Psychology AP Classroom review questions

A school collected data on student absences during stressful final exam periods when their sympathetic nervous systems would be activated. They graphed the data at the end of the academic term. Based on the graph, what is the most likely standard deviation for the number of days students missed classes?

2.0

Colleen received a score of 100 on an IQ test. The mean for the test is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. Assume the test had a normal distribution of scores. Colleen's score on the test was equal to or greater than the scores of what percent of people?

50

Shayna is chronically tired and decides to record how many hours of sleep she is getting. Her data for the last ten nights include the following estimated hours: 8, 8, 8, 4, 6, 3, 6, 10, 6, 5. What number represents the median value?

6

Which of the following is the best example of an aptitude test?

A company tests applicants for a personality trait that is linked to better job performance.

Diffusion of responsibility has been used to explain which of the following findings in social psychology?

A person who is alone while witnessing an emergency is more likely to help than if he were part of a group.

Which of the following studies is from an evolutionary perspective?

A study to see if women were more attracted to men who liked children than men who did not like children

After George completes his PhD in psychology, his former classmate Danielle congratulates him and tells him that he must be a very intelligent and conscientious student. When George asks why Danielle didn't complete the degree, she tells him that she was too busy juggling her work and family responsibilities to have time for school. Which psychological concept exemplifies Danielle's explanation?

Actor-observer bias

Andi's best friend always screamed when she was in high places, and now Andi also screams when she is in high places. Which of the following theorists would say that Andi screams because she saw her friend scream?

Albert Bandura

Researchers presented a picture of four stimuli to a group of college students and measured their heart rate by counting how many beats occurred in one minute. Which of the following brain structures would be most responsible for the emotional reaction as measured by heart rate after seeing the spider and the snake?

Amygdala

A research study seeks to examine the influence of REM sleep disruption on memory and attention. To investigate this, researchers gather a representative sample of healthy participants ages 18 to 40 years old with no prior history of sleep disorders or psychiatric conditions. They give each participant a baseline cognitive functioning test. The participants are housed in a sleep research lab for the duration of the study where they have their REM sleep disrupted multiple times each night. Following a three-week period of REM sleep disruption, participants will repeat the initial cognitive assessments to evaluate changes in performance. Which of the following research methods is being used in this study?

An experiment

Researchers have found a negative correlation between the signature strength of wisdom and dental problems. What conclusion can correctly be drawn from this statement?

As wisdom increases, the likelihood of dental problems decreases.

A psychologist describes the following steps to a client, while the client is practicing relaxation techniques, in order to treat the client's psychological disorder: You are entering a large building. You are pressing a button for an elevator. You are stepping into an elevator. You are watching the doors close after entering the elevator. You are traveling five floors on the elevator. Which type of therapy is most closely associated with the technique used in this method? Responses

Behavioral

Bellah grew up in a family that taught her that life can be hard, but a positive attitude about stress is always a better choice. As Bellah was moving away from home and starting college, she experienced some difficulties with adjusting to her new environment and schedule. Which of the following best describes why Bellah would describe her difficulties as eustress instead of distress?

Bellah's family taught her norms about stress that lead to her have positive expectations about stress as a young adult.

Which of the following is the best example of a homeostatic process?

Cathy drinks a large amount of water to reduce thirst after a long race.

Which of the following is true about gender roles in children?

Children often develop traditional gender roles despite parents discouragement of such roles.

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 two stimuli, whereas operant conditioning involves the formation of associations between responses and their consequences.

Although Paul seems bright and capable to his parents and friends, he has been failing in school. Paul agrees to speak with a psychologist, who suggests that his problems stem from internal processes such as unrealistic expectations and negative thinking. The psychologist's view is typical of which of the following models of behavior?

Cognitive

Which theoretical perspective in psychology attempts to characterize the way in which humans store and process sensory information?

Cognitive

Deandra creates a detailed mental image of the spatial layout of the biology lab where she will take her final exams. The mental image of the spatial layout is called which of the following?

Cognitive map

Dr. Kucinski developed an English aptitude test to give to students who wish to register for his advanced English course. Which of the following is the best way to determine if his test has predictive validity?

Comparing students' scores on the test with their final grades in his class

During a political debate, Candidate A expresses detailed facts on an important issue. Candidate B responds with an emotional appeal on the same issue. Which method of persuasion is each of the candidates using?

During a political debate, Candidate A expresses detailed facts on an important issue. Candidate B responds with an emotional appeal on the same issue. Which method of persuasion is each of the candidates using?

The psychosocial theory of development assumes which of the following principles underlies development at all stages?

Each stage in the life span presents the task of resolving a different conflict.

Neurotransmitters that function like the drug morphine and are involved in pain modulation include which of the following?

Endorphins

An individual's ability to remember the day he or she first swam the length of a swimming pool is most clearly an example of which of the following kinds of memory?

