AP PSYCH UNIT 2 MCQ REVIEW

Researchers studying stereotype threat are concerned that approximately 80 percent of study participants are drawn from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societies that comprise only 12 percent of the world's population. Of the following explanations, which best represents why this finding leads to such uneasiness among psychologists? Responses A Without a representative sample, it is difficult to identify the independent variable in a study. B Unrepresentative samples have lower test-retest reliability. C A study cannot be considered ethical unless it is representative of the general population. D A representative sample is essential if researchers are to generalize the results to the entire population.

A representative sample is essential if researchers are to generalize the results to the entire population.

Tim can no longer create new memories as a result of an accident. Tim is experiencing which of the following types of amnesia? Responses A Anterograde B Retrograde C Dissociative D Source

Anterograde

Participants were asked to rate the importance of achieving honor-roll status. Researchers found that students from smaller families rated the importance more highly than students from larger families. The research team concluded that a student's attitude toward school achievement is the result of family size. Which of the following is the most important error made by the research team? Responses A Generalizing from extreme examples B Using self-report data C Failing to randomly assign participants to conditions D Assuming that correlation proves causation

Assuming that correlation proves causation

Jeremy is a doctoral student who wants to investigate the effectiveness of a new mnemonic device with third graders. His plan includes asking the children to complete an informed consent form. Which of the following reasons would cause his research project to be denied by an Institutional Review Board? Responses A New teaching techniques are not researched. B Jeremy is not considered a legitimate researcher. C Children can express approval but only parents or legal guardians can provide consent. D Confidentiality cannot be assured in this scenario.

Children can express approval but only parents or legal guardians can provide consent.

Kaori is traveling on an airplane for the first time. As the plane takes off, she watches the automobiles driving on the freeway below. Even though the automobiles seem to get smaller as the airplane gains altitude, Kaori does not perceive the cars as shrinking but still perceives them to be their normal size. Which perceptual principle best describes this phenomenon? Responses A Constancy B Absolute threshold C Contrast D Illusion

Constancy

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? Responses A Internal consistency B Standardization C Construct validity D Predictive validity

Construct validity

(types of practice vs amount remembered) Based on the data, what is the most appropriate conclusion? Responses A Distributed practice is more effective at enhancing longer-term retention of material relative to massed practice. B Distributed practice is more effective than massed practice for short-term memory. C Massed practice is more effective than distributed practice is for enhancing sensory memory. D Massed practice is more effective for longer-term retention than distributed practice is.

Distributed practice is more effective at enhancing longer-term retention of material relative to massed practice.

Devi spent time developing a set of note cards for an upcoming test that used word associations based on what the words meant in relation to each other. Which of the following did Devi use with this study method? Responses A State-dependent memory B Latent learning C Effortful processing D Procedural memory

Effortful processing

Chuck recalls the day last summer when he fell off his bicycle and scraped his knee. This is an example of Responses A iconic memory B procedural memory C semantic memory D episodic memory

Episodic memories

People respond more favorably when they are faced with a 95 percent success rate than with a 5 percent failure rate because of Responses A framing B overconfidence C belief perseverance D the representativeness heuristic

Framing

(drawing of a square created with circles) The ability to see a cube in the diagram above is best explained by which of the following? Responses A Gestalt principles of closure B The inverted and reversed image that a visual stimulus produces on the retina C The opponent process theory of vision D The trichromatic theory of vision

Gestalt principles of closure

Hillary glances at a graph and then turns her head away less than a second later. When she tries to immediately remember what she saw, which of the following types of memory does Hillary use? Responses A Iconic B Declarative C Implicit D Echoic

Iconic

Professor González is a researcher who studies memory encoding. They are interested in evaluating the ability of a new method of note-taking to improve student grades. Group A is trained in the new method and group B uses the traditional outline method of taking notes. What is Professor González' independent variable? Responses A Method of note-taking B Grades C The subject matter used D The number of students per group

Method of note-taking

Many participants in a study of memory were led to falsely believe that they were lost in a shopping mall as a young child. What memory construction error was demonstrated by the researchers' ability to create these artificial memories? Responses A Source amnesia B Misinformation effect C Context-dependent memory D Confirmation bias

Misinformation effect

Convergence is a binocular depth cue that is based on which of the following? Responses A Change in the size of the pupil B Muscular tension that leads to the lens changing shape C Muscular tension that occurs when the eyes turn inward D Fact that there are more rods on the periphery of the retin

Muscular tension that occurs when the eyes turn inward

Josie was given a password by her teacher. To remember the password, she repeated it in her mind multiple times until she typed it into her login screen a few moments later. Which of the following concepts was at work? Responses A Divergent thinking B Iconic memory C Phonological loop D Visuospatial sketchpad

Phonological loop

Cognitive psychologist Dr. Leary designed a study to investigate perception. They asked the participants in Group 1 to read a story about a rabbit and a turtle. Participants in Group 2 did not read the story. Next, participants looked at a series of ambiguous drawings and identified what they saw. Their observations were recorded and categorized. The results are depicted in the graph. Which of the following concepts best applies to the results of Group 1? Responses A Self-fulfilling prophecy B Belief perseverance C Priming D Inattentional blindness

