Psy Test 1

Dr. Simpson finds a positive .50 correlation between ice cream cone sales and violent crimes in a community. which of the following represents the best interpretation of this result?

A third variable, such as heat, may account for the association between ice cream sales and violent crime

night terrors differ from nightmares in that night terrors

are less common than nightmares

controlled processes

are slower than automatic processes

The sympathetic system and parasympathetic nervous system are composites of the

autonomic nervous system

according to E. C. Tolman

behavior is goal-directed

The placebo effect can weaken the _________ of the experiment

internal validity

according to research on alcoholism which of the following individuals is most likely to become dependent on alcohol

Aaron who began drinking at age 12 with the neighborhood kids

Ellie has recently experienced irregular mood swings. her energy level has decreased and she seems to have greater difficulty coping with stress. Based on her symptoms, it seems as though Ellie may have problems with her ______ glands

Adrenal

According to Bandura's model of observational learning, what are the four primary processes involved in observational learning

Attention, retention, motor reproduction, and reinforcement

in the human cell, threadlike structures that come in 23 pairs, one member of each pair originating from each parent, and that contain DNA are called

Chromosomes

which of the following statements about correlational research is FALSE?

Correlational methods are useful for establishing cause and effect relationships between two variables

Which of the following statements about critical thinking is FALSE?

Critical thinking increases the likelihood that conclusions will be based on unreliable personal beliefs, opinions, and motions

which element in this scenario represents the latent content of the dream

Gary's concern over monthly bills

_____ provided support, nutritional benefits, and other functions in the nervous system

Glial cells

Dr. Jimand poses as a student for his study of foreign students who are adjusting to college life in the United States. Dr Jimand lives in the dorm with the students and attends classes with them. The students do not know that he is a researcher. which of the following research methods is Dr. Jimand using?

Naturalistic Observation

After taking her English final, Natlie attempt to relax in her chair by meaditating. she is attempting to reduce her heart and desperation rates, as well as her muscular tension. In this scenario her physiological relaxation can be best attributed to the functioning of her ______ nervous system

Parasympathetic

which of the following techniques involves an analyst unlocking a person's unconscious conflicts by talking with the individual about his or her childhood memories, dreams, thoughts, and feelings?

Psychoanalysis

if you were a psychologist who adopted the structuralism approach, you would be interested in the __________ of the mind, using ____________ as your primary research method

Structures/introspective

the smallest intensity of a stimulus that you can detect 50 percent of the time is the

absolute threshold

Stand-up comedians who improvise constantly while on stage are demonstrating their ability to change according to the environment. which of the following characteristics of the nervous system is most likely playing a predominant role in their adaptability

adaptability

the perception that a stationary object is moving is known as ____

apparent movement

Marshall's cerebellum was damaged in a car accident. Marshal is likely to have problems with

balance and muscle coordination

Dr. cardinale is interested in the effects of heredity and environment on intelligence. she compares the similarity of IQ scores of identical twins to the similarity of IQ scores of fraternal twins. in this case , Dr. Cardinale is studying heredity's influence on behavior using

behavior genetics

According to thorndike's law of effect,

behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are strengthened and behaviors followed by frustrating outcomes are weakened

psychologists who adopt a _______ approach examine behavior and mental process through focusing on the body, especially the brain and nervous system

biology

Melanie is learning how to read Spanish by sounding out each word one letter at a time. Melanie is engaging

bottom-up processing

the most widely used stimulants in the world are _____ and ____

caffeine/nicotine

which of the following statements about cochlear implants is FALSE?

cochlear implants, like hearing aids, work by amplifying sound

Dr. Ingle has spent a lifetime studying how adults solve mathematical problems. it is likely that Dr, Ingle specializes in ______ psychology

cognitive

when a person reads a book, the black ink of the words on the white pages looks the same, regardless of the place, time, and lighting in the room. This best demonstrates the phenomenon of

color constancy

the iris is the

colored of the eyes that contain muscles that control the size of the pupil

carol gives her dog spike a chew stick each time spike gets the ball back at her command. Carol is using a ____ schedule to train her dog to get the ball back on command

continuous reinforcement

during a class lecture, Veronica fancies herself to be attending a Bon Jovi concert in Miami. she is most likely

daydreaming

After the study has been completed, the researchers should inform the participants of its purpose and the methods they used. this is in accordance to the principle of

debriefing

Jane is having trouble sleeping. as she sits in bed looking around the the darken room, she notices that her peripheral vision seems to be better than her central vision. this is because vision in low light conditions

depends on the rods

college students who consume large amounts of alcohol on weekends are abusing which type(s) of drug?