Episodic

A childhood friend asked Jeffrey whether he remembered where they went on summer vacation when they were eight years old. Jeffrey's ability to recall correctly will rely on which of the following?

Episodic memory

In the Strange Situation experiment, infants who were classified as securely attached were more likely to do which of the following?

Express happiness when the mother returned to the room

For every twenty cell phones that Tom sells, he will get a $50 bonus. The bonuses are an example of which of the following types of reinforcement schedules?

Fixed ratio

A person with a severe head injury subsequently acts irresponsibly, does not seem to be able to plan effectively, and is easy to anger. Which of the following brain areas is most likely injured?

Frontal lobe(governs self control and foresight)

George was late for his early morning class. The teacher believed that the reason for George's tardiness was simply laziness. In fact, George was late because a serious automobile accident prevented him from arriving to campus on time. Which of the following social psychology principles most accurately describes the teacher's assumption?

Fundamental attribution error

John moves to a new job in a large urban area. For the first few days, John is continuously distracted by the sounds of traffic and street noise. By the end of the first week, John barely notices the sounds of the city. Which of the following has occurred?

Habituation

Fatima tries out for the debate team at her school because she believes that debate team members are the smartest kids in school. She is not chosen as a team member. After failing to make the debate team, Fatima remembers that the students who made the team last school year were juniors and members of the History Club. She now decides that she knew she should not have tried out since she is a sophomore and not a member of the History Club. Which of the following cognitive processes is Fatima using to justify her failure to make the team?

Hindsight bias

After Doug witnessed two cars involved in a car accident, a police officer asked Doug how fast the cars were going when the accident happened. According to research by Elizabeth Loftus, which of the following questions could the officer ask that would make Doug most susceptible to the misinformation effect?

How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?

Which of the following perspectives argues that every person has the potential to become self-actualized?

Humanistic

Two researchers are interested in the social skills by people with synesthesia to perceive color. Researcher A interviews people with this disorder, and Researcher B creates a survey with a dozen questions that the participants answer using a numeric scale. Which of the following is true about this research scenario?

Researcher B is using a quantitative measure.

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?

Schema

Jeremy happily played with his colorful blocks while his mother was nearby. When his mother left the room, he became upset, but he quickly stopped crying and began to play with the blocks again. When his mother returned, he greeted her happily. Which of the following patterns of attachment reflects Jeremy's actions?

Secure

The graph illustrates which of the following psychological concepts?

Serial position effect

Carlos sees the figure above as six unified columns, not four unified rows. Which of the following Gestalt principles is operating most strongly?

Similarity

Neurologists trying to find a treatment for Alzheimer's disease selected 100 individuals with moderate to severe symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Fifty participants were randomly placed into either an experimental condition that received a new medication that acted as an agonist for acetylcholine or the control condition which continued to receive same care as before. The study lasted for ten weeks at which time members of both groups took a cognitive assessment to determine their level of functioning. Which of the following best explains the operational definition of the dependent variable in this study?

The score on the cognitive assessment.

The Big Five personality factors are based in which psychological perspective?

Trait psychology

MacKeller looks at the blooming cherry trees on a visit to Washington, DC's National Cherry Blossom Festival. Which of the following refers to the transformation of the visual image of the cherry trees into neural impulses that are perceived by the brain?

Transduction (the transformation of stimulus energy into neural impulses)

Hailey is fishing on a small boat. The water is choppy, causing Hailey to lose their balance and fall onto the deck. Which of the following senses most likely contributed to Hailey's fall?

Vestibular

Dr. Schmidt was interested in the relationship between sensation of a stimulus and the sensation of change in a stimulus. She tested this using sensation of weight. Participants were blindfolded and given two equal weights to hold one in each hand. With each trial, she added a slightly heavier weight to one hand than the other. The participant was asked to notify her if or when one felt heavier. She found that it was more difficult for the participants to determine the difference in the weights when the equal weights from the first trial were heavy. Dr. Schmidt's findings best support which of the following psychological concepts?

Weber's law

Dr. Gomez conducts research looking at similarities in identical twins. In one study, she is interested in looking at athletic ability. What do the results in the graph indicate?

When one twin demonstrates high athletic ability, so does the other twin.

Which of the following best describes the primacy effect?

