exam 3 multiple choice practice questions

Question 1

When we adapt our current understandings to incorporate information, we have engaged in:

a.) assimilation
b.) accommodation
c.) cognition
d.) a mental operation

Answer 1

assimilation

Question 2

During this stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, children are able to represent things with words and images and use intuitive rather than logical reasoning:

a.) Formal operational
b.) Concrete operational
c.) Preoperational
d.) Sensorimotor

Answer 2

Preoperational

Question 3

___________ refers to biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior that are relatively uninfluenced by experience

a.) Maturation
b.) Scaffolding
c.) Neural pruning
d.) Extinction

Answer 3

Maturation

Question 4

Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky believed that cognitive development is strongly influenced by:

a.) social and cultural factors.
b.) early experiences fostering brain development.
c.) epigenetic factors.
d.) the opportunity to actively explore one’s physical environment.

Answer 4

social and cultural factors.

Question 5

The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is best known for his:

a.) theory of physical development throughout the life span.
b.) extensive studies of how parenting styles influence the social behavior of children and adolescents.
c.) theory proposing that children progress through distinct stages of cognitive development.
d.) influential theory of social development throughout the life span.

Answer 5

theory proposing that children progress through distinct stages of cognitive development.

Question 6

When parents are consistently warm and responsive to their infant, the infant is likely to develop a(n) _____ attachment to the parents; when parents neglect the infant, are inconsistent, or are insensitive to the infant’s needs, the infant is likely to develop a(n) _____ attachment to the parents.

a.) easy; difficult
b.) insecure; secure
c.) familiar; strange
d.) secure; insecure

Answer 6

secure; insecure

Question 7

Shaping was a method used by Skinner to:

a.) guide an organism to exhibit a complex behavior using b.)successive approximations.
b.) decrease an undesirable behavior.
c.) demonstrate how classical conditioning works.
d.) condition meerkats to seek out heat lamps.

Answer 7

guide an organism to exhibit a complex behavior using successive approximations.

Question 8

The law of effect laid the foundation for:

a.) studies of respondent behavior.
b.) Skinner’s experiments on reinforcement.
c.) Pavlov’s studies of conditioned salivation in dogs.
d.) the study of classical conditioning.

Answer 8

Skinner’s experiments on reinforcement.

Question 9

______________ involves an unpleasant stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response.

a.) Positive punishment
b.) Negative punishment
c.) Positive reinforcement
d.) Negative reinforcement

Answer 9

Tinash is having a hard time convincing his parent that spanking isn’t the best way to control a child’s behavior. Which of these arguments should Tinash use to support their position?

a.) Spanking provides a model of aggressive behavior as a tool for problem solving.
b.) Spanking can create fear in children.
c.) When spanked, children do not forget the punished behavior; they simply suppress it. They are not taught what behavior to exhibit in its place.
d.) All of these arguments support her position that parents should avoid spanking.

Question 10

Which of these statements about B. F. Skinner is TRUE?

a.) Skinner believed that human behavior is determined by environmental consequences, not by individual choice or free will.
b.) Skinner advocated greater use of punishment to control behavior.
c.) Skinner aimed to study mental processes to understand behavior.
d.) Skinner believed that “the scientific analysis of behavior” would lead to a totalitarian society based on punishment.

Answer 10

Skinner believed that human behavior is determined by environmental consequences, not by individual choice or free will.

Question 11

Both classical and operant conditioning:

a.) involve respondent behavior.
b.) involve operant behavior.
c.) are studied using an operant chamber.
d.) are forms of associative learning.

Answer 11

are forms of associative learning.

Question 12

Carl is a very good conversationalist but can only handle loud parties for a very short time. Carl prefers to meet his friends at a quiet wine bar and socialize there. Which personality trait BEST describes Carl?

a.) neuroticism
b.) conscientiousness
c.) introversion
d.) extraversion

Answer 12

introversion

Question 13

Which approach to personality focuses primarily on describing individual personality characteristics?

a.) the psychodynamic perspective
b.) the trait perspective
c.) the humanistic perspective
d.) the social-cognitive perspective

Answer 13

the trait perspective

Question 14

______________ is a statistical procedure that can be used to identify clusters of behaviors that are related to a trait.

a.) Factor analysis
b.) The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
c.) Correlational analysis
d.) Behavioral analysis

Answer 14

Factor analysis

Question 15

If a culture is described as valuing harmony, interdependence, fitting in, and social responsibility, it is likely:

a.) individualist.
b.) competitive.
c.) rigid.
d.) collectivist.

