Midterm Flashcards
In their discussions of the process of development, the advocates of nature in the nature-nurture controversy emphasize which of the following?
maturation
The notion that human behavior is greatly influenced by unconscious thoughts and desires is most consistent with which of the following psychological approaches?
psychodynamic
Of the following, a behavioral psychologist is most likely to study the
effects of token economies on establishing social skills among children with emotional disturbances
cognitive psychologists are most likely to study
the acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving
Gestalt psychology is concerned primarily with understanding which of the following?
perception
Research finds that, in general, the higher an incoming college student scores on a given test, the higher the student’s college grade point average (GPA). Which of the following best describes this relationship?
a positive correlation
The most important reason to use operational definitions in psychological research is it
helps everyone involved with the research understand and collect data in the same manner
In a recent report, a developmental psychologist who studied peer pressure in middle schools obtained data from a large, representative sample of adolescents across the United States. This research most likely involved a
survey
In which of the following types of research are the same children tested periodically at different points in their development?
longitudinal
A psychological researcher designs a study to determine whether positive feedback affects self-esteem. The researcher requires each participant to toss twenty coins into a coffee can that is three feet away. Half of the participants are fold that their performance is superior, and the other half are told that their performance is well below average. Although some of the participants want to quit tossing coins after a few attempts, they are told that once they begin the study they have to complete it. After the coin toss, participants take a test measuring self-esteem. Following the test, all participants are debriefed and told that information about their performance was false. Results of the study indicate that participants who are told their performance is well below average report lower levels of self-esteem than do those who are told their performance is superior.11. Which of the following elements constitutes the independent variable in the study?
the feedback about relative performance in coin tossing
A study can be regarded as scientific only if
its conclusions can be verified or refuted by subsequent studies
A psychologist designed a study to test the effects of cell phone use on driving safety. Participants were randomly assigned either to drive an automobile simulator while talking to a friend on a cell phone or to drive a simulator without talking on a phone.
which is the cell phone
an independent variable
In an experiment designed to determine whether watching violent scenes on television increases the frequency of aggressive behavior in children, one group of subjects saw a nonviolent cartoon and another group saw a violent cartoon In the play period that followed the viewing of the cartoons, researchers observed the two groups of children together an counted instances of aggressive behavior. The control group in the experiment is the group that
watched the nonviolent cartoon
An instructor conducted an experiment to determine the effects of two different methods of study on the amount students learned in introductory physics. The results showed that the average amount learned by the group using one method was greater than the average amount learned by the group using the other. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Which of the following is the most appropriate conclusion to be drawn?
there is a possibility that the difference between the two groups occurred by chance
There is a strong positive correlation between ice cream sales and instances of snakebites. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for this correlation?
hot weather is related to both ice cream sales and snake activity
Professor Ahad has forty-three students in section one of the psychology classes she teaches and fifty-two students in section two. Section one meets at eight a.m. and, section two meets at one p.m. Professor Ahad gives all of her students the same final exam, and those in section two score significantly higher than those in section one. Professor Alad concludes that her section one students are academically inferior to students in section two. the biggest problem With Professor Ahad’s conclusion is that
the time of day is a confounding variable in this scenario
What is the best way to ensure that results of a study are generalizable to a population?
by using a random sample of people in that population
- A psychologist gives the same test to a class of students at the beginning of the day and again at the end of the school day. The extent to which test scores are similar across the two administrations demonstrates which of the following test properties
reliability
Which of the following statements best describes the placebo effect?
it can be brought about by the individual’s expectations
A test with normally distributed results was returned to a class of 100 students. Later, the teacher realized an error was made and added 10 points to each student’s score. Which of the following must have changed as a result of the increase in scores?
the mode
- When is it permissible for a psychologist to share a client’s test scores with another person?
when the client provides written permission to share results
Which of the following studies has had the most profound impact on ethical issues in psychological research?
Stanley Milgram’s study of obedience
All of the following are American Psychological Association ethical guidelines for researchers EXCEPT:
research may not involve deception
According to the ethical guidelines set by the American Psychological Association (APA), which of the following is true of psychological research in which animals are used as subjects?
it should conform to all APA ethical guidelines for animal research
I. A common psychological effect of alcohol intake is
reduced inhibition
- A person with damage to Broca’s area would most likely demonstrate which of the following symptoms?
difficulty with speech production
- Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system results in which of the following?
a decrease in heart rate
- In terms of the effect on the central nervous system, alcohol is most accurately classified as which of the following types of drug?
depressant
During the night, Ave stops breathing repeatedly, frequently gasps for air, and snores loudly at regular intervals.