When people have better recall of things that occur at the beginning of a sequence

A problem-solving strategy that is thorough but often inefficient when it is used by humans is an example of which of the following concepts?

an algorithm

Curare blocks action at acetylcholine synapses and causes paralysis. This drug is an example of an

antagonist

It is easier to condition individuals to be afraid of snakes than of electrical outlets because of a phenomenon called

biological preparedness

People who are color blind most likely have deficiencies in their

cones

The debate over whether development occurs gradually, without discernible shifts, or through a series of distinct stages is termed

continuity vs. discontinuity

An emotion researcher found that when Japanese students watched films of surgery, they masked their expressions of disgust with a smile when an authority figure entered the room but not when alone. American students maintained their expressions of disgust both alone and in the presence of an authority figure. These findings illustrate which of the following?

display rules

A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. This research method is best characterized as

experimental

Researchers at a local veteran's hospital wanted to explore the impact of traumatic brain injuries on veteran's ability to sleep. Which of the following would the researchers use if they wanted to see the brain activity in a particular area of the brain as the veteran's were sleeping?

fMRI

The psychological experience of pitch is related to a sound wave's

frequency

A basic assumption underlying the definition of groupthink is that

group members desire peace and harmony within the group

A goal of cognitive therapists is to help their clients

modify the irrational interpretations of their experiences

Four-year-old Moesha screams and cries because she wants a candy bar. When her father, Bill, finally gives in and buys her the candy, she stops screaming. Bill tells the grocery clerk it will always be worth paying for candy to get Moesha to stop screaming. Bill's act of buying the candy is

negatively reinforced

Lisa is a college English major. She believes all math majors are analytical, logical, and serious. Lisa seems to be demonstrating

outgroup homogeneity bias

Two-year-old Jia tells her grandmother that she "sweeped" the floor yesterday. The scenario illustrates that children

overgeneralize the use of grammatical rules

Gestalt psychologists studied how

people see a triangle with missing corners as a complete triangle because of the principle of closure

Alice is shopping with her daughter when she hears the word "mom." Alice answers, only to realize that the sales clerk said "ma'am" to a customer. This inaccurate perception can be attributed to

perceptual set

Barney is a somewhat distractible second-grade student who finds schoolwork a bit boring. After a couple of minutes of working silently, Barney 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 Barney's misbehavior, Ms. Skinner's attention serves as

positive reinforcement

In studying the behavior of five year olds in freeplay situations, a cognitive psychologist would be most interested in the children's

problem-solving strategies

The parietal lobe is most involved in which of the following processes?

processing sensory information

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

recognition

Henry took an intelligence test and scored lower than he thought he should. He kept retaking the test, but he kept getting about the same score each time. This series of events indicates that the test was

reliable

Dr. Naum is studying the function of the temporal lobe of the brain by examining the case study of J.S., an individual who incurred damage in this area during a motor vehicle accident. Dr. Naum administers a battery of tasks multiple times over the course of several weeks to assess J.S.'s cognitive abilities. The graph below shows J.S.'s performance on three different tasks. The bar on the left shows his accuracy forming new memories in a lab context, the middle bar shows his accuracy on a driving course, and the bar on the right shows his accuracy on a third task.

remembering events that occurred shortly before his accident

In vision, transduction occurs within the

retina

Research shows that women who are referred by a physician to participate in a study of eating disorders have more severe problems than women who volunteer on their own to participate in the study. If research on eating disorders regularly involves only women referred by physicians, the results of the studies might be limited because of the presence of

sampling bias

A student who obtained a percentile rank of 75 on an achievement test is best characterized as having

scored higher than 75% of the test takers

People who believe that their efforts will be successful and that they are in control of events have a high level of which of the following?

self-efficacy

Waking up frequently, loud snoring, silent pauses in breathing, and sleepiness during the day are symptoms of which of the following disorders?

sleep apnea

Gender stereotypes are developed as a result of

societal norms and other environmental factors

A newborn child is irritable, intense, and unpredictable. A developmental psychologist describes this child as difficult. This categorization is most likely referring to

temperament

To remember a list of words, Jerry tries walking through his bedroom and making associations between words on the list and various areas he visits in his bedroom. Jerry is trying to improve his memory encoding by using which of the following memory concepts?

the method of loci

Piper reads about someone described as adventurous and extroverted. She then judges that this person is more likely to be a lawyer who enjoys hiking than a lawyer who does not. The best explanation for Piper's error is that she is basing her judgment on

the representativeness heuristic

Four-year-old Maria knows that she has eaten all her peanuts, but she also realizes that Robbie, who cannot see inside her bag, may not know the peanuts are gone. Her awareness demonstrates that Maria has

theory of mind

Metacognition refers to

thinking about thinking

The original dopamine hypothesis refers to the view that schizophrenia is at least partially caused by

too much dopamine in the brain

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?

Reliability

Arjun was diagnosed with epilepsy and struggled with seizures regularly. After trying multiple unsuccessful treatments, his neurologist recommended surgery that severed the connections between the two hemispheres of the brain. After surgery, Arjun experienced changes that were noticed during special testing in a laboratory setting by a researcher. In the laboratory, psychologists flashed different images or words to his left and right visual fields. Arjun could easily speak the names of items that were flashed to his right visual field. He could not easily speak the names of items that were flashed to this left visual field. Arjun was studied by a researcher for many years, and his experiences went unchanged. The researcher published the research with Arjun where he shared Arjun's experience and his first and last name. Which of the following parts of the brain was severed to address Arjun's epileptic seizures?

