psychology exam #1
what are some examples of measurements of loudness
25 dB - a whisper heard from 5 ft away 30 dB - an average library 85-90 dB - may cause hearing damage through prolonged exposure
What evidence is there that the left hemisphere of the brain is the primary language processing area?
Broca's and Wernicke's areas are usually on the left.
The brain and the spinal cord make up which of these parts of the nervous system?
CNS
A sample consists of multiple populations.
F
According to structuralists, maladaptive behavior patterns tend to drop out, and only the fittest behavior patterns survive.
F
According to the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association, animals cannot be harmed under any circumstance while conducting research.
F
Acetylcholine is excitatory at the heart but inhibitory at synapses between nerves and muscles that involve voluntary movement.
F
Correlations allow us to determine causality.
F
Neurons carry messages from the axon terminals through the axon to the dendrites.
F
The somatic nervous system controls activities such as heartbeat, respiration, digestion, and dilation of the pupils.
F
Charlie the Chimp saw that the bananas he wanted were out of his reach. He thought for a while and quickly realized he could stack boxes to reach them. Which researcher most likely set up this test of insight?
Kohler
In the context of the brain's language functions, identify the correct statement.
People with Wernicke's aphasia usually speak freely and with proper syntax.
Active touching means continuously moving your hand along the surface of an object so that you continue to receive sensory input from the object.
T
As opposed to a dependent variable, an independent variable is manipulated by the experimenters so that its effects may be determined.
T
Direct artificial stimulation of the parietal lobe produces a sense of being touched somewhere on your body.
T
Researchers historically agreed on four primary taste qualities: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.
T
Subliminal simulation may have the ability to influence people's behaviors
T
The left hemisphere of the brain is relatively more involved in tasks that require logic and problem solving than the right hemisphere.
T
Amir suffered a closed head injury in a car accident and now he has trouble understanding the relationship between words and their meanings. What part of his brain was most likely damaged?
Wernicke's area
what is a texture gradient
a monocular cue for depth based on the perception that closer objects appear to have rougher surfaces
what is a dichromat
a person who is sensitive to black-white and either red-green or blue-yellow and is, therefore, partially color-blind
What is stroboscopic motion?
a visual illusion in which the perception of motion is generated by a series of stationary images that are presented in rapid succession
what is an example of an absolute threshold of sound
a watch ticking from about 20 ft away in a quiet room
Brandon is a psychologist who is studying the relationship between heredity and mood disorders. He strongly believes that behavior and mental processes have a connection with the brain, hormones, heredity, and evolution. Brandon's beliefs are most consistent with which perspective?
biological
When your instructor turns off the light in the classroom in order to make the PowerPoint slides easier to see, it may look like the projector suddenly got more powerful. You know that the appearance hasn't actually changed due to which concept?
brightness constancy
Alejandro is participating in a study of a drug that is supposed to increase reaction time and foot speed. If neither he nor the researcher knows if Alejandro got the real drug or the placebo, what kind of study is it?
double blind
what is the law of common fate
elements seen moving together are perceived as belonging together
Which chemical messenger intensifies most emotions and is central to the experience of fear and anxiety?
epinephrine
Breonna insists racism is only present if a person violently attacks someone of another race while spewing racial slurs, but Jacqueline believes that racism happens when someone supports policies that benefit one group over another. On which point and aspect of critical thinking do Breonna and Jacqueline disagree?
examine definitions of terms
The perception of objects or events through means other than the recognized sensory organs is termed ________.
extrasensory perception
The surface of the cerebrum—the cerebral cortex—is wrinkled, or convoluted, with ridges and valleys. These valleys are known as ________.
fissures
what is frequency theory
for us to perceive lower pitches, we need to match the frequency of the sound waves w our neural impulses
Culturally defined concepts of masculinity and femininity are described as which of the following?
gender
Caroline is a psychologist who studies how stress induces ailments such as heart problems and headaches. Some of her clients are smokers, and she is helping them quit smoking. She also suggests lifestyle changes to her clients to help them reduce and cope with stress. Caroline can best be described as a(n) ________.
