Psych midterm multiple choice

Unit one Part one

Unit one Part one

The debate about the relative contributions of biology and experience to human development is most often referred to as what?

The nature-nurture debate

Which of the following professionals focuses on the study of human flourishing and the attainment of a happy, meaningful life?

Positive psychologist

Which psychological principle best explains why studying an hour per day for a week is more effective than one 7-hour study session?

Distributed practice

Which of the following kinds of psychologists would most likely explore how we process and remember information?

Cognitive

According to the behavioral perspective, psychological science should be rooted in what?

Observation

Which of the following psychologists would most likely conduct psychotherapy?

Clinical

 Which subfield or perspective is most interested in studying the link between mental activity and brain activity?

Cognitive neuroscience

What was the main difference between the psychological thinking of Wilhelm Wundt and earlier philosophers who were also interested in thinking and behavior?

Wundt and his students gathered data about human thinking and behavior in a laboratory setting.

Which school of thought in psychology focused on the adaptive nature of thinking and how our consciousness evolves to meet our needs?

Functionalist

The study of our human potential for personal growth has been a focus of which psychological perspective?

Humanistic

Which of the following is the best example of applied research?

Using psychological concepts to boost worker productivity

Self-reflective introspection about the elements of experience best describes a technique used by which school of thought in psychology?

Structuralists

Which psychological perspective is most likely to focus on how our interpretation of a situation affects how we react to it?

Cognitive

The science of behavior and mental processes is the definition of which field of study?

Psychology

Unit one Part two

Unit one Part Two

A student is interested in knowing how widely the academic aptitude of college-bound students varies at her school. Which of the following statistical methods should she use to determine how much students' SAT scores vary from the school's average SAT score?

Standard deviation

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

 In a perfectly normal distribution of scores, which of the following statements is true?

The mean, median, and mode are all the same number.

Which of the following describes the placebo effect?

Participants in a drug study are given an inert pill instead of the drug and behave as though they were given the drug.

Which of the following represents naturalistic observation?

Researchers observe students' seating patterns in the cafeteria.

“Monday morning quarterbacks” rarely act surprised about the outcome of weekend football games. This tendency to believe they knew how the game would turn out is best explained by which psychological principle?

Hindsight bias

Researchers studying gender have found that

there are more similarities than differences between the genders.

A journalism student is writing an article about her school's new cell-phone policy, and she'd like to interview a random sample of students. Which of the following is the best example of a random sample?

The writer pulls the names of five students from a hat that contains all students' names. She interviews the five selected students.

Which of the following is a positive correlation?

People who exercise regularly are more likely to be overweight.

Why is random assignment of participants to groups an important aspect of a properly designed experiment?

If the participants are randomly assigned, the researcher can assume that the people in each group are similar

Which of the following demonstrates the need for psychological science?

Our commonsense thinking about human thoughts and behaviors is not always accurate.

Which of the following is a potential problem with case studies?

The information learned may not apply to the wider population.

Which of the following is *not* an ethical principle regarding experimental research on humans?

Participants should always be informed of the hypothesis of the study before they agree to participate.

There is a negative correlation between TV watching and grades. What can we conclude from this research finding?

We can conclude that a student who watches a lot of TV is likely to have lower grades

Which of the following groups of scores would have the smallest standard deviation?

2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Use this scenario to answer the following question: Researchers wanted to find out if eating cookies would increase a person's ability to remember the names of U.S. presidents. Thirty males and 30 females were used in the experiment. A third of these people (Group A) were given cookies while studying the names. Another third (Group B) were given nothing while studying the names. The final third (Group C) were given mint-flavored candy while studying the names. After gathering all their results, the researchers found that Group A did substantially better than Group B, but about the same as Group C

\
The dependent variable in this study is…

the test scores.

Use this scenario to answer the following question: Researchers wanted to find out if eating cookies would increase a person's ability to remember the names of U.S. presidents. Thirty males and 30 females were used in the experiment. A third of these people (Group A) were given cookies while studying the names. Another third (Group B) were given nothing while studying the names. The final third (Group C) were given mint-flavored candy while studying the names. After gathering all their results, the researchers found that Group A did substantially better than Group B, but about the same as Group C.

