Final Exam Flashcards
Psychology refers to the ________.
study of mind and behavior
Which of the following refers to a broad explanation or group of explanations for some aspect of the natural world that is consistently supported by evidence over time?
Scientific theory
The empirical method of study is based on ________.
observation
Introspection refers to a process by which someone examines
________ as objectively as possible.
her own conscious experience
According to William James, the purpose of psychology was to ________.
study the function of behavior
What is Abraham Maslow best known for?
Proposing a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior
Functionalist psychologists focus on the function of behavior and ________.
the operation of the whole mind rather than the individual parts
A series of dots arranged in the shape of a face will be perceived as a face, not a series of dots. A psychologist studying this phenomenon is applying the principles of ________
Gestalt psychology
The cognitive revolution created an impetus for psychologists to focus their attention on better understanding _______
the mind and mental processes that underlie behavior
Which kind of psychological area does the work of Jean Piaget exemplify?
Developmental psychology
Susan wants to study prejudice, attraction, how we explain our own behavior versus how we explain the behavior of others, and how we resolve interpersonal conflicts. Susan should conduct research in the area of ________.
social psychology
When studying personality traits, someone who is calm, even-tempered, and secure will score low on the ________ trait.
neuroticism
Which of the following is not involved in critical thinking?
Knowing your opinion is correct
What do structuralism, Gestalt psychology, and Sigmund Freud all have in common?
They were all concerned with describing and understanding the inner experience.
According to Sigmund Freud, all of the following represent ways to access the unconscious mind except through ________.
the use of reinforcement and punishment
According to the biopsychosocial model, what determines health?
Interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors
Which of the following is a criticism of evolutionary psychology?
It ignores non-genetic factors in determining human behavior.
Which correlation coefficient best represents a moderate relationship showing fewer anxiety symptoms in people who report higher life satisfaction?
-0.5
In a _____ study, both the researchers and the participants are
unaware of the group assignments
double-blind
Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good hypothesis?
It is complex
_______, an anthropologist, contributed to our understanding of
chimpanzee behavior in the wild, using naturalistic observation.
Jane Goodall
______ research uses past records or data sets to investigate
research questions or to look for patterns or relationships.
archival research
A(n) ________ is a variable that affects both variables of interest
and may falsely give the impression of a cause-and-effect relationship.
confounding variable
A(n) ________ is a description of how the researchers will measure
the variables of interest.
Operational definition
A(n) ________ is conducted in order to determine whether there are
meaningful differences between two groups in a study.
statistical analysis
Peer reviewers ________.
help ensure quality control in reporting scientific findings
An upper-level psychology class is conducting an experiment on racial prejudice that involves having participants rate the likeability of faces in a set of photos. However, they tell participants that the study is about the effects of aging on likeability. When participants are finished, they are thanked for their time and leave the experiment.
In this example, the class forgot to ________ in order to resolve the ________ in the study.
debrief participants, deception
________ are subjects of psychological research.
participants
The ________ variable measures effects of the independent variable.
dependent
The only way to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between
two variables is to conduct a(n) _______.
experiment
The scientific process is ________, involving both inductive and
deductive reasoning.
circular
A difference in ________ can explain why one person dies from a disease and another person survives.
Genetics
Studying close relatives allows behavioral geneticists to determine ________.
the effect of genes on the environment and population
Polygenic means that most traits are controlled by ________.
more than one gene
The ________ of a neuron contain ________ that house neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers of the nervous system.
terminal buttons, synaptic vesicles
The space between two neurons is called the ________.
synapse
________ is the electrical signal that typically moves from the
cell body down the axon to the axon terminals.
Action potential
Psychotropic medications are drugs that treat psychiatric symptoms
by restoring ________ balance.
neurotransmitter
The two major divisions of the nervous system are the ________ and ________.
central, peripheral nervous systems
The ________ nervous system is responsible for responses such as
pupil dilation, increased heart rate, and increased respiration.
sympathetic
The somatosensory cortex is responsible for processing ________
sensory information
The auditory cortex is located in which lobe of the brain?
Temporal
Which of the following is not a limbic system structure?
A. hypothalamus
B. hippocampus
C. amygdala
D. substantia nigra
Substantia nigra
The ________ is involved in our experience of emotion and tying
emotional meaning to our memories.
amygdala
________ is a neurotransmitter involved in mood, reward, addiction,
and motor behavior.
dopamine
The ________ extends through the hindbrain, midbrain, and
forebrain.
reticular formation
The ________ rhythm is the biological rhythm that occurs over approximately 24 hours.
