APP Exam Flashcards
When asked which of the 2 countries has a larger population, participants are likely to judge the country that is more familiar to them as being more populous. Which of the following best explains the finding?
the availability heuristic
An individual with damage to Wernicke’s area is most likely to have difficulty
comprehending a spoken request for information
The psychoanalytic concept of repression suggests a difficulty in the functioning of which aspect of memory?
retrieval
Which psychologist reported that infant attachment to another goes beyond the satisfaction of the need for nourishment?
Harry Harlow
Edward L. Thorndike argued that responses lead to satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, and that responses followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to be repeated. This became known as the law of
effect
When trying to solve a problem, Bret uses a logical, step-by-step formula called
an algorithm
It is well established that certain autonomic responses such as heart rate, perspiration, and respiration change under stress. In view of the fact that people generally have stronger autonomic responses when lying than when telling the truth, it follows that the polygraph would be a foolproof approach to lie detection. Which statement best explains why the polygraph is not more widely used in courtrooms and in testing of job applicants?
physiological arousal is much the same for several emotions, so the polygraph cannot always reliably distinguish guilt from other reactions
The principles of operant conditioning are best illustrated by
a token economy to reinforce adaptive behaviors
A man is feeling depressed about his inability to support his family after losing his job. The fact that the patient is currently unemployed is coded on which axis in the DSM-5?
Axis IV
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
In phase one of a study, a researcher classically conditions a dog to salivate to the ringing of a bell. In the second phase, the researcher pairs a flashing light with the ringing of the bell. After several pairings of the light and the bell, the dog will
salivate when the light is flashed
Jason is attending a parade that features the local high school band. Jason’s friend Brent plays the trombone in the band. It is difficult for Jason to hear Brent play at the parade. Which of the following would best allow Jason to hear Brent’s trombone?
selective attention
A statistical technique that would allow a researcher to cluster such traits as being talkative, social, and adventurous with extroversion is called
factor analysis
Ralph is aware that smoking is harmful to his health, but he continues to smoke. According to cognitive dissonance theory, it is most likely that Ralph will
focus on the social advantages to smoking
Curare blocks action at acetylcholine synapses and causes paralysis. This drug is an example of an
antagonist
Which of the following is a type of medication that has been linked to the side effect of tardive dyskinesia?
neuroleptics
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
Which theoretical perspective in psychology attempts to characterize the way in which humans store and process sensory information?
cognitive
Gestalt psychology is concerned primarily with understanding which of the following?
perception
During the night, Alicia stops breathing repeatedly, requently gasps for air, and snores loudly at regular intervals, Alicia is most likely suffering from which of the following conditions?
sleep apnea
All summer Thomas hears the sound of the ice cream truck approaching before his brother Oscar hears it. Thomas most likely has which of the following?
a lower absolute threshold for hearing than Oscar
A therapist who emphasizes helping clients to identify and change irrational beliefs that underlie feelings of anxiety is using which therapeutic technique?
rational-emotive behavior therapy
Julio has fragmented thinking and distorted false beliefs. Which of the following psychological disorders is Julio most likely experiencing?
schizophrenia
Which of the following statements best describes the role of biological processes in classical conditioning?
certain aspects are biologically predisposed to learn particular associations that enhance survival
Respondents to surveys and questionnaires often report that they are healthier, happier, and less prejudiced than would be expected based on the results of other types of research. This finding can best be explained by which of the following?
the social desirability
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
Paula lacks self-confidence. She has a difficult time expressing disagreement with others, and she usually lets friends make decisions for her. Others have commented that they do not know who the “real” Paula is. With which of the following personality disorders might Paula be diagnosed?
dependent
Chuck recalls the day last summer when he fell off bicycle and scraped his knee. This is an example of
episodic memory
Researcher Renee Baillargeon found that four-month-old infants will look longer at a ball if it appears to roll through a solid barrier, demonstrating that babies seem to grasp basic physical laws intuitively. Which of the following theories does this finding challenge?