Answer 15

collectivist

Question 16

The __________________ emphasizes that personality is the result of interactions between people and the situations in which they find themselves. The way one thinks about a situation affects one’s behavior.

a.) the psychodynamic perspective
b.) the trait perspective
c.) the humanistic perspective
d.) the social-cognitive perspective

Answer 16

the social-cognitive perspective

Question 17

Self-esteem refers to:

a.) our feelings of high or low self-worth.
b.) our concept of what we would like to be.
c.) the sum total of all our thoughts about ourselves.
d.) all of these characteristics.

Answer 17

our feelings of high or low self-worth.

Question 18

Compared with men, women are more likely to show obvious signs of:

a.) gender typing.
b.) independence.
c.) interdependence.
d.) self-esteem.

Answer 18

interdependence

Question 19

Research on gender and aggression indicates that:

a.) women admit to feeling more hostility than do men.
b.) in experiments, men and women are equally likely to give others what they believe are painful electric shocks.
c.) throughout the world, men are more likely than women to commit violent crimes.
d.) All of these statements are true.

Answer 19

throughout the world, men are more likely than women to commit violent crimes.

Question 20

_____ are those aspects of the body that make sexual

a.) Primary sex characteristics
b.) Secondary sex characteristics
c.) Unisex characteristics
d.) Social connectedness characteristics

Answer 20

Primary sex characteristics

Question 21

The prenatal development of the external male sex organs is stimulated by:

a.) ovarian hormones.
b.) the X chromosome.
c.) gender typing.
d.) testosterone.

Answer 21

testosterone

Question 22

Social learning theory assumes that:

a.) children are born into their gender identities.
b.) children display both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics.
c.) children acquire gender-linked behaviors by observing and imitating others and through the rewards and punishments they receive for their imitation.
d.) children acquire their sense of being male, female, or some combination of the two through the practice of androgyny.

Answer 22

children acquire gender-linked behaviors by observing and imitating others and through the rewards and punishments they receive for their imitation.

Question 23

A recent ad for a ride-on toy car stated the following: “Your son will be able to explore his world and drive his imagination to new places. He might even teach his little sister how to drive.” This is an example of advertising exploiting:

a.) gender identities.
b.) gender roles.
c.) gender orientations.
d.) gender androgyny.

Answer 23

gender roles

Question 24

Your sister-in-law always has a smile on her face and a joke to tell. The moment she walks into your house you start smiling, even before she says something funny. Your attitude is a result of all of these EXCEPT:

a.) deindividuation.
b.) mood linkage.
c.) the chameleon effect.
d.) automatic mimicry.

Answer 24

deindividuation

Question 25

Computer ads seldom feature endorsements from Hollywood stars or great athletes. Instead, they offer detailed information for consumers to develop positive opinions about the products. This advertising strategy BEST illustrates:

a.) minority influence.
b.) normative social influence.
c.) central route persuasion.
d.) peripheral route persuasion.

Answer 25

central route persuasion.

Question 26

In explaining our own behavior or the behavior of those we know well, we often resort to:

a.) dispositional attributions.
b.) situational attributions.
c.) social facilitation.
d.) social loafing.

Answer 26

situational attributions.

Question 27

The fundamental attribution error involves:

a.) underestimating situational influences on another’s behavior.
b.) performing a complex task more poorly when in the presence of others.
c.) becoming more extreme in one’s individual opinions following group discussion.
d.) losing self-restraint in group situations that foster anonymity.

Answer 27

underestimating situational influences on another’s behavior.

Question 28

Group projects would be a prime social context for which phenomenon?

a.) social facilitation
b.) deindividuation
c.) polarization
d.) social loafing

Answer 28

social loafing

Question 29

In Asch’s conformity experiments, researchers find that conformity to the group increases when all of these occur EXCEPT:

a.) one admires the group’s status.
b.) one has a prior commitment to a response.
c.) the group is unanimous.
d.) one is made to feel insecure.

Answer 29

one has a prior commitment to a response.

Question 30

Your grandmother is in her early eighties, and she is starting to seem frail to you. Based on what you know about general abilities of the elderly, which of these are you likely to notice about her abilities?

a.) Her hearing and sight are diminishing, but her stamina and sense of smell remain strong.
b.) Her hearing, distance perception, and sense of smell are diminishing.
c.) Her muscle strength is decreasing, but all of her sensory abilities seem to be going strong.
d.) Her visual sharpness is decreasing, but her stamina remains unchanged.

