Bio Psych Exams 1-3

Saccule, brainstem

Ginny is riding an elevator up. Her __________ is sending the signal about the change in gravity to the _________________.

Utricle, brainstem 

Kelly is driving when suddenly, the car in front of her brakes. She hits her brakes hard, which sends her head flying forward. The ____________ sends the signal of her head movement to the ______________.

 Horizontal semicircular canal 

Jett hears someone call his name, so he turns his head to the right to see who it was. The ___________ sends the signal of his head movement to the brainstem.

Stereocilia are displaced towards the kinocilium, which _____________ the cell.

Depolarizes

Left horizontal semicircular canal cells are excited because…

The head turned to the left, which displaced the stereocilia toward the kinocilium

Xander damages the ampulla of his left horizontal semicircular canal. Which of the following is likely to happen?

 

When Xander is not moving his head, his brain will interpret this as a head rotation and he may feel nauseous

Vestibular receptors also project to the _________________, which helps with spatial navigation and orientation.

Hippocampus

Whitney is walking to her desk when she trips on a pencil. Her chest, head, and neck move forward, but her _____________ sends signals to her neck flexor muscles to move her neck up and away from the ground to protect her head and neck.

MVST

_____________, made of calcium carbonate, move(s) according to linear translations in space.

Otoconia

The ___________ responds to movements such as rotating the head.

semicircular canals

Kristen nods her head up and down in a “yes” motion when someone asks her a question. Which vestibular receptor transduces this head movement? 

Anterior semicircular canal

Hair cells in the horizontal semicircular canal move when JJ turns her head to the left. The hair cells move because they are pulled by a gelatinous membrane called the … 

Cupula.

Patrick is stretching his neck in the morning. He tilts his head to the left and right, holding for 10 seconds on each side. Which vestibular receptor transduces this head movement? 

 Posterior semicircular canal

The vestibulocochlear nerve first sends an action potential to which brain region(s)?

 Pons and medulla

Robby is walking down the street and reading the names of the buildings as he goes. Which system is associated with Robby’s behavior?

 Vestibuloocular system

Which of the following scenarios explains motion sickness while reading in cars?

 Gary’s utricle and saccule are mismatched with the visual and proprioceptive signals coming from outside the car

Jeffrey got lost in the woods. He knows he’s walking north, even if he doesn’t know where he is located in the woods. Which cells will be activated?

 Head direction cells

Lily is doing her homework in the library. She’s so focused on her homework that she doesn’t hear the conversation between the librarian and another student. Which type of attention is Lily exhibiting?

Selective attention

Krieg is at a loud party talking with his friends. Across the room, someone says his name and Krieg turns to look for the source. Which attentional phenomenon is being described?

The cocktail party effect

Choose the response that best fits Treisman’s model of attention.

 June is more likely to hear the word “person” compared to “cacophony” in another conversation when she’s attending to a separate conversation

Choose the response that best fits Broadbent’s model of attention.

 Marco can only hear the conversation he’s currently attending to, and he cannot perceive any other information besides physical characteristics

Craig cannot focus on his homework because his roommate keeps trying to have a conversation with him. Craig is currently experiencing...

Distraction

Participants are exposed to the word "yellow", which evokes a faster response to the word "banana" than it would to unrelated words like "television”. What is this an example of?

Priming

Grocery shoppers are searching and paying for their groceries when “buy croissants” plays over the speakers at a volume too low for anyone to hear 50% of the time. Which of the following is likely to happen?

 The number of people buying croissants will remain the same as if the message hadn’t been played

Sleep is especially important for folks who are exercising regularly because… 

 When sleeping, the pituitary gland secretes a growth hormone necessary for muscle development

Kwan hasn’t slept in over 48 hours. He’s likely to experience all of the following except…

Weight loss

Felix takes a drug that makes him feel lethargic and slows his breathing and heart rate. He consumes alcohol while taking the drug and promptly falls asleep. Which drug class did Felix likely take?

Depressant

Leo takes a drug that increases his breathing and heart rate, provides him with energy, and increases his confidence. The drug Leo likely took was a ______________. 

Stimulant

Magnus takes a drug that induces euphoria, relaxes his body, and disrupts his memory formation. The drug stays in his body for a month. The drug Magnus likely took was a __________________ 

Hallucinogen

Bright light signals the SCN to signal the pineal gland to ___________ melatonin production.

Reduce

Valentina is scrolling through her phone in bed. She will likely fall asleep _______________ than if she were not looking at bright light.

Slower

Diego has been focused on his exam for the past hour. He is so focused on his exam he does not think about anything else. Which type of attention is Diego exhibiting?

