Psych Final Practice Questions - Flashcards

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Margaret is a psychologist who designs programs to increase employee morale and workplace productivity. She is a(n)

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industrial/organizational psychologist

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The tendency to look for information that supports one's own belief is called

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expectation bias

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Ted is seeing a humanistic psychologist for therapy. His psychologist is most likely to focus on

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the conflict between personal desires and social restrictions

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Psychologists gather data using

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second-hand reference

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The scientific method could best answer

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questions about whether men or women are more violent

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Darwin's theory of evolution suggests that the only measure of success for a species is

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the uniqueness of the species

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A specialized cell that makes up the nervous system that receives and sends messages within that system is called a

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neuron

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The branchlike structures that receive messages from other neurons are called ______.

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dendrites

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Peter suffers damage to his left frontal lobe and loses the ability to speak, although he can still understand speech. Despite the permanence of this damage, he is able to recover some of his speech due to the ability of other parts of the brain to take over lost function. This phenomenon is known by neuroscientists as

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plasticity

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The scanning device that makes highly detailed pictures from tissue responses to powerful pulses of energy is the

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CT

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The term "psyche" means

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mind

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Which topic would NOT be investigated by a psychologist if the definition of psychology were limited to "the science of behavior"?

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the hereditary determinants of sexual orientation

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Dr. Braunz has been treating a child with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. She decides to write a prescription for Ritalin. Given this information, it is most likely that Dr. Braunz is a

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psychiatrist

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Psychology is distinct from psychiatry in that it

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is based on counseling therapy rather than medication

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Psychology is differentiated from pseudo-psychology because of

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its method of using the scientific method to test theories and hypotheses

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Dr. Jones probably agrees with the ________ theory of psychology, since he contends that humans are intelligent species due to the fact that intelligence gives us an advantage in the natural world.

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cognitive

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"Children who watch violent cartoons will become more aggressive." According to the scientific method, this statement is most likely a

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hypothesis

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Which school of psychology questioned whether psychologists should study the mind?

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cognitive psychology

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The ________ approach views the mind, particularly the unconscious mind, as a reservoir of energy for the personality.

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behavioristic

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Which of the following did you NOT inherit from your parents?

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religious beliefs

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Which of the following is a characteristic that might be a part of your phenotype?

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your height and eye color

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The nervous system is defined as

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a complex network of cells that carries information to and from all parts of the body.

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A specialized cell that makes up the nervous system that receives and sends messages within that system is called a

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neuron

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________ neurons carry messages to the brain.

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Sensory

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________ carry messages away from the brain to the muscles of the body.

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Motor neurons

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Every one of your actions arises from

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neural impulses from the brain delivered to your muscles

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Which of the following is true about interneurons?

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Interneurons form simple circuits in the brain

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When a neuron fires, it fires in a(n) ________ fashion as there is no such thing as "partial" firing.

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all-or-none

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Which of the following would NOT be an example of learning?

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A newborn infant sucks on a nipple filled with milk A teenager falls asleep after staying awake for 96 hours

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Jenna walks into her science class laboratory, and she immediately feels queasy. Today is the day her class is dissecting frogs and she is sickened by the smell of the formaldehyde. However, after an hour Jenna is no longer sickened because of

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habituation

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Pavlov placed food in the mouths of dogs, and they began to salivate. The food acted as a (an)

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unconditioned stimulus

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Gina walks into her psychology class on the first day, and she sits next to Roger. She thinks his looks are decent, but by the end of the semester she finds him to be quite attractive due to

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the mere exposure effect

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One might expect that classical conditioning was discovered by a psychologist. However, it was discovered by a

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physiologist who was studying digestion

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Alan always turns the aquarium light on before putting fish food into the tank. After a while he notices that the fish swim to the top to look for the food as soon as he turns on the light. In this example, the ________ is the unconditioned stimulus.

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fish food

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A(n) ________ refers to the behavior elicited by the unconditioned stimulus.