Corpus Callosum

Using the diagram, during which of the following do individuals typically dream?

D

Paula lacks self-confidence. She has a difficult time expressing disagreement with others, and she usually lets friends make decisions for her. Others have commented that they do not know who the "real" Paula is. With which of the following personality disorders might Paula be diagnosed?

Dependent (also possibly borderline)

Which of the following neurotransmitters has been linked to Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia?

Dopamine

Dr. Popoca studied the characteristics of individuals experiencing red-green and yellow-blue color vision deficiency. They recruited one individual with each type of color vision deficiency and assessed each person three times per week for a period of three months. They found that all of the participants in their study were left-handed. Following their research, Dr. Popoca concludes that all individuals who experience dichromatism are left-handed. Why is their conclusion inappropriate based on their research strategy?

Dr. Popoca has conducted a case study, which cannot be generalized to the population.

A nine-year-old girl first learning about her capabilities on the playground and in the classroom would be in which of psychosocial stage of development?

Industry vs. Inferiority

Research on intelligence tests must be especially mindful of ethical principles related to confidentiality of data. A major reason for this is best described by which of the following?

Intelligence test scores have been used to determine access to opportunities such as jobs and education.

Which of the following monocular depth cues is most represented in the image?

Linear perspective

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. Which of the following disorders is hypothesized to result most frequently from real-world conditions that are similar to those used in the study?

Major depressive

Amirah attended a concert for her favorite band. As the band played her favorite song, Amirah sang along and repeated one of the lyrics incorrectly. Another person nearby heard the mistake and told her she had made a mistake, Amirah was confident she heard and sang the lyric correctly. What term best describes Amirah's belief?

Overconfidence

Dr. Copeland is interested in studying how diet impacts the nervous system activity of professional dancers. She randomly assigns a group of professional ballet dancers to either a protein-rich diet or a carbohydrate-rich diet. After three weeks on each food plan, she measures the function of specific parts of the brain and nervous systems while they are dancing.Which of the following is most relevant to digesting carbohydrate-rich meals and resting after dance practice?

Parasympathetic nervous system

Egocentrism, animism, and artificialism are characteristic of which of Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development?

Preoperational

Company executives want to test whether customers who have already used Model A will be able to learn more quickly to skateboard using Model B as compared to those who have no experience. The company's research team recruits 50 participants for their study and randomly assigns them to two groups. Group 1 is given 3 weeks of skateboarding lessons using the Model A skateboard. Group B does not have lessons on how to use a skateboard. At the end of the 3-week period, both groups are given skateboarding lessons using the Model B skateboard. The research team collects data on how long it takes individuals in each group to become proficient at skateboarding on Model B. They find that it takes Group 1 participants significantly longer to become proficient on Model B, as compared to Group 2. What cognitive process helps explain the results found by the Cory's Skateboards team?

Proactive interference

Which of the following perspectives suggests that depression is due to the unconscious conflicts and hostile feelings that originate in early childhood?

Psychodynamic

Jalil goes to a party where he meets several new people. When he tells his brother about it the next day, he can only remember the names of the last 3 people that he met. Which of the following memory concepts best describes Jalil's memory for the names of the people at the party?

Recency effect

Which of the following is the correct sequence of the reflex arc of events set in motion by an environmental stimulus?

Receptors, sensory neurons, interneurons, motor neurons

Being able to perform a complex action after watching another person perform it is an example of which of the following types of learning?

Social

Tamara's coach reminds the team not to eat for several hours before the basketball game because the digestive process will be slowed down due to the intense activity. Which of the following aspects of the peripheral nervous system is directly responsible for slowing down digestive processes during the game?

Sympathetic nervous system

A researcher has a hypothesis that men are more likely to be influenced by the central route to persuasion when buying a car than women are. The researcher randomly selects thirty men and thirty women to observe while they buy a car, and the researcher finds that women pay attention to information about the reliability of the car, whereas men pay attention to available colors that the car comes in. Which conclusion can the researcher draw?

The hypothesis is not supported, because the results indicate that women are influenced more by the central route to persuasion than men are.

Dr. Copeland is interested in studying how diet impacts the nervous system activity of professional dancers. She randomly assigns a group of professional ballet dancers to either a protein-rich diet or a carbohydrate-rich diet. After three weeks on each food plan, she measures the function of specific parts of the brain and nervous systems while they are dancing.Dr. Copeland found that ballet dancers on a carbohydrate-rich diet had greater activity levels in the somatic nervous system. Which is a prediction that can be made from these findings?

The nervous system activation for any other type of dancers on carbohydrate-rich diets would be similar.