Priming

A man sustains a head injury. After the injury, he is able to tie his shoes, but he does not recall where he lives. Which aspect of the man's memory is intact and which aspect is dysfunctional, respectively? Responses A Procedural and semantic B Procedural and sensory C Episodic and procedural D Episodic and semantic

Procedural and semantic

A psychologist develops a new assessment instrument for depression. She gives it to a sample of clients and then, some time later, gives it to the same sample again. What aspect of the assessment is she evaluating? Responses A Reliability B Validity C Standardization D Clinical significance

Reliability

Hearing the word "ocean" makes Alice think of waves, surfboards, bathing suits, sharks, swimmers, boats, and the beach. The associations she has to the word "ocean" represent which of the following concepts? Responses A Procedural memory B Sensory memory C Accommodation D Schema

Schema

An individual's ability to focus on a particular conversation in a noisy and crowded room is called Responses A auditory localization B dichotic listening C divided attention D selective attention

Selective attention

(probability of recall vs. placement of words in list: U shape) The graph illustrates which of the following psychological concepts? Responses A Spacing effect B Misinformation effect C Serial position effect D Constructive memory

Serial position effect

Using the data in sets A and B, which of the following statements is true? Responses A Set B has a smaller standard deviation than set A. B The mean for set B is smaller than the mean for set A. C Each set of data represents a normal distribution. D Data set B has a skewed distribution.

Set B has a smaller standard deviation than set A.

In an experiment, either a sad video or a happy video was shown to participants to influence their moods. The participants were then asked to memorize a list of words. Later, the participants were again shown either the same video they had seen before memorizing the words or they were shown the other video, and they were then asked to recall the words they had memorized previously. The results of the experiment, summarized in the chart above, best illustrate which psychological concept? Responses A Episodic memory B State-dependent memory C Latent learning D Observational learning

State-dependent memory

(year vs intelligence scores) The data shown in the above graph depict which of the following? Responses A Fluid intelligence B The improving validity of intelligence tests C The Flynn effect D The increased use of culture-fair tests

The Flynn effect

When asked which of two 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 this finding? Responses A A means-end analysis B The representativeness heuristic C The availability heuristic D Inductive reasoning

The availability heuristic

Raj, a four-year-old child, learned to open the door to a classroom by pulling on the handle. Now whenever he approaches any door he pulls on the handle and is confused when that does not work. This is best explained by Raj's having developed which of the following for door opening? Responses A Accommodation B Object permanence C A mental set D Divergent thinking

a mental set

The concept of g is most accurately defined as which of the following? Responses A a specific type of performance that is affected by intelligence B one of seven fundamental abilities that determine behavior C a single, underlying intellectual capacity measured by intelligence tests D the storehouse of knowledge and facts that we accumulate during our adult

a single, underlying intellectual capacity measured by intelligence tests

When trying to solve a problem, Bret uses a logical, step-by-step formula called Responses A a heuristric B insight C priming D an algorithm

an algorithm

During English class, Caleb is worried about an unfinished history project he needs to turn in later in the day. While the English teacher and other students discuss a short story the class just read, Caleb's attention is focused on how to finish the history project. The next day he is unable to recall the short story details presented in English class. The recall problem is most likely due to Responses A retroactive interference B proactive interference C encoding failure D retrieval failure

encoding failure

A researcher tested his memory using combinations of three-letter nonsense syllables. Which of the following graphs best represents his findings about the relationship between forgetting and time? Responses

graph going down from left to right

Dr. Guarini is interested in conducting research that examines how much information people can hold in their working memory. She is unsure whether she needs to conduct an experiment or correlational research. Experimental research differs from correlational research in that experimental research can do which of the following? Responses A allows for prediction B may reveal a causal relation C defines the strength of the relation D uses a dependent variable

may reveal a causal relation

The Psychology Aptitude Test (PAT) 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 Responses A adequate standardization B internal consistency C predictive validity D content validity

predictive validity

People who have difficulty remembering recently learned materials because of similar information learned earlier in life are demonstrating the phenomenon of Responses A cue-dependent forgetting B repression C retroactive interference D proactive interference

proactive interference

A sudden inability to remember how to tie a certain kind of knot indicates a deficit in which kind of memory? Responses A Declarative B Semantic C Episodic D Procedural

procedural

A psychology professor wants to investigate the study habits of students at her university. She cannot collect data from every student but hopes to use a subset of the students to draw accurate conclusions about the behavior of the student body. Which of the following features of research design will best address her goal? Responses A A double-blind procedure B A single-blind procedure C Random sampling D Random assignment

random sampling

Corey has a list of things he needs from the grocery store but forgets his list at home. At the store, Corey struggles to remember the items on his list, but when he sees a display of oranges, he remembers that oranges were on his list. This is an example of Responses A recall B recognition C working memory D sensory memory