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
In vision, transduction occurs within the
retina
In a classic study, a group of rats learned to run through a maze to obtain food, and another group of rats explored the maze without receiving food. Some time later, the researcher compared the two groups of rats to determine if both groups would find the food at the end of the maze. According to the researcher, the untrained rats found the food at the end of the maze as quickly as the trained rats as a result of
latent learning
During a psychology experiment, researcher uses a probe to lesion the ventromedial nucleus of a rat’s hypothalamus. After the procedure the rat most likely will
eat more and gain weight
When a person is suffering from severe pain, the type of drug that will best help alleviate that pain is
an opiate
The defense mechanism of projection is best illustrated by which of following examples?
a soccer player who does not have much athletic skill constantly criticizes other athletes’ performances
Damage to the occipital lobe would most likely affect a person’s
vision
James was born with a condition that makes it impossible for him to metabolize certain proteins. Due to early screening and a special diet, he was able to avoid developing potentially serious symptoms. Which of the following disorders does James have?
phenylketonuria (PKU)
Stanley Milgram’s classic research on obedience showed that approximately what percentage of participants administered the highest voltage shock?
60%
After staring at a green, black, and orange “American flag” for about a minute, an individual will see a red, white, and blue flag afterimage. Which of the following explains this phenomenon?
trichromatic theory
Certain cultures often place more emphasis on collective than on personal achievement. One result of this may be that people of these cultures are more likely to develop which type of self-system?
interdependent
A basic assumption underlying short-term memory is that it is
limited in capacity
Carol Gilligan, in her criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg, proposed that the moral reasoning of males is primarily based on
rational abstract principles, whereas the moral reasoning of females is based on relationships and the social context
Which process transfers information from sensory memory to short-term memory?
attention
When the word “walk” is changed to “walked,” the suffix “ed” is an example of a
morpheme
The just-world hypothesis would best explain which of the following phenomena?
blaming the victim
which of the following is a binocular cue for depth perception?
retinal disparity
People who are color blind most likely have deficiencies in their
cones
Research on human mating preferences suggests that men place greater value on physical attractiveness and youthfulness, whereas women place greater value on social status and financial resources. Which of the following psychological points of view best explains this behavior?
evolutionary
If Juan tried to learn a long list of words, he would be most likely to forget words that
appeared in the middle of the list
Which of the following perspectives argues that every person has the potential to become self-actualized?
humanistic
An image projected to the left visual field of a split brained person will be processed in the
right visual cortex
A researcher is training laboratory rats to run a complex maze. Each time the rats learn a new part of the maze, they are rewarded with a pellet of food. Within a few hours, the rats have learned the entire maze. Which of the following did the researcher use to teach the rats the maze?
shaping
Martha is an undergraduate student who is interested in pursuing a career in psychology. She wants to use her knowledge of psychology to help employees become more productive in the workplace. Which field of psychology should Martha select in graduate school?
industrial-organizational
Although he finds it to be difficult and not much fun, Tomas puts in long hours practicing field hockey in the hope of getting an athletic scholarship to college. This best illustrates the idea of
extrinsic motivation
The term group polarization refers to the tendency for
the prevailing opinion within a group to become more extreme after discussion
Which of the following assessment tools explores individuals’ personalities by asking them to examine a series of inkblots and describe what they see in the inkblot?
rorschach test
Which of the following neurotransmitters has been linked to Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia?
dopamine
According to Freud, our sexual and aggressive instincts are located primarily in the
id
Charles Spearmen’s concept of ‘g’ is most accurately described as
a single, underlying intellectual capacity measured by intelligence tests
Which of the following studies demonstrates a cross-sectional research design?
testing first, third, and fifth graders at the beginning of the school year
Which type of therapy uses free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of tranference?
psychodynamic
Which of the following psychometric properties is used to assess the extent to which the items on an intelligence test measure a person’s intelligence?
construct validity
Marc performs poorly on a psychology exam and explains his failure by saying, “That test was so hard so no one could pass it.” This explanation illustrates
self-serving bias
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
While grocery shopping, John heard voices that seemed to be narrating his every action. The voices made statements such as “Now he is picking up the bread” and “Now he is putting the bread in his shopping cart.” No one else heard the voices. What is John experiencing?
