Psychology Exam #1

Ned is feeling stressed because of his workload at the office. He is also experiencing insomnia with rapid weight loss. Ned's condition is an example of a __________ correlation.

negative

If you look at a painting on the other side of the room with first your right and then your left eye, the images look virtually identical. However, if you place your index finger in front of your nose one eye at a time, the two images look very different from one another. The phenomenon is an example of which distance cue?

Binocular cues

_____ is the tendency to perceive an object as being just as luminous even though lighting conditions change its intensity.

Brightness constancy

Which of the following is not necessarily a part of the scientific method?

Calculating correlations

Which of the following psychologists might treat psychologically ill offenders, consult with attorneys on matters such as picking a jury, and analyze offenders' behavior and mental processes?

Forensic psychologists

Claire, who is 11 months old, is just starting to crawl and walk. Which of the following is heavily involved in this newfound ability?

Myelination

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

At the start of the exam Bobbi did not notice any distracting sounds. As time passed she became more and more aware of the ticking clock on the wall. What is this an example of?

Sensory adaptation

Jeff observed a quick succession of cars moving together on the road. His first thought was that they were all a part of a convoy of some sort. Which law of perceptual organization best explains Jeff's assumption?

The law of common fate.

The brain and the spinal cord make up the _______, which controls and commands bodily functions.

central nervous system

Jane is a practicing psychologist who assesses the mental status of people charged with crimes and shares her findings with the courts. Jane is most likely a(n) ________.

forensic psychologist

Erica is part of a research group that is studying a group of software executives. She is trying to determine the relationship between workplace stress and cancer. As part of the same study, she also advises her subjects on ways to counter workplace stress. Erica is most likely a _________.

health psychologist

Shana is a young girl who was in a bus accident a few years ago. Since her accident, Shana is only able to remember people she had met before the accident and instances from her childhood. However, she is unable to remember people she met recently or events that are currently happening in her life. She reads the same newspaper for several days without realizing that she has read it before. The accident has made Shana unable permanently store new information because she sustained an injury 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

Sujay is conducting a research on a group of factory machinists as part of a study on workplace stress and heart disease. Before conducting his study, he explains the objective of the study to the subjects and tells them what they would need to do. He gives them the opportunity to choose if they want to participate or not. In other words, Sujay is seeking __________.

informed consent

Wilhelm Wundt used __________ to try to discover the basic elements of experience.

introspection

Emily suffers from insomnia. When she went to see a doctor, she was told that her sleeplessness was caused by the deficiency of a particular hormone. The doctor then gave her sleeping pills containing the deficient hormone. Emily has _______ deficiency.

melatonin

On a bright, sunny day, Manny leaves a dimly-lit movie theater and goes out into the street. The _____ in his eyes adjust to the sudden increase in light.

pupils

Each kind of neurotransmitter has a unique chemical structure, and each can fit into a specifically tailored harbor, or __________, on the cell receiving a message.

receptor site

Mark initially was not bothered by his new nickname, however, after seeing it often through social media he became more sensitive to it. This process is known as _____.

sensitization

A hypothesis is a:

statement about behavior or mental processes that is testable through research.

Since 15 percent of a university is comprised of Asian-American students, a sample for a study was chosen in such way that it, too, consisted of 15 percent Asian Americans. This kind of sample would be an example of a __________.

stratified sample

While returning from the grocery store, Bob was held at gunpoint by two men who wanted to rob him of his belongings. Bob had never been in a fight before, yet he could feel his heartbeat rapidly rise, along with a sudden urge to fight the two men. This involuntary increase in Bob's heartbeat and his immediate urge to fight the men are controlled by the __________.

sympathetic nervous system

When a neural impulse reaches the axon terminal of a neuron, the vesicles release varying amounts of neurotransmitters into the __________.

synaptic cleft

The audience was very impressed by the singer's ability to hit the high and low notes. This most closely refers to __________.

pitch

If you were having trouble with balance, it would most likely be a problem with your ______________ system.

vestibular

In every experiment, the ______ is what the researcher is trying to determine has changed or not.

dependent variable

Lisa is a fabric specialist. Recently, she was invited to an exhibition of Persian silks. Being an expert on fabrics, Lisa continuously moved her hand along the surfaces of different pieces of fabric to get the feel of them. This action is referred to as _____.

active touching

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.

Erik works as a counselor. He strongly believes in an individual's capacity for self-fulfillment, self-awareness, and decision making. He follows the principle that people are responsible for choosing their conduct. Erik's beliefs best exemplify the _______ perspective.

humanistic-existential

Phoebe recently suffered a major fall in which she sustained brain injuries. Since then, she has had immense difficulty in communicating with others. She appears to understand what others tell her, but her responses are slow and laborious. Her sentences are always incomplete, with important grammatical words missing. Which of the following conditions best reflects Phoebe's case?

Broca's aphasia

While Ebony was playing a video game and trying to keep her character alive, she started to become anxious, causing her pulse to increase. Which hormone was responsible for this reaction?

Epinephrine

Esteban finds that he is often very anxious and not at ease. Which of the following neurotransmitters might help him the most?

Gamma-aminobutyric acid

__________ form a fatty substance called myelin.

Glial cells

Which of the following statements is true of William James's contribution to psychology?

He argued that the stream of consciousness was fluid and continuous.

Despite being blind, Brian has never had a problem with performing day-to-day activities. He has been able to accurately judge the position and motion of his body parts, and thus, he is able to perform activities such as walking and eating quite normally. Which of the following senses is illustrated in the scenario?

Kinesthesis

Which of the following plays a significant role in sleeping, sneezing, and coughing?

Medulla

Paul is a 55-year-old man who has been having some difficulty recalling important details. On visiting a doctor, he was told that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The deficiency of __________ is most likely to be linked to Paul's condition.

acetylcholine

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 the _____ perspective.

biological

Nicotine, alcohol, and many other drugs are pleasurable because they heighten levels of _______.

dopamine

Derek is working on a thesis on the changes in social behavior in the context of finding partners. An important part of his study concerns the various practices followed by males and females over the course of generations and how they have gradually transformed into our current social norms. Derek can be called a(n) _______ psychologist.

evolutionary

While looking at a painting in an art gallery, many of Jinan's brain cells fire in response to lines presented at various angles, while others fire in response to specific colors. These brain cells are termed _____.

feature detectors

Dr. Kennett is a neurologist who is conducting research using brain scans. He wants to study pictures of his subjects' brains while they are speaking or using a language. These pictures will help Dr. Kennett understand the parts of the brain that are being used to speak and the other processes that occur simultaneously in the brain. Based on the nature of study, it would be most suitable for Dr. Kennett to use _______.

functional magnetic resonance imaging

Structuralists tended to ask, "What are the pieces that make up thinking and experience?" In contrast, __________ tended to ask, "How do behavior and mental processes help people adapt to the requirements of their lives?"

functionalists

In Gestalt psychology, learning, especially problem solving, is accomplished primarily by ________.

insight

When Kendall picked up her puppy, she did not realize that he'd gained a pound since the last time she picked him up. This small increase in weight is not big enough to be a

just noticeable difference.

The _______ perspective works on the assumption that thoughts, fantasies, and dreams—and the inborn or instinctive behavior patterns of various species—are made possible by the nervous system and especially by the brain.

biological

You have always wanted to know how your friend performs so well on her college exams. To find out how she studies, you decide to study with her for your next exam. This approach is most similar to:

case studies

When you first wake up in the morning and turn your lights on, the _______________ changes shape to keep out some of the light so it does not damage the eye.

iris