health psychologist
Alicia was recently in a car accident. Since then, she cannot retain memories of events that occurred after the accident. However, she can recall events that took place before the accident. She recognizes her family and friends and important dates, such as her birthday and her marriage anniversary, but has to be constantly reintroduced to the new people in her life. Alicia has most likely sustained damage to her ________.
hippocampus
A participant's agreement to participate in research after receiving information about the purposes of the study and the nature of the treatments is referred to as ________.
informed consent
Whenever we hear a loud, unexpected sound, we often have a startle response. The pattern of behavior that is triggered in this specific situation is called a (an)
instinct
As you walk into a brightly lit room, the black structure in the center of your eye seems to shrink to a tiny black dot. This response is caused by the action of the eye structure called the ________.
iris
what is proximity
nearness
What is sent by a neuron to relay its message to another neuron?
neurotransmitters
what is an example of an absolute threshold of smell
one drop of perfume diffused throughout a small house (one particle out of 500 million)
what is an example of an absolute threshold of taste
one teaspoon of sugar dissolved in two gallons of water
Which structure serves as a sort of telephone wire from the eyes to the brain?
optic nerve
When you look at a pair of train tracks and see them appear to converge as they move into the distance, you're experiencing ________.
perspective
Which gland is sometimes called the "master gland" or "gland champion" because it controls other glands?
pituitary
Amelia is a general physician. One of her patients claimed to be suffering from constant stomach aches. After running some tests, Amelia concludes that the patient is not suffering from any medical disorder. However, the patient insisted that she has stomach cancer. The patient then volunteered for a medical trial where she was given a pill with a new medication while participants in the trial were given sugar pills. This best exemplifies ________.
placebo
Alex is trying to overcome their shyness. The therapist asks to talk about their childhood, looking for unconscious conflicts. Alex's therapist is most likely following which school of thought?
psychoanalytic
According to the trichromatic theory of color vision, what are the three types of color photoreceptors we have?
red, blue, and green
Chloe has been having a lot of difficulty paying attention at work and sleeping at night. Which of the following structures might be the cause of these issues?
reticular formation
In which part of the eye are photoreceptors found?
retina
This binocular depth cue us based on the fact that when you look at an object, a slightly different picture of that object is displayed on each retina due to the different angles each eye is seeing it from.
retinal disparity
what does the retina consist of?
rods and cones, bipolar cells, and ganglion cells
A source of bias that may occur in research findings when participants are allowed to choose for themselves a certain treatment in a scientific study is called a ________.
selection factor
what are illusions
sensations that give rise to misperception
As part of a study in auditory perception, students were made to listen to a low-volume music track. When they first put on their headphones, they almost couldn't hear anything. But as they became more attentive, the sound gradually became clearer. This is an example of
sensitization
What is visual acuity?
sharpness of vision
what are the six basic senses
sight, sound, taste, touch, hearing and extrasensory perception
A hypothesis is a ________.
statement about behavior or mental processes that is testable through research
what are binocular cues
stimuli suggestive of depth that involve simultaneous perception by both eyes
The auditory cortex, which is responsible for processing information for the sense of hearing, is located in which lobe of the brain?
temporal
B. F. Skinner proposed ________.
that organisms learn to behave in certain ways because their behavior has a positive outcome
what does loudness measure
the amplitude, or height, of the sound waves. measured in decibels (dB)
what is pitch
the highness or lowness of a sound, determined through the frequency of the sound waves
what is the cochlea
the inner ear, the bony tube connecting the basilar membrane to the organ of corti
what is the after image
the lingering visual impression made by a stimulus that has been removed
Which of the following theories proposed that there are three types of color receptors, but they are not sensitive only to red, green, and blue?
the opponent-process theory
Which theory of color vision better explains afterimages?
the opponent-process theory
what is figure-ground processing
the perception of images by the distinction of objects from a background from which they appear to stand out, especially when the distinction is ambiguous
The tendency to perceive an image with missing visual components as being complete or whole refers to ________.
the principle of closure
What is sensory adaptation?
the process by which we become more sensitive to stimuli of low magnitude and less sensitive to stimuli that remain the same
As discussed in your text, the Literary Digest incorrectly predicted Alf Landon to win the 1936 presidential election over Franklin D. Roosevelt. What is believed to be the primary source of their error?
the sample
what is sensation
the stimulation of sensory receptors and the transmission of sensory information to the central nervous system (the spinal cord and brain)
what is closure
the tendency to ontegrate perceptual elements into meaningful patterns
What is desensitization?
the type of sensory adaptation in which we become less sensitive to constant stimuli; also called "negative adaptation"
What is sensitization?
the type of sensory adaptation in which we become more sensitive to stimuli that are low in magnitude; also called "positive adaptation."