hallucinations
John is completing a lengthy test in which he must indicate whether various written statements are true or false about himself. He is most likely taking which of the following?
a personality inventory
Damage to which of the following brain structures may caused the inability to detect the emotional significance of facial expressions, especially those demonstrating fear?
amygdala
Of the following cognitive milestones, which ability tends to be acquired last?
hypothetical thinking
Paul Ekman found that when Japanese students watched films of surgery, they masked their expressions of disgust with a smile when an authority figure entered the room but not when alone. American students maintained their expressions of disgust both alone and in the presence of an authority figure. Ekman’s findings illustrate what he calls
display rules
A teacher finds the distributions 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
In which of the following techniques do researchers inject a harmless, radioactive substance into the living human brain to examine activity?
positron-emission tomography (PET)
An individual who stomps angrily out of a restaurant after being kept waiting an extra five minutes for a table may be exhibiting symptoms of
narcissistic personality disorder
Students who enjoyed solving a puzzle were rewarded for doing so. Later, they played less with the puzzle than their counterparts who were not rewarded for the same task. This illustrates which of the following principles?
the overjustification effect
Jim is better at computer games when his friends are watching than when he plays alone. Researchers would explain Jim’s behavior using which theory?
social facilitation
Which of the following theories suggests that a physiological need creates a state of tension that motivates an organism to satisfy the need?
drive-reduction
According to Jean Piaget, children cease to exhibit egocentrism during which of the following stages?
preoperational
the fundamental attribution error occurs when individuals do which of the following?
overestimate the influence of personal qualities relative to situational factors when trying to explain the behavior of others
Which procedure can reduce problems associated with the use of deception by a researcher?
debriefing
Psychologists from which of the following perspectives of personality are most interested in assessing a person’s locus of control?
cognitive
Elizabeth picks up the clothes from her bedroom floor and puts them away to avoid her mother’s repeated nagging. Elizabeth’s behavior is being influenced by
negative reinforcement
The diathesis-stress approach would likely support which of the following statements about psychological disorders?
disorders are a result of predisposed, biological factors triggered by the environment
The Psychology Aptitude Test was administered to incoming college psychology majors. Their scores were later compared to their performance in the introductory psychology course, and high scores on the PAT were related to high grades in the course. Therefore, the PAT has
predictive validity
Joseph never sleeps through the night. He wakes up at least once per hour to check all the doors and windows in his house to make sure they are locked and to check the stove to make sure it is turned off. Joseph’s behavior would be classified as
a compulsion
When given a drug that produced general arousal, research participants placed in a room with a happy confederate described their emotional state as happy, while those placed in a room with an angry confederate described their emotional state an angry. Which theory of emotion best explains these results?
schachter-singer
Under hypnosis, Jerry is able to withstand pain without showing any outward signs of discomfort. However, when asked to signal if some part of his consciousness is aware of the pain, he raises his hand. Which of the following is a theory that best explains Jerry’s behavior?
dissociation
A person eats a hamburger at a restaurant and develops a very bad stomachache after finishing eating. As a result of the sudden illness, the person cannot eat hamburgers anymore. Just thinking about them makes the person feel sick to the stomach. In this scenario, the thought of a hamburger is
a conditioned stimulus
Research on stereotype threat indicates that students might not do well as they can on a test if
they are informed that people of their ethnicity, age, or gender usually do not perform well on the tests
When parents set a few controls on their children’s television viewing, allowing the children freedom to set individual limits, make few demands, and do not punish for improper television viewing, the parents exemplify a parenting style referred to as
permissive
Which of the following is the best example of a homeostatic process?
Cathy drinks a large amount of water to reduce thirst after a long race
Brad hears a report on the evening news that diets low in carbs are beneficial to one’s health. Considering this advice, he begins such a diet. Later he hears another report condemning low-carb diets as harmful to one’s health. Based on research on belief perseverance, how would Brad respond to this new information?
continue to believe in the beneficial effects of a low-carb diet