Sustained

Santiago is so focused on the football game that he doesn’t notice when someone appears beside him and asks if he can move so they can sit down. What did Santiago experience?

Inattentional blindness

Manuel is sitting on his back porch watching the sun go down. When the sun is finished setting and it becomes dark outside, what happens to Manuel’s melatonin levels? 

They will begin to increase

Jimmy’s body is producing high levels of testosterone, but his sexual motivation is low. How might this be?

 Jimmy’s body lacks androgen receptors

Male mice are castrated perinatally (six days after being born). In adulthood, these mice are treated with androgens. How aggressive are these mice likely to become?

Low compared to non-castrated mice

Male mice are castrated perinatally (six days after being born). Both within six days of birth and again in adulthood, these mice are treated with androgens. How aggressive are these mice likely to become?

The same level of aggression as non-castrated mice

Which of the following statements accurately describes toy preferences in human children?

Human infants begin to show toy preferences around 3 months of age

A child is born with XY sex chromosomes. Under normal sexual development, which of the following is likely to occur?

The child will produce high levels of testosterone

A prairie vole is acting aggressively towards intruders. Concentration of this peptide hormone is likely high.

Vasopressin

Kyra is breast feeding. She likely has a high concentration of which peptide hormone?

Oxytocin

Rats are raised in isolation during infancy. Which of the following are these rats likely to experience?

Increased sensitivity to stress and anxiety throughout adulthood

Mary and Rita are in a secure, long-term relationship. When Mary arrives home one day stressed, she talks it over with Rita. Which of the following is likely to happen?

Mary’s HPA axis will be down-regulated

Izzy’s mother experienced chronic stress and trauma when pregnant with Izzy and for a few years after Izzy was born. Which of the following is Izzy likely to experience in adulthood?

She will likely overreact to perceived threats

In terms of sex differences, __________ perform slightly better on tasks of visuospatial ability. 

AMAB’s

In human mothers, the hormone ______________ is positively associated with behaviors such as physical affection and talking to babies.

Cortisol

Marcus is engaged in consensual sexual activity with his partner. His body is likely producing high levels of the neuropeptide hormone ____________.

Oxytocin

Rats were treated with the neuropeptide hormone _______________, which made them act more aggressively.

Vasopressin

Jason’s lacrosse team loses their championship game. What will happen to Jason’s testosterone levels?

They will decrease

When Mateo was growing up in a single parent household, his mother was chronically stressed. Mateo will likely experience each of the following except:

Lower levels of vasopressin

Brady is in a car crash and his brain stops sending signals to his heart to keep beating. Which brain region did Brady likely damage?

Brainstem

Magnolia falls into a coma. Which brain region did Magnolia likely damage?

Reticular activating system

While doing yoga poses, the students have trouble keeping their balance. Which brain region is associated with this action?

Cerebellum

Bianca has brain damage. When she sees an object on her left, she can’t say what the object is but she can draw it with her left hand. Which brain region did Bianca likely damage?

Corpus callosum

Angie touches a hot stove and yanks her hand back in pain. Which lobe of the brain is primarily associated with Angie’s sensation of pain?

Parietal

Harriet is trying to decide which university she should attend. She weighs the pros and cons of each university and makes a decision. The _________ lobe of the brain is associated with Harriet’s behavior.

Frontal

This type of psychophysiological method would work best if researchers wanted to know how hippocampal size differed between folks with posttraumatic stress disorder and folks without posttraumatic stress disorder.

Structural MRI

Participants are told they will view images of animals. After a few presentations of animals, a cupcake appears. Researchers are interested in how long it takes participants to realize the cupcake isn’t an animal. Which psychophysiological method should the researchers use?

EEG

Researchers study task performance in participants with parietal lobe damage and participants without brain damage. Which type of psychophysiological method is being used?

Lesion

Researchers want to know how afraid participants are of clowns, so they measure their sweat response. In terms of psychophysiological methods, this is called __________________.

Skin conductance

Hayden thinks that one’s genetics influences their behavior only. Michael thinks that one’s environment influences their behavior only. Who is right?

Neither; both genetics and the environment play an important role in behavior

Drew is born with genes that generate a high concentration of dopamine compared to others. Later in life, Drew is exposed to an extreme stressor and develops schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Which answer best explains this scenario?

Epigenetics

Jonah thinks that certain characteristics, like height, are entirely due to genetics. Is Jonah correct?

No, even biological characteristics are generated through a combination of genes and the environment

Researchers want to know how long someone spends staring at various aspects of a visual scene. Which type of psychophysiological method should be used to test this question?

