Practice Questions

Question 1

An example of a function word would be:

(a) “house”
(b) “on”
(c) “cut”
(d) none of the above

Answer 1

(b) “on”

Question 2

If someone who had suffered a stroke said “It pongled the here in the bosh” in response to the question “How did you get here?” This person would likely be suffering from:
(a) Broca’s aphasia because she is having difficulty using words
(b) Broca’s aphasia because she is not using function words
(c) Werniche’s aphasia because she does not appear to understand the sentence
(d) none of the above

Answer 2

(c) Werniche’s aphasia because she does not appear to understand the sentence

Question 3

Which statement is NOT true of language in Broca’s aphasic patients?

(a) It is impaired in the ability to produce syntax.
(b) It is characterised by the omission of function words.
(c) It tends to retain the main content words.
(d) It is impaired as a result of damage to the auditory areas of the brain.

Answer 3

(d) It is impaired as a result of damage to the auditory areas of the brain.

Question 4

Rachel is 18 months old. She shows her stuffed toy monkey to her aunt but refers to it as a “montey”. Her aunt says “Is this your montey?” Rachel responds by saying “No, montey.” Which of the following best explains Rachel’s level of language ability?

(a) Rachel can hear the “k” sound in “monkey” but she can’t quite produce it yet.
(b) Rachel’s utterance is a reduplicated babble.
(c) Rachel can produce two-word utterances.
(d) Rachel can produce the “k” sound but she doesn’t want to.

Answer 4

(a) Rachel can hear the “k” sound in “monkey” but she can’t quite produce it yet.

Question 5

What learning mechanism is an infant using to detect the auditory patterns in a two- minute recording of novel syllables?

(a) social
(b) statistical
(c) innate
(d) language-specific

Answer 5

(b) statistical

Question 6

When asked to describe your friend, you conjure up a mental image. This would be an example of:

(a) deductive reasoning
(b) an analogical representation
(c) a symbolic representation
(d) none of the above

Answer 6

(b) an analogical representation

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of a heuristic?

(a) A recipe for making a cake.
(b) Directions to a friend’s house.
(c) Instructions for assembling a model car.
(d) Guidelines for writing an essay.

Answer 7

(d) Guidelines for writing an essay.

Question 8

Which of the following is an example of the availability heuristic?

(a) Jane hears on the news that a young child has died following a vaccination so she decides not to vaccinate her child.
(b) Richard thinks that John is a surfer because John has long hair, wears board shorts and drives a VW van.
(c) Robert thinks that his neighbour has stolen things from his flat, so he starts looking for evidence of suspicious and guilty behaviour when he sees his neighbour.
(d) Gina suspects that vitamin C prevents colds, and asks 100 people whether they take vitamin C or not and whether or not they have had a cold in the past 6 months.

Answer 8

(a) Jane hears on the news that a young child has died following a vaccination so she decides not to vaccinate her child.

Question 9

Why did children who were taught an underlying mathematical principle perform better than those who memorised a mathematical formula?

(a) Those taught the principle were better able to apply a means-end strategy when faced with new problems.
(b) Learning a principle helped children reason by analogy.
(c) Memorisation did not encourage deeper processing of learned material.
(d) It is easier to break a mental set when working with an underlying principle rather
than a memorised formula.

Answer 9

(b) Learning a principle helped children reason by analogy.

Question 10

Which of the following statements about the history of intelligence is NOT true?

(a) Broca believed that he could predict peoples’ intelligence by weighing their brains.
(b) Binet developed an intelligence test for children after careful consideration of the factors that comprise intelligence.
(c) Galton developed behavioural measures to try to assess intelligence.
(d) Early attempts to assess and compare intelligence across individuals were
influence by existing views about race.

Answer 10

(b) Binet developed an intelligence test for children after careful consideration of the factors that comprise intelligence.

Question 11

he correlation between IQ scores and school performance averages around .50. From this we can conclude that:
(a) IQ scores predict about half of the variance in school performance
(b) there is no relation between IQ scores and school performance
(c) IQ scores predict about a quarter of the variance in school performance
(d) IQ has the most substantial influence on school performance

Answer 11

(c) IQ scores predict about a quarter of the variance in school performance

Question 12

What is the best explanation for diminishing mean differences in African-American and European-American IQ scores?
(a) changes in genetics
(b) access to different intelligence tests
(c) greater access to educational opportunities
(d) assessment of creative intelligence

Answer 12

(c) greater access to educational opportunities

Question 13

Dr Smith wants to study infants’ depth perception. She recruits 6-month-olds, 8-month- olds, and 10-month-olds, and examines their behaviour on each side of the visual cliff apparatus. Her study is best described as:
(a) observational and longitudinal
(b) observational and cross-sectional
(c) experimental and longitudinal
(d) experimental and cross-sectional