depressants

the goal of_______ research is to determine the basic definition and dimensions of the phenomenon under investigation

descriptive

in the _____, fibers connect directly with the thalamus and then to the motor and sensory areas of the cerebral cortex

fast pathways

Ally, an athlete, believes she does not have the ability to improve her running time, despite her practicing every day. which of the following explains Ally's attitude

fixed mindset

in operant conditioning, ______ means preforming a reinforced heavier in a different situation

generalization

mark's dog, Gus, sits whenever he says "sit." Mark now wants to teach Gus a new trick. he wants to teach him to bark each time he says, "speak," but whenever Mary says, "speak," Gus sits. The dog's behavior is most likely an example of

generalization

if Howard, a student, has most common form of colorblindness, he will have trouble distinguishing

green from blue and red

which category of drugs modify a person's perceptual experiences and produce visual images that are not real?

hallucinogens

helen, a call center employee working in a day shift, has been asked to work a night shift on Tuesday. During her night shift, Hannah falls asleep at her desk around midnight. which of the following can best explain her behavior

her biological clock has become desynchronized

Nathan is suffering from amnesia , an illness that prevents the retrival of new memories. in the context of the organization of the Brian, which area of Nathan's brain is most likely responsible for the amnesia

hippocampus

Allie has developed a theory covering test grades of high school students. she believes that there is a strong causal relationship between students' frequency of study and their grades in high school. In the context of psychology's scientific method, I order to test her theory, Allie would first have to state a

hypothesis

in the context of experimental research, the logic of random assignment is

if participants in an experiment are assigned to each group only by chance, the potential differences between the groups on the other characteristics will cancel out over the long run

it is the end of the month and Cindy has several bills yet to pay, but she does not have much money left. she spends most of the day thinking how she is going to make payments. later, while watching TV, she finds a solution to her problem. Cindy is demonstrating

incubation

in the experiment, the ______ is conceptualized as the "potential cause" and the ______ is conceptualized as the "effect"

independent variable/ dependent variable

Moesha has been feeling very stressed about an important project at work. she has difficulty falling asleep and awakens frequently during the night. Moesha is most likely suffering from

insomnia

______ refers to the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable

internal validity

classical conditioning most effectively explains how neutral stimuli become associated with

involuntary responses

in which of the following ways does functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) detect the functioning of the brain

it exploits changes in blood oxygen that occurs in association with the brain activity

in the context of the chemical senses, which of the following is true of the neural pathway of smell?

it first goes to the olfactory areas in the temporal lobe

which of the following is a significance of the brain-lesioning process?

it gives a sense of the functions of the damaged brain regions

in the visual system, which of the following statements is true of parallel processing

it is the simultaneous distribution of information across different neural pathways

Identify a true statement about mechanoreception

it plays a significant role in detection of vibration and movement

which of the following is true of a variable-ratio schedule in operant conditioning?

it produces high, steady rates of behavior that are more resistant to extinction than other schedules

____ is defined as a type of learning that occurs without reinforcement. however, this learning is not demonstrated until the person or animal is reinforced to do so.

latent learning

experience with unavoidable negative stimuli can lan to a particular defect in avoidance learning called _____, in which the organism, exposed to uncontrollable adverse stimuli, learns that it has no control over negative outcomes

learned helplessness

the ear drum is located in the

middle ear

which of the following is true of auditory processing in the brain

most of the auditory information from the left ear goes to the right side of the brain, but some also goes to the left side of the brain

a powerful surge of oxytocin is released in a

mother who has just given birth

A ______ is a layer of fat cells that insulates most axons and speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses

myelin sheath

the removal of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior is called

negative reinforcement

Miranda is learning to play tennis. For her lesson, her instructor models serving and backhand returns while miranda patiently watches. Miranda then tries to imitate the sequence of swings and motions made by her instructor. Which of the following concepts best describes Miranda's learning process

observational learning

as a result of a brain injury after an accident, James lost his vision. which of the following regions of Jame's cerebral cortex is most likely to be damaged

occipital lobe

the _____ is made up of axons of the ganglion cell, which carries visual information to the brain for further processing

optic nerve

Gregory is an excellent basketball player. he is always able to gauge the distance between himself and the basket correctly, and he never misses a shot. which of the following regions of the cerebral cortex should function most effectively to help him use the spatial location skill?