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The independent variable in this study is…

the food treatment.

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Use this scenario to answer the following question: Researchers wanted to find out if eating cookies would increase a person's ability to remember the names of U.S. presidents. Thirty males and 30 females were used in the experiment. A third of these people (Group A) were given cookies while studying the names. Another third (Group B) were given nothing while studying the names. The final third (Group C) were given mint-flavored candy while studying the names. After gathering all their results, the researchers found that Group A did substantially better than Group B, but about the same as Group C.

\
Which of the following is/are the experimental group(s) of this study?

Groups A & C

Use this scenario to answer the following question: Researchers wanted to find out if eating cookies would increase a person's ability to remember the names of U.S. presidents. Thirty males and 30 females were used in the experiment. A third of these people (Group A) were given cookies while studying the names. Another third (Group B) were given nothing while studying the names. The final third (Group C) were given mint-flavored candy while studying the names. After gathering all their results, the researchers found that Group A did substantially better than Group B, but about the same as Group C.

\
Which of the following is/are the control group(s) of this study?

Group B

Use this scenario to answer the following question: Researchers wanted to find out if eating cookies would increase a person's ability to remember the names of U.S. presidents. Thirty males and 30 females were used in the experiment. A third of these people (Group A) were given cookies while studying the names. Another third (Group B) were given nothing while studying the names. The final third (Group C) were given mint-flavored candy while studying the names. After gathering all their results, the researchers found that Group A did substantially better than Group B, but about the same as Group C.

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Which of the following is the best conclusion for this study?

Eating cookies or mint candy tends to improve memory recall.

Unit two part one

Unit two part one

Why do researchers study the brains of animals more than humans?

The same principles govern neural functioning in all species.

Which of the following does a PET scan best allow researchers to examine?

The activity of various brain regions by monitoring glucose usage

A researcher interested in determining the size of a particular area of the brain would be most likely to use which of the following techniques?

\n MRI

Damage to the hippocampus would result in what?

Difficulty in creating new memories

Surgical stimulation of the somatosensory cortex might result in the false sensation of what?

Someone tickling you

During which task might the right hemisphere of the brain be most active?

Imagining what a dress would look like on a friend

Brain plasticity refers to which of the following?

\n The ability of brain tissue to take on new functions

When Klüver and Bucy surgically lesioned the amygdala of a rhesus monkey's brain, what was the impact on the monkey's behavior?

Became less aggressive

An individual experiences brain damage that results in an inability to make plans about the future. Which part of the brain was probably damaged?

\n Frontal lobe

 Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand how traits and behavioral tendencies have been shaped by what?

\n Natural selection

Which is one of the major criticisms of the evolutionary perspective in psychology?

It analyzes after the fact using hindsight.

What is the brief electrical charge that travels down an axon called?

\n Action potential

\n What was one of the major findings of Thomas Bouchard's study of twins?

He discovered striking similarities between adult identical twins who had been separated near birth.

Which of the following statements has been supported by the research of evolutionary psychologists?

Men are attracted to women who appear fertile and capable of bearing children.

Why do researchers find the study of fraternal twins important?

They are the same age and are usually raised in similar environments, but they do not have the same genetic code

Heritability refers to the percentage of what?

Variation in a trait across individuals that can be explained by genetics

What is the study of how the structure and function of genes interact with our environment to influence behavior called?

Molecular behavior genetics

Why do researchers use adoption studies in an effort to reveal genetic influences on personality?

To evaluate whether adopted children more closely resemble their adoptive parents or their biological parents

An individual has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Which of the following neurotransmitters is most likely to be at fault?

\n Dopamine

Which is the most influential of the endocrine glands?

\n Pituitary gland

What is the purpose of the myelin sheath?

\n Speed up the transmission of information within a neuron

\\The peripheral nervous system

\n is the part of the nervous system that does not include the brain and the spinal cord

\n Which part of the nervous system begins the process for moving the muscles required to walk across the street?

Central nervous system

Opiate drugs such as morphine are classified as what?

Agonists, because they mimic other neurotransmitters' pain-diminishing effects

Which region of the brain plays a significant role in our sense of alertness and arousal?