Answer 30

Her hearing, distance perception, and sense of smell are diminishing.

Question 31

Jenny is in her seventies, and she is in remarkably good health. If she were to worry about getting sick, she should probably worry MOST about:

a.) pneumonia.
b.) upper respiratory influenza.
c.) the common cold.
d.) viruses

Answer 31

pneumonia

Question 32

People differ the most in their learning and memory abilities during:

a.) early adulthood.
b.) middle adulthood.
c.) early to middle adulthood.
d.) late adulthood.

Answer 32

late adulthood

Question 33

Henry is 58 years old, and is worried about age-related loss of both memory and cognitive abilities. Henry asks you what he can do to minimize any declines. You give him all of these suggestions EXCEPT:

a.) keep your mind active.
b.) stay physically active.
c.) maintain a healthy weight.
d.) reduce your activity level.

Answer 33

reduce your activity level.

Question 34

Francis is 42 years old and is not dating anyone. Francis is worried that they will not have children because they do not have a partner. Francis is feeling pressure from their culture’s established:

a.) social clock.
b.) biological clock.
c.) adulthood stages.
d.) fertility changes.

Answer 34

social clock

Question 35

According to Erik Erikson, the two fundamental themes that dominate adult development are:
.

a.) chance events and commitments.
b.) intimacy and generativity.
c.) the social clock and work.
d.) finding a mate and having children

Answer 35

intimacy and generatvity

Question 36

A sense of social identity is MOST likely to promote:

a.) ingroup bias.
b.) unconscious patronization.
c.) the frustration-aggression principle.
d.) social scripts.

Answer 36

ingroup bias

Question 37

The tendency to believe that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get is called:

a.) ingroup bias.
b.) a social script.
c.) the just-world phenomenon.
d.) the scapegoat theory.

Answer 37

the just-world phenomenon.

Question 38

Hernando is responsible for hiring new employees for the company that he works at. Hernando refuses to hire certain qualified job applicants because of the color of their skin. Hernando is engaging in:

a.) prejudice.
b.) discrimination.
c.) stereotyping.
d.) ingroup bias.

Answer 38

discrimination

Question 39

Social scripts refer to:

a.) culturally modeled guides for how to act in various situations.
b.) the tendency to favor our own group.
c.) beliefs people getting what they deserve.
d.) generalized beliefs about a group of people.

Answer 39

culturally modeled guides for how to act in various situations.

Question 40

When temperatures go up in summer, the rates of violent crimes increase. This is BEST explained in terms of:

a.) the just-world phenomenon.
b.) media models for violence.
c.) reinforcement, modeling, and self-control.
d.) the frustration-aggression principle.

Answer 40

the frustration-aggression principle.

Question 41

Research on the biology of aggression has clearly demonstrated that:

a.) animals can be bred for aggressiveness.
b.) there is no physiological basis for aggression in humans.
c.) human aggression is an unlearned instinct.
d.)neural influences contribute to aggressive behavior by men but not by women.

Answer 41

animals can be bred for aggressiveness.

Question 42

Equity and self-disclosure are important to the development of:

a.) altruism.
b.) superordinate goals.
c.) companionate love.
d.) passionate love.

Answer 42

companionate love.

Question 43

As passionate love matures into a calm and steady companionate love, the bonding of two partners is MOST likely to be facilitated by:

a.) oxytocin.
b.) the bystander effect.
c.) mirror-image perceptions.
d.) altruism.

Answer 43

oxytocin

Question 44

When buying groceries, many shoppers prefer certain products simply because the products have a familiar brand name. This preference BEST illustrates the importance of:

a.) reciprocity.
b.) mirror-image perceptions.
c.) proximity.
d.) the mere exposure effect.

Answer 44

the mere exposure effect.

Question 45

Brandon donates blood monthly because he believes he should help anyone with a medical need for a blood transfusion. Brandon’s altruism BEST illustrates the:

a.) social-responsibility norm.
b.) bystander effect.
c.) reciprocity norm.
d.) social exchange theory

Answer 45

social-responsibility norm.

Question 46

As Cora walks through a movie theater, she happens to pass an older woman sitting on a bench clutching her arm and moaning in pain. The presence of others in the theater will MOST likely increase the probability that Cora will:

a.) help the woman by calling an ambulance.
b.) assume the older woman is just trying to attract attention.
c.) experience a sense of empathy for the older woman.
d.) be less likely to help.

Answer 46

be less likely to help