recognition

Dr. Roberts conducts a study in which one group of participants counts the number of syllables in each member of a list of twenty words, and the second group creates stories from the same set of words. When later asked to write down as many of the previously seen words as possible, the second group of participants recalls more words than the first group. This study shows the importance of Responses A semantic encoding B maintenance rehearsal C convergent thinking D shallow processing

semantic encoding

On an intelligence test, the number of questions an individual answers correctly is meaningless without which of the following? Responses A Factor analysis B Standardization C g factor D Predictive validity

standarddization

Cognitive psychologists are most likely to study which of the following? Responses A the acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving B how infants move from basic trust to autonomy C the conflicts of the conscious and the unconscious D how survival processes vary across cultures

the acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving

Tom believes he performed poorly on his last three history exams because of bad luck. As a result, he believes he is due for a good score on the next exam and does not study because he is sure he will perform well. The error in his thinking is most likely attributable to Responses A the gambler's fallacy B the availability heuristic C prospective memory D overgeneralization

the gambler's fallacy

Luz, 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 Responses A synesthesia B stimulus variables C top-down processing D feature detection

top down processing

When confronted with the sequence "__N __" at the end of a word in a crossword puzzle, Tony inserts the letters "I" and "G" in the two blanks because that procedure has often led to the correct answer in previous puzzles. This example illustrates the use of Responses A elaborative rehearsal B a heuristic C a prototype D a syllogism

A heuristic

A devoted young father reads a news report that claims many people believe men are not as intelligent in how to properly care for their children. The young father has plans to care for his child that day. Which of the following can be predicted about his performance as a caretaker based on the concept of stereotype threat? Responses A The father will ignore the news reports because they do not apply to him. B The father will experience increased resentment toward childcare. C The father will experience increased anxiety and make mistakes as a caretaker. D The father will develop an insecure attachment with his child.

The father will experience increased anxiety and make mistakes as a caretaker.

In legal cases, research on the misinformation effect is most often used to cast doubt on which of the following? Responses A The knowledge of expert witnesses B The judgment of jurors C The memory of eyewitnesses D The impartiality of judges

The memory of eyewitnesses

Cassidy can only remember the titles of the first few books her teacher told her to get from the library. Which of the following concepts would best explain Cassidy's experience? Responses A Zone of proximal development B Insight learning C The misinformation effect D The primacy effect

The primacy effect

Achariya is lost. She quickly scans the crowd and decides to ask an elderly woman for directions because she believes the woman will be kind. Which method of problem solving did Achariya most likely use? Responses A An algorithm B The availability heuristic C The representativeness heuristic D Divergent thinking

The representativeness heuristic

If mice lack an enzyme essential to the process of long-term potentiation, which of the following will be the most likely consequence? Responses A They will be unable to learn a maze. B They will learn a maze only through observational learning. C They will learn a maze only through classical conditioning. D They will learn a maze only through positive reinforcement.

They will be unable to learn a maze.

Dr. Crump is developing a new personality test that he hopes will measure personality factors similar to those measured by a Big Five personality inventory. His participants take the new personality test and the main Big Five inventory used in clinical settings. The next week the participants take the new personality test again. Dr. Crump finds that the participants in the study had similar scores each time they took the new personality test and that there is a weak positive correlation between the scores on the new personality test and the Big Five inventory. Dr. Crump is most likely to conclude that the new personality test has which of the following qualities? Responses A high reliability and low validity B high reliability and high validity C low reliability and high validity D low reliability and moderate validity

high reliability and low validity

Ricardo can remember the phone numbers of all of his childhood friends correctly. Ricardo probably has which of the following? Responses A high crystallized intelligence B proactive interference C retroactive interference D highly superior autobiographical memory

highly superior autobiographical memory

When Amy was seven years of age, she had a babysitter from France. During this time Amy learned to speak a little French. Years later, when Amy got to college, she signed up for a beginning French class. Amy learned the material in her French class much more quickly than her classmates did. Amy's rapid learning was most likely due to Responses A implicit memory B episodic memory C spontaneous recovery D fluid intelligence

implicit memory

Although she has not sustained any injuries, Riley cannot remember anything before the age of three. She is most likely experiencing Responses A retrograde amnesia B anterograde amnesia C infantile amnesia D proactive interference

infantile amnesia

When Sophie reads her history assignments, she goes over them very carefully and tries to memorize each fact. Emma, on the other hand, studies by trying to relate the new information to things she has experienced, been told about by others, or seen in movies and on television. Emma's performance on history tests will probably be better than Sophie's due to differences in which of the following? Responses A selective attention B levels of processing C iconic memory D chunking

levels of processing

A basic assumption underlying short-term memory is that it is Responses A limited in capacity B unlimited in capacity C not under conscious control D resistant to decay

limited in capacity

Ana injured her eye in an accident and has to wear a patch over the eye while it heals. Which of the following cues would she best be able to use to make judgments about the distance objects are from her? Responses A Convergence B Binocular disparity C Linear perspective D Closure

linear perspective