AP Psychology: Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology

Research on split-brain people supports which of these general points?

We sometimes don’t know the reasons for our own behaviors.

Which of these contradicts the idea that a “genetically controlled” feature cannot be changed?

The effect of diet on PKU (phenylketonuria)

Vision is most impaired after damage to which lobe of the cerebral cortex?

Occipital

What is the concept of “monism”?

It is the belief that mental activity and brain activity are inseparable.

How do the synapses responsible for taste and smell differ from those for vision and hearing?

The synapses for taste and smell react more slowly and their effects last longer.

Neurons differ most strikingly from other body cells with regard to what?

Neurons have distinctive shapes.

How does marijuana alter brain activity?

It decreases the release of certain neurotransmitters.

How does cocaine alter the activity of neurons?

It prolongs the presence of dopamine in synapses.

In most people, which hemisphere controls speech, and which muscles does that hemisphere control?

The left hemisphere controls speech, and it also controls muscles on the right side.

What does it mean to say that someone is “motion blind”?

The person cannot see the speed or direction of movement.

Which of these are common symptoms of opiate withdrawal?

Anxiety and pain

LSD produces its effects mainly by doing what?

It attaches to one type of serotonin receptor.

Which of the following is true for neurotransmitters’ receptors?

A neurotransmitter can attach to several types of receptors with different properties.

Which of the following is evidence in favor of the idea of monism?

Brain damage causes people to lose part of their mental abilities.

People who take Ritalin (methylphenidate) sometimes report lethargy and mild depression a few hours later. Why?

Their neurons released dopamine faster than they could make more of it.

Surgeons have sometimes cut the corpus callosum to relieve which disorder?

Epilepsy

Damage to part of the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe blocks conscious sensation of touch on the arm. Nevertheless, gentle touch produces what effect?

Pleasant emotion

Which of these is TRUE about the effects of experience on the brain?

Music lessons produce measurable changes in brain anatomy.

Haloperidol, which blocks dopamine synapses, would be disadvantageous for which of these?

Parkinson’s disease

The autonomic nervous system controls which of these?

The heart and other organs

Otto Loewi collected the fluid around a frog’s heart and injected it onto another frog’s heart. What did he demonstrate?

Some synapses operate by releasing chemicals

What are the main parts of a neuron, other than the cell body?

Axon and dendrites

Someone with damage to the corpus callosum is likely to do which of these?

Say “I don’t know the answer” while pointing correctly with the left hand

The sympathetic nervous system does which of the following?

It readies the body for vigorous emergency activity.

The study of action potentials helps explain which of the following?

How Novocain and similar drugs block pain

What evidence suggests that many mirror neurons develop through learning?

Dancers have mirror neurons for actions they perform, but not for those they don’t.

A split-brain person feels something and describes it under which of these conditions?

Only after feeling it with the right hand

What is the behavioral effect of anxiolytic drugs?

Relaxation

What kind of drug increases transmission at inhibitory synapses?

Anxiolytic drugs (tranquilizers)

How many types of neurotransmitters and receptors are in the brain?

The brain has many neurotransmitters, and each attaches to many types of receptor.

Which of the following statements about the nervous system is NONSENSE?

You use only 10 percent of your brain.

One person became blind because of eye damage and another because of damage to the visual cortex. How do they differ?

The one with eye damage still has visual imagery and visual dreams.

People who take Ritalin (methylphenidate) sometimes report lethargy and mild depression a few hours later. Why?

Their neurons released dopamine faster than they could make more of it.

“Binding” sensations to perceive an object depends on perceiving which of the following?

The object’s location

Localized brain damage sometimes produces which of the following?

Inability to see that something is moving, despite otherwise normal vision

What are stem cells?

Undifferentiated cells that can develop into other types of cells

Which of the following statements is nonsense?

Typically you use only 10 percent of your brain.

Mirror neurons are active in which circumstances?

When you do something and see someone else do the same thing

Which neurons respond strongly during your action and when you watch others do the same action?

Mirror neurons

You can “bind” sight and sound to perceive a unified object only under which circumstance?

If the sight and sound are simultaneous

Research on split-brain people supports which of these general points?

We sometimes don’t know the reasons for our own behaviors.

Which of these contradicts the idea that a “genetically controlled” feature cannot be changed?

The effect of diet on PKU (phenylketonuria)

Vision is most impaired after damage to which lobe of the cerebral cortex?

Occipital

What is the concept of “monism”?

It is the belief that mental activity and brain activity are inseparable.

How do the synapses responsible for taste and smell differ from those for vision and hearing?

The synapses for taste and smell react more slowly and their effects last longer.

Neurons differ most strikingly from other body cells with regard to what?

Neurons have distinctive shapes.

How does marijuana alter brain activity?

It decreases the release of certain neurotransmitters.

How does cocaine alter the activity of neurons?

It prolongs the presence of dopamine in synapses.

In most people, which hemisphere controls speech, and which muscles does that hemisphere control?