Ave is most likely suffering from which of the following conditions?
sleep apnea
- Which of the following allows the examination of living brain tissue visually without performing surgery?
computerized axial tomography
- Many common antidepressants ease symptoms of depression by
inhibiting serotonin reuptake, which makes serotonin more available
- The area of the brain stem that is important in controlling breathing is the
medulla
- The autonomic nervous system is most directly involved in
digesting food
Lexi was enjoying a walk in the woods on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. As she went around a curve, she noticed a bear walking toward her. Immediately her pupils dilated, she began to perspire, and her heart accelerated. These changes are most closely related to the function of the
sympathetic nervous system
- Lisa received a hemispherectomy to treat a seizure disorder when she was two years old. However, by the time she was live years old, her give abilities were the same as those of a neurotypical live-year-old. Which of the following best explains her abilities?
neuroplasticity
- The biological clock that operates in human beings to adjust their functioning to night-and-day periodicity is referred to as
a circadian rhythm
- Which of the following biological systems is most likely responsible for an increase in heart rate while experiencing anxiety?
the sympathetic nervous system
- Significant damage to which of the following parts of the brain will most likely cause a person to fall into a deep coma from which the person will be unable to awaken?
reticular formation
Brain lateralization refers to the
Inclination for certain cognitive processes to be specialized to one hemisphere of the brain or the other
- Which of the following provides information regarding brain function by monitoring the brain at work through metabolism of glucose?
positron emission tomography (PET)
- The brain scans of people with amnesia are most likely to show damage to the
hippocampus
- Which of the following brain structures is most closely associated with Chris’ fear response?
amygdala
- Caffeine and nicotine are in the same class as which of the following drugs?
cocaine
- Cocaine blocks the reuptake of which neurotransmitter?
dopamine
- Santi had an argument with his coworker, Emma. That night, Santi had a dream that he was shopping at a mall and Emma was in every store in which he shopped. A psychoanalyst would say that Emma’s being at the mall in Santi’s dream was an example of which of the following?
the manifest content
Curare blocks action at acetylcholine synapses and causes paralysis. This drug is an example of an
antagonist
- An individual who drinks alcohol daily finds it necessary to drink increasing amounts to achieve the state of wellbeing attained in the past. This individual is showing
alcohol tolerance
- Damage to the cerebellum would most likely result in which of the following problems?
a loss of motor coordination
- Damage to a small part of the occipital lobe would most likely result in a
visual deficit
- Dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine are all
neurotransmitters that excite or inhibit a neural signal across a synapse
The division of the nervous system that most directly allows voluntary muscle movement is the
somatic
A drug that has the effect of intensifying or mimicking a particular neurotransmitter can be characterized as
an antagonist, because it intensifies the effects of a particular neurotransmitter
A participant in a study of music perception listens to music with electrodes attached to her scalp while data are collected on the activity of her brain. This technique is called
electroencephalography (EEG)
- The part of the endocrine system that is responsible for overseeing and regulating the release of hormones across the entire body is the
hypothalamus
The hypothesis that intelligence is in part inherited is best supported by the fact that the IQ correlation for
Based on the scores on the three tasks, Task 3 most likely involves
pairs of identical twins is greater than for pairs of fraternal twins
- Most glands in the human body are a part of which system?
endocrine
- Neurotransmitters that function like the drug morphine and are involved in pain modulation include which of the following?
endorphins
Malina has a sleep disorder for which she takes medically prescribed amphetamines. For which of the following sleep disorders is Malina most likely being treated?
narcolepsy
Which of the following groups of characteristics best describes the REM sleep stage?
Fast breathing, relatively high heart rate, relatively high blood pressure
The nature-nurture issue is best exemplified by which of the following questions?
Oh is level of intelligence the results of one’s environment and specific learning, or is it a result of biological maturation?