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unconditioned response

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Miranda notices that her cat salivates as soon as her cat hears the sound of the electric can opener. In this example, the sound of the can opener is the

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conditioned stimulus

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You train your dog, Milo, to salivate at the sound of a bell. Then you ring the bell every five minutes and don't follow the ringing with food for Milo. He salivates less and less and finally stops salivating at all when the bell rings. But the next morning, when you ring the bell, Milo salivates! What term is used to explain the reappearance of this response?

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spontaneous recovery

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Robert's dog, Rex, runs to Robert when he says, "Come." If one day, Rex comes running when Robert says, "Dumb," we might say that Rex has demonstrated

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stimulus generalization

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Jane's dog will listen to her commands but ignores her sister's commands. Jane's dog would be demonstrating

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stimulus discrimination

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In operant conditioning, behavioral change is brought about by the manipulation of

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consequences

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________ are consequences that alter the likelihood of behaviors.

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Rewards and punishments

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Reinforcement is to punishment as

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increase is to decrease.

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Fred is afraid of spiders. He won't even watch a nature show on TV about them. When he sees a picture of a spider, he has a panic attack, but when he avoids looking at the image, his panic goes away. Fred's avoidance of spiders is being

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negatively reinforced, because he is rewarded by his anxiety going down

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Intermittent reinforcement is particularly effective for maintaining behavior because such reinforcement

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produces resistance to extinction

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Your professor likes to give pop quizzes in your psychology class, thus he is promoting the _______ schedule of reinforcement.

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variable interval

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The idea that we can learn from seeing the actions of others is known as

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observational learning

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You are walking by a cash machine when you notice that the person at the machine starts jumping up-and-down because the machine gave them too much cash. You wait in line and insert your card and ask for the same amount of money as the person before you. Your behavior reflects

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social learning

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Memory is considered to

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be an interpretative process

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The key tasks of a memory system are to

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encode, store, and retrieve

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Our ability to retain encoded material over time is known as

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storage

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Trying to remember someone's name whom you met long ago is an example of what type of process?

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retrieval

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________ memories are the most fleeting.

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Sensory

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A person's total knowledge of the world and of the self is contained within

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long-term memory

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Sperling's study involving recall of an array of 12 letters suggested that the actual capacity of sensory memory can be

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12 or more items

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Typically, information is held in working memory for about

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20 to 30 seconds

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How do retrieval cues help you to remember?

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They direct you to relevant information stored in long term memory

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________ memory is an unconscious form of memory that can alter behavior.

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Implicit

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Shalissa has two exams today. One is in French and the other is in history. Last night she studied French before history. When she gets to her history test, all she can remember is French! Shalissa's memory is suffering from

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proactive interference

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Olivia is punished for spilling her cereal. Her parents give her a spanking and send her to her room where she cries. Later, her puppy makes a mess on the floor. Olivia kicks her puppy and puts it out in the yard where it whines sadly. Which of the following statements explains her behavior toward the puppy?

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Olivia is reenacting the aggressive behavior her parents demonstrated to her

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Reinforcement that is given for a response emitted after each hour and half (e.g., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m.) in time is most likely to be a ________ schedule.

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fixed interval

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The best strategy to teach an organism a new response quickly is to use

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continuous reinforcement

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Someone asks you to name the twenty-second president of the United States, but you can't remember. To aid your memory, the person then tells you that the president's name is the same as that of a large city on Lake Erie. Upon hearing the hint, you instantly realize that Grover Cleveland is the answer. In this situation, the hint acted as a(n)

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retrieval cue

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When you hear a phone number and are able to recall it for a brief period, the phone number is thought to reside within ________ memory.

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working

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Suppose Tamika looks up a number in the telephone book. After getting a busy signal, a minute or so later she tries to call again - but has already forgotten the number! This example illustrates the limited duration of ________ memory.

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working

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Maintenance rehearsal is defined as

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repeating some bit of information over and over in one's head in order to maintain it in working memory

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_______ rehearsal results in a more lasting memory and promotes the transfer of information to long-term memory compared to _______ rehearsal.