Eye movement

Camden conducts a study where an electrical current is applied to the motor cortex. Consequently, participants involuntarily raise an arm. Which type of psychophysiological method is being used?

TMS

Gina damaged her corpus callosum. If she sees an object in the right visual field, what will happen?

She will be able to say what the object is

Researchers are examining brain matter under a microscope. When they are looking at axons surrounded by myelin, which type of matter are they examining?

White matter

A neuron receives serotonin from another neuron. The part of the neuron that receives the message is called the ____________.

Dendrite

Dopamine is released from one neuron and sent into a space between neighboring neurons, where it waits to bind to a receptor. The space is called the ____________.

Synapse

This type of neuron receives sensory information from the world, including light waves traveling through the eye, to pass the signal to parts of the brain. Which neuron is being described?

Bipolar

Kurt is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. His neurons communicate much slower now. Which cell is responsible for this change in transmission speed?

Oligodendrocyte

Choose the answer that lists the ionic makeup in the intracellular and extracellular fluid when a neuron is at rest:

Intracellular: K+, Anions, Extracellular: Cl-, Na+

If a neuron receives a signal from another neuron and the charge becomes more negative, what can be concluded?

The signal was an IPSP

A neuron’s intracellular charge changes from a negative change to a more positive charge. What can be deduced?

There may or may not be an action potential; the neuron must reach a threshold of excitation to fire an action potential

At rest, ____________ force is working to push Anions out of the neuron.

No

When a neuron is coming back to resting potential after firing an action potential, it first reaches a charge that is less than resting membrane potential before increasing charge slightly. When the neuron’s charge increases back to the resting potential, this is called a ___________________.

Repolarization

A neuron receives EPSPs that are stronger than the IPSPs it is receiving. What will happen to the neuron?

It will be depolarized

A rush of Cl ions enter the cell. What will happen inside the cell?

IPSP

At rest, which forces are acting on Na ions?

Both electrostatic pressure and diffusion

Cl ions move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. Which force does this demonstrate?

Diffusion

Jeff is throwing a football around with his friends. Which type of neuron is likely firing the most when Jeff contracts the muscles in his arm to throw the football?

Multipolar

The charge inside a cell is +40 mV. Which of the following is likely happening?

The cell is reaching peak charge from the action potential

High concentrations of Na ions enter the cell. What will happen inside the cell?

EPSP

If there are higher concentrations of GABA at the synapse, which of the following is likely happening?

IPSP

Mia says “Yesterday float dog ice cream believe.” No one can understand what she says and she can’t understand what other people say. Mia likely has brain damage in which region?

Wernicke's area

Humphrey has trouble speaking. His speech looks like this: “I… I. um… sit. C-couch.” He can understand what others say to him. Humphrey likely has brain damage in which region?

Broca’s area

Luke is at the pool and he feels thirsty and hungry. Which brain region is regulating Luke’s thirst and hunger?

Hypothalamus

Claire remembers her birthday party from last year. Which brain region is likely activated?

Hippocampus

Jake is running a 5K race, pumping his arms and legs of his own volition. Which branch of the nervous system is associated with this behavior?

Somatic nervous system

Perry is relaxing at home with her roommates, eating pizza and watching TV. Which branch of the nervous system is likely activated?

Parasympathetic nervous system

Ky is nervous about his debate speech. Before he performs, he’s sweating, his pupils are dilating, and his heart is beating fast. Which branch of the nervous system is likely activated?

Sympathetic nervous system

_____________________ describes how some brain regions, like the cerebellum, perform certain functions and not others.

Localization of function

Brain regions communicate in a network. For example, the hippocampus communicates information with the frontal lobe for memory storage. This process is known as…

Distributed processing

According to polyvagal theory, the _____________ branch of the nervous system would be activated when a possum “plays dead” (i.e., they fall asleep; shut down).

Dorsal vagal

Nico is in pain because he came into contact with a tack in his house. He knows the pain is coming from his foot. Which brain region is associated with Nico’s response?

Somatosensory cortex

Arabella just won a slot machine at the casino and she feels euphoric; she wants to play again. Which brain region is associated with Arabella’s response?

Insula

Teddy was in a car accident and momentarily stopped breathing. Which brain region did Teddy damage?

Medulla

Miley is running around a field kicking a soccer ball. Which branch of the nervous system is Miley activating?

Somatic

Maya is walking around a haunted house with her friends. She’s very scared: her heart is beating wildly and she’s breathing quickly. Which branch of the nervous system is Maya activating? Choose the most specific answer.

Sympathetic

Kayla is at the eye doctor reading letters off of a screen. Which lobe of the brain is associated with Kayla’s behavior?

Occipital