- The pituitary gland is controlled by the
hypothalamus
- What hormone seems to be most closely linked with aggressive behavior?
testosterone
One-year-old lan turns away in disgust if a bitter substance is placed on his tongue. The reason for such a reaction is most likely
an inborn distate for bitter that protects us from potential poisons in the environment
An individual’s ability to focus on a particular conversation in a noisy and crowded room is called
selective attention
Balance is influenced by the
semicircular canals
If Bella stares at a red spot for one minute and then shifts her gaze to a white piece of paper, she is likely to experience an afterimage that is
green
People who are color blind most likely have deficiencies in their
cones
Climbing an irregular set of stairs is more difficult for an individual who wears a patch over one eye primarily
Some depth perception is lost
Gavin has a condition in which tiny crystals break loose and randomly touch and bend the hair cells in his semicircular canals. Which of the following is the most likely effect of this condition?
dizziness and loss of balance
The process of converting incoming physical energy into a neural code that can be processed is called
transduction
Damage to which of the following best explains conduction deafness?
hammer, anvil, stirrup
The ability to see a cube in the diagram above is best explained by which of the following?
Gestalt principles of closure and continuity
Emma, a math major, sees the drawing above as a Venn diagram. Her brother, an art major, sees it as two circles. The difference in perception is an example of
top down processing
- Dizziness is most closely associated with which of the following senses?
vestibular
- Chris has just hit Play to begin listening to a new song he bought. Based on the structure of the ear, what will the sound waves contact first after moving through Chris’ auditory canal?
the eardrum
Ave sees the figure above as six unified columns, not four unified rows. Which of the following Gestalt principles is operating most strongly?
similarity
- The Gestalt principle that refers to an individual’s tendency to perceive an incomplete figure as whole is called
closure
- The tendency of most people to identify a three-sided figure as a triangle, even when one of its sides is incomplete, is the result of a perceptual process known as
closure
- Eleanor Gibson and her colleagues have used the visual cliff to measure an infant’s ability to perceive
depth
- Gustatory receptors are sensitive to all of the following taste qualities EXCEPT
spicy
- Eli is attending a parade that features the local high school band. Elli’s friend Lisa plays the trombone in the band.
It is difficult for Eli to hear Lisa play at the parade. Which of the following would best allow Eli to hear Lisa’s trombone?
selective attention
- In vision, transduction occurs within the
retina
- A person is asked to listen to a series of tones presented in pairs, and asked to say whether the tones in each pair are the same or different in pitch. In this situation the experimenter is most likely measuring the individual’s
difference threshold
- Which of the following refers to the just-noticeable difference between two stimuli?
difference threshold
- Which of the following scenarios most clearly describes the effects of a strong kinesthetic sense?
being able to tell exact bodily position without looking at the body
- Laurie noticed that in the early evening she begins to have difficulty seeing the vibrant colors in her artwork. which of the following best explains her difficulty?
Her cones cannot detect color in dim light
- Malina arrives at a park that is located very close to a factory that produces cookies. She immediately notices the strong odor of chocolate chip cookies, but after a while she no longer detects the smell of the cookies. This can best be explained by which of the following?
sensory adaptation
- Receptors that are especially important for helping a person maintain balance are located in the
inner ear
Gabe 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
Afterimages are explained by
the opponent process theory
Which of the following is the best example of the opponent process theory?
Fred stares at a green book for a minute, and then when he looks at a white page he sees the color red
- The perceived pitch of a tone is largely determined by its
frequency
- The place in the retina where the optic nerve exits to the brain is called the
blind spot
- Which study is a researcher who wants to draw correct cause-and-effect conclusions about the sense of smell 1 to conduct?
rose vs odor free experiment
- Consider the relationship between various body parts and the size of their corresponding somatosensory cortex areas in the brain. How does a body part relate to the devoted cortical area?
the more sensitive the body part, the larger the area of the somatosensory cortex
- A researcher studied 30 people ages twenty to forty, 30 people ages forty-one to sixty, and 30 people ages six to eighty. The researcher set up two rooms one with a faint rose smell, and one with a faint lemon smell. Each participant was asked to enter each room and identify the smell in the room. What research method did the researcher use, and what outcome would be found?
A cross-sectional. As people age, their sense of smell diminishes, especially in older age.
