Psych Bio Questions

1. Which of the following research approaches would be best for testing the hypothesis that the presence of certain odors causes people to gamble more?

Experimental

2. Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has been estimated to occur in only a few people in a million. Because of its rarity, researchers are likely to choose which research method to study it?

Case study

3. Researchers examined injury reports for 480 professional football games and determined there was an association between outdoor temperature and number of concussions reported. Which of the following best describes the type of research method used in this study?

Correlational

4. A researcher is studying the effect of caffeinated drinks on the activity level of ten-year-old children. Half of the children in the study drank caffeinated soda, and half drank noncaffeinated soda. Neither the research team nor the children knew which drinks had caffeine and which drinks did not. The researchers were using

A double-blind design

5. Which of the following statements best describes the placebo effect?

Dr. Kennedy observed that if people expected a treatment to work, it would, even if the patient received a fake treatment.

6. Dr. Nance studies the effects of psychoactive drugs on memory and decision-making. When conducting research in this area, Dr. Nance must be sure that people's previous experiences with psychoactive drugs are taken into account. Which of the following procedures is intended to control for preexisting differences between the groups of participants in an experiment?

Random assignment

7. A disadvantage of longitudinal studies is that

Participants who drop out during the course of the study may be different in important ways from ones who do not drop out.

8. In developmental psychology, one advantage of cross-sectional over longitudinal studies is that cross-sectional research

requires comparatively little time

9. Dr. Wundt gave his students an exam on the functions of different parts of the brain, and the average score was an 85. However, when Dr. Wundt calculated the standard deviation, it was a value of 35.2. This concerns Dr. Wundt because he knows that standard deviation is a measure of how much

scores in a group differ from the mean of that group

10. Dr. Sosa administers the first exam to all his introductory psychology students, which amounts to 250 students total. The mean for the first exam was 75%. The grades for Dr. Sosa's classes are distributed as shown below. Why is this conclusion invalid?

The distribution is negatively skewed

11. A teacher finds the distribution of scores on a final exam to be positively skewed with low variability. On the basis of this information, the teacher would be most justified in concluding that

the exam was too difficult

12. A research group conducted a study investigating the connection between self-reported number of hours slept in a given week and scores on a happiness measure. Based on the scatterplot above, the group can report that there is

a positive correlation

13. Researchers have found a negative correlation between income and dental problems. What conclusion can be drawn from this statement?

As income increases, the likelihood of dental problems decreases

14. Which of the following is the strongest correlation?

-.90

15. Based on the bar graph above, which of the following conclusions is most accurate?

The more genetically related people are, the more similar their intelligence scores

16. A researcher at a local university is studying the effects of low light in visual processing in the occipital lobe. The results of this correlational study involving student volunteers in a psychology laboratory might not apply to the general population because of which of the following?

The sample is not randomly chosen and therefore may not be a representative sample

17. A researcher surveyed social adjustment in the same group of 20 people from early childhood through adulthood. In this example, the group of 20 people surveyed was the study's

sample

18. The most distinctive characteristic of the experimental method is that

it seeks to establish cause-effect relationships

19. Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that

each person in the town has the same probability of being chosen for the study

20. Which of the following most accurately describes a dependent variable?

some aspect of a participant's response that is measured in an experiment

21. In an experiment to test the effects of hunger on aggressive behavior, aggressive behavior would be the

dependent variable

22. Professor Ahad has forty-three students in section one of the psychology classes she teaches and fifty-two students in section two. Section one meets at eight a.m. and section two meets at one p.m. Professor Ahad gives all of her students the same final exam, and those in section two score significantly higher than those in section one. The biggest problem with Professor Ahad's conclusion is that

time of day is a confounding variable in this scenario

23. In a normal distribution, which of the following statements is true about the area that falls between one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the mean?

it contains the middle 68% of the distribution

24. In experimental psychology, a significant difference refers to a

difference not likely due to chance

25. Ethical principles developed by the American Psychological Association help ensure that human participants in psychological research

are protected from physical and psychological harm

26. The numbers below represent the quiz results for a psychology class. What is the median score for the class?

5

27. The argument over the relative contributions of heredity and environment in the development of various behaviors and personality traits is known as which of the following controversies?

Nature versus nurture

28. Of the following, an evolutionary psychologist will most likely investigate the

reason why many people have an innate fear of the dark

29. The result of the evolutionary process that preserves traits that enhance the adaptation of an organism and suppresses traits that do not is called

natural selection

30. Areas that have a large prevalence of malaria, such as Africa, have a high frequency of children who have sickle cell anemia or are carriers for the trait. What role does the concept of natural selection play in this trend?