What is an absolute threshold?
the weakest level of a stimulus that is necessary to produce a sensation; for light, it would be the minimum brightness required to activate the visual sensory system.
What is the trichromatic theory?
theory that color vision is made possible by three types of cones, some of which respond to either red or green light, blue or yellow light and some to the lights intensity
what is similarity
togetherness
A person with normal color vision is labeled a ________.
trichromat
what do you call a person with normal color vision?
trichromat
An error in research reflecting the prospect that people who offer to participate in research studies differ systematically from people who do not is known as ________.
volunteer bias
what is a subliminal stimulus?
A sensory stimulus that is below a persons acolute threshold for conscious perception; often referring sometimes to cryptic sexual messages found in TV commercials or in movies
Whenever we receive really painful cuts or bruises, neurons located in that area of our body transmit very large and intense impulses.
F
Compared to the rest of our bodies, which of the following is a feature of gray matter?
It consists of non-myelinated neurons.
In the context of auditory perception, which of the following statements is true?
The frequency theory appears to account only for pitch perception between 20 and a few hundred cycles per second.
what is visible light
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that stimulates the eye and produces visual sensations
what is an example of an absolute threshold of vision
a candle flame viewed from 30 miles on a clear, dark night
Which gland is responsible for the production of epinephrine?
adrenal
what is perception
an active process in which sensations are organized and interpreted to form an inner representation of the world
According to the psychoanalytic approach, a good majority of what influences our behavior is ________.
an emphasis on unconscious ideas and impulses that originate in childhood conflicts
what is the blind spot
area in the retina where axons from ganglion cells meet to form the optic nerve; it is thus insensitive to visual stimulation
The part of a neuron that extends like a trunk from the cell body is called a ________.
axon
In the fovea, a central region of the retina, we have a dense concentration of which kinds of visual cells?
cones
The tendency to perceive a series of points (or lines) as having unit is the crus of which of the Gestalt principles of perception?
continuity
Which of the following is a binocular depth cue?
convergence
An association among variables is known as ________.
correlation
The ________ refers to the smallest possible stimulus that can be detected half the time, or the minimum level of stimuli that we can detect.
difference threshold
According to the biological perspective of psychology, what interacts with inherited factors to determine specific behavior and mental processes?
environmental factors
Among lower animals, stimulation of various areas of which brain structure can trigger instinctual behaviors such as fighting, mating, or nest building?
hypothalamus
A person in which field primarily focuses on the relationships between people and work?
industrial psychologist
Alex uses his podcast to spread his conspiracy theory that chimpanzees set wildfires as revenge for being subject to experimentation. If Tempie demands proof, what aspect of critical thinking are they using?
insist on evidence
Which of the following areas of the body is the most sensitive to touch?
lips
The amplitude of a sound wave determines the ________.
loudness
Damage to which brain stem structure may cause the heart and lungs to stop working?
medulla
Messages from the brain or spinal cord are transmitted to muscles or glands through ________.
motor neurons
Which hue has the longest wavelength?
red
Chika has lost the sensation of touch in her skin. Which part of her brain is most likely malfunctioning?
somatosensory cortex
what are monocular cues
stimuli suggestive of depth that can be perceived with only one eye
what is a hue
the color of light, as determined by its wavelength
how is the pitch of a sound determined
the number of cycles per second, or frequency (wavelength), measure in hertz (Hz); the greater the hertz, the higher the pitch
According to the American Psychological Association's Handbooks of Ethics in Psychology, which of the following criteria must be met for psychologists to use deception in their experiments?
The participants are debriefed afterward