Answer 13

(d) experimental and cross-sectional

Question 14

Ellen has been playing “find the dolly” with her 8-month-old daughter Ruby. When Ellen moves the toy out of view, Ruby is likely to:
(a) stare at the spot where the toy disappeared
(b) anticipate the future position of the toy
(c) search for the toy in the last place she found it
(d) search for the toy in the last place she saw it

Answer 14

(c) search for the toy in the last place she found it

Question 15

Thomas can pass Piaget’s diorama test of egocentrism. He displays an understanding of object permanence. When asked “what would it be like to live on Mars?” he replies “I’ve never been there, but I guess it would be pretty cold and rocky and I’d probably feel lonely.” With which Piagetian stage do Thomas’ abilities correspond?
(a) sensorimotor
(b) preoperational
(c) concrete operational
(d) formal operational

Answer 15

(d) formal operational

Question 16

Which of the following statements is TRUE?
(a) The habituation procedure has been used to show that Piaget overestimated children’s abilities.
(b) Children who show the A-not-B error think that the object is hidden in Place A, even though it has really been hidden in Place B.
(c) Piaget emphasised qualitative changes in children’s abilities, whereas more modern researchers tend to emphasise quantitative changes.
(d) None of the above.

Answer 16

(b) Children who show the A-not-B error think that the object is hidden in Place A, even though it has really been hidden in Place B.

Question 17

You are visiting a friend in hospital when you see a little girl telling her father that she wants to be a doctor. The father tells her that she should be more concerned about marrying someone with a good salary so that she can stay at home and raise children. The father is describing:
(a) a gender trait
(b) a gender stereotype
(c) a gender bias
(d) a gender role

Answer 17

(b) a gender stereotype

Question 18

Ollie’s parents are trying to get him to stop biting his sister. They notice that harsh punishments don’t seem to have much effect on Ollie’s biting behaviour. When they move to a more subtle form of discipline, it’s not long before Ollie starts treating his
sister with respect all of the time. This is an example of:
(a) authoritative parenting
(b) authoritarian parenting
(c) the principle of minimal sufficiency
(d) emotional regulation

Answer 18

(c) the principle of minimal sufficiency

Question 19

Kohlberg conceptualised moral development as a progression through a series of stages. According to his theory:
(a) people who are concerned about what people think of them are more morally advanced than those who are motivated by the threat of punishment
(b) moral reasoning based on personal principles is followed by moral reasoning based on social or cultural standards of behaviour
(c) morality based on personal fears or desires develops later than moral reasoning based on social conventions
(d) all of the above

Answer 19

(a) people who are concerned about what people think of them are more morally advanced than those who are motivated by the threat of punishment

Question 20

Which of the following is true of imaginary companions?
(a) Prior to the 1980s, imaginary companions were probably described in spiritual or religious terms.
(b) Around half of imaginary companions are based on real people.
(c) Imaginary companions are slightly more common in boys than girls.
(d) None of the above.

Answer 20

(d) None of the above.

Question 21

Butler, Gross, and Hayne (1995) examined the effect of drawing on children’s reports about a trip to the fire station. “Draw and tell” and “tell” children ______________ in the amount of details provided during free recall, and ______________ in the accuracy of the information they provided.

(a) differed; differed
(b) differed; did not differ
(c) did not differ; differed
(d) did not differ; did not differ

Answer 21

(d) did not differ; did not differ

Question 22

When learning to draw human figures, children progress through a predictable series of stages. Which of the following shows stages in chronological order?
(a) Separation of head and trunk, representation of neck, substance added to limbs, use of profile.
(b) Representation of neck, arms correctly placed, varying expressions, use of profile.
(c) Arms correctly placed, representation of neck, substance added to limbs, varying
expressions.
(d) None of the above.

Answer 22

(d) None of the above. (neck comes last)

Question 23

As the questions that interviewers ask children become more specific, children provide ______________ information, and that information becomes ______________ accurate.

(a) less; less
(b) less; more
(c) more; less
(d) more; more

Answer 23

(c) more; less

Question 24

Which of the following statements is true about Boyatzis and colleagues’ (1995) study looking at the effect of Power Rangers on children’s behaviour?

(a) Those who watched Power Rangers committed 7 aggressive acts for every aggressive act committed by a control child.
(b) The lowest rate of aggressive acts was observed for girls in the control group.
(c) The study provides no information about the long-term effects of violent TV
on children’s behaviour.
(d) All of the above.

Answer 24

(a) Those who watched Power Rangers committed 7 aggressive acts for every aggressive act committed by a control child.