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Elaborative; maintenance

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The best strategy by which to transfer information from working memory to long-term memory is to engage in

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elaborative rehearsal

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You start out using Firefox, then change to Explorer because your company demands that browsers be Microsoft products. If you have trouble with Explorer, it is most likely due to

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proactive interference

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Ed and Carol have a daughter named Bonnie who has just received a score of 155 on her IQ test. According your text, Ed and Carol should

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do nothing special

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Using most tests of intelligence, the cut-off score at which a person is labeled as "gifted" is

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above 150

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Most standardized tests of intelligence have a distribution of scores that

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follows the normal curve

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Activation of receptors by external stimuli is called

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sensation

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Seeing a face is to sensation as recognizing a friend's face is to

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perception

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Neurons cannot

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transmit light or sound waves or any other external stimulus

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When Ann went to her doctor, he gave her a hearing test. During the test, the doctor presented tones to Ann through earphones. The tones started at a low intensity and then became louder. The doctor asked Ann to raise her hand whenever she started to hear a sound. The doctor was testing Ann's

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absolute threshold

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The fact that the great smell of baked goods is more powerful when you first enter a bakery than when you have been there for awhile is because of

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sensory adaption

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The eye is uniquely able to extract information about the world from

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light waves

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It is difficult to distinguish between colors at night because

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we are seeing primarily with the rods

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The specialized organ that provides nourishment and filters away waste products from the developing baby is called the

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placenta

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Among the most common teratogens are

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nicotine and alcohol

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When Bill looks at his lamp alternately with his left eye and right eye, the image seems to jump from one position to another. This phenomenon illustrates

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retinal disparity

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Which type of attachment style is characterized by babies who do not seem to care very much whether the mother is present or absent, and are equally comfortable with her and a stranger?

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avoidant

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Like any 4-month-old, Amy depends on her parents to feed her and to change her diapers. When Amy cries, her devoted parents quickly respond to her needs. According to Erikson, Amy is developing a sense of ___________.

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trust

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Weber's law states that the higher the intensity of the stimulus, the ________ it will have to be ________ to result in a noticeable difference in sensory experience.

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more; changed

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The two dynamic processes at work in cognitive growth, according to Piaget, are

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assimilation and accommodation

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Your little sister picks up objects, feels every part of them, and then puts them in her mouth. What stage of Jean Piaget's model of cognitive development does this behavior suggest she is in?

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sensorimotor

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A child who has not mastered object permanence believes that

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a hidden doll no longer exists

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Ashani is 18 months old. When her mom leaves her at the babysitter's house, Ashani cries initially. After a few moments, she stops crying because her mom is "out of sight and out of mind." According to Piaget, which period of cognitive development would Ashani be in?

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sensorimotor

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Ron, a toddler, takes a picture and puts it to the receiver of a phone in order to "show" it to his grandmother. This example illustrates

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egocentrism

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Ethan, a three year old, asks his mom to cut a pizza pie into twelve rather than eight pieces because he is "really hungry." On the basis of this example, it is most appropriate to conclude that Ethan

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does not understand conservation

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Shelley and Julie are mothers who both have a three-month-old infant. Shelley tells Julie, "My son is so fussy," to which Julie replies, "That's funny - my son is so easy." It appears that Shelley and Julie are discussing their newborns'

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temperaments

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A psychologist spends her entire career studying how and why changes occur in people throughout their lives. This psychologist is most likely working in the field of

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developmental psychology

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The nature-nurture controversy is primarily concerned with

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the relative importance of heredity and environment

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________ is the idea that we form attachments to those who provide reassurance through physical touch, as opposed to feeding us.

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Contact comfort

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The innate predisposition of some species to form an attachment to the first moving object it sees and hears after birth is called

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imprinting

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Jane displayed no distress toward her mother when she left nor any happiness when she returned. This is best explained by which form of attachment?