Reticular formation

Unit Two Part Two

Unit Two Part Two

While engaged in an argument with his brother, a man suddenly falls asleep. With which sleep disorder is he most likely to be diagnosed?

Narcolepsy

Which of the following are visible on the EEG of a person in NREM-3 sleep?

Delta waves

Hadley is complaining to her physician that she has great difficulty falling asleep, and that when she does fall asleep, she regularly wakens later during the night. She will most likely be diagnosed with

insomnia.

What is the pineal gland's role in sleep?

The production of melatonin

As part of a sleep study, researchers notice bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity called _____ and determine that Jane is in NREM-2 sleep.

sleep spindles

\n Increasing amounts of paradoxical sleep following a period of sleep deprivation is known as what?

REM rebound

Which of these drugs acts as both a stimulant and a hallucinogen, causes dangerous dehydration in the short term, and causes serotonin disruption in the long term? 

Ecstasy

Which drug is incorrectly matched with its category?

Alcohol; stimulant

\n Jarod's muscles are relaxed, his body is basically paralyzed, and he is hard to awaken. Which sleep stage is Jarod probably experiencing?

REM

The effects of opiates are similar to the effects of which neurotransmitter?

Endorphins

Slowed reactions, slurred speech, and decreased skill performance are associated with abuse of which drug?

Alcohol

Ernest Hilgard used the term _____ to describe a split between different levels of consciousness.

dissociation

Carla has agreed to take part in a sleep study. The researchers are most likely using a(n) _____ to measure her brain waves as she sleeps

EEG

Which term describes the brain's adaptation to a drug's chemistry, requiring larger and larger doses to experience the same effect?

Tolerance

Recent research most consistently supports the effectiveness of hypnosis in which of the following areas?

Pain relief

Unit three

Unit three

\n What is the purpose of the iris?

\n To allow light into the eye

\n _____ are neurons that fire in response to specific edges, lines, angles, and movements.

Feature detectors

Signal detection theory is most closely associated with which perception process?

\n Absolute thresholds

Which of the following represents perceptual constancy?

We know that the color of a printed page has not changed as it moves from sunlight into shadow.

\n Your friend tells you that a cloud looks like your math teacher; you look up and agree. Which principle explains why this is so?

Perceptual set

\n The process by which rods and cones change electromagnetic energy into neural messages is called

\n transduction.

Which of the following is most likely to influence our memory of a painful event?

\n The intensity of pain at the end of the event

Frequency theory relates to which element of the hearing process? 

The rate at which the basilar membrane vibrates

Which of the following best represents an absolute threshold?

\n A cook can just barely taste the small amount of salt she has added to her soup.

Which of the following describes a perception process that the Gestalt psychologists would have been interested in?

How an organized whole is formed out of its component pieces

 Which sensory process are the hammer, anvil, and stirrup involved in?

\n Transmitting sound waves to the cochlea

Which of the following might result from a disruption of your vestibular sense?

Dizziness and a loss of balance

The experience of a smooth picture at the movies, even though the actual film is made up of thousands of separate pictures is due to

stroboscopic movement.

\n As you look down the road, the lines of the road seem to come together in the distance, even though you know they do not. Which depth cue explains this phenomenon?

\n Linear perspective

Which of the following phrases accurately describes top-down processing?

\n The effect that our experiences and expectations have on perception

 Meghan's friends seek her out for help with their problems because she can “see the future” and know what the outcome of an event will be before it happens. Her friends think that Meghan has the power of

precognition.

As she looks down the hallway, Elaine is not tricked into thinking that the friend who is closer to her looks larger than the friend who is farther down the hall. Which monocular cue helps her with this understanding?

Relative Size

\n Because of the repeated exposure to loud noise they experience during their daily jobs, airport ground workers are most susceptible to damage to which of the following?

Cochlea

\n Which of the following is the best example of sensory interaction?

You notice a slight flicker of a light when there is a sound that accompanies it

After looking at a yellow, black, and green American flag for a minute, you shift your gaze to a white wall. Which of the following best explains why you “see” a red, white, and blue flag when looking at the white wall?

\n Opponent-process theory

Unit 4

Unit 4