The left hemisphere controls speech, and it also controls muscles on the right side.

What does it mean to say that someone is “motion blind”?

The person cannot see the speed or direction of movement.

Which of these are common symptoms of opiate withdrawal?

Anxiety and pain

LSD produces its effects mainly by doing what?

It attaches to one type of serotonin receptor.

Which of the following is true for neurotransmitters’ receptors?

A neurotransmitter can attach to several types of receptors with different properties.

Which of the following is evidence in favor of the idea of monism?

Brain damage causes people to lose part of their mental abilities.

People who take Ritalin (methylphenidate) sometimes report lethargy and mild depression a few hours later. Why?

Their neurons released dopamine faster than they could make more of it.

Surgeons have sometimes cut the corpus callosum to relieve which disorder?

Epilepsy

Damage to part of the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe blocks conscious sensation of touch on the arm. Nevertheless, gentle touch produces what effect?

Pleasant emotion

Which of these is TRUE about the effects of experience on the brain?

Music lessons produce measureable changes in brain anatomy.

Haloperidol, which blocks dopamine synapses, would be disadvantageous for which of these?

Parkinson’s disease

The autonomic nervous system controls which of these?

Muscles of the arms and legs

What is likely to occur when we misjudge the distance to some object or objects?

Optical illusions

Which structure focuses light to the same degree, regardless of the distance to the object?

The cornea

An older person with hearing problems would probably hear a voice best under which condition?

Listening to the spouse while watching his/her face.

Suppose someone claims that color can be explained by the physics of light. What evidence argues against that claim?

Color vision deficiency

One reversible figure can be seen either as a vase or as two profiles looking toward each other. Which Gestalt principle does this observation illustrate?

Figure and ground

The fovea is specialized for perception of which aspects of vision?

Color and detail

Morphine stimulates the same brain synapses as which of these transmitters?

Endorphin

What makes the blind spot of the retina blind?

Axons exit from the retina at that point.

To see something in detail, what should you do?

Focus the object onto the fovea.

According to signal-detection theory, the probability that you will report seeing a dim light depends on the sensitivity of your vision, but also on what?

Your willingness to risk making a false alarm

Which of these does the vestibular system detect?

Position of your head

What is meant by a “feature detector” in the visual system?

A neuron that responds to a particular visual pattern

What kind of people can hear higher frequencies of sound than others can?

Children hear higher frequencies than anyone older can.

What is a consequence of the properties of bitter receptors?

Because we have many types of bitter receptor, we do not taste low bitter concentrations.

It difficult to tell whether a sound source is directly in front of you or behind. Why?

From either location, both ears respond equally.

What makes it difficult to determine the minimum intensity of stimulus that a person can detect?

Variations in anyone’s sensitivity depending on recent experiences

Americans like wintergreen smell more than the British do. Why?

Americans associate wintergreen with candy, and the British don’t.

Which of the following is true for the rods of the retina?

They are more abundant toward the periphery of the retina.

What causes conduction deafness?

Obstruction to the bones connected to the eardrum

Some have claimed that messages recorded backward on rock music are perverting the minds of American youth. Which of these is the best supported evidence against that claim?

People do not understand or respond to backward messages.

Imagine Uncle Charlie who wears hearing aids. Suddenly the battery for the hearing aid in the left ear fails. What will be the effect on hearing?

He will localize sounds as coming from the right side.

Someone cannot read while walking, because the words seem blurry. What is probably impaired?

The vestibular system

Which of the following is true about animals with good color vision, such as most birds?

They have many cones in their retina.

How do our taste receptors detect MSG (monosodium glutamate)?

MSG stimulates its own receptors.

If you watch words flash briefly and faintly, which of these are you least likely to identify correctly?

BITCH

Which theory explains negative color afterimages?

Opponent-process theory

Why is it difficult to tickle yourself?

Tickle requires surprise.

Where are the rods and cones?

in the retina

Why is color vision so poor in your extreme peripheral vision?

The periphery of the retina consists almost entirely of rods.

What keeps your eyes focused on something while your head is moving?

Vestibular system

How does itch relate to pain?

Pain suppresses itch.

The opponent-process theory of color vision explains which of these observations?

After you stare at a bright color for a minute, you look away and see a different color.

The arrangement of receptors in the retina explains which of the following about hawks and owls?

They can see objects below them better than objects above.

Which type of color vision deficiency is most common?

Inability to distinguish red from green

Why do you see faint light better in the periphery of your vision than in the center?

In the periphery, more receptors converge their input onto the next cells.

In old age, the lens becomes more rigid. What is the effect on vision?

Focusing on nearby objects becomes more difficult.

Which aspect of hearing relates most closely to the amplitude of a sound?

Loudness

Hubel and Wiesel’s research on the visual cortex provided evidence for what?

Feature detectors

According to the trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) theory, when do we perceive white?

We see white when all types of cones are equally active.

Which of the following is true of people with conduction deafness?

They can hear their own voice better than anything else.