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avoidant

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Germain tends to rule his home with an iron fist. His children know the rules and they are expected to obey them without question or they know there will be harsh consequences. Diana Baumrind would describe Germain's parenting style as

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authoritarian

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The fact that you perceive your psychology professor as being the same size when viewed from different parts of the classroom is known as

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size constancy

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If Ray is a normal 10-month-old, we would expect him to be able to

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play pat-a-cake

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What aspect of circadian rhythms might explain why we tend to feel so tired at night?

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There is an organ in the brain sensitive to light changes, which then affects our sleepiness.

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The sleep-wake cycle is ultimately controlled by the part of the brain called the __________.

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hypothalamus

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You overhear a psychologist presenting a lecture to an introductory psychology class. The teacher mentions "purposeful or goal-directed behavior that serves to accomplish specific needs or desires." You recognize that he is talking about which type of behavior?

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motivated

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Which statement about motivation is TRUE?

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Motivation energizes and directs behavior

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A person who visits a cafeteria to be with his friends would be said to show ________ motivation whereas another person might show ________ motivation because they are only there to get some free pizza.

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intrinsic; extrinsic

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The pursuit of an activity for an outcome that is outside of the person doing that action is called

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extrinsic motivation

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A high need for achievement (n Ach) person is likely to succeed in life because they:

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persist on difficult tasks

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Overjustification is most likely to occur when

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Cindy is given a trophy for riding her bicycle

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Mike engages in binge-eating episodes where he feels a loss of control over his eating. This leads to him claiming to never to have an appetite because he is embarrassed of eating in front of others. Despite his weight being in the normal range, he engages in compensatory purging behaviors including excessive exercise and vomiting following binge-eating episodes.

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bulimia nervosa

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Emotion emphasizes

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arousal

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Which of the following examples best represents the inverted U function?

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Dan plays his best games when they mean the most to the team and his arousal is moderately high

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Which theory maintains that emotion is caused by the interaction of physiological changes and the cognitive labeling of the reason for the physical reaction?

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the Schactertwo-factor theory

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According to the text, a key aspect of personality is its ________ quality in an individual in different situations.

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consistent

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The modern view of temperament asserts that it

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is biologically based

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The observation that a smaller number of infants are shy in contrast to the 40% of shy college students suggests that

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adult shyness may reflect inherited and learned influences

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Which of the following is the correct acronym for the "Big Five" personality factors?

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O-C-E-A-N

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An investigation of students' housing preferences would probably show that single rooms are preferred by _______whereas suites are preferred by _______.

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introverts; extraverts

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As part of the initial screening for possible employment, a nuclear power company administers a psychological test that yields scores on five primary personality traits. What is the name of this psychological assessment tool?

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The NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI)

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If Brianna weighs 125 pounds, but her scale indicates that she weighs 143 pounds, we would say the scale is not

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valid

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Freud believed that the ________ was the most important determining factor in human behavior and personality.

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unconscious mind

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Buck watches as Janet trips. Buck assumes this occurred because Janet is a klutz (rather than thinking it was because the sidewalk was filled with gravel). Buck has committed the _______ error?

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fundamental attribution

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Humanists believe that our motivation is ultimately due to

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self-actualization.

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In Rosenhan's study, some of the individuals who went into hospitals

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found that "real patients" viewed them as a fake.

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Ellie is a graduate student in psychology at the local university. She is interested in one day specializing in the study of abnormal behavior. What area of psychology should she focus on in school?

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psychopathology

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Gigi, who has schizophrenia, believes that she was sent by God to one day rule the world. Her belief is an example of a(n)

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delusion

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Nick is admitted to a mental institution because he hears voices talking to him that no one else can hear, and he sees demons attacking him, though no one else could see anything near him. Nick's symptoms are known as

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hallucinations

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Kevin shows a pattern of instability in his relationships, self-image, and feelings. As such, he most likely has ________ personality disorder.

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borderline

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________ refers to the concept of the mutual influence of our cognitions, behavior, and environment.