parietal lobe

researchers usually must submit their findings to a journal for review by their colleagues who make a decision about whether to publish depending on its scientific merit. this process is known as a

peer review

the ______ connects the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body

peripheral nervous system

the membrane of the resting neuron is said to be

polarized

todd is scolded each time he bullies his little brother by taking away his toys. his mother notices that the frequency of bullying has decreased. scolding todd is an example of

positive punishment

Although several bulbs have burned out on the Movie Buff Theater's sign at the entrance and the letters are not completely formed, Caleb can still read the announcement for the upcoming movie. which gestalt principle best accounts for this phenomenon?

principle of closure

J.B. Watson and B.F. Skinner believed that

psychology should focus on a organism's visible interactions with the environment- that is, behaviors

which of the following statements about the effectiveness of hypnosis is FALSE?

research does not supports the claim that hypnosis can reduce the experience of pain

A______ is the subset of a population selected to participate in the study

sample

Jennifer is a chain smoker. when her friend iene, a non-smoker, gets in the car with Jennifer, who was surprised by the comment. Jennifer claims that when she sniffs her hair and clothing she can't sense the smokey scent. Jennifer's inability to detect the smoky scent is an example of

sensory adaption

Mitchell wants to quit smoking, so he decided ti try hypnosis as a form of treatment. what is the first step that the therapist will most likely take when attempting to hypnotize Mitchell?

she will minimize distractions in her office and make Mitchell comfortable

Kevin suffers from _____. with his condition, he reawakens several times during the night so that he can breath better

sleep apnea

If psychologist studies about the behavioral differences between people from two religions, he or she is most likely following the _______ approach to psychology

sociocultural

which of the following is true of the nature of sound

sound waves vary in frequency as well as in amplitude

the left hemisphere of the brain plays an important tole in managing or regulating

speech and grammar

Marcia is no longer romantically involver with john as they broke up after a three0year relationship. they have no interaction with each other. one day in the mall, she suddenly gets a wife of the cologne that John always wore. All the former good feelings come pouring back. the sudden onset of good feelings triggered by the cologne is an example of

spontaneous recovery

in classical conditioning, organisms learn the association between two

stimuli

Little Albert was conditioned by John Watson to fear a white rat. eventually, however, Albert became fearful of any stimulus that looked white and furry. He became scared not only of rats, but also of rabbits, dogs, and even sealskin coats. this study illustrates

stimulus generalization in classical conditioning

which of the following refers to the detection of information below the level of conscious awareness

subliminal perception

which of the following refers to tiny spaces between neurons

synapses

which of the following regions of the brain are involved in meditation?

the basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex

which of the following statements is true of REM sleep

the longer the period of REM sleep, the more likely the person will report dreaming

miguel has been unable to sleep for the past one week. his wife gives him a vitamin pill and tells him that it will help him sleep at night. the next morning, miguel is thrilled because he has slept better than ever before. in this scenario, Miguel's responce to the vitamin can be attribute to

the placebo effect

_____ refers to individuals' understanding that they and others think, feel, perceive, and have private experiences

theory of mind

which of the following is a potential problem of using correlational studies in psychological research

they fail to establish a clear causal relationship between variables

why do psychoactive drugs make people feel good?

they increase dopamine levels in the brain's reward pathways

the need to take increasing amounts of a drug to get the same effect that a lower dose used to bring is called

tolerance

Melinda suffers from migraine headaches and seizures. in the context of neurotransmitters functioning, which of the following most likely plays a significant role in her symptoms

too much glutamate

_____, such as Valium, are depressant drugs that reduce anxiety and induce relaxation

tranquilizers

in Pavlov's experiment, the dog automatically salivated to food because food is a(n)

unconditional stimulus (us)

Before the bell was ever presented, Pavlov's dog salivated each time food was presented. in this situation, salivation is the

uncontrolled response

Identify a true statement about different types of sensory functions

visual information is mainly processed in the occipital lobes