- Using cell phones while driving increases the number of accidents because use of the phones requires
selective attention
The reversible figure above illustrates the Gestalt organizing principle of
figure-ground
As you watch a friend walk away from you, your retinal image of your friend gets smaller. Despite this, you do not perceive him to be shrinking. This is an example of
size constancy
When a pair of lights flashing in quick succession seems to an observer to be one light moving from place to place, the effect is referred to as
the phi phenomenon
In a two-phase study, participants were randomly assigned to either group A or group B. All participants were subjected to a series of irritating air puffs directed at the face. In the first phase of the study, participants in group A pressed a button that stopped the air puffs. Participants in group B pressed a button that had no effect on the air puffs. In the second phase of the study, both groups had buttons that, if pressed, would stop the air puffs. The study most directly explores the concept of
learned helplessness
A particular group of brain cells seems to provide a basis for observational learning. Researchers call these specialized cells
mirror neurons
- Gavin has difficulty solving a physics problem in class. The next day, he suddenly thinks of a solution to the problem as he is watching a friend play the guitar. The thought process that Gavin experienced is an example of
insight learning
Linda can no longer stomach the taste of sushi after she vomited from eating a spoiled serving of it. However, the appearance of sushi does not make her sick. Which of the following best accounts for why Linda becomes sick upon tasting sushi but not seeing sushi?
biological predisposition
- The idea that the explanation for prejudice lies in children’s modeling of their parents’ prejudicial beliefs, emotions, and behaviors is most closely aligned with the theories of which of the following?
Albert Bandura
Two-year-old Ian fell down the stairs at his grandmother’s house. Although he was not badly hurt, he was very frightened. Now, whenever his parents mention visiting his grandmother’s house, he feels anxious and fearful. In classical conditioning terms, what are the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in the scenario, respectively?
grandmother’s house; falling
- Bella is allergic to dogs. While in the toy store she sees a stuffed toy dog and has an allergic reaction. Bella’s reaction to the toy best demonstrates the process of
generalization
- A cancer patient becomes nauseated following chemotherapy treatments. After a few treatments, the patient begins having a sick feeling whenever entering the treatment room. The treatment room has become
a conditioned stimulus
- Which of the following is the most accurate statement regarding the difference between classical and operant conditioning?
Classical conditioning involves the formation of associations between to stimuli, whereas operant conditioning involves the formation of associations between responses and their consequences
After several trials during which a dog is given a certain kind of food at the same time that a specific tone is sounded, there is evidence of conditioning if the dog salivates when
The tone only is presented
- Tyler is a somewhat distractible second-grade student who finds schoolwork a bit boring. After a couple of minutes of working silently, Tyler often starts to misbehave until his teacher, Ms. Skinner, calls his name and scolds him. However, he enjoys this attention from her and continues to misbehave. With respect to Tyler’s misbehavior, Ms. Skinner’s attention serves as
positive reinforcement
- Which of the following is the best example of shaping?
The one with the word teacher
- When a child behaves well for an entire day, the child earns a star. After acquiring fifteen stars, the child is allowed to pick a prize from a toy chest. The star is best described as
Secondary reinforcer
- Ave picks up the clothes from her bedroom floor and puts them away to avoid her mother’s repeated nagging. Ave’s behavior is being influenced by
Negative reinforcement
- Of the following, which is essential for operant conditioning to occur?
a behavioral consequence
- To stop his wife’s constant requests, Chris takes out the garbage. This makes him more likely to take out the garbage in the future. Chris’ behavior is being controlled by which of the following types of reinforcement?
negative
When Bram exhibits inappropriate behavior, his parents use time-outs, during which he has to sit at a plain desk without toys. This approach to decreasing inappropriate behavior utilizes the concept of
negative punishment
- Taking a painkiller to relieve a toothache is behavior learned through which of the following processes?
negative reinforcement
- A four-year-old child frequently pulled on the dog’s tail to gain attention. To reduce this undesirable behavior, the parent took away one hour of television viewing every time the child pulled the dog’s tail. Within one week, the undesirable behavior was significantly reduced. The above scenario illustrates
negative punishment
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
in order to yield information that is generalizable to the population from which is drawn, a sample must be
representative of the population
Ethical principles developed by the American Psychological Association help to ensure that human participants in psychological research
are protected from physical and psychological harm
A person will most likely develop aphasia as a result of damage to which of the following parts of the brain
wercicke’s area
While attending a concert, Anish finds that he can clearly recognize the melody coming from the lead violin above all the other instruments playing in the orchestra, even though the other instruments may be louder. Gestalt psychologists would explain Anish’s ability using the principle of
figure-ground
Which of the following is the correct path a neural impulse will follow through the different layers of the retina
Rods and cones, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve