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Reciprocal determinism

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A person who feels euphoric and hyperactive may be experiencing

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a manic episode.

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Darcy is sitting at her desk in her office one day when, without warning, her heart begins racing rapidly, she has a sensation of being "out of her body," and she experiences dulled vision and hearing, rapid breathing, and sweating. She thinks she is having a heart attack. Nothing she is doing seems to have caused such an episode. Her symptoms MOST resemble

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a panic attack.

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As Carol and Ken are leaving for a trip, Carol repeatedly asks Ken, "Did we turn off the coffee pot?" For their entire trip, Carol worries about the coffee pot. Carol's doubt about turning off the coffee pot is a(n)

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obsession

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The tendency for women to ________ accounts for their increased vulnerability to depression.

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ruminate about their problems

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A patient in a psychiatric hospital exhibits disordered thinking, bizarre behavior, and hallucinations. This person is probably suffering from

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schizophrenia

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As part of the initial screening for possible employment, a nuclear power company administers a psychological test that yields scores on tendencies toward depression and schizophrenia. What is the name of this psychological assessment tool?

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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

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A person who is a sensation seeker

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has a high desire for excitement

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A person with an eating disorder that is dangerously underweight and engages in purging behaviors (e.g., starvation, excessive exercise, vomiting, etc.) to keep weight off most likely could be diagnosed with _____?

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anorexia nervosa

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Which of the following people would be most likely to receive a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder?

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Jared, who enjoys stealing cars and going for joy rides around his neighborhood

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Despite their often similar behaviors, people with histrionic personality disorder differs from borderline and narcissistic personality disorders because they _____?

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feel the need to be the center of attention

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Arlene has an irrational fear of flying in airplanes. She is probably suffering from a

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phobia

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Bipolar disorder used to be known as

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manic-depressive disorder

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Which cognitive event is hypothesized as contributing to the development and maintenance of major depression?

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learned helplessness

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Which statement correctly characterizes one aspect of Stanley Milgram's study of obedience?

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Subjects were shown an ominous-looking shock machine that was marked 0 to 450 volts

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A person adjusting to a new group will most likely learn about the new group norms through the process of

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noting the uniformity and regularity of certain behaviors noting the negative consequence that follow when a group member violates a group norm

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It is 1951, and you are required to participate in a perception experiment. You join seven others seated in a room. You are shown a 10-inch test line and must choose the line that matches it in length from a choice of three lines. The experimenter, Solomon Asch, is studying

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conformity

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Which factor significantly decreased the likelihood of conformity in Solomon Asch's studies?

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One confederate gave a correct response

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When members of a group give priority to the cohesiveness of the group over the facts of a situation, they are engaging in what social psychologists call

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groupthink

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The prime minister notices that her closest advisors never seem to disagree with her or with each other on a lot of important issues, such as arms control. She worries that she is not getting the pros and cons of different issues because her advisors are engaging in

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groupthink

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The mass deaths that occurred in Jonestown, Heaven's Gate, and at the Branch Davidian Compound are examples of the power of

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obedience

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Psychiatrists predicted that only fewer than _____ of the participants would go all the way to 450 volts in the Milgram experiments.

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1%

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In Milgram's obedience study, the "Teachers" shocked the "Learners" over and over again and ________ of the volunteers went all the way up to the maximum shock level of 450 volts.

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65%

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People are most likely to help out soon in an emergency situation if

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there are few others who can help

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The best predictor of whether a person will respond in an emergency situation is

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the size of the group

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The _______ claims that we like those best who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost.

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reward theory of attraction

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"I adore the girl next door." This phrase refers to what rule of attraction?

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proximity

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"Birds of a feather flock together" is a phrase that refers to

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similarity

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All of the following are Sternberg's components of love EXCEPT

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loyalty

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According to Sternberg, the category of love known as ________ has much passion and intimacy, but little commitment.

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romantic love

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What actual event could have been predicted based on the results of Zimbardo's classic prisoner study at Stanford University?

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the events at Abu Gharib prison in Iraq

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