Being a carrier of, or having sickle cell anemia is adaptive in this region, because it protects against malaria. Subsequently, children born with sickle cell anemia are less likely to die from malaria

31. The primary effect of the myelin sheath is to

increase the velocity of conduction of the action potential along the axon

32. Which of the following is a disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin of neurons in the nervous system?

Multiple sclerosis

33. Which of the following descriptions accurately represents area 2 of the graph?

Depolarization, in which sodium ions enter the axon

34. Which of the following is true of a neuron in the resting state?

The inside of the cell membrane is negative compared to the outside

35. Which of the following correctly describes the firing of neurons?

An all-or-none response

36. Shao Mae takes medication to relieve depression. The medication increases her neural activity. However, immediately after firing, a neuron is incapable of responding to stimulation for a short time. Which of the following describes the brief time period when the neuron is unable to fire?

the refractory period

37. Ben was enjoying a walk in the woods on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. As he went around a curve, he noticed a bear walking toward him. Immediately his pupils dilated, he began to perspire, and his heart accelerated. These changes are most closely related to the function of which of the following?

Sympathetic nervous system

38. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system results in which of the following?

A decrease in heart rate

39. The division of the nervous system that most directly allows voluntary muscle movement is the

somatic

40. Information is relayed to the spinal cord or the brain by

afferent neurons

41. Neurotransmitters that function like the drug morphine and are involved in pain modulation include which of the following?

Endorphins

42. Kenyatta is participating in a research study examining the effects of a particular hormone. After she is given the hormone, she engages in behaviors that demonstrate trust in strangers, peer bonding, and group cohesion. Kenyatta was most likely given which of the following as part of the study?

Oxytocin

43. Which of the following neurotransmitters has been linked to Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia?

dopamine

44. Researchers looking to create a drug to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease would most likely focus their efforts on which of the following neurotransmitters?

Acetylcholine

45. Mary participates in an exercise program because she experiences an increase in energy and feelings of well-being at the end of each exercise session. The best explanation for Mary's perseverance in the program is that exercise

increases her level of endorphins

46. Most common antidepressants ease symptoms of depression by

inhibiting serotonin reuptake, which makes serotonin more available

47. Sam has shown some marked changes in the way he is able to communicate after having a stroke. He knows what he wants to say, but his speech is slow and labored. Sam's grammar is also quite poor. The part of Sam's brain that most likely sustained damage is

Broca's area

48. After sustaining a traumatic injury, Russ is having difficulty comprehending the meaning of words. Which of the following parts of the brain has most likely been damaged?

Wernicke's area

49. A research team lesioned the lateral hypothalamus of a rat and then monitored the rat's activity when it recovered from the surgery. Their hypothesis is likely to be that the rat would do which of the following?

Show reduced eating behavior

50. Emma has lost the ability to understand language. She has most likely suffered damage to the

left temporal lobe

51. For most people, which of the following is an activity based in the right hemisphere of the brain?

Simple spatial reasoning

52. Which of the following would most likely result from an injury to the medulla?

A life-threatening disruption of heartbeat and breathing

53. Keria's doctor prescribes a medication designed to help her with her eating disorder. The medication works on the hypothalamus to help regulate hunger. Which of the following most accurately characterizes the role of the hypothalamus in the regulation of hunger?

It acts with hormones to control hunger and satiety

54. The network of structures involved in emotion, motivation, and memory is the

limbic system

55. During a high-wire act, Grace walks along a rope suspended 30 feet above the circus floor. Which of the following is most involved in helping Grace coordinate her movements and maintain her balance during the performance?

Cerebellum

56. A person with a severe head injury subsequently acts irresponsibly, does not seem to be able to plan effectively, and is easy to anger. Which of the following brain areas is most likely injured?

Frontal lobe

57. After a stroke, Jeff has noticed his memory for past events remains good, but it is very difficult for him to remember new events like what movie he just watched. It is most likely that Jeff suffered damage to which part of the brain?

Hippocampus

58. George was involved in an accident and experienced head trauma. Although his eyes were functioning normally, he was unable to see. Which area of the brain was most likely affected by the accident?

The occipital lobe

59. If an individual has lost the ability to feel pain in the left arm, there is most likely damage to what area of the brain?

Right parietal lobe

60. Which of the following areas of the body has the largest number of sensory neurons?

Lips

61. Which part of the brain represented is indicated by A?

Somatosensory cortex

62. Ted is hiking along a mountain when he sees a large snake slithering across the path ahead of him. Which of the following brain structures is most closely associated with Ted's fear response?

Amygdala

63. Beth received a surgery in which half of her cortex was removed to treat a seizure disorder when she was two years old. However, by the time she was five years old, her cognitive abilities were the same as those of a neurotypical five-year-old. Which of the following best explains her abilities?

Brain plasticity

64. An image projected in the left visual field of a split-brained person will be processed in the

right visual cortex

65. When a person is suffering from severe pain, the type of drug that will best help alleviate that pain is

an opiate

66. A certain drug reduces the activity of the central nervous system, including the hippocampus and cerebellum. It affects several neurotransmitters, most notably gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Which of the following is most like the drug in question?

Alcohol

67. An individual who drinks alcohol daily finds it necessary to drink increasing amounts to achieve the state of well-being attained in the past. This individual is showing

alcohol tolerance

68. Curare blocks action at acetylcholine synapses and causes paralysis. This drug is an example of an

antagonist

69. Researchers find that there is a significant, positive correlation between the number of hours students sleep and their grades. The researchers would be justified in concluding that

students who earn good grades tend to sleep more than those who do not

70. The graph depicts the stages of sleep, including REM sleep and NREM sleep (Stages 1, 2, and 3). The data in the graph would most likely be obtained with which of the following instruments?

Electroencephalography (EEG)

71. In adult humans, which of the following is typically true of REM sleep?

It is correlated with dreaming

72. Sally says that her dream about going to a circus is just her brain attempting to make sense of random stimulation from the brain stem. Sally's explanation is consistent with which of the following theories about dreaming?

Activation-synthesis

73. When Alexus traveled to another country, she experienced jet lag and had trouble adjusting to the new time zone. Alexus' experience is most likely linked to which of the following concepts?

Circadian rhythm

74. During the night, Alicia stops breathing repeatedly, frequently gasps for air, and snores loudly at regular intervals. Alicia is most likely suffering from which of the following conditions?

Sleep apnea

75. The process of converting incoming physical energy into a neural code that can be processed is called

transduction

76. Laura arrives at a park that is located very close to a factory that produces cookies. She immediately notices the strong odor of chocolate chip cookies, but after a while she no longer detects the smell of the cookies. This can best be explained by which of the following?

Sensory adaptation

77. The graph above depicts which of the following?

An absolute threshold

78. Bob is concerned because his children have been eating too much of an expensive breakfast cereal, so he brings home a less expensive version that looks and tastes exactly the same to him. His children immediately notice that the new cereal is less sweet. Which of the following concepts best explains the conflicting perceptions of Bob and his children?

difference threshold

79. Which of the following concepts is depicted by the graph?

Weber's law

80. People who are color blind most likely have deficiencies in their

cones

81. Latisha noticed that in the early evening she begins to have difficulty seeing the vibrant colors in her artwork. Which of the following best explains her difficulty?

Her cones cannot detect color well in dim light

82. Jackson paints an American flag using the colors green, yellow, and black instead of red, white, and blue. When people stare at the flag he painted for a period of time, they can see the correctly colored flag in their field of vision for a brief period of time. This phenomenon of negative afterimages is best explained by which of the following theories?

the opponent-process theory

83. A reason that one typically does not notice a blind spot in the visual field is that

the brain fills in the missing information so there is no awareness that the visual field is incomplete

84. Ernie comes in from outdoors on a bright, sunny day and finds it to be very dark inside. Over the next few minutes, however, it becomes easier for Ernie to see inside. The perceptual process this scenario is describing is

dark adaptation

85. The psychological experience of pitch is related to a sound wave's

frequency

86. One theory of hearing suggests that a neuron may fire and then stop firing when a second neuron fires. The first neuron then fires again, while the second one does not. This type of sequence is then repeated in response to auditory stimuli. Which of the following describes this pattern?

Volley theory

87. Which of the following theories most accurately explains pitch perception?

II and III only

88. When Rosa has a cold, she cannot taste the flavor of her pizza. Which of the following psychological terms describes Rosa's inability to taste?

Sensory interaction

89. Alicia has a condition in which tiny crystals break loose and randomly touch and bend the hair cells in her semicircular canals. Which of the following is the most likely effect of this condition?

Dizziness and loss of balance

90. Martin fell off his skateboard and badly bruised his elbow. He immediately began rubbing the area around the bruise until the pain subsided. This method of reducing pain can be explained by which of the following?

Gate-control theory