Circadian Rhythm
The ________ wave is characteristic of stage 1 sleep.
alpha
In what stage of sleep do sleep spindles appear?
Stage 2
NREM sleep is a period of sleep ________
outside periods of REM sleep
________ is one of a group of sleep disorders in which unwanted, disruptive motor activity and/or experiences during sleep play a role.
Parasomnias
Which theorist suggested that dreaming may represent a state of protoconsciousness?
John Hobson
Which of the following is an example of wakefulness?
A. Mercy, unconscious after being hit on the head
B. Petro, immediately before entering REM sleep
C. Jenna, competing in a marathon
D. Samuel, sleepwalking in the middle of the night
Jenna, competing in a marathon
Which psychological perspective might advance the argument that our sleep patterns evolved as an adaptive response to predatory risks, which are higher during periods of darkness?
Evolutionary
Mohammed is sleeping. His eyelids are quivering because his eyes are darting around. Mohammed is probably experiencing ________ sleep.
REM
Isla is describing her dream to a friend. She explains that in her dream she being chased by zombies and she escaped them by hiding in a refrigerator. Her description of her dream is focused on ________ content.
manifest
Cocaine is considered a ________ drug because it tends to increase overall levels of neural activity.
stimulant
Morphine is considered a(n) ________ drug because it decreases pain.
opioid
Katia is experiencing a state of extreme self-focus and attention. Her brother is trying to get her attention, but she ignores him. Her phone is buzzing, but she doesn’t notice. This state was induced through ________.
hypnosis
________ theory suggests that when people are hypnotized they have voluntarily divided their conscious: one half aware of reality and the other half tuned in to the hypnotist.
Dissociative
Melatonin release is stimulated by ________ and inhibited by ________.
darkness, light
What occurs during stage 1 sleep?
Stage 1 sleep is a transitional phase that occurs between wakefulness and sleep, the period during which we drift off to sleep.
What is described by the concept of perception?
How sensory information is interpreted and consciously experienced
Which type of processing involves the interpretation of sensations and is influenced by available knowledge, experiences, and thoughts?
Top-down
What is amplitude?
The height of a wave
What is a binaural cue?
two-eared cue to localize sound
Which term describes the perception of the body’s movement through space?
A. dimensionality
B. kinesthesia
C. neurasthenia
D. nociception
B. kinesthesia
________ is a chemical message sent by another individual.
pheromone
What concept is illustrated by the following study? Participants were instructed to focus on either white or black objects, disregarding the other color. When a red cross passed across the screen, about one third of the subjects did not notice it.
Inattentional blindness
Which of the following exemplifies olfaction?
A. feeling the warmth of the sun
B. hearing an airplane fly overhead
C. smelling cookies in the oven
D. tasting white chocolate fudge
smelling cookies in the oven
Suppose you are watching a movie on a large screen. For a fraction of a second, the words “Drink Cola” flash on the screen. You do not perceive the words “Drink Cola” because it is beyond your absolute threshold. In this example, the message “Drink Cola” is an example of ________.
a subliminal message
Due to his sense of ________, Abraham knows he is cold when he is outside during a blizzard, and he knows he is hot after he comes inside and eats soup by the fire.
thermoception
Longer wavelengths will have ________ frequencies, and shorter wavelengths will have ________ frequencies.
lower; higher
________ amplitudes are associated with ________ sounds.
A. higher; quieter
B. higher; weaker
C. higher; louder
D. lower; louder
higher; louder
Why are olfaction and gustation called chemical senses?
They have sensory receptors that respond to molecules in the food we eat or in the air we breathe.
At the point of the optic chiasm, information from the right visual field (which comes from both eyes) is sent to the ________ side of the brain, and information from the left visual field is sent to the ________ side of the brain.
left; right
What does the place theory of pitch perception suggest?
Different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencies.
In addition to sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, what other taste groupings do we possess?
Umami and fat content
If a stimulus plus a response results in a satisfying outcome, the probability of that response occurring again ________.
increases
Harold catches fish throughout the day at unpredictable intervals. Which reinforcement schedule is this?
Variable interval
What do psychologists call a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience?
Learning
Which of the following is the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus?
A. extinction
B. acquisition
C. reflex
D. recovery
Extinction
