type of approach?

Biopsychosocial approach

Various tools in textbook are helpful ways to learn material. This is apart of the _____________.

testing effect

Professor conducts basic research on how children's moral thinking changes as they get older. What type of psychologist is he?

Developmental psychologist

What type of psychologist would be involved in determining the best type of campaign to reduce teen smoking?

Health psychologist

Formulating testable hypothesis before conducting research helps restrain _________________.

hindsight bias

Glenda thinks she's performed better than everyone on test but just received an average grade on the test. Her behavior best illustrates what?

Overconfidence

Hindsight bias, overconfidence, and tendency to percieve patterns in random events push us to overvalue ________________.

Common sense

What are the three attitudes of the scientific viewpoint?

curiousity, skepticism, humility

What is a hypothesis?

A testable prediction

All students at university where professor is randomly selecting students for questionaire are considered the _____________.

Population

If college graduates typically earn more than high school graduates, then level of education and income are __________________.

positively correlated

Correlation indicates the ____________ of a causal relationship but it does not __________ causation.

possibility / prove

When fluctuating behavior returns to normal, fancy explanations are not at work. What is at work?

Regression to the mean

What is a double blind procedure?

When neither the researcher nor the participants know who is getting the placebo or real drug.

Psychologists personal values and goals can lead to ______ in their observations and interpretations.

bias

From lists of incomes, find the mode, the mean, and the median

Mode = most

Mean = average

Median = number in the middle WHEN IN ORDER

What is the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Range

A student wants to know how consistent her bowling scores are. Which value is most helpful?

Standard Deviation

Data is statistically significant when …

The observed difference between the means of an experimental group and a control group are not due to chance

Dendrites are the branching extensions of ____________.

Neurons

What is the longest part of a neuron?

Axon

The brief electrical charge that travels down the axon is called ______________.

Action Potential

The junction between a sending and receiving neuron is called the __________.

synaptic gap / synapse

What is reuptake?

The reabsorption of excess neurotransmitter molecules by a sending neuron.

Opiate drugs occupy the same receptor sites as ____________.

endorphins

A person with schizophrenia will have an ________________________.

overactive dopamine system

Drugs that prevent the action of dopamine by preventing it from binding to receptors are called ________________.

antagonists

The body's speedy electrochemical information system is called the _________________.

nervous system

The chemical messengers of the endocrine system are called __________.

hormones

What's the "little brain" called?

Cerebellum

The part of the limbic system that plays a central role in emotions such as aggression and fear is called the ________________.

amygdala

What part of the brain lights up when a person is looking at a photo?

Occipital lobes

The capacity of one brain area to take over the function of another damaged brain area is called __________.

plasticity

Information is most quickly transferred from one hemisphere to the other through the __________.

corpus callosum

Why do neurosurgeons sever the corpus callosum?

To limit epipileptic seizures

Consciousness is ___________________________.

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

If we remove a part of someone's occipital lobe, they would most likely struggle with _________.

vision

The corticol regions that are not directly involved in sensory or motor functions are called the _______________________.

association areas

Which brain area is primarily involved in speech?

Broca’s Area

The benefits of brain plasticity are most clearly demonstrated when…

children have had a cerebral hemisphere surgically removed.

What does Nature in Nature v. Nurture refer to?

Biology

What does Nurture refer to in Nature v. Nurture?

Environment

Who are used to look at Nurture v. Nature?

Identical Twins

What contains genes?

chromosomes

What is the genome?

A complete set of genetic material in an organism's chromosomes.

What do identical twins originate from?

Single egg fertilized by a single sperm

Studies of identical twins reared in different environments highlights the importance of ____________________.

Genetic predispositions in personality development.

Identical twins separated at birth would be most likely to have similar ____________.

personalities

The unique personalities of children evoke predictable responses from their caregivers. This best illustrates what about Nature v. Nurture?

The interactions between Nature and Nurture

The reproductive advantage enjoyed by organisms best suited to a particular environment is __________________.

natural selection.

How do evolutionary psychologists explain why pregnant women across the world avoid bitter foods?

Because it's bad for the baby.

Which of the following fictional research findings is the best evidence AGAINST the idea that our lives are determined by our experiences?

Look for the personality traits babies are born with.

Nature ______ Nurture

via

What is a circadian rhythm?

The body’s 24 hr biological clock

In a typical nights sleep, ________ diminished while ____ increases.

NREM / REM

When do fast a jerky movements of the eye occur?

During REM sleep

Paradoxical sleep is when you are …

paralyzed with very relaxed muscles

When does the pituitary gland release growth hormone?

During slow wave sleep

Researches have found that people remember tasks better after a night's sleep. This suggests sleep helps with the _______________.

memory process

Chronic sleep debt is most likely to promote ___________.

insomnia

Should you tell people with occasional insomnia to relax and have alcohol? If not, what should they do instead?

 No alcohol, tell them to relax and drink warm milk.

What does obesity contribute to in sleep disorders?

Sleep Apnea

What does Freud think about dreams in terms of two concepts?

In manifest content analysis, context is derived from the visible and literal meaning of the words—taken at face value. In latent content analysis, you apply a deeper, interpretive analysis that seeks to infer underlying meaning from the words or phrases you choose to analyze.

People that suffer trauma report more of these when they sleep

Nightmares

When you need to take more of a drug to feel the effects, you have built up ____________.

tolerance

Poor symptoms after stopping taking a drug is known as ___________.

Withdrawal

What is psychological dependence?

When the user experiences an overwhelming desire to continue with the drug experience. This can be because of the pleasurable effects and the desire to keep experiencing them.

Craving a drug is indicative of __________.

addiction

There are different views about why not to call drug addiction a disease. The greatest danger of calling drug addiction a disease is that it ________________.

might make addicts feel powerless to overcome it

Drugs such as alcohol and opiates that slow body processes and neural functions are called ___________.

depressants

Methamphetamine, caffeine, and cocaine are examples of ___________.

stimulants

Hypnosis is _______________.

relaxing you and putting you in a heightened openness to suggestion

Drugs that make you see things are called _______________.

Hallucinogens

An exmple of a hallucinogen is ________.

LSD

What are the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep?

Delta waves